John P. Wheeler III, 66,
. a graduate of West Point, Harvard and Yale,
Wheeler led a prominent life in nonprofits
and the federal government, including the Pentagon;
an accomplished public servant
in three presidential administrations.
He was a founding member of the
Vietnam Veterans Leadership Program,
which helped veterans find employment opportunities.
He also helped spearhead a fundraising effort
to build the Vietnam Veterans
Memorial on the National Mall.
Wheeler was believed to be on an Amtrak train
from Washington to Wilmington Dec. 28 .
. Wheeler had just lost a long battle
at stopping construction that would
obstruct his riverside view
and devalue his property .
. a smoke bomb goes off on the winner's property,
then before the police can talk to him,
the last place the he is seen
is in a bad part of town,
after which he was found murdered in a dumpster .
. he may have gone downtown to ask about
paying the underground to further upset the winner .
--
. this case caught my because one pro-repub radio
had lamented:
police found a fine repub' in the dumpster
but will that story get any air time on liberal news?
no, instead they'll harp on how the democrat shooting
was caused by repub's hate radio .
. this story's introduction gets even more strange
because the first acct I saw is this:
January 5th, 2011 examiner.com:
"( NPR reported that John P. Wheeler was so. that was a strange coincidence:
"disoriented and so disheveled that he was
mistaken for a homeless person"
but the News Journal of Delaware they quote as the source
doesn't really quite put forth that supposition, exactly. )
#1: days ago,
NPR had a big problem with sources
who were (misunderstood?) to be verifying
that giffords had died .
--. the first news outlet to get it right
was a relative of Giffords
who told someone on twitter,
who was tracked by google's real time news .
#2: anti-liberal radio is pointing me at Wheeler story;
#3: a Wheeler story points out NPR is twisting the truth .
anyway, here's a synthesis of the news:
Marini`construction would block his view of the park
Wheeler was known in New Castle for his failed efforts to
stop construction of a 2 1/2-story house
across the street from his home along Battery Park.
[. his home is 108 W. Third Street, New Castle, Delaware.]
He had sued to stop Frank and Regina Marini from building,
arguing the structure would block his view of the park
and the Delaware River.
The Marinis' home is currently under construction,
but Wheeler and his wife, Katherine Klyce,
still have a lawsuit pending in Delaware Chancery Court
to stop the project, said their attorney, Bayard Marin.
Because Wheeler and Klyce worked in
Washington and New York,
they were frequently away from home.
Records show Wheeler and Klyce were established residents
and registered to vote in Delaware.
On Dec. 13, he lost a key court decision
Everyone just assumed he really cared
about historical preservation,"
said Ted Corbett, a New Castle resident
and former history professor who studies preservation.
He just fought a little harder than most
when Frank and Regina Marini started
building a home on land they bought in 1998.
On Dec. 28, less than two days before Wheeler vanished,
smoke bombs caused minor damage at
the Marinis' unfinished home;
and, police wanted to question him about the incident.
. a City Cab driver of 14 years
denies he ever gave Wheeler a ride.but his cell-phone number was found
in John Wheeler's cell phone.
--[or in his cell records, obtained by warrant] .
1.5 news:
[12.29:]. 6 p.m.
Happy Harry's pharmacy (740 Ferry Cut-Off, New Castle)
with an unusual request for pharmacist Murali Gouro,
who had filled prescriptions for the
former Pentagon official in the past.
He said,
'Can you give me a ride to Wilmington?'
and that was a flag,"He looked like he was a little upset."
"a little different"
Gouro offered to call a cab,
but Wheeler declined and left the store.
About 40 minutes after leaving the pharmacy,
he turned up at the parking garage of
New Castle County Courthouse
erratically searching for his car,according to employees and surveillance video .
[12.29:]
Wheeler was carrying his right shoe in his left hand
and said someone had stolen his briefcase.
. he was blocks away from where his car was parked
in a garage on MLK Boulevard near the train station.
Wilmington Parking Authority officials
said he was a monthly customer.
[around 6:40 p.m.
An attendant said Wheeler came to her window
carrying his right shoe in his hand
and wearing a suit jacket but no overcoat.
Wheeler told a parking attendant
he wanted to get warm before he paid for parking,
even though his car wasn't there,
and that his briefcase had been stolen .]
Cathleen Boyer, a security guard at the courthouse,
said she was called down to the parking garage
after an attendant reported
"a homeless man in the garage."
Boyer walked out of the building with two state employees
when they encountered Wheeler.
"He came out of the bottom level," Boyer said.
"He had dirt on his right leg. His eyes were red,
like he was crying or something
and he said he was robbed."
Boyer said Wheeler did not smell of alcohol
and that his speech wasn't slurred.
He wore a black suit and a white shirt;
The two state workers offered him money.
"He told them he didn't want any money.
He said 'I have plenty of money,' " Boyer said.
. he claimed to be staying at an old hotel nearby
and that he had to get there.
He then walked off.
Wednesday night [12.29]
Wheeler was seen as disoriented and rambling
about his brother, mother and a Hertz rental car.
[on 12.30] 3:30 p.m, Thursday:
. he was seen in Wilmington's 10th and Orange streets,
near the DuPont, Nemours and Community Service buildings .
. there is a video surveillance camera
mounted at the corner of the DuPont Building
overlooking the street crossing.
Dec. 30, 8:30 p.m. surveillance video
Wheeler is wandering through the E.I. du Pont de Nemours
. he visited the 10th-floor officesof the Connolly Bove Lodge and Hutch law firm
looking to speak with the managing partner,
an attorney at the firm said Monday.
. he was looking to borrow train fare to travel north,
When a receptionist went to find someone for him,
Wheeler was gone -- still apparently disoriented,
and refusing help from passers-by who approached him.
last seen on video at 8:42 p.m.,
at Wilmington's Rodney Square
walking toward a high-crime section
about two blocks away.
. he exited E.I. du Pont de Nemours
onto 11th Street, going southeast,
past and through the Hotel du Pont valet parking area. He continues southeast and crosses Market Street .
walking toward the East Side,
Wheeler is wearing dark pants
and a dark blue hooded sweatshirt
with the hood worn over his head.
Dec. 31 after 4:20 a.m.
. his body is picked up from one of 10 large trash bins;
all these sites are within 3..4 blocks of one another:
1. WSFS Bank, College Square
2. Newark Library, Library Avenue
3. Gardens of White Chapel, White Chapel Drive
4. Hudson State Service Center, Ogletown Road
5. Newark Toyota, Marrows Road
6. McDonald’s, E Main Street
7. Attila Wings, E Main Street
8. Newark Emergency Center, E Main Street
9. Bing’s Bakery, E Main Street
10. Goodwill, Newark Shopping Center
Dec. 31, around 9:56 a.m,
his body is transported from one of those sites
to Delaware Solid Waste Authority`Cherry Island Landfill .
Wilmington City Councilman Kevin Kelley 1.8:
cautioned Wilmington police not to go overboard in investigating Wheeler's death.
"I don't want any more resources dedicated to this
than we do any other homicide," Kelley said,
adding that about half of the city's
record 27 homicides from 2010 remain unsolved.
1.11
Detectives are reviewing hours of surveillance footage from
Downtown Visions, Wilmington's surveillance network,
to determine where Wheeler went after Rodney Square.
examiner.com`how the dump site was likely chosen
Wheeler's particular body dump site
has one thing in common with
locations favored by serial killers
who dump bodies and pick up victims:
it lies near two main highways: I95 and 273.
(map from last siting to dump area)
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