1 00:00:09,300 --> 00:00:11,302 [birds cry] 2 00:00:18,476 --> 00:00:19,978 [vehicle approaching] 3 00:00:43,918 --> 00:00:47,505 This brings back a lot of memories of when I was last here 4 00:00:48,423 --> 00:00:51,676 back on December 31st, 2010. 5 00:00:54,345 --> 00:00:56,848 It's not every day that you receive a phone call 6 00:00:56,931 --> 00:00:59,225 regarding a body that's found in the landfill. 7 00:01:01,436 --> 00:01:05,148 In Wilmington, uh... we have, you know, uh, homicides, 8 00:01:05,273 --> 00:01:06,441 we have robberies, 9 00:01:06,524 --> 00:01:09,903 so this wasn't gonna be anything different from what I was expecting. 10 00:01:11,696 --> 00:01:13,281 As I was approaching the body, 11 00:01:13,364 --> 00:01:16,534 I could observe that it was an older white male. 12 00:01:17,243 --> 00:01:19,996 There were no obvious signs of injury, 13 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:22,624 such as a gunshot wound or a stab wound. 14 00:01:23,416 --> 00:01:26,628 He was wearing black pants, and he had a white shirt, 15 00:01:27,504 --> 00:01:29,923 and some type of a black garment 16 00:01:30,006 --> 00:01:32,217 covering his upper torso area. 17 00:01:32,300 --> 00:01:34,344 And as we took a closer look, 18 00:01:34,928 --> 00:01:37,180 I noticed a ring that stood out, 19 00:01:37,263 --> 00:01:39,557 uh, as no ring that I had ever seen before. 20 00:01:40,391 --> 00:01:41,976 The ring was a West Point ring. 21 00:01:43,561 --> 00:01:46,481 I could tell right away that this was someone of notoriety. 22 00:01:47,857 --> 00:01:51,361 This was not our typical homicide that we were dealing with in Wilmington. 23 00:01:51,444 --> 00:01:53,446 [birds cry] 24 00:02:30,984 --> 00:02:33,486 Now we turn to a just-discovered murder 25 00:02:33,570 --> 00:02:35,947 that has stunned a lot of this nation's veterans 26 00:02:36,030 --> 00:02:37,740 and those who knew the victim. 27 00:02:37,824 --> 00:02:39,159 His name was John Wheeler. 28 00:02:40,410 --> 00:02:44,038 Jack's murder has all these facts around it 29 00:02:44,122 --> 00:02:46,624 that just naturally confound. 30 00:02:46,708 --> 00:02:50,461 As of this point, there are no suspects. We will continue to bring you... 31 00:02:50,545 --> 00:02:52,130 [man] It was big news at the time. 32 00:02:52,213 --> 00:02:54,174 Detectives are still baffled this morning 33 00:02:54,257 --> 00:02:56,009 by the murder of a former White House aide... 34 00:02:56,092 --> 00:02:57,635 [man] A very sensational case. 35 00:02:57,719 --> 00:03:00,805 Now to a murder that's mystifying official Washington... 36 00:03:00,889 --> 00:03:03,558 A body found in a landfill, and you just think to yourself, 37 00:03:03,641 --> 00:03:05,143 "That's a targeted murder. 38 00:03:05,226 --> 00:03:07,312 Sounds like something the Mob would do. 39 00:03:07,395 --> 00:03:09,689 Nobody ever intended this person to be found." 40 00:03:10,106 --> 00:03:13,693 [reporter] Police discovered the body last Friday morning at a landfill, 41 00:03:13,776 --> 00:03:17,238 and over the weekend officially identified the victim as John Wheeler. 42 00:03:18,198 --> 00:03:21,492 [Steve] So, the sensational aspects of Jack's murder 43 00:03:22,118 --> 00:03:24,037 were what first attracted me. 44 00:03:24,662 --> 00:03:26,915 But you could say that I came for the murder, 45 00:03:26,998 --> 00:03:29,042 but ended up staying for the man, right? 46 00:03:29,125 --> 00:03:32,629 Because he lived a really fascinating life. 47 00:03:33,963 --> 00:03:36,883 Let me now introduce to you Mr. John Wheeler. 48 00:03:37,634 --> 00:03:40,261 [cheering and applause] 49 00:03:42,805 --> 00:03:43,806 Thank you, Jan. 50 00:03:44,807 --> 00:03:48,061 A lot of people claim to be patriots. 51 00:03:48,770 --> 00:03:50,855 Jack was a patriot. 52 00:03:51,522 --> 00:03:54,734 In our youth, our hearts were touched with fire. 53 00:03:55,318 --> 00:03:59,113 In the Vietnam War, each American was touched with fire. 54 00:03:59,197 --> 00:04:01,950 [Bayard] Jack was devoted to causes 55 00:04:02,033 --> 00:04:04,953 that were for the great benefit of the country, 56 00:04:05,036 --> 00:04:08,623 such as being executive director of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. 57 00:04:09,082 --> 00:04:12,001 John Wheeler served in Vietnam and when he came back, 58 00:04:12,085 --> 00:04:15,838 he began planning a memorial for all those who fought and died there. 59 00:04:17,173 --> 00:04:19,884 [man] Well, Jack was a very exceptional person, 60 00:04:20,635 --> 00:04:22,303 a graduate of West Point, 61 00:04:22,387 --> 00:04:24,806 a graduate of Harvard Business School, 62 00:04:24,889 --> 00:04:27,475 uh... a graduate of Yale Law School. 63 00:04:27,558 --> 00:04:29,727 I mean, this guy was extremely bright. 64 00:04:31,688 --> 00:04:35,942 In 1982, as we were building the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, 65 00:04:36,025 --> 00:04:40,321 he provided the overall strategy guidance, was the chairman of the board. 66 00:04:40,405 --> 00:04:42,615 And how could it have happened without him? 67 00:04:42,699 --> 00:04:45,326 It wouldn't have happened. It wouldn't have happened. 68 00:04:46,995 --> 00:04:50,123 [man] I actually hired Jack in 2004, 69 00:04:50,206 --> 00:04:51,165 when I got sworn in 70 00:04:51,249 --> 00:04:53,209 as Secretary of the Air Force, 71 00:04:53,293 --> 00:04:56,504 uh, within the, um, George Bush administration. 72 00:04:57,714 --> 00:05:00,550 Jack brought an intensity to life 73 00:05:00,633 --> 00:05:02,260 that few of us manifest. 74 00:05:02,760 --> 00:05:06,264 Jack thought outside of the box before there was a box. 75 00:05:06,723 --> 00:05:10,184 We need to expand our definition of who's wounded. 76 00:05:10,268 --> 00:05:12,812 Not just people killed by a ballistic... 77 00:05:13,646 --> 00:05:16,316 incident, by a bullet, or wounded by a bullet, 78 00:05:16,399 --> 00:05:19,235 it's gotta be, uh, people who suffer after the war. 79 00:05:20,987 --> 00:05:22,613 [Steve] He accomplished so much. 80 00:05:23,531 --> 00:05:26,784 And he did it all with the equivalent of a piano strapped to his back, 81 00:05:27,994 --> 00:05:30,246 because he had bipolar disorder. 82 00:05:31,748 --> 00:05:36,836 Bipolar disorder is marked by bouts of, like, frenetic activity. 83 00:05:38,046 --> 00:05:43,134 But there's also no doubt that it has a really awful reverse side, 84 00:05:43,217 --> 00:05:45,720 where he could be very impulsive 85 00:05:46,387 --> 00:05:48,014 and overly emotional. 