Doyle Wheeler - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

mphs95 · 07-10-2006, 10:42 AM

Okay, folks. This case has been knawing at me since I originally saw it on NBC as a kid. For those who need their memory refreshed:

Doyle Wheeler was a LT w/ the San Diego PD. He was involved with the James Huberty, McDs tragedy in 1984. About a year later, he took a medical discharge from the dept d/t mental anguish over the McD events. A year later, he was called to testify about a fellow officer, Donovan Jacobs, who was known for his racist views. The defendent on trial (black defendent shot Jacobs and fellow officer in self defense) was acquitted, and Wheeler and his family moved to Washington State. In 1988, while home alone, 4 men allegedly came into his house, tied him up, forced him to write a suicide note stating his testimony against Jacobs was all lies, they taken to the basement, and shot in the head. Doyle Wheeler survived and called the police. There is speculation that Donovan Jacobs was involved, or that Doyle, having mental issues, could have staged this incident himself for attention. He refused a polygraph bc the other suspects were not asked to take one. Two witnesses gave statements that lean towards backing up Doyle's story.

After seeing the case on NBC, Lifetime, and on crystaldawn's UM Favorites DVD, my gut tells me the following:

Doyle Wheeler is telling the truth. Donovan Jacobs, possibly POed over Wheeler making his story at Penn's trial out to be a lie, or other reasons, set this whole thing up. Let's look at the evidence:

1. An unknown car was spotted at Doyle's house that morning by a neighbor.
2. Another resident spotted that same car in a different location with 4 men, including the one similar to Doyle's description, standing near it. 24 hours later, Doyle's grocery getter was found in that EXACT SAME SPOT!

3. Doyle states that he thought recognized one of the assailants as a drug informant for the SDPD.

4. A call from Doyle's house was to the SDPD, where the assailant asked for "Street Narcotics". Jacobs stated that it would have been stupid for him to have someone call him bc the calls are all taped. However, it has never been stated what was on the phone call or how long the call lasted. One calling to state the job was done or what to do next does not take long if planned properly.

5. Jacobs for one came off as an arrogant jackass in his interview with UM. He did NOT look at the interviewer in the eye, nor the camera, plus has his eyes and his head turned to the right slightly. Psychology states that this can be a sign of lying since the right brain is the creative side. He never gave compelling evidence about why Doyle Wheeler would pull a stunt besides to get attention for himself. Sorry, but I got the impression that Doyle did NOT want attention, hence the move to a small community in Washington State. I think if he was an attention hound, he would have stayed in SD and milked his history for all its worth.

6. Doyle Wheeler was hog-tied and was bleeding from a head wound along with a badge pinned to his chest. Okay, one could state that Doyle did shoot himself in the temple and pinned a badge to his chest, then tied himself up. How can one hog-tie themselves? Wouldn't there have been blood on the ropes and/or his hands if he orchestrated this himself? Did they test his shirt and hands for gunpowder residue?

7. Why would Doyle Wheeler want to talk about his case on UM? It's a big risk for one who lied about an incident such as this on national TV. If he concocted this story, why would he risk being exposed as a laughingstock on national television? People would notice the holes in the story and his demeanor if he was full of crap.

I don't think the cops are taking this case seriously. They asked Doyle to take a polygraph, but why not the others? I don't blame Doyle for declining. They have a 30% chance of giving a false positive, plus it shows that the cops are possibly covering the butt or butts of one of their own. The police dept should have referred this to a large dept in the beginning. They did not seem equipped to handle a case such as this.

I would love to see fellow UM posters on this board post what they think.

UMLongtimefan · 07-10-2006, 09:15 PM

I don't know if Jacobs was behind it or not ,but I've always believed the defendant in the Jacobs case was innoncent and SDPD had a serious black eye because of that case.
As to

5. If we aren't going to base credibility on polygraphs or lack there of, why would we base it on facial ticks or lack of eye contact?

6. Two words: Cyndi James

7. Two more words.. no maybe 4 The Wackers or more appropriately
Fictitious Disorders

Why would the Washington Police cover up for SDPD? Is this the Thin Blue Line Sticking together?

