Pentagon and defense operations must zero in on a problem and bypass the red herrings when seeking solutions; Law enforcement has to do the same thing in a murder investigation like that of John P, Wheeler III. Red herrings in the John Wheeler case include too much of a focus on his alleged erratic behavior and more.
John P. Wheeler's murder investigation by Newark, Delaware Police Department can't afford to get sidelined by red herrings in this case. They must eliminate those herrings and, like a horse, whose owner has blinders on him to keep him from seeing cars to his left or right, police must put on the blinders a bit.
John P. Wheeler case red herrings
Red herrings in the Pentagon and ex-Bush aide case include John's erratic behavior. The Delaware police have stated that they know of no known mental or physical health conditions that would have caused it.
We'll take them at their word and move on, realizIng that John was given something and realized it--thus not wanting to seek LE help for fear they would assume he took it willingly, or thought he was drunk. Or the former Army officer wasn't sure what was causing his behavior or couldn't think logically to deal with it at the time.
Either way, John P. Wheeler's erratic behavior is now a red herring in this case.
Wheeler's dirtied coat sleeve, shoeless foot and inability to remember where his car was parked are red herrings to investigators trying to solve the crime, now. Sure they need to know that information but that's it; don't dwell there.
Police have to sweep that aside and focus on these facts: John had lucid communication with peers and friends and his attorney as late as Dec. 28th.
Another red herring--how John got from Point A (Wilmington AMTRAK station) to Point B (the Pharmicist in Wilmington) to Point C (the New Castle County Courthouse) to Point D (Hotel du Pont) and on to Point E (Nemours Building) is throwing investigators off their game.
John Wheeler's transportation method isn't the issue other than to tie into his murder, since his body was most definitely transported some distance from his last known location.
When Newark, Delaware investigators in the John P. Wheeler case sweep away the red herrings, what do they have left?
Facts minus the red herrings
Newark PD have a man making it into town on the day he was expected to and dead three days later.
They have someone in his home who wore workboots and had John's television up on a high level for days, but remained "unseen" by his neighbors.
Wheeler's death investigators have knowledge that John was not imprisoned at any point from the time he arrived in Wilmington on the 28th until he was last seen at the Nemours Building.
The former Army officer moved about freely and chose not to go to his residence--staying at Hotel du Pont, in his own words.
John Wheeler had money, sufficient enough to pay for a hotel and carry around $120 on his person, obviously.
Newark, Delaware police know that John Wheeler was used to asking others for a ride; Phobe and Robert Dill, his friends who took him to the train station to catch the train to NY on Christmas Eve to see his wife in NY told us that.
Law enforcement personnel in Delaware also have the knowledge about the exact cause of death of John P. Wheeler III and the exact time of death, which they aren't sharing with the general public. So they have enough information to successfully work this case.
Red herrings in this case make for titillating media conversation, but when it is all said and done John P. Wheeler's murder investigation won't be solved by focusing on the red herrings.
Many investigations are littered with these "this doesn't really help us by focusing exclusively on this" scenarios. This isn't the first case with red herrings. So John Wheeler acted a little erratic; It's more important to look at the places he stopped that day instead of how he was when he was there.
Follow the trail of evidence in the John P. Wheeler case for yourself.
Start with an initial profile of the former Army officer, look at the dynamics of the Vietnam veteran and his family and recent real estate issue, before hearing what John P. Wheeler's neighbors said about him. Then peruse the limited role of the FBI to date, John Wheeler's 'homeless' look as it pertains to the investigation--and how that doesn't line up with the John Wheeler everyone knew, and the media's role in painting him anything but John Wheeler, the labored and lucid. And you will see that the likely reason John Wheeler ended up in a dumpster in Newark all boils down to the recent John P. Wheeler evidence shared by police on Thursday of this week. And don't forget to share your thoughts afterward, so we can compare profiling notes.