86 00:05:48,931 --> 00:05:51,476 So, there's no question it propelled him forward 87 00:05:51,559 --> 00:05:52,727 and it held him back. 88 00:05:53,895 --> 00:05:56,731 And what he did get done is all the more impressive 89 00:05:56,814 --> 00:05:59,192 because it was that much harder for him. 90 00:06:03,321 --> 00:06:05,323 [distant siren and shouting] 91 00:06:20,254 --> 00:06:22,840 [woman] Jack was passionate about everything he did. 92 00:06:23,383 --> 00:06:27,220 Whatever you ask him to do or ask him about, 93 00:06:27,678 --> 00:06:31,224 doesn't matter if it was U.S. foreign policy, 94 00:06:31,307 --> 00:06:36,437 or the guy next door who needed help with the city council, or any... 95 00:06:36,521 --> 00:06:37,897 It just... It didn't matter. 96 00:06:38,272 --> 00:06:41,109 He would put the same energy into everything he did. 97 00:06:42,819 --> 00:06:45,446 Jack and I were married for 13 years. 98 00:06:46,197 --> 00:06:49,117 We lived in Harlem and we had a house in New Castle. 99 00:06:49,909 --> 00:06:52,954 He had two kids that were twins that he adored, 100 00:06:53,037 --> 00:06:57,125 and I had two kids and he treated my kids like they were his. 101 00:07:00,044 --> 00:07:03,464 [woman] I met Jack when my mother, you know, started dating him. 102 00:07:04,507 --> 00:07:07,927 And he was a funny, 103 00:07:08,845 --> 00:07:11,347 um, sort of... cheesy, 104 00:07:11,931 --> 00:07:13,141 but very serious man. 105 00:07:16,102 --> 00:07:20,022 Being married to Jack means you're never... It's... it's never dull. 106 00:07:20,815 --> 00:07:23,359 It's full of unexpected things, which I like. 107 00:07:25,653 --> 00:07:26,988 When I first met Jack, 108 00:07:27,947 --> 00:07:30,199 I remember talking to him 109 00:07:30,283 --> 00:07:33,703 and saying something about George Balanchine ballet. 110 00:07:34,454 --> 00:07:35,997 And he said, 111 00:07:36,414 --> 00:07:39,876 "I watched Balanchine choreograph Jewels." 112 00:07:40,710 --> 00:07:42,211 And I said, "You did?" 113 00:07:43,379 --> 00:07:46,674 Now, that's like saying to a drug addict, 114 00:07:46,757 --> 00:07:50,553 "I have... I have a lifetime supply of anything you want." 115 00:07:50,636 --> 00:07:52,597 [laughing] I mean, it... it was... 116 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:54,765 I... 'Cause I... I love Jewels. 117 00:07:54,849 --> 00:07:56,726 And I love all Balanchine ballet. 118 00:07:58,603 --> 00:08:00,188 A soldier who loves ballet. 119 00:08:00,938 --> 00:08:02,940 I just thought how lucky I was. 120 00:08:05,443 --> 00:08:07,320 Oh, I loved him with all my heart. 121 00:08:08,154 --> 00:08:09,113 I really did. 122 00:08:17,205 --> 00:08:19,123 [Jan] I was on my way to Washington, 123 00:08:19,207 --> 00:08:23,211 and I got a call that Jack Wheeler had apparently been murdered. 124 00:08:24,879 --> 00:08:28,716 And, uh, I'll never quite... be the same, 125 00:08:28,799 --> 00:08:31,511 and a lot of people who knew him never will. 126 00:08:31,594 --> 00:08:33,012 You know, everybody loved him. 127 00:08:35,556 --> 00:08:37,600 [Bayard] It was a sudden... shock. 128 00:08:38,851 --> 00:08:45,149 There was no indication as to why someone would want to murder Jack Wheeler. 129 00:08:47,443 --> 00:08:49,612 [Meriwether] It's very hard to wrap your head around... 130 00:08:50,530 --> 00:08:54,242 that all of a sudden, you know, Jack had been found in a landfill. 131 00:08:54,951 --> 00:08:56,369 And it didn't make sense. 132 00:08:58,079 --> 00:09:01,207 To find a body in a landfill, seems to me like it would be a place 133 00:09:01,290 --> 00:09:04,252 someone who didn't want him to be found would put him. 134 00:09:05,545 --> 00:09:09,131 And I'm very surprised that we actually did find him. 135 00:09:09,674 --> 00:09:13,052 Um, that to me is a miracle, and one that we're very grateful for. 136 00:09:13,594 --> 00:09:15,137 [birds cry] 137 00:09:16,973 --> 00:09:19,517 [Katherine] I'm not sure when I got the phone call. 138 00:09:20,518 --> 00:09:24,188 Jack's daughter called me up and she said, 139 00:09:24,689 --> 00:09:25,856 "Jack's dead." 140 00:09:27,942 --> 00:09:31,487 I was incredulous. I didn't know... I couldn't make sense of it.  141 00:09:33,322 --> 00:09:35,533 It just... It didn't seem possible. 142 00:09:35,950 --> 00:09:39,245 It didn't seem possible that the world could go on without him. 143 00:09:39,328 --> 00:09:40,371 [chuckles] 144 00:09:40,454 --> 00:09:41,831 That can't be true. 145 00:09:41,914 --> 00:09:43,958 How do you have a world without Jack? 146 00:09:44,500 --> 00:09:45,334 That's... 147 00:09:45,418 --> 00:09:46,252 [chuckles] 148 00:09:50,423 --> 00:09:52,425 [inaudible conversation] 149 00:09:55,970 --> 00:10:00,725 [Katherine] I remember we went down to see his body at the police station. 150 00:10:02,977 --> 00:10:07,273 We went into the... this room and... 151 00:10:08,024 --> 00:10:09,692 he was covered from... 152 00:10:10,067 --> 00:10:12,570 uh, the chest down with... 153 00:10:14,530 --> 00:10:15,698 a sheet, 154 00:10:15,781 --> 00:10:19,535 and they would let us see just his face and head, 155 00:10:19,619 --> 00:10:21,787 and the rest of him we didn't see. 156 00:10:22,747 --> 00:10:25,124 And probably that's just as well, 157 00:10:25,207 --> 00:10:29,003 because from what I learned later, he had been... 158 00:10:31,255 --> 00:10:32,214 pretty well... 159 00:10:34,091 --> 00:10:36,260 beaten up and tossed around. 160 00:10:40,014 --> 00:10:42,516 [man] This had to be a professional hit job. 161 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:45,144 The way he was dumped into that landfill 162 00:10:45,227 --> 00:10:49,065 tells me that somebody deliberately went out and got him. 163 00:10:49,148 --> 00:10:51,317 Something is very, very wrong, 164 00:10:51,400 --> 00:10:53,486 and a great tragedy to America. 165 00:10:54,570 --> 00:10:57,782 [man] Jack had a very strong network with government. 166 00:10:59,200 --> 00:11:02,411 He worked as an assistant to the Secretary of the Air Force, 167 00:11:02,953 --> 00:11:04,163 uh, for a time, 168 00:11:04,246 --> 00:11:08,042 and his contacts within the government were extremely strong. 169 00:11:09,752 --> 00:11:12,046 And because of his government service, 170 00:11:12,129 --> 00:11:15,466 he may have been the target of a... 171 00:11:16,342 --> 00:11:18,803 murder-for-hire type situation. 172 00:11:20,888 --> 00:11:23,599 [Steve] What we know is that at the time of his death, 173 00:11:23,683 --> 00:11:26,852 he was working as a consultant for the Mitre Corporation, 174 00:11:26,936 --> 00:11:29,897 which is a defense contracting firm. 175 00:11:31,315 --> 00:11:34,276 They specialize in stuff like artificial intelligence, 176 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:36,570 satellite systems for the military... 177 00:11:38,072 --> 00:11:40,991 Jack was working in the area of cybersecurity. 178 00:11:43,077 --> 00:11:47,456 He was working on the issues that we're seeing now made manifest 179 00:11:47,540 --> 00:11:50,000 with, you know, Russia interfering with the election, 180 00:11:50,084 --> 00:11:53,087 Russia and China supposedly hacking into our power grid. 181 00:11:53,170 --> 00:11:55,965 That's the stuff that Wheeler was working on at the time. 182 00:11:57,216 --> 00:11:58,592 The problem, though, 183 00:11:59,176 --> 00:12:03,180 is that there's nothing to connect those parts of his bio 184 00:12:03,264 --> 00:12:04,974 to his actual murder. 