Otherwise I do agree with you...

kadrmas15 · 07-10-2006, 10:32 PM

I have never seen the Doyle Wheeler case and want to really bad. Is it on one of crystaldawn's cd's? I really need to order the first one. I have seen the Cindy James case and that one is just bizarre. I have a very hard time believing she tied herself up the way she was tied. As for the Wackers, I still dont think they faked this but that is just me.

starlette · 07-11-2006, 12:55 AM

Yep it is on one of Crystaldawn's cds. Very interesting case.

mphs95 · 07-11-2006, 03:33 PM

UM, I have to agree that it may not be Jacobs. I do agree though that Doyle Wheeler is either a victim or is giving an Oscar-winning performance. I just don't feel that he did it. It's pretty elaborate for just a little attention, especially if you consider what the publicity will do for the family. As for the SDPD & WA police, I think it is just a case of the blue wall. One fellow cop(s) help another. Not always a bad thing. I am not saying this is the case. It's the furthest extreme. Most likely, the small town PD is inexperienced in this type of crime and got in over their heads. Possibly linking it to Doyle is an easy way out.

New Brandon · 07-11-2006, 07:21 PM

I'd say I'm 85% with Doyle on this one... But it's a tough one to figure out.

kadrmas15 · 10-21-2006, 03:58 PM

Personally I think Doyle Wheeler is telling the truth. I am not sure if Donovan Jacobs was behind it but it was quite obvious the guy is an arrogant jerk who strongly dislikes Doyle Wheeler. I agree with a poster above that either Wheeler is telling the truth or is giving a performance that could win him an academy award. I have the opinion Wheeler did not stage this incident for several reasons. I agree he didnt want the attention and wouldnt have gone public with this story except he wants the people who did it caught. Wheeler left San Diego because he wanted to get away from all the attention it appears hence moving to a quiet town in Eastern Washington State. I also dont think it would be possible for a person to hogtie themselves. I think the sheriff's department really botched the investigation into this because they were too busy thinking Doyle Wheeler staged the incident. They kind of contradicted themselves because they claimed they didnt think Doyle Wheeler stage it yet asked him to take a lie detector test. I dont think Wheeler staged it. I dont know if Jacobs is just a cocky, arrogant jerk or if he actually knows more than he is telling.

skunk ape · 04-03-2007, 03:48 PM

This case sounds very interesting and I can't believe that I haven't heard of it until now. I guess I need to get all of the UM volumes of DVDs that crystaldawn has.

cmonforme · 04-24-2007, 12:12 AM

i had no Idea about this! I Know Doyle Wheeler, I know him from When he was a beat cop in San diego. I worked in a shopping center and he came in often I knew him well. Thats something else, I'm glad I stopped and read this. cmonforme

mozartpc27 · 04-24-2007, 12:46 AM

I haven't seen this case, so I can't comment too thoroughly, but the first reaction I had when reading the summation was: if someone is pointing a gun at you and asking you to write a "suicide" note, why would you do it? The person obviously intends to shoot you, and you're only helping him by cooperating. Make him kill you without a note.

cmonforme · 04-24-2007, 12:50 AM

I remember Doyal back in his early days of street patrol in san diego- He seemed to have his @#$% together.

wiseguy182 · 04-24-2007, 03:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mozartpc27

I haven't seen this case, so I can't comment too thoroughly, but the first reaction I had when reading the summation was: if someone is pointing a gun at you and asking you to write a "suicide" note, why would you do it? The person obviously intends to shoot you, and you're only helping him by cooperating. Make him kill you without a note.

I disagree. It has the potential to be beneficial to the intended victims because it gives them more time. Anything can happen in the span of a few minutes, or even seconds. Perhaps while they're writing the suicide note, the police are a few seconds away from coming in and arresting the criminals. If I were caught in this scenario, I would stall as much as possible. Then wait for an oppurtune moment to jab my thumb into his eye. It's like Jesse Ventura always said: "a thumb to the eye will stop anybody, I don't care how big they are."

mphs95 · 05-27-2008, 08:37 AM

If you go back and watch the segment, he wasn't going to write the note. He only did because they threatened to kill his children who were about to come home any minute. I agree that I wouldn't write the note otherwise, but understand why he did it.

synthisislab · 05-27-2008, 02:28 PM

The nagging things about this case to me is if they wanted Doyle Wheeler's death to look like a suicide, then why did they remove the gun, not untie Doyle, nor did they check to see if he were dead before they left (all of which would have pointed towards murder and not suicide if he was dead and the investigators checked out the scene)? You think if some guys were sent all the way up in Washington from way down in San Diego, they would make sure the job was finished. And if the 4 guys were seen in that parking lot, why would they all drive 2 or 3 days to get all the way up to Washington state just to terrorize this guy (since they obviously didn't do what it took to kill him and make sure he was dead)? If what Doyle was saying was true, then this was total amateur hour.

Corky Kneivel · 05-27-2008, 04:49 PM

I remember the scenario as being that they were supposed to make it look like a suicide, then when Doyle wouldnt cooperate they phoned the SDPD and it was decided that they would make it look like a "Dope Rip" (Doyle Wheeler's words).
They definitely came there to murder him and only left because they thought that they had.
Also, the bad guys didn't necessarily have to be out-of-state talent. I know that one of the DW id'd one of his attackers as being an informant for the SDPD Narcotics division, but that informant could easily have relocated himself to Eastern Washington and/or just recruited old convict buddies from around there. The informant may have driven the 12-13 hours and then met with the other guys at that rest stop/parking lot and gone over the plan. Its interesting to note that Eastern Washington is like Mecca for white supremacists, Nazi Low-Riders, and Aryan Brotherhood guys. IT'd be nothing at all to find some folks of that background out there. Not only would they ideallogically tie in to Donovan Jacobs, and love to carry the "get out of jail free" juice that doing a hit for him would give them, but they'd line up in single file to be able to knock off an ex-cop.
I'm just saying all this because if you believe the story, and I'm not sure I do, it does conceiveably, in the abstract, appear plausible.

07-10-2006, 10:42 AM	#1
mphs95 Remember me? Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 02, 2004 Location: Michigan Posts: 790	Doyle Wheeler Okay, folks. This case has been knawing at me since I originally saw it on NBC as a kid. For those who need their memory refreshed: Doyle Wheeler was a LT w/ the San Diego PD. He was involved with the James Huberty, McDs tragedy in 1984. About a year later, he took a medical discharge from the dept d/t mental anguish over the McD events. A year later, he was called to testify about a fellow officer, Donovan Jacobs, who was known for his racist views. The defendent on trial (black defendent shot Jacobs and fellow officer in self defense) was acquitted, and Wheeler and his family moved to Washington State. In 1988, while home alone, 4 men allegedly came into his house, tied him up, forced him to write a suicide note stating his testimony against Jacobs was all lies, they taken to the basement, and shot in the head. Doyle Wheeler survived and called the police. There is speculation that Donovan Jacobs was involved, or that Doyle, having mental issues, could have staged this incident himself for attention. He refused a polygraph bc the other suspects were not asked to take one. Two witnesses gave statements that lean towards backing up Doyle's story. After seeing the case on NBC, Lifetime, and on crystaldawn's UM Favorites DVD, my gut tells me the following: Doyle Wheeler is telling the truth. Donovan Jacobs, possibly POed over Wheeler making his story at Penn's trial out to be a lie, or other reasons, set this whole thing up. Let's look at the evidence: 1. An unknown car was spotted at Doyle's house that morning by a neighbor. 2. Another resident spotted that same car in a different location with 4 men, including the one similar to Doyle's description, standing near it. 24 hours later, Doyle's grocery getter was found in that EXACT SAME SPOT! 3. Doyle states that he thought recognized one of the assailants as a drug informant for the SDPD. 4. A call from Doyle's house was to the SDPD, where the assailant asked for "Street Narcotics". Jacobs stated that it would have been stupid for him to have someone call him bc the calls are all taped. However, it has never been stated what was on the phone call or how long the call lasted. One calling to state the job was done or what to do next does not take long if planned properly. 5. Jacobs for one came off as an arrogant jackass in his interview with UM. He did NOT look at the interviewer in the eye, nor the camera, plus has his eyes and his head turned to the right slightly. Psychology states that this can be a sign of lying since the right brain is the creative side. He never gave compelling evidence about why Doyle Wheeler would pull a stunt besides to get attention for himself. Sorry, but I got the impression that Doyle did NOT want attention, hence the move to a small community in Washington State. I think if he was an attention hound, he would have stayed in SD and milked his history for all its worth. 6. Doyle Wheeler was hog-tied and was bleeding from a head wound along with a badge pinned to his chest. Okay, one could state that Doyle did shoot himself in the temple and pinned a badge to his chest, then tied himself up. How can one hog-tie themselves? Wouldn't there have been blood on the ropes and/or his hands if he orchestrated this himself? Did they test his shirt and hands for gunpowder residue? 7. Why would Doyle Wheeler want to talk about his case on UM? It's a big risk for one who lied about an incident such as this on national TV. If he concocted this story, why would he risk being exposed as a laughingstock on national television? People would notice the holes in the story and his demeanor if he was full of crap. I don't think the cops are taking this case seriously. They asked Doyle to take a polygraph, but why not the others? I don't blame Doyle for declining. They have a 30% chance of giving a false positive, plus it shows that the cops are possibly covering the butt or butts of one of their own. The police dept should have referred this to a large dept in the beginning. They did not seem equipped to handle a case such as this. I would love to see fellow UM posters on this board post what they think.

