No new information in Wheeler death

Delaware police investigating the mysterious death of a prominent former Pentagon aide, John P. Wheeler 3d, said no new developments surfaced Thursday.

"We don't have a suspect, and we don't have a crime scene," said Newark Police Lt. Mark A. Farrall. He said Wheeler, 66, of New Castle, was last seen in surveillance video at the Nemours Building in downtown Wilmington at 8:30 p.m. Dec. 30.

Less than 14 hours later, his body fell from a sanitation truck being emptied at the Cherry Island Landfill in Wilmington.

Police said Wheeler, who was working as a consultant for Mitre Corp., a defense contractor, was scheduled to travel by train from Washington to Wilmington on Dec. 28.

Farrell said Wheeler was seen on Dec. 29 and 30 in Wilmington and appeared disoriented. He said police, who have classified the death as a homicide but have not explained why, do not know where Wheeler spent the night on Dec. 29 or how he got from one location to another. - Kathleen Brady Shea