185 00:12:07,226 --> 00:12:10,688 The confounding part is that when you reach into these things individually, 186 00:12:11,188 --> 00:12:13,107 your hand just kinda goes right through, right? 187 00:12:13,190 --> 00:12:17,278 You get caught up in it, and you can go down all these blind paths. 188 00:12:18,612 --> 00:12:22,283 I think that what we have to do, because this is such a mystery, 189 00:12:22,366 --> 00:12:24,702 is absolutely remain open-minded. 190 00:12:33,502 --> 00:12:36,589 [Michael Lawson] The body was here for several hours that day. 191 00:12:37,840 --> 00:12:40,176 We had to call out the Evidence Detection Unit, 192 00:12:40,259 --> 00:12:42,178 cordoning off the location, 193 00:12:42,261 --> 00:12:44,513 and making sure that we did a thorough search. 194 00:12:46,599 --> 00:12:48,934 I had never searched for evidence in a landfill 195 00:12:49,018 --> 00:12:50,895 within my 23-year career, 196 00:12:50,978 --> 00:12:54,315 um, and this being the first time, we took precautions. 197 00:12:54,398 --> 00:12:56,066 [birds cry] 198 00:13:02,364 --> 00:13:04,575 Any kind of evidence that you're actually looking for 199 00:13:04,658 --> 00:13:07,328 could be contaminated with the trash that's mixed in. 200 00:13:08,621 --> 00:13:10,456 We're looking for other pieces of clothing. 201 00:13:10,539 --> 00:13:12,750 We're looking for, potentially, a cell phone. 202 00:13:12,833 --> 00:13:15,127 And we did not find anything, 203 00:13:15,211 --> 00:13:18,589 um, other than just trash that had been disposed of. 204 00:13:24,553 --> 00:13:28,516 We were able to positively identify the victim, John Wheeler, that day. 205 00:13:29,683 --> 00:13:32,394 And after finding out that this was Mr. Wheeler, 206 00:13:32,478 --> 00:13:34,688 and that he had a house in New Castle City... 207 00:13:36,398 --> 00:13:39,443 I immediately contacted the New Castle City Police Department 208 00:13:39,527 --> 00:13:41,278 and spoke with a detective, 209 00:13:41,362 --> 00:13:45,407 um, who advised me that they were actually en route to Mr. Wheeler's house, 210 00:13:45,950 --> 00:13:47,868 investigating a potential burglary. 211 00:13:49,411 --> 00:13:52,832 And that's when this investigation turned a page 212 00:13:52,915 --> 00:13:56,377 to something larger than finding Mr. Wheeler at the landfill. 213 00:13:59,713 --> 00:14:00,798 [church bell rings] 214 00:14:11,684 --> 00:14:14,603 [man] I knew Jack as a temporary next-door neighbor. 215 00:14:15,437 --> 00:14:18,858 He was never here for very long, 216 00:14:19,650 --> 00:14:23,028 but I got involved in being the caretaker of the house. 217 00:14:25,239 --> 00:14:27,950 Jack, he was just an interesting character. 218 00:14:28,033 --> 00:14:29,243 I always liked Jack. 219 00:14:30,411 --> 00:14:33,914 He was never one to sit down and just casually talk to you. 220 00:14:34,373 --> 00:14:37,293 He was... He was always doing something, 221 00:14:37,376 --> 00:14:39,044 or had something on his mind. 222 00:14:40,629 --> 00:14:42,006 So, anyhow, 223 00:14:42,923 --> 00:14:45,092 I was talking to my neighbor, 224 00:14:45,676 --> 00:14:47,761 and that's when I happened to notice 225 00:14:48,470 --> 00:14:51,557 that Jack's second floor rear window was open. 226 00:14:52,224 --> 00:14:55,144 So, being the good neighbor, I went over into the house. 227 00:15:00,190 --> 00:15:01,567 Now, when I came in, 228 00:15:02,067 --> 00:15:04,904 the storm door was closed, 229 00:15:04,987 --> 00:15:07,740 but this door was ajar about like that. 230 00:15:08,866 --> 00:15:11,410 And then I just walked in here 231 00:15:11,493 --> 00:15:14,663 and kind of saw the turmoil in the... in the kitchen. 232 00:15:15,748 --> 00:15:18,334 Uh, there... there was a tree, 233 00:15:19,043 --> 00:15:22,713 a tall tree sitting on that bay window, 234 00:15:22,796 --> 00:15:24,298 and that was tipped over. 235 00:15:26,216 --> 00:15:28,218 And spices were all over the place. 236 00:15:28,302 --> 00:15:30,930 They were all over the floor, all over the table. 237 00:15:31,013 --> 00:15:33,682 There were a bunch of broken dishes in the sink. 238 00:15:34,391 --> 00:15:36,518 And right by my feet, 239 00:15:36,602 --> 00:15:38,437 there was white powder on the floor, 240 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:40,189 and I could see it was probably Comet, 241 00:15:40,272 --> 00:15:43,692 'cause there was a Comet can sitting here on the... on the counter. 242 00:15:44,485 --> 00:15:50,240 And there was also Jack's ceremonial West Point sword 243 00:15:50,324 --> 00:15:53,535 and shield on the floor right here. 244 00:15:55,663 --> 00:15:58,707 And then I did notice that there was a bare footprint 245 00:15:58,791 --> 00:16:01,001 in the Comet, right in front of the sink. 246 00:16:04,171 --> 00:16:05,965 I was sure it was burglary, 247 00:16:06,465 --> 00:16:10,052 because things were in such a state of turmoil. 248 00:16:10,135 --> 00:16:12,179 I figured somebody had broken in, 249 00:16:12,262 --> 00:16:14,473 and probably through this side door. 250 00:16:17,518 --> 00:16:19,687 [Steve] Jack's neighbor calls the police. 251 00:16:20,604 --> 00:16:23,023 And the police happen to have just... 252 00:16:23,816 --> 00:16:26,986 been notified of the body at the... at the landfill, 253 00:16:27,069 --> 00:16:28,737 and discovered Jack there. 254 00:16:28,821 --> 00:16:32,616 So, you can imagine it's a pretty frantic... uh, scene. 255 00:16:33,534 --> 00:16:35,119 So, to add to the confusion, 256 00:16:35,202 --> 00:16:37,162 there's another investigation happening 257 00:16:37,246 --> 00:16:39,540 across the street from Jack's house in New Castle. 258 00:16:39,957 --> 00:16:42,126 There are new clues in the mysterious death 259 00:16:42,209 --> 00:16:44,294 of former White House aide, John Wheeler. 260 00:16:44,378 --> 00:16:45,838 This is new video you're looking at 261 00:16:45,921 --> 00:16:48,966 from inside his neighbor's house under construction. 262 00:16:49,049 --> 00:16:52,720 [Steve] So, it turns out that just a few days before Jack's body was found, 263 00:16:52,803 --> 00:16:55,806 someone had set off a couple of smoke bombs 264 00:16:55,889 --> 00:16:58,350 at a construction site across the street. 265 00:16:58,434 --> 00:17:01,562 There wasn't much damage, but it's a weird turn in the story, 266 00:17:01,645 --> 00:17:04,398 because police found a cell phone at the site, 267 00:17:04,481 --> 00:17:07,735 and when they examined it, they discovered it was Jack Wheeler's. 268 00:17:14,533 --> 00:17:16,994 So, you've got all these things happening at once: 269 00:17:17,745 --> 00:17:19,913 Jack's body found in a landfill... 