Pod Insights Park Predators The Worker About this episode In April 1995, two troubled teens on the run from the law in Payette National Forest encounter an innocent forest service worker and commit the unthinkable.
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0:30 Speaker 01 Hi, park enthusiasts. It's Delia. If you listen to Park Predators, you already know that sometimes the most beautiful places can hide the darkest secrets. But what happens when the danger isn't miles from civilization? It's in your community, and sometimes even in your own backyard. On Crime Junkie, hosts Ashley and Britt dive into real cases every week, from missing persons to unsolved murders, breaking down what we know, what we don't, and the details that still don't sit right. If you care about the stories behind the headlines and the victims at the center of them, you'll want to check out Crime Junkie. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.
1:10 Speaker 01 Hi, park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Delia Diambra. And the case I'm going to tell you about today takes place in Payette National Forest in west-central Idaho. This recreation space is more than 2.3 million acres and contains forests, grasslands, and beautiful mountain peaks, among many other types of scenic topography. According to the US Department of Agriculture's website, there are trails in this vast landscape that are rarely used, simply because of how remote they are. The National Forest Foundation's website explains that the landscape is sectioned into five different ranger districts, which are home to lots of camping areas, hiking routes, fishing spots, and snowmobiling trails.
1:52 Speaker 01 Because each of these districts offer unique experiences for visitors, dedicated employees of the National Park Service and US Forest Service work hard to make sure day-to-day operations run smoothly.
2:04 Speaker 01 In April 1995, though, one worker's act of kindness to two strangers was betrayed in the most tragic way. When I tell you that the raw senselessness of what happened to him brought me to tears, I'm not lying. I spent a lot of time researching this case and obtaining old court records, which included law enforcement's interview transcripts of the offenders. And the absolute disregard for human life that this story reveals broke my heart. And like it has for me, will likely remain a case that will stick with you for a long, long time. This is Park Predators.
3:24 Speaker 01 Around 12:30 PM on Wednesday, April 26, 1995, a deputy with the Washington County Sheriff's Office in Idaho was listening to his police scanner when he heard a call go out that caught his attention. The dispatcher's crackled message stated that two teenage boys had escaped a youth detention facility in nearby Elmore County, and they were believed to be armed with a Winchester .22 caliber rifle and a .357 Smith & Wesson handgun. They were also suspected of driving a stolen, older-model, white Chevrolet flatbed truck.
3:58 Speaker 01 The fugitives were 17-year-old Eric Scott Brown and 16-year-old Ronald Steiner. The deputy who'd heard the alert about them noted that the vehicle they were suspected of stealing was described as having Idaho plates and displayed the text "Hiddleston Well Drilling" on the doors. Which, to me at least, seems like a pretty good description considering there could have been any number of Chevy flatbeds on the road in that part of Idaho at that time. According to investigative reports, a witness working east of the city of Weezer, Idaho, had reported seeing the missing flatbed around 9:30 a.m. And an Oregon State Police trooper had also clocked it around 11 a.m. So the odds seemed to be in law enforcement's favor of catching the two young men at some point.
4:43 Speaker 01 But it wasn't going to be as easy as going to their homes and knocking on their front doors, because when a deputy went to two addresses associated with Eric and Ronald, he didn't see the stolen flatbed at either of those locations. Which meant, most likely, they were still on the run and probably somewhere laying low. Thankfully, it was only a matter of hours before investigators with the sheriff's office caught a major break.
5:07 Speaker 01 According to police reports, around 4:45 p.m. on that Wednesday, a police lieutenant for the city of Weezer spotted a pair of young white men walking on a sidewalk who he suspected could be Eric and Ronald. The teens' clothing closely matched the outfits the missing pair had last been seen wearing, and as the lieutenant passed them, the duo stared back at him. The cop's intuition told him they were most likely the guys everybody was looking for. So he quickly whipped his cruiser around and followed them, eventually engaging with the pair and calling other personnel with the sheriff's office for backup. While the teens were being handcuffed and patted down, Eric and Ronald confirmed their identities, but Eric protested as to why they were being detained.
