The FBI has always had the ability to seek information about Internet activity by suspected criminals by working with telecommunication providers, but currently the FBI can't really penetrate that "going dark" area just below the radar that is in existence. They are trying to change all that, according to Fox News and it could potentially help them in the John Wheeler case if they do.
The FBI's current success in using online surveillance to combat crime is especially evident in their efforts against child porn, but it includes other crimes as well, including homicides that they may be investigating.
John P. Wheeler III's murder could benefit from the current FBI surveillance capabilities online -- and its investigation reach with telecommunication providers -- if a suspect emerges who contracted with someone online to kill him or communicated about it afterward.
Currently, cybersavvy criminals fly under the radar and participate in "dark" areas of the Internet that include encrypted communications and private chat rooms. These areas are referred to as "dark spots".
This "dark spot" activity has been going on for a long time, and the FBI has been combating it to the best of their ability. And telecommunications and service providers have exercised their ability to track in real-time these chats and activity in the past, which aids law enforcement, but the problem is that there are other entities that do not have real-time tracking capabilities.
Those service providers without this ability can't assist LE with surveillance needs, leaving those chat boards unmonitored and victims at the mercy of online predators.
Criminals use real-time chats
Criminals operate in real-time, they don't have to wait for court orders and willing judges to give them their "OK" to move forward. LEs ability to move just as quickly could be the difference between getting to a child or victim "in the nick of time" or getting there one minute too late by not having real-time surveilance capability with all providers.
The FBI is seeking to change that, putting forth their request to a congressional body recently in order to add some tools to their Internet arsenal. The FBI wants to combat those "going dark" areas of the criminal underground that thrives online.
"The FBI is committed to working with industry toward a solution that would allow us to comply with court orders," Jenny Shearer, an FBI spokeswoman said.
John P. Wheeler III was versed about Internet security issues. USA Today reported that Wheeler was especially concerned about Internet security as it applied to cyberwarfare. Criminality online is a cyberwar of sorts on the homeland turf of America. It pits law enforcement like the FBI with America's criminal enemies. And they want the tools -- and access -- to stop criminals from "going dark".
John P. Wheeler III's murder remains unsolved and some in the online world of article thread communications and chat rooms believe that his death was tied to his part-time consulting work at Mitre Corp. This is because John Wheeler was tasked with building bridges -- and fostering relations -- between academia, government and industry on the topic of cyberwarfare and how to combat it. And some believe that there may have been those reluctant to see the "dark spots" illuminated on the Internet in the criminal world as well as academia, government or industry.
References: Fox News and USA Today
Comments
I was just wishing that I had a network of street informants as regards the Wheeler case, so I could know what the word on the street was about his death.
I thought the next best thing would be to go to check gang websites and forums.
So I found your article to be very relevant, thanks.
My big concern would be, do they have to have probable cause to monitor internet traffic, or would they be able to go on fishing expeditions.
LOL, Puget.
Gang websites..."Good luck with that".
Fishing expeditions...and here's the standard line: "I've probably got cause to consider this criminal in some way." And, guess what, I'll bet they will, because they don't really snoop if they don't have a good reason to suspect something.
I like puget's name today! I was just thinking about the crime scene. Police say they don't know....but I'm thinking they have a good guess that it was in newark (and not outside of newark, because that would be new castle county police). Since newark police are still the main LE and they were promptly handed the ball early on from the wilmington police. and it would have to be a place where no one would see them. any crowded street in wilmington would be within someone's view. I would think that to beat someone to death, there would be intense hatred towards that person too. And since wheeler said "they" took my briefcase, i'm thinking he had more then one person on his mind that night.
DEmom-
Do you know anything about tunnel between hotel dupont and Neumours Building. Is it serviceable?
Me, too, DEmom! Isn't he clever? :-)
"I would think that to beat someone to death, there would be intense hatred towards that person too. "
Hi Demom -
I'm not too sure about your speculation on this point.
The head has some very vulnerable points, and an old head on an old body
is very vulnerable. Youthful exuberance and/or inexperience with a weapon could kill an older person quite easily I think.
older person by accident
Ha, yes radell, puget is clever.
uvw, don't know about the tunnel. My husband works in north wilmington so we don't go downtown at all.
and mere_bookman...i think that it would be by accident if he was beaten when he was robbed of his briefcase, but i think to follow afterward (i'm assuming it is the same "they") he was targeted.
Yes he is. Unfortunately, not clever enough to figure out this case, lol.
I remember the tunnel from early on, but they also mentioned a skywalk between the two buildings, and I don't see a skywalk in any photos, so I filed it away in the "whatever" dept.
But now that people mention it, it does open up a lot of possibilities, as people have mentioned.
I know people are probably tired of hearing about the sandwich shop, but guess who catered Joe Biden's inauguration? I'm shutting up now. The devil made me do it.
R-E-A-L-L-Y....
Interesting...but I don't think pertinent. :-)
It's a small world here.
possible reasons he was beaten to death:
-could be organized crime OR to look like organized crime
-they were NOT satisfied with the contents of the briefcase and wanted more info from him - find out what he knew
- intense hatred
I brought up the tunnel is because he was not wearing a coat & was complaining of being cold. So it seemed to make sense that the tunnel would be easy excess from one building to the other building without having to go outside.
Logical thought process.
One of these days, I'm going to share my very-early-in-the-case Joe Biden theory with you all, if for no other reason than to show just how dangerous profiling knowledge can be in the wrong hands.
LOL...do it now Puget. I'm listening...
Puget, if big brother comes knocking we will all testify that you just had a creative digression here :-)
Ok I am going to throw this out here on the table and please tell me what you think - it's just a theory. This thing about him seen not wearing a coat...On the 12/28, when he took Amtrak to Wilmington, it's possible he was followed. Picture this: he boards the train and finds a vacant seat. Maybe 2 seats next to each -more room for a larger person. Before sitting down, most people taking Amtrak remove their coat. And I would think he had his phone in his coat pocket for easy excess, especially if he had been wearing the coat rather than keeping it in his suit pants pocket (cumbersome to retrieve while wearing a coat). He places the coat on the empty next to him. With all the gentle rocking on the train he falls asleep. In the meantime the follower(s) takes his coat with the phone. He wakes up at his stop maybe a little sleepy and departs the train. At some point he discovers he doesn't have his coat and phone, " _ _ it, I must have left my coat on the train". The next morning 12/29 he goes back to the trainstation to lost and found claims (fills out a form?). Spence picks him up about 8:45 - takes him to corner of Hotel and short time later calls his daughter maybe from Hotel but not his personel phone. this scenerio takes care of the coat, the phone and why he was at the train station on the 12/28 and 12/29
I wish I could sit back and just applaud the excellent way you created a plausible scenario Cinch. Unfortunately I know have to use the dreaded "but" word. But...that doesn't explain why he doesn't retrieve a coat from his home...buy another cell phone to use...go to the Hotel du Pont instead of his house...
But I applaud the scenario you constructed!
Allright, since no one seems to object . .
This is a story of two men: one from a family with a long and respectable history of millitary tradition, and one from Scranton, PA, who grew up poor and made good.
Wheeler, a West Pointer who graduated in the top five percent of his class, a star man.
Biden, the son of a used-car salesman, an athlete, a tough guy who fought his way to the top.
Joe Biden, an average student who struggled through school, at one point even being accused of plagiarism.
This is a story about the railroads, about high speed trains rushing between Washington D.C. and New York, a story about a station in Wilmington, Delaware, a story about intrigue, passion, and . . . murder.
I'm going to pause here and let the suspense build a little . . .
I think Cinch and I could probably co-write this . . .
In 1971, John Wheeler works as a senior planner for Amtrak. In 1972 Joe Biden is running for the Senate.
Biden wins, and things are looking good for him until . . . tragedy strikes. On Dec 18 his wife and one-year old daughter are Christmas shopping in Hockessin, when their station wagon is struck by a tractor-trailer. They are both killed.
Biden, a Catholic, is shaken to his very core, has a crisis of faith. Even though he is a U.S. Senator, he goes into seedy neighborhoods at night, where he is more likely to find a fight.
"I had not known I was capable of such rage," he says.
more . . .
Biden, in order to be better able to care for his two sons, takes to communting on the Amtrak train between Wilmington and D.C.
He continues this practice througout his Senate career. He is well-known by the train crews, who sometimes hold the train for him when he is running late.
He even throws barbecues and an annual Christmas dinner for some of the crews.
In 1987 Biden announces his presidential candidacy from the Wilmington train station.
Forgot the more part, sorry.
(I am composing and fact-checking as I go, so sorry for the delay)
Wheeler, the former Amtrak planner, is also known to take this same train.
Both men are heavily committed to matters of national defense.
Biden, though successful, has a growing envy concerning Wheeler. Maybe a feeling of inferiority . . .
Wheeler is known to sometimes have an abrasive personality, a personality that some say could even drive a person to . . . homicide.
On Dec 18th of every year, Biden takes the day off.
Wheeler's bulldog personality never sleeps.