04-03-2007, 03:48 PM	#8
skunk ape Member Frequent Poster Join Date: Apr 25, 2006 Location: FL Posts: 167	This case sounds very interesting and I can't believe that I haven't heard of it until now. I guess I need to get all of the UM volumes of DVDs that crystaldawn has.
	__________________ FLORIDA GATORS 2006 NCAA Football 2006-2007 Basketball Champions

07-10-2006, 09:15 PM	#2
UMLongtimefan Member Frequent Poster Join Date: May 08, 2006 Location: ??? Posts: 161	I don't know if Jacobs was behind it or not ,but I've always believed the defendant in the Jacobs case was innoncent and SDPD had a serious black eye because of that case. As to 5. If we aren't going to base credibility on polygraphs or lack there of, why would we base it on facial ticks or lack of eye contact? 6. Two words: Cyndi James 7. Two more words.. no maybe 4 The Wackers or more appropriately Fictitious Disorders Why would the Washington Police cover up for SDPD? Is this the Thin Blue Line Sticking together? Otherwise I do agree with you...

07-10-2006, 10:32 PM	#3
kadrmas15 Retired from Board 03/03/11 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 11, 2006 Location: Minnesota Posts: 1,910	I have never seen the Doyle Wheeler case and want to really bad. Is it on one of crystaldawn's cd's? I really need to order the first one. I have seen the Cindy James case and that one is just bizarre. I have a very hard time believing she tied herself up the way she was tied. As for the Wackers, I still dont think they faked this but that is just me.

07-11-2006, 12:55 AM	#4
starlette Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Dec 10, 2004 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 10	Yep it is on one of Crystaldawn's cds. Very interesting case.

07-11-2006, 03:33 PM	#5
mphs95 Remember me? Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 02, 2004 Location: Michigan Posts: 790	UM, I have to agree that it may not be Jacobs. I do agree though that Doyle Wheeler is either a victim or is giving an Oscar-winning performance. I just don't feel that he did it. It's pretty elaborate for just a little attention, especially if you consider what the publicity will do for the family. As for the SDPD & WA police, I think it is just a case of the blue wall. One fellow cop(s) help another. Not always a bad thing. I am not saying this is the case. It's the furthest extreme. Most likely, the small town PD is inexperienced in this type of crime and got in over their heads. Possibly linking it to Doyle is an easy way out.

07-11-2006, 07:21 PM	#6
New Brandon Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Feb 23, 2005 Posts: 47	I'd say I'm 85% with Doyle on this one... But it's a tough one to figure out.