270 00:17:21,915 --> 00:17:24,668 a burglary investigation at his house... 271 00:17:25,836 --> 00:17:29,173 and an investigation into the smoke bombs across the street. 272 00:17:30,049 --> 00:17:33,385 So, you have to wonder how, or if, all these things are connected. 273 00:17:39,808 --> 00:17:41,602 [distant birds cry] 274 00:17:47,024 --> 00:17:52,488 [man] In 2010, I was the FBI agent assigned to the Violent Crime Unit 275 00:17:52,571 --> 00:17:53,822 in Wilmington, Delaware. 276 00:17:55,699 --> 00:17:58,160 The FBI was called in to the Jack Wheeler case 277 00:17:58,243 --> 00:18:02,122 with regards to him having a past relationship with the Pentagon 278 00:18:02,206 --> 00:18:03,332 as an employee, 279 00:18:03,999 --> 00:18:05,417 and the fact that he had worked 280 00:18:05,501 --> 00:18:08,128 for a couple of presidential administrations. 281 00:18:09,129 --> 00:18:11,465 ATF was involved, DEA was involved. 282 00:18:12,049 --> 00:18:15,094 We're talking, uh, at least ten different agencies, 283 00:18:15,177 --> 00:18:18,097 federal, state and local, running down every possible lead. 284 00:18:20,808 --> 00:18:25,229 Police are working now to reconstruct the last few days of John Wheeler's life, 285 00:18:25,312 --> 00:18:27,523 hoping that will help them solve the mystery 286 00:18:27,606 --> 00:18:30,859 of who killed this prominent advocate for veterans, and why. 287 00:18:34,029 --> 00:18:35,155 [horn toots] 288 00:18:35,239 --> 00:18:38,534 [Katherine] The last time I saw him, he had been in DC. 289 00:18:38,617 --> 00:18:42,329 He came up to New York on Christmas Eve, 290 00:18:42,788 --> 00:18:44,998 and we had Christmas Day, 291 00:18:45,541 --> 00:18:48,418 and all the kids were there. 292 00:18:49,002 --> 00:18:52,339 [Meriwether] We always go to my mom's for Christmas dinner. 293 00:18:52,881 --> 00:18:54,633 It was very much like it always is. 294 00:18:55,467 --> 00:18:57,678 And Jack was in very good spirits. 295 00:18:59,972 --> 00:19:03,809 [Katherine] The next day, he said he had to go back to DC. 296 00:19:04,518 --> 00:19:07,729 I was annoyed 'cause I thought we were gonna go to the movies. 297 00:19:07,813 --> 00:19:11,150 After Christmas, we'd gone to movies that we'd missed. 298 00:19:12,151 --> 00:19:14,695 And it was things that we could do with the kids, too, 299 00:19:14,778 --> 00:19:16,238 which was always nice. 300 00:19:17,489 --> 00:19:18,782 [Meriwether] My mom was not happy 301 00:19:18,866 --> 00:19:21,076 that he had decided to leave after Christmas. 302 00:19:24,246 --> 00:19:25,581 But that was Jack. 303 00:19:25,664 --> 00:19:26,748 He was always working 304 00:19:26,832 --> 00:19:30,002 and he always had 15 different things happening at once. 305 00:19:37,676 --> 00:19:39,303 [train horn blares] 306 00:19:40,554 --> 00:19:43,182 [Scott] So, we know from the time that he got on the train 307 00:19:43,265 --> 00:19:44,892 and went into Washington, DC, 308 00:19:44,975 --> 00:19:47,603 that Jack was on his phone a lot. 309 00:19:48,729 --> 00:19:51,732 So, we knew from talking to people that he worked with 310 00:19:51,815 --> 00:19:54,234 and his family that he lived by the phone, 311 00:19:54,318 --> 00:19:57,863 which is a good thing for investigators in piecing together a timeline. 312 00:20:00,199 --> 00:20:01,533 [Steve] On December 28th, 313 00:20:01,617 --> 00:20:06,455 Jack goes and works in DC for only a day. 314 00:20:06,538 --> 00:20:07,664 Later that day, 315 00:20:07,748 --> 00:20:10,584 Jack's phone records show he must have left DC, 316 00:20:11,251 --> 00:20:13,879 and he comes home to New Castle. 317 00:20:17,341 --> 00:20:21,303 Jack and Kathy kept this beautiful, elegant home in New Castle, 318 00:20:21,386 --> 00:20:23,972 right at the edge of a historic park. 319 00:20:25,474 --> 00:20:26,475 And that night, 320 00:20:26,558 --> 00:20:30,020 you've got this smoke bomb incident across the street. 321 00:20:35,067 --> 00:20:36,985 [phone ringing tone] 322 00:20:40,906 --> 00:20:42,324 [Katherine] The next day, 323 00:20:42,407 --> 00:20:45,160 I had tried to call him and I couldn't reach him. 324 00:20:45,244 --> 00:20:46,453 [ringing tone continues] 325 00:20:46,536 --> 00:20:49,581 And I thought, "Why would he not be answering his phone?" 326 00:20:52,167 --> 00:20:55,712 I'd... Never before had I not been able to reach him. 327 00:21:05,264 --> 00:21:07,349 [Joe] On the morning of December 29th, 328 00:21:07,432 --> 00:21:09,977 Jack contacted Mitre, where he was employed... 329 00:21:11,186 --> 00:21:14,147 and told them that there had been a break-in at his home. 330 00:21:14,231 --> 00:21:15,816 He told them he had lost certain items 331 00:21:15,899 --> 00:21:19,278 that he would typically use for access to their business... 332 00:21:20,988 --> 00:21:22,447 that he had lost his wallet, 333 00:21:23,115 --> 00:21:24,324 his key fob, 334 00:21:24,408 --> 00:21:26,535 his briefcase, as well as his cell phone. 335 00:21:27,577 --> 00:21:29,997 His cell phone was extremely important. 336 00:21:30,080 --> 00:21:31,498 He used it for everything. 337 00:21:34,001 --> 00:21:38,088 I'm sure he was very stressed to have lost his cell phone. 338 00:21:40,632 --> 00:21:44,386 [Steve] Of course, it is curious that Jack doesn't notify the police 339 00:21:44,469 --> 00:21:45,804 that there was a break-in, 340 00:21:45,887 --> 00:21:47,222 and doesn't notify Kathy. 341 00:21:47,931 --> 00:21:48,974 That's a little weird. 342 00:21:51,601 --> 00:21:53,520 Once Jack loses his cell phone, 343 00:21:53,895 --> 00:21:56,898 that also leaves investigators in a bit of a quandary, 344 00:21:56,982 --> 00:21:59,818 as they're trying to track him and create a timeline of his movements, 345 00:21:59,901 --> 00:22:02,237 because they can't use the cell phone anymore. 346 00:22:04,906 --> 00:22:07,743 Now that he didn't have his phone, all they had were witness sightings, 347 00:22:07,826 --> 00:22:09,494 which aren't always accurate, 348 00:22:09,578 --> 00:22:11,788 and any surveillance footage they could find. 349 00:22:24,718 --> 00:22:26,970 [Scott] Video was obtained that showed 350 00:22:27,054 --> 00:22:29,890 that Jack had been inside a pharmacy 351 00:22:29,973 --> 00:22:33,310 on the 29th, in Old New Castle, 352 00:22:33,393 --> 00:22:34,978 not far from Jack's house. 353 00:22:36,480 --> 00:22:38,774 [Steve] Jack's a familiar figure in this pharmacy. 354 00:22:38,857 --> 00:22:41,193 This is where he gets his prescriptions filled 355 00:22:41,276 --> 00:22:42,944 whenever he's in New Castle. 356 00:22:43,028 --> 00:22:45,072 But this time, he's looking for a ride to Wilmington. 357 00:22:46,865 --> 00:22:50,744 [Joe] There were a couple of people that were in the pharmacy at the time, 358 00:22:50,827 --> 00:22:54,581 that heard the conversation, and offered to take Jack to Wilmington. 