Shortly after the weekend of the 18th, Biden encounters Wheeler, perhaps in D.C., perhaps on the train. They have a disagreement, perhaps about matters of national defense, perhaps something else, but it doesn't matter. Wheeler, red-faced, makes a disparaging comment about Joe's family.
Perhaps, at another time of the year, Joe would have let it go. But not this time. Joe makes the decision: Wheeler must die.
more . . .
As a passenger riding the rails, you see the back side of life: the fences, grafiti, wrecked cars, trailer homes, the weeds poking through the cracks. You see back lots, refuse, industries and all the hidden places you can't see from the streets.
Joe Biden saw those things over the years. And now perhaps he remembers something else: dumpsters.
Now, perhaps, a plan begins to form in his mind.
more . . .
Biden knows Delaware like the back of his hand. And he knows people, and he knows Wheeler.
On the 26th, Wheeler is enjoying the snow from the balcony of his New York condo. The phone rings, it's urgent, he must go to McLean.
The morning of the 29th, Wheeler returns to Wilmington. He's told to meet someone at the Hotel DuPont, a Mr. X. Wheeler complies. There he is instructed not to return home, not yet. They have a mission for him to complete in Philadelphia.
(All right, I'm really grasping here because this theory is old and I'm incorporating new stuff on the fly.)
more . . .
All right, screw all the stuff in the middle. Whatever. You guys can fill in the blanks. Put in the tunnel if you like.
Let's get to the final showdown.
From his janitor closet in the Nemours Building, Wheeler sees a note slide under the door. He quickly opens the door, but there is no one. He reads: "Go to the DuPont Hotel. There is a package for you."
Later, back in his closet, Wheeler opens the box and finds inside a dark, hooded sweatshirt, and a note. "Meet X at Brandywine Wilmington cemetery, 2100. Come alone."
He wanders around Nemours until, finally, it's time. He heads in the opposite direction, to see if he has a tail. Satisfied, he walks on . . .
ha....i'm at the edge of my chair...but meanwhile...back at the ranch...i was reading minutes of the board of adjustment meeting for new castle with mayor klinmeyer. on 11/19/07, regina marini (I guess mr. marini doesn't seem to be there) was turned down by the Historic Area Commission and she was appealing it on 9/29/08. After a vote, and other things, her appeal was denied. the mayor voted against the motion to deny her appeal, with the city solicitor and engineer voting for the motion to deny her appeal. So, the courts weren't the only processes involved. It seems she was able to hurdle over all these roadblocks! As the historic commission seemed against her.
I remember Radell commenting that rather than appeal further, Marini went over HAC's head.
Then, in local news on jan 27, just a short few weeks ago, the mayor is in the news again. he is accusing his council of making decisions in secret. He has a FOIA complaint. His former solicitor resigned in December. And they seemed to want to hire a new one without his input. The article ends on saying how particular the town is for keeping with the historic and architectural heritage. (that part is almost comical in light of things). Sounds like there is discord in the town of new castle!
DEmom - did you notice if there was any mention of Wheeler anywhere, in memorium, or something like that. I was going to check that out, but haven't got to it yet.
Wheeler, his shoulders hunched against the cold, plods onwards toward destiny, his eyes red and bloodshot from doing all the stuff I skipped over in the last section.
The cemetary is silent, and deserted. Wheeler enters, the dark sillohuettes of the trees surrounding him. To his left is a drive that makes a complete circle through the clustered headstones. Wheeler approaches, and there, in the center of the circle, leaning against a tall headstone, is the Vice President himself.
What went through Wheeler's mind at that moment, no one can say. But it might likely have been the section of lead pipe that Biden carried in his dark trenchcoat, the same dark trenchcoat that made him look so jaunty moments ago when he was leaning against the headstone.
And no, it wasn't the candlestick. Think, people.
Wheeler tries to resist, but to no avail. Joe Biden, the street fighter,catches Wheeler off-guard.
In a few moments, the matter is finished. The night is again quiet.
An unmarked van pulls up.
almost done . . .
Yikes, you created the worst faux pas Puget Sleuth: you used your real name...you forgot this story was under your pen: Puget Paranoid!
Nobody's perfect.
Touche'
The next day, is history.
The police find no evidence after checking the security cameras at the Newark Goodwill.
Perhaps it is just coincidence that one of the board members, Michael Walsh, has the same last name as the partner of Biden's old law firm.
Perhaps it is just coincidence that there is a Capriotti's across the parking lot from the Goodwill, the same Capriotti's chain that catered to Joe Biden's 2008 inauguration. Perhaps.
