This also assumes that Wheeler would ever consider committing a crime. I mean this guy was extremely bright. The injuries Wheeler sustained simply could not have been the result of his being harmed by a trash truck. #unsolvedmysteries.". Related:Unsolved Mysteries: What To Expect From Volume 3. He was then seen asking for a ride to Wilmington, DE, searching unsuccessfully for his car in the wrong parking garage. Your Privacy Choices: Opt Out of Sale/Targeted Ads. Here's everything we know about who killed Jack Wheeler, plus details on the White House aide and exclusive intel from series co-creator and executive producer Terry Meurer. }); He moved easily among Washington's elite, working most recently as a military consultant. Jack served in the Vietnam War and after he came back he began planning a memorial for all who fought and died there. What Happened To Jack Wheeler Unsolved Mysteries Case? Grandmother with dementia died from face wound neglected by staff for days. So either someone robbed him of it and set off the smoke bombs or he did it. ", Klyce believes that Wheeler was in the midst of a bipolar episodebut also says she believes her husband was targeted for some reason. His death was ruled a homicide caused by assault and blunt force trauma, and his body was later traced to a dumpster in Newark, Del., more than 13 miles away from where he was last seen in Wilmington. I still like season 2 but it kinda feels like the detective work is lacking a bit. In 2011, Kathy Klyce told Slate that she suspects the murder was a hired hit. He saw a therapist and took medication. Everything Unsolved Mysteries Leaves Out About Tiffany Valiante's Death eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), Washington Insider Murder: The Death of Jack Wheeler - YouTube A neighbor, Robert Dill, reported the potential burglary when he noticed the second floor window of Jack's house was open. The former aide of President George W. Bush . This would also explain the heart attack Wheeler suffered, as he could have either had it during the night of December 30th and been left too weak to leave the dumpster when it was picked up or had it while his body was being crushed by the compactor. To add to the confusion, a couple of days before Wheelers body was found, somebody had set off smoke bombs at a construction site across the street from his house. "What's important now is to establish the location of the crime.". In light of the case getting attention again as part ofUnsolved Mysteries Volume Two, many have been sharing their theories online of what could have happened to Jack. Jack's autopsy was performed the day he was found. "The way they disposed of his body, its a miracle anybody ever found it. 3. But at this point, he said, police have no information about Wheeler's whereabouts that week. The footage clearly shows that he was distressed and agitated, looking over his shoulders and into corners every few seconds as if he was scared that somebody would jump out. 'Unsolved Mysteries Vol 2': Who Picked Up Jack Wheeler From the He was bad at directions and orientation but he could have also been very agitated and that's why he couldn't figure out which parking garage he was in. That just sounds like a pro to me.". Jack was working in the area of cybersecurity. Despite having Bipolar disorder, John Jack Parsons Wheeler III, had built an unprecedented resume in 66 years. Never even addressed this and the journalist thought those minutes were the biggest mystery. On December 31, 2010, at 9:56 a.m., Jack Wheelers body was found dumped in the Cherry Island Landfill in Wilmington, Delaware, a place where he had no business being at that point in time. Investigators said his body was disposed of in a dumpster. Someone attempted to set the house across the street from Wheelers residence on fire that night. }); ", A third agreed, writing: "Who drove Jack from the pharmacy to the parking garage? Who Is Hasnat Khan, Princess Dianas Boyfriend on Season 5 of The Crown. But the question still remains as to why Jack was in Newark or a dumpster. The first episode of Unsolved Mysteries Volume 2 centers on the murder of Jack Wheeler, a Washington insider and former aide to . It is possible, however, that the stress of his briefcase and phone disappearing may have triggered a manic episode. Ex-Presidential Aide's Body Found in Landfill - ABC News Several people approach him because he appears disoriented or confused. But because there was video footage of Jack from days before his estimated date of death seemingly not acting himself, it brought more questions into the fray. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. What happened to John 'Jack' Wheeler and how did he die? The body of John Wheeler III, also known as Jack Wheeler, was discovered . }); That in and of itself seemed strange lol. 3:30 p.m. Wheeler is spotted in the area of 10th and Orange streets in Wilmington. The person driving the car panicked and hid the body in the nearest dumpster, that would explain the extreme injuries and that he wasn't robbed. Some theories suggest that he was on the run from something or someone and had decided to climb into the dumpster himself to get some warmth for the night. The consensus of homicide stems largely in part from severe injuries to Wheeler's body: blunt force trauma, broken ribs, and contusions on his face. He also, interestingly, asked for train fare, despite refusing the offer of a cab from parking attendants the night before. Murphy's 1-year-old daughter, Jacklyn "Angel" Dobbs, remains missing. ga('ads.send', { Could be useful. Apparently, he spent the night and part of the day there. Hours later, he was seen in an office building unconnected to him, wandering around, staying the night, camouflaging himself in a hoodie, and walking away. if(document.querySelector("#google_image_div")){ After Wheeler spent Christmas with his family in 2010, on December 28, he left New York to go back to Washington DC. Farrall said that Wheeler, who who has homes in Washington, D.C., and in New Castle, Del., was scheduled to take a train from Washington to Wilmington on Dec. 28. You may be able to find the same content in another format, or you may be able to find more information, at their web site. Without Jacks phone, all the investigators had was video surveillance to track him. 'Unsolved Mysteries': Theories Behind Jack Wheeler's Disappearance & Death Got there and didnt recognize anything since he was already terrible with directions and was quite possibly in the middle of a mental break. There's also the fact that muggers who kill their victims usually don't bother with hiding the body, much less transporting it 15 miles out of their way to a dumpster in another city. His wife claimed that he had been independently investigating the construction project and might have stumbled across a secret worth killing for as part of the investigation. Some Redditors in the mainUnsolved Mysteriesthread believe Wheeler was exhibiting symptoms of early onset dementia, a disease that Wheeler's bipolar disorder could have predispositioned him to. Klyce maintains Wheeler's death was a hired hit. A lot of people claim to be patriots. Netflix owes us answers after that ending. New York, "'I thought it was a little odd,' says [a hacker he spoke to]. But Meurer says this is not the case. According to Today, the coroner's report said Murphy . #UnsolvedMysteries. Another theory is that Wheeler, either confused or making an effort to throw off his pursuers, sought shelter in a dumpster in Newark. He didnt beat himself up.". How Shanann Watts' Family Feels About Netflix's, Love True Crime? Powered by WordPress.com VIP. Dill also reported a bare footprint. While this theory might explain Wheeler going into hiding and the disappearance of his briefcase, it explains little else regarding the odd circumstances of his death. His body was later crushed by the compactor of the garbage truck that picked up his dumpster, resulting in the blunt force trauma that caused his death. Wheeler was, at the time, embroiled in a legal battle against the houses construction, and his cell phone was found there after his death. He said his cell was stolen but it was across the street. Wheeler had notified Mitre his phone was missing but didn't tell his wife or the police. By clicking Sign Up, I confirmthat I have read and agreeto the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. The autopsy report doesn't correlate with someone getting crushed by a compactor. eventAction: 'click_image_ads' ga('ads.send', { An autopsy found that he was a victim of homicide, but police are not releasing any details of the medical report. Episode One of Netflix's Unsolved Mysteries Volume Two details the death of a former Pentagon official and presidential aide. "So we do know who that was, and they did not have anything to do with his disappearance.. }); One of the more disturbing aspects of Wheeler's case was that he apparently had some kind of medical episode during the two days he was wandering the streets of Wilmington. Trash car drivers told investigators that it was fairly common that people would climb into a dumpster to find some warmth in the winter. Whenever possible, actual redditors have participated in investigating the events. DOWNLOAD THE FOX 