359 00:22:56,583 --> 00:22:59,419 [Steve] Investigators believe Jack wanted to get to Wilmington 360 00:22:59,503 --> 00:23:02,881 to get his car, which was parked at the Amtrak station there. 361 00:23:03,465 --> 00:23:06,468 That's where Jack left his car when he went to New York for Christmas. 362 00:23:07,094 --> 00:23:10,430 And so he obtains a ride around 6 p.m. into Wilmington. 363 00:23:12,891 --> 00:23:18,105 And the next we know is around 6:42, I think it was, 364 00:23:18,188 --> 00:23:19,940 he shows up in a parking garage. 365 00:23:20,857 --> 00:23:22,442 He's trying to find his car, 366 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:24,861 but he's in the wrong garage. 367 00:23:26,321 --> 00:23:28,865 He's blocks from where his car is actually parked. 368 00:23:29,408 --> 00:23:31,034 [distant car horns blare] 369 00:23:34,538 --> 00:23:36,915 Finding his way around was challenging for him. 370 00:23:36,998 --> 00:23:39,126 He was certainly directionally challenged. 371 00:23:39,209 --> 00:23:40,627 That's why, for example, 372 00:23:40,710 --> 00:23:42,921 he liked to walk around Madison Square Park 373 00:23:43,004 --> 00:23:44,923 multiple times for his exercise, 374 00:23:45,006 --> 00:23:47,634 'cause he knew where it was, and it was a square, 375 00:23:47,717 --> 00:23:49,302 so it would be hard for him to get lost. 376 00:23:49,386 --> 00:23:51,471 [elevator dings] 377 00:23:51,555 --> 00:23:54,182 [Katherine] He didn't have a good sense of direction. 378 00:23:54,266 --> 00:23:56,935 He had almost no sense of direction. [chuckles] 379 00:23:57,018 --> 00:23:58,228 And... 380 00:23:58,311 --> 00:24:00,021 he would... he would lose things. 381 00:24:01,523 --> 00:24:04,651 He would park his car and not be able to find it. 382 00:24:04,734 --> 00:24:06,945 [distant horn blaring] 383 00:24:07,028 --> 00:24:10,991 [Steve] Jack was famous for coming home in a cab 384 00:24:11,074 --> 00:24:14,119 on days that he'd driven to work, 385 00:24:14,202 --> 00:24:16,204 because he would forget where he parked. 386 00:24:16,788 --> 00:24:19,624 So, he constantly was... was misplacing his car 387 00:24:19,708 --> 00:24:22,752 because he was so caught up in his to-do list, 388 00:24:22,836 --> 00:24:26,089 so caught up in whatever project he was working on, that he just... 389 00:24:26,173 --> 00:24:28,633 It was like he didn't want to devote any brain space 390 00:24:28,717 --> 00:24:30,969 to remembering where something was. 391 00:24:39,436 --> 00:24:40,896 At the parking garage, 392 00:24:40,979 --> 00:24:42,397 the footage is haunting. 393 00:24:43,815 --> 00:24:46,485 Jack is in a completely different state 394 00:24:46,568 --> 00:24:49,154 than he was in when he was at the pharmacy. 395 00:24:50,906 --> 00:24:52,908 He appears in great distress, 396 00:24:53,575 --> 00:24:55,076 he's agitated. 397 00:24:55,827 --> 00:24:59,247 He's got one shoe off and the other shoe in his hand. 398 00:24:59,831 --> 00:25:03,543 And you could see that, at times, he appears to peek around a corner 399 00:25:03,627 --> 00:25:05,879 or look out a door before he goes through it, 400 00:25:05,962 --> 00:25:07,547 like he's scared he's being stalked. 401 00:25:08,882 --> 00:25:11,551 And he tells the people in the parking garage 402 00:25:11,635 --> 00:25:13,386 that his briefcase has been stolen. 403 00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:18,183 He said to me his parking ticket was inside his briefcase, 404 00:25:18,266 --> 00:25:20,143 so I said, "Where's your briefcase?" 405 00:25:20,227 --> 00:25:22,020 He said his briefcase was stolen from him. 406 00:25:22,103 --> 00:25:23,855 So, when I kept asking him how was it stolen, 407 00:25:23,939 --> 00:25:26,566 all he kept saying to me, "My briefcase was stolen. It was stolen." 408 00:25:27,275 --> 00:25:29,778 [Steve] That 40-minute time frame 409 00:25:29,861 --> 00:25:32,405 between when Jack is seen at the pharmacy 410 00:25:32,489 --> 00:25:35,951 and when he appears in so much distress at the parking garage 411 00:25:36,451 --> 00:25:39,955 is one of the fundamental, foundational mysteries 412 00:25:40,038 --> 00:25:41,831 surrounding his homicide. 413 00:25:42,958 --> 00:25:45,544 When I saw the surveillance footage, uh, it... 414 00:25:46,753 --> 00:25:48,755 didn't look like Jack. 415 00:25:49,923 --> 00:25:53,385 It looks to me like he was trying to get away from something, 416 00:25:53,468 --> 00:25:54,469 or someone. 417 00:25:56,930 --> 00:25:58,640 And I think not having his phone, 418 00:25:58,723 --> 00:25:59,766 for example, was... 419 00:25:59,849 --> 00:26:01,810 or being able to find his car... 420 00:26:02,727 --> 00:26:05,855 uh, made him more afraid. 421 00:26:08,984 --> 00:26:10,694 [Katherine] Jack had bipolar disorder, 422 00:26:10,777 --> 00:26:13,989 and it may have been the reason he was acting that way. 423 00:26:15,407 --> 00:26:17,075 Most of the time I was with him, 424 00:26:17,158 --> 00:26:18,702 he was, uh, just... 425 00:26:19,744 --> 00:26:20,829 regular old Jack. 426 00:26:21,413 --> 00:26:25,041 Every now and then, he would get a little manic, I guess. 427 00:26:25,584 --> 00:26:28,503 He was pretty diligent about taking his pills, 428 00:26:29,045 --> 00:26:31,840 but bipolar disorder is mysterious 429 00:26:31,923 --> 00:26:33,758 and very unpredictable. 430 00:26:36,803 --> 00:26:41,099 [Steve] He might have had some significant mental break, 431 00:26:42,100 --> 00:26:46,396 and it's also possible that he was physically attacked. 432 00:26:47,022 --> 00:26:49,774 Maybe his foot was injured in some sort of scuffle 433 00:26:49,858 --> 00:26:52,360 and that's why he pulls off his shoe. 434 00:26:52,902 --> 00:26:56,531 It seems like the central mystery, and I would love to know what happened 435 00:26:56,615 --> 00:26:58,908 during that 40-minute time span 436 00:26:59,618 --> 00:27:02,329 between when Jack is seen at the pharmacy 437 00:27:02,412 --> 00:27:04,748 and when he appears at the parking garage. 438 00:27:25,769 --> 00:27:27,896 The next time Jack is picked up on camera, 439 00:27:27,979 --> 00:27:30,106 according to the cops, it's 20 hours later. 440 00:27:30,482 --> 00:27:32,233 He's in the basement of the Nemours Building, 441 00:27:32,317 --> 00:27:35,236 which is an office complex in downtown Wilmington. 442 00:27:35,945 --> 00:27:37,697 Investigators later found evidence 443 00:27:37,781 --> 00:27:40,909 that Jack spent the night and part of the day in this basement. 444 00:27:43,662 --> 00:27:46,456 [Scott] So, this is the corner of 11th and Orange, 445 00:27:46,539 --> 00:27:48,124 in downtown Wilmington, 446 00:27:48,625 --> 00:27:52,712 where a lot of the police investigation centered on Jack Wheeler's whereabouts, 447 00:27:52,796 --> 00:27:55,423 that he had been seen on surveillance camera 448 00:27:55,507 --> 00:27:59,594 in the tunnel located underneath where we're standing now, 449 00:28:00,136 --> 00:28:02,764 and in a couple of shots in the hallways. 