References: Delaware Online, NPR, Associated Press, ABC News, USA Today, News Journal, CBS
Comments
The parking lot says he asked for directions to the "old hotel". Surely this means the historic Hotel du Pont. He changed clothes during his two days downtown. Randell, please try to pin down whether stayed overnight there. On a related subject - the Nemours building - next to the Hotel du Pont, has been referred to as the duPont HQ in several articles. It may have been built by duPont, but it has many tenants including a health club and small movie theatre. It should be noted that the lobby and second floor and even some winding hallways have relatively unrestricted access. Mr. Wheeler would have been here to stay warm - not to discuss revealing chemical secrets with duPont officials.
My gut tells me he was there for other reasons Dela-Matt than "just to stay warm." I'm not supporting others' theories on why he was there other than to keep warm--including the DuPont one you mention--I'm just saying John P. Wheeler wasn't coming in out of the cold when he had a house he could have returned to that night.
"staying at Hotel du Pont, in his own words." Everything I've read so far says that police don't know where he spent the night.
Regarding his being lucid. He didn't seem to know where his car was even thought it was parked in a lot where he had a monthly contract. That indicates to me that something was wrong inside his head. Had he recently parked in the courthouse garage? Why did he go there looking for his car?
I'm not sure any of the questions of his whereabouts and means of transportation are really red-herrings. Clearly, there are some things going on which have not been made public. We still haven't been given a cause of death. We may never know.
Why did Wheeler decline to go to law enforcement if he had been robbed?
Why was his cell phone discovered at his neighbor's house where two "smoke bombs" had been detonated?
Why was the TV on with the sound blaring for days? For how many days?
Which of the 10 candidate dumpsters have been conclusively ruled out?
How long had he been dead?
"The Delaware police have stated that they know of no known mental or physical health conditions that would have caused it."
In other words, family and friends thought John was in good mental and physical health.
Which tells us a lot, Anonymous from DC. Thanks for reading and commenting.
"Another red herring--how John got from Point A (Wilmington AMTRAK station) to Point B (the Pharmicist in Wilmington) to Point C (the New Castle County Courthouse) to Point D (Hotel du Pont) and on to Point E (Nemours Building) is throwing investigators off their game."
Have you actually looked at a map?
The New Castle County Courthouse, Nemours Building, and Dupont Hotel are in downtown Wilmington, a matter of blocks away from each other. The Happy Harrys Walgreens is in New Castle, seven blocks from John's private residence.
The unanswered questions thus far are (a) how he got from the pharmacy in New Castle to downtown Wilmington so quickly; (b) how he became so mentally debilitated, and (c) how he went from downtown Wilmington to a dumpster in Newark.
You must have missed the previous article detailing the seven miles--and 30 minute time span--between John's visit to the pharmacy and his appearance at the courthouse, Anonymous in DC. But don't sweat it. And just because only a few blocks separate locations in a victim's known sightings should never make you assume they walked. Don't assume anything in a murder case. It will derail your investigation.
Listen to what the police say and watch what they do: they interviewed a cab driver. This is significant.
Hi Radell,
Mr. Wheeler would not be able to walk from the Amtrak Station in Wilmington to his house in Old New Castle (historic district). He would be able to walk from his house to Happy Harry's Pharmacy in the newer section of New Castle.
Maybe he hitched a ride back into Wilmington from the pharmacy to look for his car. Once there, the New Castle County Courthouse, Hotel Dupont, and Nemours Building are all within walking distance of each other. Someone else noted that the Nemours Bldg (where he was last seen on the 30th) has a movie theater, shops, etc. Some time after the Dupont company moved out, several floors were converted to apartments. I've wondered if he stayed with someone he knew in the Nemours Bldg, where he changed his clothes? That or the Hotel Dupont, which is right next door.
I believe he may have had a small stroke which caused the disorientation, and some Wilmington street thugs robbed him in his confused state once he left the Nemours Bldg. and dumped his body in Newark. Either that, or the person(s) he was staying with in Wilm. did him in.
Thank you for your coverage. I am seeing all the places around me that are in this story in a new light. I'm almost afraid to go out at night now!
"I've wondered if he stayed with someone he knew in the Nemours Bldg, where he changed his clothes? That or the Hotel Dupont, which is right next door."
