GUILTY IL - Jacob Wheeler, 22, & Jessica Evans, 17, White County, 25 Aug 2012 - #1

[88keys]

I hate to see the veterans of today getting a bad rap. Vietnam happened before my time in service. I am a veteran of that era but, no neither of us were over there. I saw too many of those vets coming home and getting screwed. I wanted to make my best effort to see it wouldn't happen to the veterans of today.
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Exia, thank you so much for your service.

I, too, hate to see our military members mistreated. My father-in-law was in Vietnam. He did not come home to a warm welcome.

I'm so glad Jacob's name has been cleared. Am I right in thinking he will be laid to rest with military honors now?

 

[mrfy07]

Ok guys,, long day at work, so I'm just now checking in. I will go back and read the articles when I'm not so exhausted, but will someone tell me did Coston enter a plea today?? I apologize that I haven't read the articles and I will read them but if someone will tell me that, I appreciate it. I have been following since day 1 and knew Coston "confessed" but I got confused when I read that his family held up something with "not guilty" written on it. If he didn't enter a plea today, when will he?? TIA

Today they formally charged him. He goes back to court on Sept. 12th. That's when the state will present evidence against him. Not sure when he will enter a plea.

 

[88keys]

Yes...went to school with perp or someone in his family? Kin? Kin by marriage? Played sports with somebody? Hunted together? Bet he doesn't pat all the prisoners. I also wondered early on with all those traffic offenses if alcohol was involved and being overlooked.

He said in another interview that he had known Danny his whole life. It doesn't necessarily mean they were close friends, but he probably at least knew who he was. This is a small area. They may have gone to high school together.

Maybe Sheriff Maier simply feels bad to see someone he knows come to this, and to see the effect it will have on his family. Doesn't mean he really has sympathy for Coston, or thinks he's not guilty or anything.

Shotguns spray from a distance. We knew someone that attempted suicide with a shotgun, and they said he missed all his vital organs because it was close up and didn't have room to 'spray'. From a distance, shotguns don't usually leave bullet wounds, they 'spray', (For lack of a more weapon oriented description) That's why some people chose it for hunting, they stand a better chance of hitting their target if they are a lousy shot.

A shotgun from point blank range would do an INCREDIBLE amount of damage, yes?

One of the interviews said a "small-caliber gun." So not a shotgun. Probably a hand gun, if he threatened her with it.

 

[88keys]

I became a little worried yesterday after reading the article where town members didn't want to talk about Coston. I wondered if this small town was circling the wagons to protect their own. When you add all the very numerous scrapes with the law you have to wonder what the heck is going on here. To those of you who are locals, is the Coston family influential or is this just small town life? If this goes to trial I certainly hope the jury pool widens!

I have no idea how well-known Coston was in the community. From what I can tell, he's not really anybody important.

I'm guessing the people supporting him were his friends and family. Keep in mind that the details of the crime hadn't really come out yet before the hearing today. Some of them may change their minds when they hear more about what happened.

I think most people will tend to be more sympathetic to the victims in this case than the perpetrator. A young girl, assaulted and murdered, and a veteran murdered....that's not going to go over well.

 

[88keys]

Hi, Valli. I am also a local, living in the area. I have some family in Wayne County as well. Thank you for the info about the charges.

You know, I want to know the details of what happened, but I kind of don't. I mean, it's just so much worse than I ever imagined it would be.

This whole situation kind of makes you less tolerant of drunks, doesn't it?
Meh. Not really. After following a lot of cases, I don't find a huge cause and effect statistic and barely even a correlative one.

I'm not exactly tolerant of drunks, but I'm not going to blame alcohol on this one. Yes, people may do weird things while drunk, but being drunk does not magically turn someone into a rapist and murderer. This guy had to have some rage inside him, or some fantasy he has been having for years. I wonder if he has ever raped anyone before.

 

[concernedmother]

He will probably plead not guilty on the advice of a court appointed attorney. Since IL doesnt have a DP what can they even plea bargain for? Those murder charges alone will get him life. I wonder if the confession will even come into court? John Coueys was not allowed.

 

[Public_Hysteria]

I feel sick to my stomach and so incredibly upset after what has come out today. Those poor kids. And if Jake's dad is correct, it seems Jake was killed while trying to do a nice thing for this monster (that is what I took from "All I know is my son was going to take (Coston) home and he shot in him with a different gun than what my son had."). By all accounts, these kids seem like wholesome friendly people, I just find it so upsetting that this monster took them away from lives that had so much promise.

Not to mention the absolutely DISGUSTING reaction from the public. If I read correctly, one of the articles said that the majority of the courtroom were there in support of DC? What about the two kids that were murdered (and in Jessi's case, RAPED) at the hands of this monster? Where is their support? This man has CONFESSED to the crimes, there is no doubt that he is guilty, how can everyone forget about the victims here and focus their support so blindly on this horrible horrible person. I can understand a reaction such as this from family, but for the majority of the people there to be on his side? It makes me sick to my stomach.

And it absolutely breaks me heart to hear that Jessi was sexually assaulted. Like many, I had hoped that her death was too quick for her to realize what was happening. To know of the horror she must have faced in her final moments... I have no words.

I'm sorry for the rant. I just feel so unbelievably angry and upset about this.

 

[concernedmother]

Public_Hysteria well put.

