Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 1, 1995 TAG: 9511010072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAUL DELLINGER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: WYTHEVILLE LENGTH: Medium
But the testimony wasn't enough to keep Judge William Thomas from ordering that Wheeler be tried as an adult, in Circuit Court, on charges of killing a Wythe County deputy.
His attorneys say they will appeal that ruling.
Wheeler originally was charged with capital murder in the fatal Dec. 6 shooting of Wythe County Deputy Cliff Dicker, who was serving papers on Wheeler for car theft.
Both sides had agreed to a charge of second-degree murder in juvenile court because of a dispute over the admissibility of a statement Wheeler gave police after the shooting. But the prosecution plans to seek a capital murder indictment in Circuit Court.
Wheeler, whose birthday was Sept. 3, also faces two charges of using a firearm in the commission of a felony.
Police say Dicker was wounded by the boy's .22-caliber hunting rifle, then killed with a bullet from his own sidearm.
A conviction in juvenile court would mean that Wheeler would have to be released when he reached age 21, with no probation or other constraints. Jonathan Venzie, one of the defense attorneys, argued that Wheeler would have no chance to rehabilitate himself in the adult system.
"I think what they're really asking the system to do is throw this boy away," he said. "Give this boy the chance that has so far been effectively denied him to simply be a child."
"I submit that we shouldn't throw Cliff Dicker away and Cliff Dicker's family away," Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Keith Blankenship responded. "We don't want to make [Wheeler] a monster. ... Well, maybe that's a moot issue. Maybe he is a monster."
Psychologist Marilyn Minrath told of Wheeler's illegitimate birth. His father never acknowledged him and had wanted to abort him; his mother died two years later of a drug overdose. His father was killed in a car crash in mid-1994. Wheeler went from one relative to another, many of whom were alcohol and drug abusers.
Soon, Wheeler was one himself, Minrath said. When he was 11 years old, two relatives initiated him into sex with an older woman.
He thought a lot of a grandfather and an uncle who gave him gifts of firearms starting at age 8, she said. The grandfather died of a stroke in 1990. The uncle was shot and killed by his wife in what authorities deemed self-defense. Minrath said two other relatives later drove by her house and had Wheeler fire at it with a pellet gun.
An aunt got rid of Wheeler's firearms a few years ago, she said, but other relatives got them back for him.
"He grew up in an environment that was full of guns, drugs and violence. It was an over-stimulating environment that no child could assimilate," she said.
Dr. James Anderson Thomson Jr., another psychologist who interviewed Wheeler and family members, agreed.
But, under cross-examination, neither psychologist could say that five years in the structured juvenile system could guarantee he would not be a threat to public safety when he was freed at age 21. Thomson said only that there was a possibility he would be rehabilitated.
"He is a very troubled boy," he said.
Probation counselor Tyrone Hash and psychologist Andrew James Anderson both believed his case should be transferred to the adult court system.
Steve Hall, superintendent at the New River Valley Detention Home, where Wheeler has been held since the shooting, said Wheeler had done well in its more structured environment and shown an ability to control his behavior. But Stephanie Willoughby, one of his teachers, said he still focused a lot on guns, violence and drugs and disrupted her classes by talking about them.
She said he once told a newcomer, "I did a cop in the head," and has made statements such as "It's easy to kill people if you hate them."
by CNB