Based on observations made the afternoon/evening before his death, it is my opinion he never changed clothes and had bloodshot eyes because he wandered the night (perhaps even a few nights).
Wilmingtonian you are so good and may not even know it! I would give you a golden goose if I had one, but I do encourage you to keep on observing and analyzing cases like this, as you have touched on something no one has picked up on yet: John possibly changed his clothes at someone else's residence or hotel room. I've been waiting for someone to draw that conclusion.
And you should be cautious when you go out.
Is there public transportation from near Happy Harry's Pharmacy to near the courthouse? If not, someone gave him a ride. Have they come forward? 30 minutes travel indicates to me that he got a ride very shortly after he left the pharmacy.
Do you have the address of the pharmacy? Google turned up multiple locations, none of which appear to be close to his home.
Actually, Anonymous in DC, reports have already published saying he did change his clothes between two of the days he was sighted.
Hey Hetware, I thought of public transportation, too. DART is the bus system here. I bet there is a bus that goes straight up RTE 13 to from New Castle to Rodney Square in downtown Wilmington. I bet the police have looked into it. There is no train that I know of that will go from New Castle to Wilmington. It true that he's never be able to walk that distance in the short amount of time. Especially since there is major construction on the way out of Wilmington in the direction of New Castle. It's not an area equipped for walking as it is. And now it's loaded with construction vehicles and cement blockades. So you are right, he must have gotten a ride just after leaving the pharmacy.
I know the pharmacy was a Happy Harry's (AKA Walgreens) and the closest one to his house is 740 Ferry Cut-Off New Castle, DE 19720. It's less than a mile away from his home.
What is the significance that the court turned down Wheelers request for an injunction against the building across the street on Dec 13th - the day he parked his car in the garage (and never returned for). Was he trying to mislead certain neighbors that he was or was not in residence in DE during that time. Was it he who had the TV blaring? We KNOW he was in DE on Dec 24 (neighbors gave him a lift to the train station to go to NY to see his wife) and don't the police keep saying that they haven't found any confirmation that he was on the train on the 28th when he was supposed to be?
Could his movements around DE during the holidays be purposely murky?
As far as the murder goes, the Marinis would be great candidates to suspect, but heck, they were winning the litigations, so what could have been the motive there?
this case has a lot in common with the ronni chasen murder, if you solve one, you'll solve both.
The "change" of clothes may have been nothing more than adding a jacket. Someone could have given him that when he was complaining of being cold. According to reports, the change consisted of his being seen in a hooded windbreaker.
The second parking lot worker to be interviewed said Wheeler asked for directions to the old hotel. But the first worker interviewed said quite clearly that he asked for directions to the oh oh hotel (play the interview if you doubt me), and that she didn't know which hotel that would be. I wonder if he was asking for directions to the HoJo Hotel (there's one in Newark) and was misunderstood.
I believe the information disclosed stated "a change of clothes" and the PD wouldn't say it if it wasn't a real clothes change, not just a jacket.
I like your potential take on the HoJo possible misunderstanding. It's worth exploring and a good investigator would follow up on that with this witness.
If it's true he attempted the arson, maybe he knew he was going to get busted and was attempting to cover it up. And all the strange activity was a ploy to make him appear mentally insane. His friend from West Point mentioned that he was passionate about honor and right and wrong. Any personal link to the arson would have been a major disgrace. Maybe his death was a suicide.
I hope not though. He seems too smart to attempt such a cover up. You'd think one would be better orchestrated. But smart people often do dumb things.
Hi Hugh Jass and thanks for reading!
Police have said it is a homicide, so you can definitely throw the suicide option off the table. John P. "Jack" Wheeler was a victim of foul play on 12/30th or early 12/31st.
Attempting to light up the wrong home can get you killed, as many cases of arson lead to the arsonists own death during the act--and retaliation, of course, can always be an option, although it isn't being stated as such by police.
PD in Newark are holding their cards close in this one, for sure. There's no telling what they know that John Q Public doesn't. I think they already have "their man" so to speak, but they are seeking to get all the ducks in a row and the public's disclosures of sightings and knowledge can help with that.