450 00:28:08,770 --> 00:28:12,524 There are many hallways, access ways, alleyways. 451 00:28:13,525 --> 00:28:16,194 There is a fitness center, 452 00:28:16,277 --> 00:28:18,613 employee lockers, et cetera. 453 00:28:18,697 --> 00:28:20,365 So, there was a lot of ground to cover, 454 00:28:21,282 --> 00:28:25,245 looking to see where possibly Jack may have gone into. 455 00:28:27,247 --> 00:28:29,999 Some of the employees of the Nemours Building had said 456 00:28:30,083 --> 00:28:31,751 they had seen something in a stairwell 457 00:28:31,835 --> 00:28:34,254 that could have been where somebody would have stayed. 458 00:28:34,337 --> 00:28:37,006 We were not able to find any personal effects 459 00:28:37,674 --> 00:28:41,970 with, uh... that would've told law enforcement, "That belonged to Jack." 460 00:28:44,431 --> 00:28:48,059 [Steve] There's some mystery over why Jack would go to the Nemours Building. 461 00:28:48,810 --> 00:28:49,644 No one really knows 462 00:28:49,728 --> 00:28:52,731 what Jack's connection would've been to that building or that basement. 463 00:28:53,773 --> 00:28:55,358 He couldn't get to his car, 464 00:28:55,442 --> 00:28:57,902 and so now it's like he's gone to ground. 465 00:28:58,737 --> 00:29:03,450 His activities seem more like a guy trying to hide 466 00:29:04,033 --> 00:29:08,329 and figure out a careful way out of town, 467 00:29:09,122 --> 00:29:12,125 to... At one point, he's asking to go to Philadelphia, 468 00:29:12,208 --> 00:29:15,253 potentially, I guess, to get an Amtrak train to New York 469 00:29:15,336 --> 00:29:17,005 where he might join Kathy. 470 00:29:17,088 --> 00:29:18,173 And, um... 471 00:29:19,841 --> 00:29:21,426 it's... it's just a mystery. 472 00:29:33,563 --> 00:29:36,941 At 8:30 p.m., Jack shows up exiting the building. 473 00:29:37,025 --> 00:29:39,027 Now he's wearing a dark-colored hoodie, 474 00:29:39,611 --> 00:29:44,365 which is something the suited, you know, Washington DC insider Jack Wheeler 475 00:29:44,449 --> 00:29:46,826 had not worn to anybody's knowledge before. 476 00:29:49,788 --> 00:29:52,499 [Scott] This is the valet section for the Hotel DuPont. 477 00:29:53,541 --> 00:29:55,627 Jack moves quickly past, 478 00:29:56,211 --> 00:29:59,506 probably walking along the same pathway that I am walking... 479 00:30:01,174 --> 00:30:03,676 and comes into the view of one camera... 480 00:30:06,554 --> 00:30:07,680 continues on... 481 00:30:09,140 --> 00:30:10,558 through the overpass... 482 00:30:14,103 --> 00:30:16,022 and that is the last camera shot 483 00:30:16,105 --> 00:30:18,566 that we have of Jack Wheeler alive. 484 00:30:27,909 --> 00:30:29,619 [distant horns blaring] 485 00:30:29,702 --> 00:30:31,496 [phone ringing tone] 486 00:30:33,039 --> 00:30:36,543 [Katherine] When I couldn't reach him, I was uncertain what to do. 487 00:30:37,460 --> 00:30:40,505 I... I didn't pace around and... think, 488 00:30:40,588 --> 00:30:42,423 "Oh, dear, something terrible has happened." 489 00:30:42,507 --> 00:30:43,424 I never... 490 00:30:44,092 --> 00:30:46,261 I thought, "Something's wrong," but... 491 00:30:47,428 --> 00:30:51,558 I just didn't let myself imagine that something bad had happened, 492 00:30:51,641 --> 00:30:52,851 or something terrible. 493 00:31:03,945 --> 00:31:05,947 [man] December 31st, 2010. 494 00:31:07,740 --> 00:31:09,909 It was just a typical day. It was cold. 495 00:31:11,369 --> 00:31:12,745 I went to work, 496 00:31:13,246 --> 00:31:14,497 went to the landfill, 497 00:31:15,290 --> 00:31:16,833 went up top, dumped off. 498 00:31:17,917 --> 00:31:21,254 I got off the scale and I went around to jump on 495,  499 00:31:21,337 --> 00:31:23,715 and my dispatch called me and said, uh, 500 00:31:23,798 --> 00:31:26,426 "Go back to the landfill. They found a body in the pile." 501 00:31:27,635 --> 00:31:29,220 [birds cry] 502 00:31:29,304 --> 00:31:31,139 When we got up top of the landfill, 503 00:31:31,222 --> 00:31:34,225 all the bosses from the landfill and everybody was coming up. 504 00:31:35,977 --> 00:31:39,314 I seen the body there, sticking up out of the pile. 505 00:31:40,231 --> 00:31:41,608 It jolted you a little bit. 506 00:31:42,191 --> 00:31:44,736 Kinda freaky. Yeah, I was kinda freaked out. 507 00:31:45,945 --> 00:31:48,031 I asked them guys to go cover him up, 508 00:31:48,114 --> 00:31:51,159 they went and covered him up, and we waited for the police to come. 509 00:31:51,701 --> 00:31:53,703 [reversing alarm beeps] 510 00:31:56,039 --> 00:31:57,040 [brief police siren] 511 00:31:57,624 --> 00:31:59,626 [Scott] Any investigation of a homicide, 512 00:32:00,418 --> 00:32:02,962 you have a crime scene, you have somewhere to go. 513 00:32:03,504 --> 00:32:05,298 And, early on, 514 00:32:05,381 --> 00:32:08,092 there was no crime scene to be found, 515 00:32:08,176 --> 00:32:09,636 other than the landfill. 516 00:32:12,013 --> 00:32:16,142 After combing through tons and tons of trash, 517 00:32:16,225 --> 00:32:17,644 the investigators determined 518 00:32:17,727 --> 00:32:21,314 that the trash surrounding the body of Jack Wheeler 519 00:32:21,940 --> 00:32:23,942 had come from the city of Newark. 520 00:32:27,987 --> 00:32:31,366 That is when the case was turned over to Newark police. 521 00:32:32,992 --> 00:32:35,703 And so the Newark Police Department 522 00:32:35,787 --> 00:32:38,957 were able to come up with a particular trash truck 523 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:42,293 that they believed picked up the body of Jack Wheeler. 524 00:32:44,671 --> 00:32:47,465 They zeroed in on a couple of dumpsters 525 00:32:47,924 --> 00:32:49,175 on its trash route. 526 00:32:54,055 --> 00:32:56,516 The forensic unit went out 527 00:32:56,599 --> 00:32:59,602 and started swabbing these dumpsters... 528 00:33:03,147 --> 00:33:07,944 and thereby were able to come up with a partial DNA match 529 00:33:08,027 --> 00:33:10,363 to Jack Wheeler to one of those dumpsters. 530 00:33:15,702 --> 00:33:19,163 [Katherine] To my knowledge, he had no connection to Newark, Delaware. 531 00:33:19,247 --> 00:33:23,001 I was stunned. I would think, "What are... They must be making a mistake." 532 00:33:23,876 --> 00:33:26,087 [Steve] So, this is another big twist in the case, 533 00:33:26,170 --> 00:33:29,132 because the last time Jack was seen, he was in Wilmington, 534 00:33:29,215 --> 00:33:31,217 14 miles away. 535 00:33:31,884 --> 00:33:32,802 Different town, 536 00:33:34,012 --> 00:33:37,557 and in the opposite direction from where he had been walking. 537 00:33:38,683 --> 00:33:41,519 So, how does he end up in a dumpster in Newark, Delaware? 