32 CHICAGO APP FOR BREAKING NEWS ALERTS. Jan. 3, 2011— -- John Wheeler fought for dignity and honor for the fallen of the Vietnam War. Create an account to follow your favorite communities and start taking part in conversations. I thought I was the only one to think of this. He was the chairman in charge of strategy guidance for the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund and served as a senior planner for Amtrak. We know that the 66-year-old husband and father's body was discovered in a Delaware landfill on Dec. 31, one day after his disappearance. Everything Unsolved Mysteries Leaves Out About The Jack Wheeler Murder Case The footage shows him walking toward Rodney Square at around 8:40 p.m. (opens in new tab)Wheeler's body was found on December 31, 2010, in a landfill, under mysterious circumstances. NY 10036. Jack Wheeler was a graduate of Yale, Harvard, and West Point, a military consultant, and served as a special assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force under Presidents Ronald Reagan, George H.W. This would seem to be the most logicalscenario given Wheeler's employment history and status as a Washington DC insider with a high-level security clearance. That's why it is so sad and ironic, his friends say, that he himself would be murdered, and his body dumped with the garbage into a landfill not far from his home. eventCategory: event.slot.getSlotElementId(), True crime docuseries Unsolved Mysteries Volume Two, now available on Netflix, kicks off with a disturbing first episode. He told the people in the parking garage that his briefcase had been stolen. "His family was travelling, so no one reported him missing," Farrall said. Wheeler's autopsy also revealed that he had suffered a heart attack, but still listed the cause of his death as blunt force trauma. Murphy was a 2018 graduate of Stevenson High School and lived with her daughter at the apartment building, Wheeling police said. Why would someone break into your house, destroy your spice rack and throw your Comet all around? On December 28, he left his home in the morning, telling his wife that he had to go to Washington D.C. for some important work, not unusual considering how busy he liked to keep himself. WHEELING, Ill. - A 21-year-old mother who was found murdered in Wheeling this week was strangled to death, according to autopsy results released Thursday afternoon. The chief problem with this theory is that few believe Wheeler would have sought shelter in a garbage dumpster, even if he were afraid of being watched on the street, after spending most of his first night on the run in the basement of an office building. Family, friends, and investigators express in the episode their hope that someone has information about what happened to Wheeler in his final days. Unsolved Mysteries: Every Jack Wheeler Death Theory, Explained, Unsolved Mysteries: What To Expect From Volume 3, Everything Unsolved Mysteries Leaves Out About The Oslo Plaza Woman, Unsolved Mysteries: How The Original Series Is Still Solving Cases, Why Unsolved Mysteries On Netflix Doesn't Have A Host. "The home construction dispute is one aspect we are considering," Farrall said. During his mental break, he might have made a pass at one or both of the guys who was . And how could it have happened without him? He didn't seem panicked at all to us, maybe senile or in a confused manic state which would explain losing his possessions. However, the main problem with this theory is that Wheeler wasn't robbed: He still was wearing an expensive watch and his West Point ring when his body was found. Write a request for the autopsy report. Curiously, Wheeler did not call the police regarding the break-in or the theft. On the evening of December 29, Wheeler was seen at his local pharmacy in New Castle, where he asked several people if they could give him a ride to Wilmington. Clueless and 8 Mile star Brittany Murphy was only 32 years old when she passed away from what her autopsy declared was pneumonia. Wheeler was last seen alive on surveillance video inside the Nemours. He oversaw Jacks property, so when he noticed that a second-floor window was open, he decided to check it out. America is trying to figure out: How does a prominent government figure show up dead in a landfill like trash? The problem is that theres nothing to connect those parts of his bio to his actual murder.. Reply Bing987 . He was beaten and thrown around in such a way that he had several severe injuries all over his body. Getty Images. Therefore, the authorities decided to retrace his last few days alive, which was initially thought to be relatively easy, since Jack rarely