Former White House Aide's Murder: Police Start With Garbage Truck's Route

Enlarge this image toggle caption Staff Sgt. Monique Randolph/HO/AFP/Getty Images Staff Sgt. Monique Randolph/HO/AFP/Getty Images

John Wheeler was a leading figure in the movement to build the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, a West Point graduate, a veteran and a top defense expert in three Republican administrations.

His death has caught national attention. The 66-year-old Wheeler's body was found on New Year's Eve "as a garbage truck emptied its contents at the Cherry Island landfill." As the Associated Press adds, police say it was a homicide, though they haven't said anything about how he died.

The local News Journal of Wilmington, Del., writes that police say they have tracked the route of the garbage truck that ended up bringing Wheeler's body to the Cherry Island Landfill in the city. According to Lt. Mark Farrall of the Newark Police, the truck made 10 pick ups on the eastern side of Newark, Del., before getting to the landfill:

Wheeler was supposed to be on an Amtrak train from Washington to Wilmington last Tuesday, but it's now thought he may not have been.

Update at 3:55 p.m. ET: Police in Newark, Del., now say they've further narrowed down Wheeler's last known movements, the News Journal reports. He was seen around 3:30 p.m. ET last Thursday in Wilmington, "in the area of 10th and Orange streets."

And also this afternoon, James Fallows of The Atlantic (who we noted earlier was a friend of Wheeler's), spoke with All Things Considered co-host Melissa Block. He said that Wheeler "looked like a very, sort-of buttoned-up and respectable lawyer-type person. ... But he could be very emotional. ... For somebody who was as professionally accomplished, he also was a very passionate almost heart-on-his-sleeve person":

Melissa Block and James Fallows

Much more from Melissa's conversation with Fallows is due on today's edition of ATC. Click here to find an NPR station that broadcasts or streams the show.

Update at 10 a.m. ET. More about Wheeler:

At Time magazine's Swampland blog, Mark Thompson writes that Wheeler "was one of those outer planets in the capital's solar system, never drawing too close to the Sun but riding the country's business in an elliptical orbit that would bring him closer to the heat every once in awhile." Wheeler was also, Thompson writes, a "Renaissance man"

The Atlantic's James Fellows was a friend of Wheeler's. He writes that Wheeler: