Unknown John Parsons Wheeler Killer- Delaware- 2010

Just finished this episode, some may be re-telling amw.com case summary but nevertheless:

-It should be noted since it seems a large part of the mystery is John aka Jack Wheeler's having bipolar disorder and whether that had anything to do with this case.

-At the time of his murder, Wheeler was working for a defense contractor named Mitre- and was primarily dealing in cybersecurity

-Wheeler's neighbor noticed his second floor window open and found items strewn and flew all over the house. This was right around the time they found his body in the landfill.

-A smoke bomb was set off at a construction site from Wheeler's house, and his cell phone was found at the scene. Wheeler had been in a dispute with the people building the house- it was being built on a park and he tried to stop it.

-Wheeler had e-mailed Mitre about a break-in in his home where he lost his cell phone key fob etc... but didn't notify police or his wife.

-On Dec. 29th, he's seen asking people at a pharmacy in New Castle for a ride to Wilmington. His car is parked near an Amtrak station (he had went to NY around Christmas for work)

-He winds up in the wrong garage and is seen without a shoe looking distressed, wandering around and telling a garage attendant his briefcase has been stolen.

-He's later seen wandering around an office building where it's believed he likely slept in the basement. He's seen on video leaving in a black hoodie he had never been seen wearing before, he's last seen alive in front of a hotel in Wilmington

-The actual dumpster Parsons was in before being found in the landfill is traced back to Newark, Delaware where he seemingly had no known connections or reasons for being there. Even though the manner of death is officially ruled a homicide by autopsy, there's apparently a theory that the autopsy got it wrong and this wasn't a homicide- and that Wheeler wandered into a dumpster to sleep and died from impact injuries after the dumpster went into the garbage truck. Those who know him say the brutal injuries described in the autopsy dispute this theory. (It should be stressed this case is OFFICIALLY considered a homicide by authorities and the FBI, just there seems to be a theory that this wasn't a homicide after all and Wheeler actually died as a result of winding up in a garbage truck through his own bipolar episode).

-While one would think this may have been a random robbery- there's a couple things to dispute this- for one the way he was disposed seemed very deliberate for just a random crime- someone wanted to make sure he was never seen again if they placed Wheeler in that dumpster. Not to mention, his rolex and West Point ring were not taken and he still has cash in his wallet. Additionally, his briefcase has never been found.



I admit- this is a bizarre case. My theory is that Wheeler was having some sort of manic episode and perhaps he came into contact with someone who tried to take advantage and they didn't take anything because they killed him in a state of panic. Or perhaps it was simply someone annoyed by Wheeler for whatever reason during a manic episode- people fly into rages for the stupidest reasons and even being asked for a ride could have set them off- perhaps they didn't like the way Wheeler asked or maybe they refused to give him a ride and Wheeler got upset and they got upset too or something. But by my own admission it's really a "throwing it out there" theory and one I'm not confident in.

There's some evidence to support someone being after him- but Wheeler's bipolar disorder also compounds the mystery. Then there's also the very plausible theory imo about the garbage truck- I know no one wants to think that but the garbage truck they showed was rather huge and vast- but the case is officially considered a homicide and not an undetermined death like other controversial death cases.