Wheeler family again asks for privacy

Newark Police have not released any new information in the murder investigation of John Wheeler of New Castle.  They have released another statement from the family.

Newark Police spokesperson Lt. Mark Farrall was asked by the family to release a second statement.

More coverage:

Timeline narrowed
New details on murder victim’s final hours
Leads, motive sought in murder
Police puzzle over killing

 

“The family of John P. Wheeler III is most grateful for the efforts of the law enforcement authorities in the ongoing investigation into his death. The family is sincerely thankful for all the personal expressions of sympathy and condolences received from so many whose lives were touched by Jack in such positive ways. We reiterate our previous requests for privacy as we mourn his loss and ask that our decision to refrain from further comment at this time be respected.”

It was a week ago today that Wheeler’s body was discovered in a dumpster that had been taken to the Cherry Island landfill. When his body was positively identified on Sunday it set off a week of speculation on Wheeler’s last days and hours leading up to his death.

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One other piece of new information from Farrall concerns the clothing Wheeler was wearing in the two surveilance video.  He says it’s now been determined that Wheeler was wearing a hooded sweat shirt in the Neumors video taken about 8:30pm.  However, a day earlier he was seen wearing a sports coat in the parking garage.

All of the cable news channels have been through Wilmington covering the story. There has been wide spread speculation from many outlets on possible causes.  The Philadelphia Daily news website, philly.com quotes a Philadelphia investigator who speculates Wheeler may not have been murdered, but a victim of some type of trauma.

The News Journal quotes a friend of Wheeler on delawareonline.com that Wheeler posted to a West Point website at 5pm on Tuesday December 28th.  The posted wasn’t anything unusual, the news site reports.  However, the friend says it was odd that Wheeler didn’t respond to a follow up post on December 29th.

Farrall says the department still has a large number of internal and external resources working on the case. He says investigators are still searching for video from a number of location.  He wouldn’t get specific on which locations.  Farrall says one big unknown to the investigtion is where Wheeler was murdered.  He says if it was determined Wheeler was murdered outside of Newark then his department would go from lead investigator to aiding the new jurisdiction.