5:52 Speaker 01 That's when law enforcement officials informed the pair that they were wanted for escape, firearm theft, and motor vehicle theft. At the time, Ronald was in possession of a lighter, matches, a pack of cigarettes, and a map of Payette National Forest that was marked with the words "official use only, not for resale." Inside Eric's pockets, authorities found several keys, a flashlight, papers, six 22-caliber bullets, $43 in US currency, and $10 in Canadian money, and an ID and credit cards that had the name David Jack Wheeler on them. When investigators asked Eric where he got those items from, he claimed he'd found them by some local railroad tracks. But investigators didn't totally buy that answer.
6:37 Speaker 01 So they kept pressing him. The sheriff who arrived on scene asked Eric where the guns and flatbed truck were that he and his friend reportedly stole from his father's house. And at first, Eric didn't answer the question directly, but then he eventually offered up that they'd parked the truck somewhere in the county. After that, though, the pair declined to provide any further information and requested to speak with a lawyer. Authorities decided it would be best to separate the young man and process them at different law enforcement headquarters. So Ronald was taken to the sheriff's office and Eric was transported to the Weezer Police Department. Interestingly, while Eric's arresting officer was filling out paperwork for him, he noticed that Eric kept repeating that he wanted to know where Ronald was because he said he
7:21 Speaker 01 wanted to be with him to protect him. But the officer arresting Eric told him that he wasn't going to see his friend anytime soon, and he continued to try and get Eric to offer up more information about where the truck and guns were that they'd stolen. Eric responded that the truck was somewhere near the Man Creek Reservoir, and he later told another officer the guns were at the bottom of an area river. Not long after that, investigators who were dealing with Ronald learned that Eric had made an admission to a Weezer police officer who was watching over him that he'd shot a man by a ranger station in the Man Creek Reservoir area. This news obviously got investigators' attention because up until that point, they didn't know anything about a shooting victim.
8:04 Speaker 01 So they quickly brought Ronald over to where Eric was to try and convince the pair that it was in everyone's best interest for them to show authorities where the man Eric said he'd shot was located. The teens agreed to cooperate at that point, and Ronald was eventually the one to go with investigators to lead them to where the victim was.
8:23 Speaker 01 Meanwhile, while that was going on, a deputy in an ambulance drove up to Payette National Forest toward the Man Creek Reservoir to check things out and search for the person Eric claimed he'd shot. At that point in time, no one knew whether or not that individual was alive or dead, but based on Eric's admission, investigators had to have believed something far worse than just a stolen car and guns was probably awaiting them. Around 6:00 PM, when units arrived at the Man Creek Guard Station, they saw a green U.S. Forest Service pickup truck with a white camper shell on the back parked on a bridge over the creek. The door on the driver's side of the truck was open, and on the ground next to it lying face up was a man whose head and chest area were covered with blood.
9:07 Speaker 01 The victim appeared to be about 50 years old, had a gray beard and balding head. And it was apparent right away that he was a Forest Service employee because he was wearing a U.S. Forest Service shirt, chest waders, a bright orange vest, and his government-issued badge was lying on or near his chest. He'd been shot in the head, and there was nothing the responding deputies or paramedics could do for him. From that point, the sheriff's office secured the crime scene and began taking photographs. About 15 minutes later, investigators brought Ronald to the area, and he led deputies to where he and Eric had abandoned the stolen flatbed truck after their escape. It didn't take long for the sheriff's office to locate that stolen vehicle about two miles away from the homicide scene.
9:51 Speaker 01 After that, they linked up with law enforcement officers with the U.S. Forest Service and tentatively ID'd the victim as David "Jack" Wheeler. It seems everyone involved in the investigation made the connection rather quickly, since Eric had David's driver's license and credit cards in his pockets when he and Ronald were caught. Evidence at the crime scene strongly indicated that David had been ambushed when he was killed. The window on the passenger side of his truck had been shattered, and there was glass scattered on the seat as well as on the ground outside. The glove box was left open, and its contents had been dumped out on the seats, almost like they'd been rifled through. There was a large pool of blood on the floorboard of the truck's cab and blood smears on the driver's seat and door frame.