10-21-2006, 03:58 PM	#7
kadrmas15 Retired from Board 03/03/11 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 11, 2006 Location: Minnesota Posts: 1,910	Personally I think Doyle Wheeler is telling the truth. I am not sure if Donovan Jacobs was behind it but it was quite obvious the guy is an arrogant jerk who strongly dislikes Doyle Wheeler. I agree with a poster above that either Wheeler is telling the truth or is giving a performance that could win him an academy award. I have the opinion Wheeler did not stage this incident for several reasons. I agree he didnt want the attention and wouldnt have gone public with this story except he wants the people who did it caught. Wheeler left San Diego because he wanted to get away from all the attention it appears hence moving to a quiet town in Eastern Washington State. I also dont think it would be possible for a person to hogtie themselves. I think the sheriff's department really botched the investigation into this because they were too busy thinking Doyle Wheeler staged the incident. They kind of contradicted themselves because they claimed they didnt think Doyle Wheeler stage it yet asked him to take a lie detector test. I dont think Wheeler staged it. I dont know if Jacobs is just a cocky, arrogant jerk or if he actually knows more than he is telling.

04-24-2007, 12:12 AM	#9
cmonforme Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Feb 27, 2007 Location: san diego Posts: 8	i had no Idea about this! I Know Doyle Wheeler, I know him from When he was a beat cop in San diego. I worked in a shopping center and he came in often I knew him well. Thats something else, I'm glad I stopped and read this. cmonforme

04-24-2007, 12:46 AM	#10
mozartpc27 Vigilante Logician Forum Regular Join Date: Mar 09, 2006 Location: Philadelphia Posts: 924	I haven't seen this case, so I can't comment too thoroughly, but the first reaction I had when reading the summation was: if someone is pointing a gun at you and asking you to write a "suicide" note, why would you do it? The person obviously intends to shoot you, and you're only helping him by cooperating. Make him kill you without a note.

04-24-2007, 12:50 AM	#11
cmonforme Member Occasional Poster Join Date: Feb 27, 2007 Location: san diego Posts: 8	I remember Doyal back in his early days of street patrol in san diego- He seemed to have his @#$% together.

05-27-2008, 08:37 AM	#13
mphs95 Remember me? Forum Regular Join Date: Jan 02, 2004 Location: Michigan Posts: 790	If you go back and watch the segment, he wasn't going to write the note. He only did because they threatened to kill his children who were about to come home any minute. I agree that I wouldn't write the note otherwise, but understand why he did it.

05-27-2008, 02:28 PM	#14
synthisislab Member Forum Regular Join Date: Mar 11, 2006 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 552	The nagging things about this case to me is if they wanted Doyle Wheeler's death to look like a suicide, then why did they remove the gun, not untie Doyle, nor did they check to see if he were dead before they left (all of which would have pointed towards murder and not suicide if he was dead and the investigators checked out the scene)? You think if some guys were sent all the way up in Washington from way down in San Diego, they would make sure the job was finished. And if the 4 guys were seen in that parking lot, why would they all drive 2 or 3 days to get all the way up to Washington state just to terrorize this guy (since they obviously didn't do what it took to kill him and make sure he was dead)? If what Doyle was saying was true, then this was total amateur hour.

05-27-2008, 04:49 PM	#15
Corky Kneivel Member Forum Regular Join Date: Feb 12, 2007 Location: Sacratomato Posts: 570	I remember the scenario as being that they were supposed to make it look like a suicide, then when Doyle wouldnt cooperate they phoned the SDPD and it was decided that they would make it look like a "Dope Rip" (Doyle Wheeler's words). They definitely came there to murder him and only left because they thought that they had. Also, the bad guys didn't necessarily have to be out-of-state talent. I know that one of the DW id'd one of his attackers as being an informant for the SDPD Narcotics division, but that informant could easily have relocated himself to Eastern Washington and/or just recruited old convict buddies from around there. The informant may have driven the 12-13 hours and then met with the other guys at that rest stop/parking lot and gone over the plan. Its interesting to note that Eastern Washington is like Mecca for white supremacists, Nazi Low-Riders, and Aryan Brotherhood guys. IT'd be nothing at all to find some folks of that background out there. Not only would they ideallogically tie in to Donovan Jacobs, and love to carry the "get out of jail free" juice that doing a hit for him would give them, but they'd line up in single file to be able to knock off an ex-cop. I'm just saying all this because if you believe the story, and I'm not sure I do, it does conceiveably, in the abstract, appear plausible.