One thing I'll add that I thought a little unusual that I haven't seen anyone else mention:
If you look at the video surveillance in the parking garage, after Wheeler closes the door, it appears that he purposely looks up at the camera and throws his arms up in the air. By purposely looking up at the camera, he knows it's there and is aware that he is being monitored.
Charlie, the FBI hasn't refused to investigated. They provide help as a result of being invited into the case by the investigating agency. They have expressed their willingness to be more involved if invited. As for the rest of your theory, um, no on that, too.
Radell, I was wrong about the windbreaker. It was a hooded zip up sweatshirt that I had read about. This is from today's USAtoday:
On Dec. 29, Wheeler entered the parking garage wearing what appeared to be a sports coat. The next day, Wheeler was spotted wearing a dark colored zip-up hooded sweatshirt, police Lt. Mark Farrall said.
Unfortunately some media discrepancies exist on details and the exact case information is never released in its entirety to the public, "Interested."
I say that just so you realize that one media outlet may hear: "dark colored zip-up hooded sweatshirt" and another might here "purple galoshes" and the speaker may not have said either...kind of like telling a joke that gets changed a zillion times by the time you hear it again.
But lets say that Wheeler changed clothes: that indicates he had the access to do so and the clothes to change into.
Lets say he didn't change clothes: wearing the jacket but wearing the same clothes two days in a row shows he was prohibited from changing for some reason, but not enough to endanger him, since he did have on a jacket to keep warm now.
The clothes issue is another red herring; it tells us nothing about his murder other than the fact that John was in control of his own life until we lose him on the camera radars at 8:30 p.m.
I don't think this was an accident at all. I think there is a great possibility that John P. Wheeler may have sought out places to make unusual comments and to get captured on video cameras--at these specific locations--for the very reason we know talk about his case now: to provide a timeline. I can see no other logical explanation for his behavior.
Also, sorry for my previous typos. I really should have proof read...
Hugh Jass- I know what you mean about thing where he looked at the camera and threw his arms up. He did that just a few seconds before we lost track of him that night. Do you think that he just noticed the camera, threw his arms up in irritation and left to avoid being monitored any further? Maybe he was hiding and feared being watched? I wonder if that's why he slipped off the radar for the next five hours.
ResidentDE, yeah, one theory could be that this was just one big acting job on Wheeler's part. He may have known all along that he was on camera and purposely wanted to look disoriented, so he could later assert some kind of insanity defense if he really did attempt the arson. I believe the majority of the witnesses, including the parking attendant, said that although he looked disoriented, he didn't have slurred speech and was lucid. If he had a stroke, one would expect his speech to be somewhat garbled. Also, notice in the surveillance when he pushes the elevator button, he hits it dead on first try. This takes manual dexterity.
I really do hope I'm wrong though because he seems like such an honorable citizen with such excellent credentials.
P.S. If Wheeler was looking up at the camera, he may have been trying to communicate to the parking attendant behind the window when he threw his arms up and blurted something.... like, "there I closed the door, happy now!" If he was trying to communicate to her this way, then it tells me he has the wherewithall to do so in this fashion and the knowledge that someone is waching him.
did a little investigating on google maps, the house being built across the street from wheeler's is on land which was part of a city park, until construction began. strange but true!!! 100 w. 3rd st new castle dl. it must recent because the only the satellite view shows the new construction, not the street level.
Good point on the communicating with the parking attendant, Hugh. Didn't think of that. But he didn't look upset with the attendant when he left the window. He pointed at her, but it almost seemed like a "Close the door? Okay. Gotcha." kind of a pointing to me. I could be totally off about the point, though. It's hard to tell with no audio.
I agree that he probably hadn't suffered a stroke or was drunk in any way. It may have been an act. But the arson attempt seems incredibly amateur for a West Point/Harvard/Yale grad. If he did that, he must not have been thinking clearly for some reason. I don't think he was the one who threw the smoke bombs. But if he did attempt the arson and he was acting nuts on purpose, we still need to somehow explain his death and unceremonious dumping.