10:35 Speaker 01 By 7:45 PM, the local coroner's office had removed David's body from the scene and transported it to a local hospital for autopsy, which was scheduled to take place the following day. The results of that exam were not made public, but it seems the conclusions were sort of what everyone already knew. David had died from a gunshot wound to the head. Shortly after removing his body, investigators made arrangements to tow his government-issued pickup and the flatbed truck Eric and Ronald had stolen out of the forest. Realizing that they were dealing with a homicide, officers and deputies turned their attention to getting formal recorded statements from their two teenage suspects to try and piece together what in the world had happened.
11:23 Speaker 02 One day last year, detectives knocked on the door of a multimillion-dollar mansion in Los Angeles County. Inside, they found a strange scene. A dining area converted into classrooms with children and toddlers seated at rows of desks. The couple that lived there had 21 kids.
11:43 Speaker 03 It's a house that looks like a castle, but it's under investigation for being a possible factory, a baby factory.
11:50 Speaker 02 Where had these children come from? Almost all of them were born through surrogates. But those surrogates had been deceived. Me and my coworker, we named her the surrogate pimp.
12:01 Speaker 04 That's the one time that we called the cops because she was screaming. And then he pulled out a gun.
12:06 Speaker 05 I started crying. I was like, what the heck did I just get myself into?
12:11 Speaker 02 I'm Eva Kaufman. "The Journey" is a new series from In the Dark and The New Yorker. Find it now in the In the Dark feed, wherever you get your podcasts.
12:28 Speaker 01 According to police reports, when a deputy formally interviewed Ronald around 10 PM on April 26th, he said that the night before, which would have been Tuesday, the 25th, he and Eric had escaped a low-security juvenile facility they'd been temporarily housed at in Mountain Home, Idaho. While on the run, they'd stolen two firearms from Eric's father's house, and then stolen the Chevy flatbed from a local drilling business. Several hours after that, they'd driven into the city of Weasor, briefly gone to a Walmart and shopping mall located close by in Oregon, and eventually made their way back to Idaho where they stole fuel at a gas station. He said they attempted to hang out with some friends in the area, but no one was available, so they continued driving around.
13:10 Speaker 01 Around 11:00 a.m., Eric had driven them up to the Man Creek Reservoir area, which sits within Payette National Forest. And after they arrived, they made their way further into the mountains to ditch the flatbed. Shortly after 1:00 p.m., they got out of that vehicle and began hiking on foot in the direction of a Forest Service guard station. Around 2:30 p.m., when they were close to that building, they noticed a man in a pickup truck and decided to approach him.
13:37 Speaker 01 Ronald said he mentioned to the guy that he was thirsty and asked if he and Eric could have some water. The worker told the young men they could have all the water they wanted, but when he turned his back to get a plastic canteen for them, Eric displayed a .357 handgun from his waistband and shot him. Ronald told investigators that, at that moment, he immediately dropped a .22 caliber rifle he'd been holding and took off into the woods. He was fearful that Eric would try and shoot him, too. A short while later, though, he said Eric caught up to him and admitted to shooting the park employee. After that, they hitched a ride from a Good Samaritan who took them to a bridge that spanned the Snake River. There, they discarded the murder weapon and the .22 rifle,
14:19 Speaker 01 then headed back to Weasor on foot to get some food at a local supermarket. The investigator who took Ronald's statement noted in his report that the entire time Ronald was providing this information, he seemed genuinely unfazed by he and his friends' actions. He was described as almost casual about what they'd done. He didn't cry, he didn't get angry, he was completely emotionless. There were even some points in time where he reportedly yawned.
14:48 Speaker 01 When authorities interviewed Eric, he confessed right away to shooting David Wheeler and said the .357 revolver and .22 caliber rifle he and Ronald had been carrying with them had come from his father's house in Mountain Home. He explained that after escaping the youth detention facility and stealing the guns, he and Ronald had stolen the Chevy flatbed from a drilling and pump business and driven it up into the mountains past the Man Creek Reservoir Guard Station. They decided to leave the flatbed in the woods and hike back towards the guard station. When they arrived, they spotted a forest employee in green pickup truck. And Eric got the idea to steal it. So he told Ronald to walk up to the guy and ask him for water. When the employee went to get the young men some, Eric said he pulled out his handgun
15:32 Speaker 01 and shot the worker in the back of his head from roughly three feet away. After that, Eric said he rifled through the truck's glove box and stole some first aid kits, two jackets, and the victim's wallet, which contained credit cards and cash. In Eric's version of events, it seemed the boys had spent at least some amount of time planning to kill their target in order to steal his pickup truck. Whereas, in Ronald's story, he'd made it sound like the whole thing was Eric lashing out at random, and there was never a plan to commit murder to steal another vehicle. In Eric's statements, he told an officer that he'd heard voices in his head and he thought that maybe if he shot the guy, those voices would stop. He also admitted to contemplating killing Ronald, too, per the voices, but had chosen
16:16 Speaker 01 not to. In the end, Eric ultimately said he didn't know why he killed the victim. At one point, he said he thought David might have had a gun, but then later confirmed that he knew he didn't. Eric stated that after the murder, he and Ronald caught a ride from a motorist who took them to a bridge that spanned the Snake River. There, he said he'd wrapped the murder weapon in one of the jackets from the victim's truck and dumped the .22 rifle and extra ammo directly into the river. When they got to Weezer, he discarded the first aid kits in a dumpster, but held on to the other jacket that had belonged to David. As a part of their due diligence, authorities confiscated the green-colored jacket Eric was wearing, swabbed his hands for what I assume was likely gunshot residue, and took fingernail clippings.
17:01 Speaker 01 They sent all that stuff to a forensic lab in Meridian for further examination. Then they escorted Eric to the overpass across the Snake River where he'd indicated he and his friend had disposed of the two firearms. Unfortunately, though, the guns were not able to be retrieved that night. Around that same time, so 10:00 or 10:30 at night on that Wednesday, authorities got in touch with David's wife, of 16 years, Kristy, and notified her of what had happened. Because there seemed to be some discrepancies, at least in terms of motive, between Eric's version of events and Ronald's story, the deputy who first interviewed Ronald decided he needed to conduct a second interview with the 16-year-old to sort out where their accounts differed.
17:45 Speaker 01 According to police reports, before this deputy spoke with Ronald a second time, his boss, the sheriff, advised him to ask the county prosecutor if that was okay. But the deputy didn't do that. Instead, he visited Ronald in jail without his lawyer present and interviewed him anyway. During that conversation, the deputy confronted Ronald with information he said Eric had provided about the murder being premeditated. And it was only then that Ronald reportedly changed his entire statement. This time around, he said that he and Eric had walked to the guard station near Man Creek Reservoir and stumbled upon who they thought was a ranger working near a bridge. He said he and Eric squabbled for about 10 minutes about who was going to kill the man,
18:29 Speaker 01 and eventually Eric made the executive decision to be the one to commit the murder. Ronald said they'd used the ruse of asking for water to distract the victim. After the deputy got this confession from Ronald, he finally called Washington County's prosecutor to let him know what was up, and the prosecutor, naturally, wasn't happy with this investigator's actions. He told him not to speak with Ronald again without his lawyer present. Because, yeah, duh, everyone knows that has a huge potential to cause major problems down the line. Still, this whole thing about the investigator questioning Ronald a second time didn't seem to impact what came next in the case. Because according to investigative reports and news coverage on this case, on April
19:12 Speaker 01 27th, authorities officially charged Eric and Ronald as adults with first-degree murder and possession of stolen property. If they were convicted, they faced the death penalty or life in prison. When news of their arrests hit local newspapers, the story was everywhere. As you can imagine, David's loved ones and coworkers were absolutely devastated by his murder. He was a 49-year-old married father of two who lived in Baker City, Oregon. He was also a decorated Vietnam veteran and civil engineer who'd worked for the U.S. Forest Service for 15 years. Normally, he was stationed in nearby Willawa-Witman National Forest in Oregon, but on the day of the crime, he'd been temporarily assigned to inspect bridges in Payette National Forest
19:56 Speaker 01 for a few weeks. When he was killed, he was working by himself and was believed to have either just completed an inspection on the bridge at Man Creek or was about to start one. His supervisor told the press that David was a big supporter of barrier-free access to facilities in the national forest and desired to be a counselor and mentor to his coworkers. David's widow, Kristy, told the Associated Press that when she first learned that her husband had died, she initially thought he'd drowned or maybe gotten into a car crash. She couldn't really wrap her mind around the fact that he'd been murdered. She told the publication, quote, "It's just sort of incomprehensible right now that he's not going to drive up and walk in the door," end quote.