went anywhere without his cellphone and briefcase in hand. As listed in his report, a few of them are hemorrhage, contusion, punctured lungs, broken ribs, aspiration of blood, external neck injury, bruises to the face and orbital bones, and laceration. While Jack Wheeler was not a munitions expert, it still seems unlikely he would make such a rudimentary mistake given how meticulous he was in all other aspects of his work. Another theory (which is favored by Wheeler's wife) is that Wheeler was killed by a hitman in the employ of corrupt politicians in New Castle, whom Wheeler was close to exposing. The actress opens up about the surreal process of playing the Lark in the Netflix fantasy prequel. On the one hand, some people say, as the result of a bipolar episode, Wheeler could have been confused and disoriented, and therefore made a seemingly odd decisionsuch as climbing into a dumpster for warmth in the middle of the night. Internet theories surrounding Jacks case range from a random downtown mugging to a secret government assassination plot. Theories ranged from a professional hit in relation to Jack's job, or one of his previous positions, to his neighbours being responsible.More #UnsolvedMysteries cases: JoAnn Romain: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlyvrBvUkLoTsunami Spirits: https://youtu.be/e4ohyRvcuxUAlonzo Brooks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vuJo7HDMeqoJoin the Internet Mystery Sleuths Discord server: https://discord.gg/QC36rVT He holds both an MS in Information Science from the University of North Texas and a BFA from the University of Texas at Arlington. We're at the Cherry Island Landfill in Wilmington, Delaware where on December 31, 2010 landfill employees discovered a body of a man dumped there. Content warning: violence. Like those would be some of the first people I would talk to. }); But his many public accomplishments were considered even more impressive when considering his personal plights: Wheeler was diagnosed with depression and bipolar disorder. Investigators believe he must have left DC and went home to New Castle the same day as the smoke bomb incident. Murphy was discovered during a well-being check by Wheeling police after she failed to report to work on Tuesday. Wheeler's body was discovered New Year's Eve as it was being dropped from a Newark, Del., city Dumpster into the Cherry Island landfill in Wilmington. So, Which Band Inspired 'Daisy Jones & The Six'? "He left the pharmacy, and there was a couple there, a man and a woman, and he asked them if they could give him a ride to Wilmington, and they did, and they dropped him off there. However, while this theory seems plausible on the surface, it does nothing to explain some of the odder aspects of the case, such as why Jack Wheeler's phone was found at the arson site across the street from his home. Who Was John "Jack" Wheeler? | Updates to Jack Wheeler Death | Marie Claire More:Why Unsolved Mysteries On Netflix Doesn't Have A Host. In the garage surveillance footage, Wheeler seemed distressed and agitated. hitType: 'event', Wheeler's body was discovered December 31, 2010 in the Cherry Island Landfill in Wilmington, Delaware. Also whats up with the sword and shield on his kitchen floor powdered with comet or something? In his later years, Wheeler had become particularly focused on a house that was being built across the street from him in New Castle, DE, that had also been a battleground in the Revolutionary War. They specialize in stuff like artificial intelligence, satellite systems for the military. My wife suggested something that I thought fit the details given, maybe while he was meandering around Newark he wandered out into the street and was hit by a car, he was dressed in all black. What Happened to Xavier Dupont de Ligonns? He was trying to stay out of sight because someone might have been following him.". Ahead, we're showcasing the best fashion and beauty looks you can recreate now. }); Later on, Jack worked as the special assistant to the secretary of the Air Force, Mike Wynne, and was a national security consultant to the defense firm Mitre Corporation in the cybersecurity area. Geez. Roughly forty minutes later, Wheeler was seen on another security camera in a Wilmington parking garage, looking disheveled and holding one of his shoes. eventAction: 'click_adunit' Press J to jump to the feed. However, those who knew Wheeler best say this wasn't too out of character; he was constantly getting lost and forgetting things, and apparently had a terrible sense of direction. On December 31, 2010 the body of John "Jack" Wheeler III was discovered in a Delaware