He may have been a bit disoriented due to lack of sleep or maybe he was in shock from a broken bone. But he could have been afraid of something or someone.
I also read that he had been mumbling something about getting a ride from his brother and something about his mother's recent death. But a neighbor stated that both had been dead for a number of years. Again, could have been an act. It seems like a strange thing to bring up if he was in control of his thoughts.
Does anyone know of any drugs that don't affect your motor skills, but still have some kind of mind altering results? I'm not implying that he consumed any substance on purpose. He didn't seem like a drug user.
There is a whole class of drugs that do not affect motor skills but are extremely mind-altering - the hallucigens like LSD and the like.
Also, watch that opening part where he's talking to the attendant, and then starts to walk away toward the camera but changes his mind. If you hit pause at one point during that movement you can see that there is something in his left ear. Earlier than that you can see the very obvious dark "something" in the opening of his ear. Hearing aids are usually designed to disappear, not show up like that. I wonder if he had a blue tooth gizmo in his ear.
I think the door that's closed is the same door you can see off to the right beyond the attendant's window. When we switch to the other part of the video, we see him in a way that makes it appear that he's going down that corridor right after leaving the window, but I believe time passed, and he's headed down the hallway after walking away from the open door, and is going back to close it. I believe that gesture with his arms (and he appears to say something) is a moment when he's saying something to the attendant (not the camera) because she's right through that interior door he's walking past.
When was the car checked into the garage? After striking out for a ride in New Castle, might he have gone back to the house, picked up his car and driving to Wilmington?
It had been in the parking lot since December 13th.
ResidentDE, What;s your source on the December 13th date? Please.
the News Journal (delawareonline) has a timeline up and Dec 13th is the first date listed - the day he is recorded for parking the car at the train station garage. I remember reading that it was parked there from Dec13 until the police impounded it on 12/31 in one of the many articles that they published. (they are all available online)
After perusing a few new to me articles I came across new to me info. This was found at the DailyBeast. On Dec 26th Wheeler emailed Robbin Laird head of the "defense analysis website where Wheeler worked most recently" to say he was stuck in NY die to the snow and wasn't sure when he could get out. Laird went on to say he wasn't sure when or if Wheeler ever made it to DC.
It probably belongs in the red herring but interesting to note category.
Thinking back, yes if he hadn't left NYC by very early in the day on the 26th, they were pretty incapacitated up in NYC by a pretty large snowstorm. (12"+)
Glad to see all of you mucking forward in this and brainstorming about each other's posts. I, for one, will be curious to see the new vid coming out on this case, and I wonder why the buildup and not an immediate release...and the mention of 3 outfits. More red herrings I'm guessing.
sounds like they gave a viewing of it to the press, but did not "release it" so to speak
repeated mentionings of 3 different outfits now but not saying if that includes what he was found in when his body was discovered. They have previously declined to comment on what clothing he was wearing when found BTW
All the continued mentions of clothing serve to do is drive home the point that he either had the ability to return to his home--and did--during these intervals seen on camera, Delawareme, or that someone was supplying him with changes for some reason (or he had them at another site for some reason).
Clothing changes still don't explain the cause or reason for his murder and are a diversion from the big picture. I'm thinking the PD is keeping the media busy with this "information" as they go about their investigative work. Pretty shrewd of them.
One thing is clear. If some good Samaritan did provide him with clothing they have not come forward - per the PD.
PS: this man was too good to be thrown in a dumpster. It seems symbolic. If this were a CIA "executive action", he would have been treated with more respect. I hope someone checked the flight manifests for flights leaving the US from the east coast. Enough said.
Hetware, I agree. No one should be thrown in a dumpster, but it speaks to the person who put him there: John was trash to him or the trash was the killers only means of body disposal.
If the killer knew him that is going to speak to motive. If he didn't know John, the act speaks to convenience and a lack of effort--or inability to put him anywhere else (or the means to destroy the body), so he dumped him where he could.