20:39 Speaker 01 She later expressed in a more in-depth interview that prior to this incident, she was never really afraid for her husband's safety while he was at work. The only times they'd ever discussed potential threats was in regard to mushroom pickers in the forest. According to Mary Ann Flags reporting for the Idaho Statesman, the couple had been together since 1975 and shared a mutual love for nature. They enjoyed raising their son and daughter in Baker City and being a part of their community. David in particular was very involved in his church, an area Rotary Club, and youth sports programs with the local YMCA where his wife was the executive director. He was also a big part of his son and daughter's sports teams and schools.
21:21 Speaker 01 People who knew him said he was a super-nice guy who was very giving of his time and had a knack for connecting with young people. For example, in 1994, just one year before his murder, he was crowned Baker County's Father of the Year after his daughter Melissa penned a persuasive, heartfelt essay about how great of a man he was. Which, I think, is just another reason why it made it all the more shocking that the suspects accused of killing him were teenagers. Unfortunately, subsequent searches of the Snake River where Eric and Ronald had both confessed to ditching the murder weapon didn't turn up the firearms right away. Recent heavy rains had forced authorities to temporarily suspend the search for those pieces of evidence, but they weren't totally at a dead end.
22:04 Speaker 01 According to police reports, around 11:00 PM on Saturday, April 29th, investigators received a call from an angler who claimed he'd found a jacket floating in an area reservoir that he believed belonged to the slain forest worker. This witness reported he'd been fishing on Saturday afternoon when he noticed a dark-green hooded jacket drifting in the water in front of him. He snagged it with his fishing line, and when he looked inside, he saw tags that had the U.S. Forest Service logo on them and the name Wheeler written down. A few hours later, when the sheriff's office got the jacket from the angler around 1:00 AM on Sunday, April 30th, they made those same observations about the tags and went through several waterlogged items that the witness had retrieved from the pockets.
22:47 Speaker 01 Those things included a set of keys with the name Wheeler written on the back, a few pieces of paper, one of which had David's name on it, remnants of a sandwich, a ski lift ticket, a candy bar, and some gum. All of those items were quickly sent off to the lab in Meridian that was processing the other physical evidence in the case. That same day, friends and loved ones held David's memorial service at Baker High School's auditorium. Nearly 1,000 people attended to celebrate the 49-year-old's life and legacy. Family, friends, coworkers, and city officials shared story after story about their fond memories of him and what a lasting impact he left on their lives and the world around him.
23:29 Speaker 01 His two accused killers, on the other hand, did not seem to have nearly as bright reputations. Not much is known about Eric and Ronald before this, but from what I read in the available news coverage, they both came from broken homes and either had parents who were not alive anymore or who struggled with mental illness. Eric had recently moved to Idaho from California and stopped attending high school shortly thereafter. Ronald was from Payette, Idaho, but had withdrawn from Mountain Home High School in 1993 to pursue studies at home. Both young men had a habit of skipping school, and in Ronald's interaction with law enforcement, he expressed that he couldn't read or write very well. The juvenile detention facility they'd escaped from was nothing more than a trailer located
24:14 Speaker 01 in Elmore County in the city of Mountain Home, which was about 100 miles southeast of the crime scene. According to an article by the Baker City Herald, it was mainly used to house juveniles who were waiting to be transferred to more secure facilities. Before Eric and Ronald literally walked out of the building undetected, they were facing charges for car break-ins and burglaries in Elmore County. Mary Ann Flag reported for the Idaho Statesman that two different area magistrates had previously raised concerns about Elmore County's juvenile detention trailer and its lack of security, but nothing was done to correct the situation. In July 1994, for example, three teens had managed to get out of the building and steal a car before eventually being caught.