landfill after it had come off of a dump truck. Phone records show that he worked in DC for only a day. Wheeler worked in the cybersecurity division of Mitre Corp. Wheeler accomplished a lot in public service. In the end, nothing about who could have possibly wanted to harm Jack in such a way was found. Another relevant detail is that Wheeler suffered from bipolar disorder. A Washington insider with an exemplary career as a soldier and security expert, Wheeler's beaten and bruised body was found in a landfill in Wilmington, Delaware. Who Killed Jack Wheeler III? Jack Wheeler Unsolved Mysteries Case Death You can follow his adventures on Twitter, @senseistarman. Given the nature of his work and the circumstances of his death, there are no shortage of theories regarding who might have wanted to kill Jack Wheeler, though the evidence in the case is wildly contradictory in regards to the most-likely suspects. Some conspiracy theorists have connected Wheeler's death to various theories regarding government corruption in Washington DC. I think he might have pissed someone off, his wife Kathy told the Washington Post in 2017, and I think his movements reflected that. The neighbor called the police to report a burglary in the Wheelers home, but the police had just before been notified of Jack Wheelers beaten bodystill endowed with his West Point ring and Rolexwhich had been discovered in a landfill by a truck driver. He also considered it a sacrilege to the memory of the soldiers to whom the park was dedicated. He reached his destination, worked for the day, and then left to go to New Castle, his second home, for the night. Visit our corporate site. The strangest thing, though, was the state of his New Castle home and the evidence found near there. For what it's worth, Klyce believes her husband's death was a planned assassination. Investigators soon found Jacks phone, but it was in the under-construction house across the street, making them think that maybe Jack had set off those smoke bombs. In fact, he didnt communicate with either of them for the rest of his time alive. Wheeler considered the construction "sacrilegious" and was in the process of filing legal challenges against the homeowners. On the morning his body was discovered, his neighbor called the police to report a burglary at his place. Still, his murder remains an utter mystery, and it is unclear whether the property dispute is related to Wheeler's death. Netflixs Unsolved Mysteries is back again with Volume 2, and it is as intriguing and bone-chilling as ever. Wheeler declines their help. When the dumpster was picked up by a truck, the body ended up at the Cherry Hill landfill, where it was found December 31 (six miles from his home) shortly after the truck dumped out its contents. Investigator Joe Salerno said that since Jack had a very strong network with the government, "he may have been a target of a murder-for-hire type situation. Steve Volk, an investigative journalist, said, "What we know is that at the time of his death, he was working as a consultant for the Mitre Corporation, which is a defense contracting firm. Unsolved Mysteries explored the Washington insider's 2010 death. Taking to Twitter, one fan wrote: "@Unsolved did police interview the guys who gave Jack Wheeler a ride from the pharmacy to parking garage about what they talked about? What happened to Jack Wheeler, and why I don't believe it was - reddit Was Wheeler's a tragic death related to a bipolar episode, a government-sanctioned assassination plot, or as others believe, a random downtown mugging gone wrong? No. A well-educated man, not used to being homeless would not jump in a dumpster night 1 on the streets. "It was definitely homicide," she says. He may also have been seen in a cab. The first episode of Unsolved Mysteries shows evidence photos of the house in a state of disarray: there was a tree indoors, spices and broken dishes in the kitchen, and white Comet powder and Jacks West Point sword and shield on the floor. Proponents of this theory point to the fact that Wheeler's briefcase has never been recovered and that he contacted his employer about the theft but not the police an action he would presumably avoid if he were fearful that classified information had been stolen from his home. I don't deny he suffered from from a manic episode, but both him and Lam got murdered. Wheeler lived in Washington, D.C. and part-time in the historic district of New Castle, Delaware. On December 31, 2010, at 9:56 a.m., Jack Wheeler's body was found dumped in the Cherry Island Landfill in Wilmington, Delaware, a place where he had no business being at that point in time.