Ruh-Roh: Former Bush Aide Murdered, Body Found in Delaware Landfill
Posted on | January 3, 2011 | 17 Comments
There is probably no political angle to this story:
A man who fought to get the Vietnam Veterans Memorial built and served in two Bush administrations was murdered, Delaware police say.
John P. Wheeler III, 66, was found dead in a Delaware landfill, and his death has been ruled a homicide by Newark, Del., police. They are asking the public for leads in the case.
Wheeler’s body was found in Wilmington on Friday after a disposal truck containing his body made pickups in Newark.
Wheeler, who lived in New Castle, was chairman of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund during the Ronald Reagan era. He also held many high-profile government positions after graduating from West Point in 1966.
No reason to speculate about this crime. Just let the police do their work. Nevertheless, we can expect that conspiracy theorists will offer all kinds of arcane explanations.
UPDATE: More from the Wilmington (Del.) News-Journal:
Friends and neighbors were shocked to learn Wheeler had been murdered.
“This is just not the kind of guy who gets murdered,” said Bayard Marin, a Wilmington attorney who represented Wheeler. “This is not the kind of guy you find in a landfill.”
Wheeler worked in Washington, D.C. and investigators have determined he was on an Amtrak train from Washington to Wilmington on Tuesday, said Newark police Lt. Mark Farrall.
“The last place they can put him is getting off the Amtrak train in Wilmington,” Farrall said.
UPDATE II: Local news video via the Political Carnival:
Former Bush Aide Found Dead In Landfill: MyFoxPHILLY.com
UPDATE III: James Fallows at The Atlantic Monthly was a friend of Wheeler and notes that Wheeler had been pushing to bring ROTC back to Ivy League campuses.
Now a Memeorandum thread with commentary by Gateway Pundit.
UPDATE IV: Fallows is now upset that Fox describes Wheeler as a “Bush aide” — no, Fallows insists, Wheeler was a good person.
Nudge, nudge.
UPDATE V: Yale Law grad Instapundit points out that Wheeler was a fellow Yalie. Conspiracy theorists can now add Skull and Bones to their list of suspects.