The first killer would want him found and remembered this way. He would likely be a peer socially and enjoy such degradation of a man like John. He could harbor great resentment over past attitudes of Johns--or behaviors, possibly even humiliated by him previously.
The second type of killer would be below John's social class (or feel he was), most likely, but highly familiar with streets, cops and those cop shows depicting dead bodies in dumpsters. This killer forgot to remove the ID found on the body; the first killer left it intentionally, wanting John to be "found" and in such a way.
The first killer did the crime with premeditation; the second would be more likely to have happened into it.
Question: If the Newark PD impounded his car on 12/31 can we assume that they ID'ed the body the day it was discovered as it seems they did? If so, why wasn't it until Jan 2 that his house was visited by the PD, and the media told?
Delawareme, point me to the news agency that reported his home was not visited until Jan. 2, please.
delawareonline has Jan 2 as that date on their timeline. same date as they got the ID from the PD
delawareme: Maybe the ID on his body had one of his other two addresses on it. His address for voting purposes was in New Castle, but I've read that he spent more time at his other homes.
I'm sure I'm in a definite minority here, but I wonder if John Wheeler was murdered. It has crossed my mind that the police may have ruled his death a homicide too soon. He could have crawled into the Dumpster. They have sliding doors on the side so he wouldn't have had to crawl over the top. They very easy to get into (I watched someone get into one once, trying to find something he thought had been thrown away by mistake). He was apparently acting out of character, and that could fit in with erratic behavior. He could have been looking for a place to sleep. I think his problems demonstrated in the video and described by witnesses points to a medical condition. How could he have had the misfortune to have turned into a completely different person AND run into a murderer in the space of a few days? Once a cause of death is revealed, I could change course in my thinking immediately, but right now I'm not sold on murder.
crawling onto a dumpster in a city 15 MILES away is unlikely. Besides, if the PD says "homicide" at the ouset, but refuses to disclose the details, you can be sure that it was an obvious cause (gunshot wounds come to mind) that they prefer not to disclose to the public they rarely issue determinations like "homicide" without being darn sure
No, I can't be sure of that, delawareme. I'll be sure when a cause of death is released, and then only if there is something like a gunshot or stabbing or strangling to explain the death. If it's trauma, I wouldn't necessarily buy it because that could have happened in the truck.
Also, the fact the Dumpsters were 15 miles away doesn't mean anything at this point because there was plenty of time to travel that distance, and as we've already seen, Mr. Wheeler was mobile. We just don't know how. He mentioned a rental car to the people at the garage. Perhaps he really had one. There's so much we just don't know.
Delawareonline.com released a story today about Wilmington City Council telling the Wilmington Police Department not to prioritize this case over any other unsolved homicide in the city. I'm afraid that our new coverage will begin to dwindle quickly after a statement like that?
Hey ResidentDE, my article on that, titled "John P. Wheeler case: Wilmington PD goes toe-to-toe with city council" is at the following link:
http://www.examiner.com/criminal-profiles-in-national/john-p-wheeler-cas...
I know some of you looked at what I posted about scopolamine. The way its use by intelligence agencies has been described is as a means of inducing someone to commit a compromising act in order to "neutralize" the victim. I hesitate to reference this, but if you are interested search the net for Chip Tatum and scopolamine. I warn you, it is disturbing stuff. I researched the context rather thoroughly, and came to conclude that Tatum was probably on the up-n-up.
I used to think all of this kind of talk about Waco, OKC, black helicopters, JFK, RFK, MLK, etc., conspiracies was nonsense. Then I was forced to reexamine the evidence. "Black helicopters?" I hear you say. Per Chip Tatum they are the 160th SOAR
I tie in the home across the street to the whole picture.
If Mr. Wheeler was trying to get the house across the street
in some sort of damage or dissaray?
What if, in preparing some explosive. or other device at his
home, he was poisoned by accident?
He had (I would guess), some chemical background, and some
Vietnam training.
Say he was trying something else out at his home, and it went
WRONG.
He is mentally unstable, permanantly.
As he wanders and wanders, getting mugged in the process.
And, then... passes away.
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