But one thing is certain: Dead men tell no tales.
why didn't he retrieve a coat from home? Maybe he never went home or realized something was amiss from outside the house before entering. Or was attacked in his kitchen and had no chance to grab a coat then took off towards the pharmacy 2)why didn't he buy another cell phone? Ans.he didn't use cell phone because he didn't want to be tracked - he became aware that he was being followed.When viewing the infamous video, what is he telling "us"? The readers of "The Long Gray Line" know why he was carrying that shoe around - I'm being followed. I have been robbed - he studied law and he knows the meaning. He's telling someone, I am not in possession of the "contents" of my briefcase- I can't find my car cause the parking ticket was in my briefcase."They" took his wallet - no ID. Who knows what other messages he was trying to get out and we are not picking up on. He was very specific as to how much money he had on him ($120). But he was vague about the name of the hotel he was staying at when. If you think someone is after you are you going to disclose where you are staying? It's time to change my known plans/routine. I think he went into survival mode. Maybe he felt he could handle whatever was happening on his own. I have visited the website USMA66.org and read the JPW eulogies. I came to the conclusion that perhaps he did not contact his friends and family because he did not want to put them in peril. Here is a man that spent lifetime protecting all of us.
Now the one part of your hypothesis that I would believe Cinch is that if his threat was from without (outside known family and friends), that Wheeler would want to protect his family at all costs. That I can believe.
Hey, Cinch, some good points to ponder. But I really get the sense he couldn't remember where he parked his car. Went to two different garages with the same story.
And I've always liked the shoe theory, wasn't it What-If who mentioned that? My apologies if it was you.
And he does seem to me to be someone who would protect his family if he thought they were in peril.
Cinch - I've been wondering about his using 'code' in some way to inform someone of his situation - like the POW's sometimes did. Idea to work on more.
Puget now really paranoid: no...i just checked online and I could not find anything about the town council mentioning anything in their meetings regarding wheeler. (a moment of silence would've been nice at least). but no. I had to ponder over the very early stores of wheeler, and the neighbors building a house that would "block his view" of the river. so slanted! maybe the writer should've added a bit of how the historic commission agreed with him. (There was some mention of the 82 signatures a bit on his petition.)
See, that is weird. You would think they would have said something by now, pass a resolution, whatever. Maybe that is their version of a moment of silence.
Oh, by the way, I looked up "The Steadfast Tin Soldier," and for those not up on their Hans Christian Anderson tales, it is a story about a one-legged tin soldier who falls in love with a one-legged paper dancer. He is carried away into a series of tragic misadventures, and finally ends up back with the paper doll. I think a gust of wind comes up and blows her into the fireplace, and someone throws him in.
Anyway, she burns up right away and he melts slowly into the shape of . . .
a heart.
I sometimes wonder if the inscrutable :) knows more than he is saying.
I got that feeling, too.
:), are YOU the ballerina??????
;^)
Randall:
I think JPW was the kind of person that saw things either right or wrong with very few maybe's. And he would seek justice no matter who or what.
Yeah, Randall, I think the same thing as Cinch...whomever you are. :-)
fullostrich-It could of been his love for the historical land and justice. LOL and by the way I am a female :)
Puget and Cinch,
Both very interesting scenarios. Have you ever considered doing novels or screenwriting? I haven't read the Long Gray Line, so I don't understand cinch's reference to the shoe, except that it may have been some kind of signal.
My initial reaction to the shoe was that either he had injured his foot in a scuffle or fall, and it had swollen too much to keep the shoe on, or that the shoe itself was damaged in whatever incident. I later thought perhaps he had been using it as a defensive weapon, and recently considered that he may have simply stepped into an icy puddle of slush, and was trying to dry it out. Even if more heavily dressed for the weather, plunging your foot into icy slush will get you real cold fast, and JW mentioned wanting to warm up to the garage attendant.
I'm not convinced that his behavior in the garage on the 29th or on the afternoon of the 30th was "typical Jack," and I don't know if we can put any credence into anything he was reported to say, whether in some sort of intentional code, or at the other extreme, delusional, or something in between.
Bilrux, I have a J.D. (that's journalism degree) that's gathering dust on the shelf. Also, I have been working on a screenplay, and one of my reasons for following this case was to gain some experience with how murder plots are put together. And this one was as interesting as any I've read.
The shoe was I'm pretty sure first mentioned by What-If. He thought Wheeler was doing that to throw off the cadence of his footsteps, to confuse a would-be follower.
I like the icy puddle of slush idea, that is very easy to do.
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