Is it possible he died from natural causes. I know it sounds unlikely, given the circumstances by which his body was allegedly discovered, by sanitation workers in a landfill (when it was supposedly seen falling from a garbage truck), but this whole story is riddled with contradictions.
For one thing, Wheeler was seen over a period of some two days or more wandering aimlessly in the street of Newark Delaware (about ten miles north of Wilmington, where he had supposedly been traveling to). He seemed greatly disheveled and disoriented, and claimed at one point to have been robbed of his briefcase. He was holding a shoe in one hand and wore no coat. He was seen by various people, who asked if he needed help, which he refused. At one point he blamed his circumstances on his mother and brother.
This sounds like the ravings of a man caught in the throes of dementia, but this doesn't seem to be the case. My guess is more than likely he suffered a stroke, or series of mini-strokes, possible the result of the stress of his being robbed. If he had imbibed even a slight amount of alcohol previous to this, that might well have intensified the effects of the strokes.
What happened next is anyone's guess. He could have climbed up inside one of the dumpsters, to sleep or get out of the cold, or he might have had an idea his briefcase might have been in one of them and sought to retrieve it. At this point, under this scenario, he would have died of natural causes. If there is any merit to this theory, an autopsy should provide sufficient evidence.
Of course, there is also the possibility that he could have fallen victim to a second assault that might have lead to his possibly accidental death, whereupon his assailants, probably two or more, deposited his body in the dumpster in a desperate attempt to hide their unintended crime of manslaughter.
I also have to wonder, concerning the first robbery, whether he was lured someplace by a prostitute, possibly one with whom he had some familiarity. Or possibly another person he trusted, someone he had previously thought to help.
It's certainly a strange story, and the conspiracy theories are already flying full force.
But I will delve more deeply into them later, and in so doing offer my own version of what might have happened in the event Mr. Wheeler's death actually was the result of murder and conspiracy. I know there is a temptation to jump the gun here. After all, this was no ordinary guy, but a man of great accomplishment and influence in a variety of areas of public life and service. Here is a detailed account of his life, career, and accomplishments, including his more recent endeavors.
For now, I leave this open for consideration with no further comment, for now. After all, those more mundane explanation that people tend to overlook oftentimes afford the most likely answers.