 

[Public_Hysteria]

You know, that post of mine wasn't ever supposed to get posted. I don't know if the website screwed up or if it was this darn computer. I would greatly appreciate it if people quit responding to something I never meant to show up here. It's gone. It's been gone. As soon as I saw it I knew it was one that should have been deleted. I don't know what happened that it got posted, because it wasn't even the finished product. I worked on it so it wouldn't sound so offensive, and then I said it wasn't necessary so I thought I'd made it disappear.

I have also removed my post regarding this. After I put mine up, I really felt as though I shouldn't have, and others had already addressed your post. I'm sorry if I made you feel as though you were being attacked, it wasn't my intention at all.

Thank you for your kind words regarding this case. Even though you weren't here from the beginning it's obvious you have been touched by this case, as many of us were. I sometimes find myself joining cases long after the person has gone missing/been found, but it doesn't really change how I feel about things. I guess in a way it's lucky that you came in late, as you didn't have to sit through all the uncertainty before Jake was found. I found your military insight very interesting to read and I learnt a lot, I thank you for that.

 

[concernedmother]

I think there is still alot more to this story. LE still arent releasing a motive so Im not so sure the sexual assault was the motive for the killings unless he was hitting on Jessica and Jake got mad and tried to stop him. I think something ticked him off and he shot Jake so he knew he had to kill her too so decided he may as well rape her first. what I dont understand is the rage toward Jessica that he opened fire on her. Maybe because she was hysterical after seeing Jake shot and that made him even madder.

 

[scorekeeper]

Jacob Wheeler's funeral will be held on Wednesday in Carmi. Jacob will be buried with full military honors after serving three years in Iraq.

http://tristatehomepage.com/fulltext-news?nxd_id=541572

BBM

:rose: :star:

Jacob, thank you for serving our country but most of all, thank you for standing by Jessi up until the last breath you took....

 

[concernedmother]

I dont think Ive heard anything from Jessicas family or have I just missed it?

 

[mrfy07]

I think there is still alot more to this story. LE still arent releasing a motive so Im not so sure the sexual assault was the motive for the killings unless he was hitting on Jessica and Jake got mad and tried to stop him. I think something ticked him off and he shot Jake so he knew he had to kill her too so decided he may as well rape her first. what I dont understand is the rage toward Jessica that he opened fire on her. Maybe because she was hysterical after seeing Jake shot and that made him even madder.

I think some of the blanks will be filled in on the 12th when the state presents their evidence against him.

 

[scorekeeper]

I dont think Ive heard anything from Jessicas family or have I just missed it?

I haven't seen anything. Wonder how well they know her "alleged" killer (sorry refuse to say his name) or how close they lived?

 

[Public_Hysteria]

I haven't seen anything. Wonder how well they know her "alleged" killer (sorry refuse to say his name) or how close they lived?

IIRC, I don't think Jessi's family knew him at all. The only mention I saw was Jake's family knew him because he lived down the road, but that Jake personally didn't know him. I believe in this same article I read that Jessi didn't know him (or of him) at all.

I may be wrong though. When I get a chance I'll have a dig through and see if I can find an article.

 

[SmoothOperator]

Hard to even read much less being presently actually living it.. Per Harold Wheeler

Wheeler says it's a cruel twist of fate that he lost his son, just after Jacob had returned from serving three years in Iraq.

"He comes home and goes fishing on a bank. He's fished all his life, and he gets killed. Comes home from service, not a scratch. He goes fishing and he gets killed. It ain't right."

His boy, his son was simply offering this animal a ride home.. Going to drive his drunk azz home.. And the monster shoots him in the head.. And well we all know what happened from there.. It's sick that DC will die of old age and yet this young woman and courageous MAN, REAL MAN SPENT THREE YEARS FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHTS OF US ALL.. INCLUDING THE MONSTER THAT KILLED HIM IN COLD BLOOD AS JAKE WAS OFFERING HIM A KIND, HELPING HAND..

 

[88keys]

Please don't think that a majority of people in this area are supporting Coston just because there were some people in the courtroom who did. "A majority of people in the courtroom" may only be 10-15 people. And remember, the worst details had not been revealed until this morning. I'm guessing some of them will change their minds.

I feel bad for Coston's family...I'm sure they had no idea. This man has young children. He has severely impacted their lives as well. The ripples just go on and on.

 

[88keys]

OK, I know this may sound kind of strange, and I still feel weird that I did it, but I went for a drive today in the area near where the crime took place. It is a LOT more remote than I initially thought. Narrow gravel roads, thick trees, tall grass, fields that haven't been harvested yet.... I can totally see how the searchers missed things at first. I can also see how locals had to be involved in this. You would have to know where you were going to be able to find this place. I had a map, and I still felt like I was lost. The roads are narrow with lots of turns and bends and hills. In fact, I never got near the actual crime scene, because it was just too far out and I felt uncomfortable being out there by myself.

For anyone who would like to see what the land looks like, I took a few photos. Again, this is NOT THE CRIME SCENE- I never made it that far, and I wouldn't have taken photos of that anyway (too disrespectful). Just to give you an idea of what the area looks like.

I can't get the photos to load in the body of this post, but you can see them here:

http://flic.kr/s/aHsjBVSWPw

 

[georgiasblu]

Wow. That was above and beyond the call of duty. Thank you Keys. I don't blame you for being nervous out there alone. How far were you from the actual crime scene?

 

[88keys]

Wow. That was above and beyond the call of duty. Thank you Keys. I don't blame you for being nervous out there alone. How far were you from the actual crime scene?

I'm not sure...probably 5 miles, maybe a little less than that. I wanted to get a picture of the river, but again, never made it that far.