538 00:33:48,276 --> 00:33:51,446 [Scott] A lot of time was spent just trying to figure out 539 00:33:51,529 --> 00:33:53,239 how Jack got out of Wilmington, 540 00:33:53,322 --> 00:33:54,532 going south into Newark. 541 00:33:57,410 --> 00:33:59,996 There is a witness that came forth 542 00:34:00,079 --> 00:34:02,915 that had seen Jack in a taxicab. 543 00:34:03,875 --> 00:34:05,418 According to this witness, 544 00:34:05,501 --> 00:34:07,795 Jack Wheeler shared the cab 545 00:34:07,879 --> 00:34:10,590 when Jack had heard that the cab was going to Newark. 546 00:34:17,764 --> 00:34:21,684 So, we have to go with that, but you also don't want to ignore the fact 547 00:34:21,768 --> 00:34:25,063 that the witness may have misidentified just another individual 548 00:34:25,146 --> 00:34:26,522 that looked like Jack Wheeler. 549 00:34:26,606 --> 00:34:29,317 We don't want to lose the fact that he could have taken a train 550 00:34:29,776 --> 00:34:31,110 from Wilmington to Newark. 551 00:34:32,153 --> 00:34:34,072 It is very frustrating 552 00:34:34,781 --> 00:34:37,617 to not come up with any one definitive answer. 553 00:34:44,749 --> 00:34:48,377 [Mike] We're at the Delaware College of Arts, where I usually run my route at. 554 00:34:49,545 --> 00:34:50,880 We got two cans here, 555 00:34:51,422 --> 00:34:53,549 one's an eight-yarder, one's a six-yarder. 556 00:34:54,717 --> 00:34:56,260 You got the side doors here, 557 00:34:57,053 --> 00:35:00,723 and you can tell the side door's up real high on the eight-yarder. 558 00:35:00,807 --> 00:35:02,892 And if you come over to the six-yarder... 559 00:35:05,937 --> 00:35:09,649 the side door over on the six-yarder is kind of shorter, 560 00:35:10,858 --> 00:35:12,944 to where somebody can climb in real easy. 561 00:35:14,529 --> 00:35:16,072 Easier than the eight-yarder. 562 00:35:17,198 --> 00:35:19,367 When we spoke to the trash-truck drivers, 563 00:35:19,450 --> 00:35:22,036 they told us that it was fairly common 564 00:35:22,120 --> 00:35:24,664 that people would go in there and actually sleep. 565 00:35:25,623 --> 00:35:27,834 Or people would go into those dumpsters 566 00:35:27,917 --> 00:35:30,336 to find some warmth in the winter months. 567 00:35:32,171 --> 00:35:35,007 [Mike] I'll drive up to a stop and I'll go and put my forks in... 568 00:35:36,634 --> 00:35:39,137 and either somebody will pop up through the top 569 00:35:39,220 --> 00:35:41,597 or they'll climb out the side door. 570 00:35:43,057 --> 00:35:44,183 We call 'em "hollers," 571 00:35:44,267 --> 00:35:46,352 'cause that's all they do, they jump up out of the can 572 00:35:46,435 --> 00:35:48,646 and they start hollering, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" like that. 573 00:35:49,397 --> 00:35:52,233 And sometimes you can hear 'em and sometimes you can't. 574 00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:58,239 [Steve] So, there's been a theory of Jack's death 575 00:35:58,322 --> 00:36:00,950 that maybe he wanders out into the night, 576 00:36:01,534 --> 00:36:04,662 maybe he just gets cold and crawls into a dumpster 577 00:36:04,745 --> 00:36:06,330 to escape the winter. 578 00:36:09,876 --> 00:36:12,587 [Meriwether] The theory that he crawled into a dumpster to stay warm 579 00:36:12,670 --> 00:36:15,131 seems completely preposterous to me. 580 00:36:15,214 --> 00:36:18,801 I mean, in part because of the medical examiner's report 581 00:36:18,885 --> 00:36:22,346 that, you know... It concluded that he was murdered. 582 00:36:23,806 --> 00:36:25,349 [Steve] When you look at the autopsy 583 00:36:25,433 --> 00:36:27,977 and the degree to which he was beaten, 584 00:36:28,811 --> 00:36:32,899 it's just not consistent with a fall from a dumpster. 585 00:36:37,570 --> 00:36:39,238 [Bayard] In the autopsy report, 586 00:36:39,322 --> 00:36:42,325 there are listed severe injuries, 587 00:36:43,242 --> 00:36:46,746 such as punctured lung, broken ribs, 588 00:36:48,748 --> 00:36:51,292 and he had bleeding in the head. 589 00:36:53,336 --> 00:36:58,216 [Steve] Bruises to the face and orbital bones, temples, mouth... 590 00:36:58,758 --> 00:37:01,010 All these places you'd expect somebody to... 591 00:37:01,594 --> 00:37:05,306 to hit you if they were pummeling you and he gets driven down to his knees. 592 00:37:05,848 --> 00:37:09,602 And when they describe the cause of death, it's just "blunt force trauma." 593 00:37:12,521 --> 00:37:16,234 [Bayard] So, it seems like a severe beating. 594 00:37:17,443 --> 00:37:19,028 What I don't get is 595 00:37:19,111 --> 00:37:21,781 why would someone want to beat him so severely? 596 00:37:23,950 --> 00:37:25,618 Uh, is... Was it targeted? 597 00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:27,495 That's possible. 598 00:37:27,578 --> 00:37:28,913 Who would target him? 599 00:37:29,455 --> 00:37:32,250 That's... That would create a lot of speculation. 600 00:37:32,792 --> 00:37:35,086 Was he in the wrong place at the wrong time? 601 00:37:45,554 --> 00:37:47,765 [Steve] One of the big questions in the case 602 00:37:47,848 --> 00:37:49,433 is whether or not Jack's murder 603 00:37:49,892 --> 00:37:52,812 was related to what happened in New Castle that night 604 00:37:52,895 --> 00:37:54,230 when he came back from DC. 605 00:37:57,817 --> 00:38:01,612 Late at night, there is a smoke bomb incident 606 00:38:01,696 --> 00:38:03,531 at this house across the street. 607 00:38:04,323 --> 00:38:05,741 After this incident happens, 608 00:38:05,825 --> 00:38:08,035 the police find Jack's cell phone, 609 00:38:08,119 --> 00:38:10,454 and so one of the theories is 610 00:38:10,538 --> 00:38:12,873 he's the one who set off those smoke bombs. 611 00:38:14,125 --> 00:38:15,876 Jack was a passionate guy. 612 00:38:16,377 --> 00:38:17,628 At the time of his death, 613 00:38:17,712 --> 00:38:20,881 he was in a housing dispute with some people across the street 614 00:38:20,965 --> 00:38:24,468 who were building a big house on historic Battery Park. 615 00:38:27,096 --> 00:38:28,723 If you talk to people about, um, 616 00:38:28,806 --> 00:38:33,269 why he entered into this big legal effort to stop that house from being built, 617 00:38:33,352 --> 00:38:35,104 it was the history of Battery Park. 618 00:38:35,187 --> 00:38:38,691 It was the idea that somebody was going to build a private home 619 00:38:38,774 --> 00:38:42,028 on what to him was, you know, public land and sacred land. 620 00:38:43,946 --> 00:38:45,740 [Katherine] Jack liked being there. 621 00:38:45,823 --> 00:38:47,575 He liked being in New Castle a lot. 622 00:38:47,658 --> 00:38:51,704 It was quiet and it was old-fashioned, 623 00:38:51,787 --> 00:38:54,123 and Jack was sort of old-fashioned. 624 00:38:56,584 --> 00:38:58,836 We were both very unhappy 625 00:38:58,919 --> 00:39:01,297 about the house going up across the street, 626 00:39:01,797 --> 00:39:04,633 and he was very fired up about it. 627 00:39:05,760 --> 00:39:09,597 He got it into his head that this can't happen. 628 00:39:09,680 --> 00:39:11,057 This is a sacrilege. 629 00:39:12,975 --> 00:39:18,189 And bipolar disorder can make you more emotional and illogical. 630 00:39:23,527 --> 00:39:27,907 [Steve] I could just imagine Jack being so upset 631 00:39:27,990 --> 00:39:30,951 to come back to his house, if he had done the smoke bombing. 632 00:39:31,619 --> 00:39:33,204 Comes back to his house, 633 00:39:33,287 --> 00:39:35,539 he realizes he doesn't have his phone, 634 00:39:35,623 --> 00:39:37,208 realizes where it must be, 635 00:39:37,750 --> 00:39:39,293 and now he's upset. 636 00:39:39,377 --> 00:39:41,545 And Jack, who is very hard on himself, 637 00:39:41,629 --> 00:39:44,048 just flies into a kind of panic, 638 00:39:44,131 --> 00:39:46,092 and just starts flinging stuff around. 639 00:39:53,349 --> 00:39:56,102 No one knows for sure what happened in Jack's house that night. 640 00:39:56,602 --> 00:40:01,440 And the whole case is so layered in... in various mysteries 641 00:40:01,524 --> 00:40:04,402 that we have to, like, be open to varying explanations. 642 00:40:05,653 --> 00:40:06,737 But here's the thing, 643 00:40:06,821 --> 00:40:11,033 Jack's personal distress doesn't explain his murder. 644 00:40:11,117 --> 00:40:13,160 Someone killed him, 645 00:40:13,244 --> 00:40:15,287 and the question is whether or not it was somebody 646 00:40:15,371 --> 00:40:18,249 who just happened across him when he was wandering around. 647 00:40:19,583 --> 00:40:22,294 And that theory kinda gets blown apart, 648 00:40:22,378 --> 00:40:24,880 because the circumstances in which he's later found 649 00:40:24,964 --> 00:40:26,924 don't fit with a random mugging. 650 00:40:28,759 --> 00:40:31,345 Street muggers who wind up killing their victims 651 00:40:31,429 --> 00:40:32,930 leave the body where it drops, 652 00:40:33,013 --> 00:40:35,433 they don't hide it or load it into a dumpster. 653 00:40:37,101 --> 00:40:41,021 The other problem with the robbery theory is that when Jack's found, 654 00:40:41,105 --> 00:40:43,482 he apparently had some cash left on him. 655 00:40:44,316 --> 00:40:46,569 He has... He's got a Rolex... 656 00:40:47,945 --> 00:40:50,072 and he's got his West Point ring. 657 00:40:53,284 --> 00:40:56,287 It just seems unlikely that in the case of a robbery, 658 00:40:56,662 --> 00:40:58,414 they're gonna miss all that, right? 659 00:40:58,497 --> 00:41:00,791 Particularly if they've taken the time to hide the body. 660 00:41:03,836 --> 00:41:05,671 [Meriwether] I don't think it was random. 661 00:41:06,088 --> 00:41:07,214 I do find it... 662 00:41:07,965 --> 00:41:09,758 strange and unusual 663 00:41:09,842 --> 00:41:11,886 that given the reward we offered... 664 00:41:13,179 --> 00:41:15,014 that no one came forward with any... 665 00:41:15,931 --> 00:41:17,099 tips or leads. 666 00:41:17,933 --> 00:41:20,978 As my mom said, perhaps because they'd already been paid. 667 00:41:21,061 --> 00:41:21,937 But... 668 00:41:23,105 --> 00:41:23,981 we don't know. 669 00:41:24,064 --> 00:41:25,566 That's what we wanna find out. 670 00:41:33,908 --> 00:41:35,242 [Joe] We all have enemies. 671 00:41:36,869 --> 00:41:38,746 And he may have been in a position 672 00:41:38,829 --> 00:41:40,831 where people thought that it would be better 673 00:41:40,915 --> 00:41:42,541 if Jack was not on this Earth. 674 00:41:44,460 --> 00:41:47,338 [Steve] He always carried this briefcase around with him, 675 00:41:47,421 --> 00:41:49,173 and he had a security clearance, 676 00:41:49,256 --> 00:41:52,343 and that's where he'd keep that stuff, and he claimed the briefcase was missing. 677 00:41:52,718 --> 00:41:54,637 [woman] When I kept asking him how was it stolen, 678 00:41:54,720 --> 00:41:57,431 all he kept saying to me, "My briefcase was stolen. It was stolen." 679 00:41:57,515 --> 00:41:59,642 [Michael Wynne] I would look at it and ask the question, 680 00:42:00,100 --> 00:42:01,769 "What happened to the briefcase?" 681 00:42:02,186 --> 00:42:06,649 'Cause we took many international trips, and he was never without that briefcase. 682 00:42:08,943 --> 00:42:10,736 [Scott] Investigators did everything possible 683 00:42:10,819 --> 00:42:12,154 to locate this briefcase. 684 00:42:13,113 --> 00:42:16,367 But from everything that investigators have searched, 685 00:42:16,784 --> 00:42:19,578 in any other place that Jack might have been, 686 00:42:20,496 --> 00:42:22,748 we have not been able to come up with this briefcase. 687 00:42:29,713 --> 00:42:31,840 As an investigator, I can't exclude any theory, 688 00:42:33,008 --> 00:42:35,970 but somebody out there knows something, 689 00:42:36,720 --> 00:42:38,097 came across Jack, 690 00:42:38,180 --> 00:42:40,432 whether in an insignificant way or not. 691 00:42:41,141 --> 00:42:44,520 Even if it's somebody who was not intending harm, 692 00:42:44,603 --> 00:42:47,022 but assisted Jack one way or another, 693 00:42:47,690 --> 00:42:51,694 they need to call in order to help investigators finally determine 694 00:42:51,777 --> 00:42:52,903 what happened to Jack. 695 00:43:03,706 --> 00:43:06,166 [band plays mournful music] 696 00:43:20,097 --> 00:43:21,265 [Katherine] I was proud of him 697 00:43:21,348 --> 00:43:23,976 for all the good work he had done in his life. 698 00:43:26,270 --> 00:43:28,480 And for who he was. 699 00:43:29,315 --> 00:43:30,816 Uh, his life was... 700 00:43:31,984 --> 00:43:34,445 devoted to service... 701 00:43:34,945 --> 00:43:37,698 and, uh... service to his country. 702 00:43:40,326 --> 00:43:41,493 His whole life... 703 00:43:43,454 --> 00:43:45,873 [voice trembling] ...was focused on a way to be useful. 704 00:43:46,415 --> 00:43:47,541 That's what he wanted. 705 00:43:49,376 --> 00:43:52,171 He was a soldier. He was always a soldier. 706 00:43:55,883 --> 00:43:57,551 And he was good. 707 00:43:57,635 --> 00:43:59,595 I've never known anybody so good. 708 00:44:02,598 --> 00:44:04,058 Oh, God, do I miss him. 709 00:44:04,141 --> 00:44:06,143 [inaudible conversation] 710 00:44:18,572 --> 00:44:20,616 [Meriwether] He was silly and fun and... 711 00:44:21,617 --> 00:44:22,743 kind, and... 712 00:44:23,619 --> 00:44:25,704 it made you feel good to be around him... 713 00:44:28,040 --> 00:44:31,001 because of how... remarkable he was, 714 00:44:31,877 --> 00:44:33,712 and how full of love. 715 00:44:34,963 --> 00:44:35,798 He... 716 00:44:37,591 --> 00:44:40,094 He cared very deeply about everything he did, 717 00:44:41,387 --> 00:44:42,221 and... 718 00:44:42,971 --> 00:44:44,598 took... took it to heart. 719 00:44:44,682 --> 00:44:45,599 He had... 720 00:44:46,558 --> 00:44:48,769 the largest heart of anyone I know. 721 00:44:50,646 --> 00:44:51,480 So... 722 00:44:52,106 --> 00:44:53,941 I don't know, I just miss my dad.