24:57 Speaker 01 Not long after the magistrates issued their warnings, Elmore County Sheriff at the time somewhat addressed their concerns, but he later wrote in a letter that there was only so much he could do with the amount of resources and manpower at his disposal. It's clear from the source material that this specific situation pointed to a much greater problem within the state of Idaho's juvenile justice system at the time, which was that there simply wasn't enough room in secure youth detention facilities to house the growing number of adolescents waiting to be incarcerated. When Eric and Ronald were first brought to the detention trailer a few days before David's murder, they were deemed nonviolent offenders. They'd been arrested for thefts, so nothing is violent as murder. And typically juveniles who were temporarily housed
25:41 Speaker 01 in Elmore County's trailer fell into that same category. Anytime a suspect was determined to be violent, they were always taken to a secure facility straight away. According to what Elmore County Sheriff told the Associated Press, the door to the trailer the pair had escaped from was always kept unlocked for safety reasons, but there was an attendant who monitored the room. Unfortunately, when that attendant took a short restroom break on the night of April 25th, that's when Eric and Ronald got out. In early May, so just a few days after the teens were arrested, Eric's court-appointed attorney submitted a request for him to undergo psychological evaluation. Because he'd expressed to investigators after his arrest
26:24 Speaker 01 that he'd heard voices in his head at the time of the murder, his attorney felt it was appropriate to determine if he was competent enough to understand the charges against him and eventually stand trial. Apparently Eric's brother had experienced something similar with regards to voices in his head in 1994, and he'd gone as far as attempting to take his own life. So in Eric's attorney's eyes, Eric's mental health certainly merited a closer look. The court agreed and ordered a doctor perform that exam on May 3rd. At a preliminary hearing a few weeks later, the results of that evaluation were not discussed in court, but several investigators, fellow inmates, and witnesses who'd come across the defendants after the crime did take the stand. For about three hours,
27:09 Speaker 01 both sides introduced numerous photos and items of evidence related to the case, and Eric's father, Ed, even testified about incriminating admissions his son had made to him after his arrest. Ed recounted for the court how he'd discovered his home broken into in the early morning hours of April 26, with two of his guns and their accompanying ammunition missing. When the preliminary hearing concluded, the judge determined that there was substantial probable cause to move forward with the trial. At an arraignment a few days later, Eric pleaded not guilty, but Ronald asked for more time to consider how he would plead. At that point, both teens' attorneys wanted to sever their cases so they could each get a jury of their own. In the weeks that followed,
27:53 Speaker 01 Ronald eventually ended up pleading not guilty too, and their defense attorneys got to work filing motions to have all the statements they'd made to police before their arrests suppressed. Prosecutors obviously didn't want that to happen, though, because the teens' admissions were pretty central to the state's case. However, that was a fight the prosecution would ultimately lose, because in mid-September, the judge presiding over the case granted both defendants' requests to have their statements suppressed. The judge told the court, quote, "Coercion and intimidation was placed on these individuals. This is not a court-made law, but society's law passed by the legislature." He later continued, "It keeps building and building. They keep interrogating, suggesting,
28:38 Speaker 01 and keep ignoring and denying, while re-notifying them of their rights and tape recording. At some point, the coercion is overwhelming, and that is why the law is so strict, saying all questions must cease until an attorney is provided." End quote. But it wasn't all victory and celebrations for the defense after that. At that same hearing, the judge denied their motions to have separate trials, which meant, like it or not, Eric and Ronald were stuck with one another for the long haul. Several months later, in March of 1996, with their trial date barreling toward them, both young men seemed to experience a sudden change of heart about how they wanted their fight to end.
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29:55 Speaker 02 One day last year, detectives knocked on the door of a multimillion-dollar mansion in Los Angeles County.
30:02 Speaker 02 Inside, they found a strange scene: a dining area converted into classrooms with children and toddlers seated at rows of desks.
30:12 Speaker 02 The couple that lived there had 21 kids.
30:15 Speaker 03 It's a house that looks like a castle, but it's under investigation for being a possible factory: a baby factory.
30:22 Speaker 02 Where had these children come from? Almost all of them were born through surrogates. But those surrogates had been deceived. Me and my coworker, we named her the surrogate pimp.
30:33 Speaker 04 That's the one time that we called the cops, because she was screaming. And then he pulled out a gun.
30:38 Speaker 05 I started crying. I was like, what the heck did I just get myself into?
30:43 Speaker 02 I'm Ava Kaufman. "The Journey" is a new series from In the Dark and The New Yorker. Find it now in the In the Dark feed, wherever you get your podcasts.
31:00 Speaker 01 According to court records, on March 13, 1996, Ronald's defense attorney notified the court that his client intended to enter an Alfred plea for second-degree murder and grand theft by possession. Eric's attorney informed the judge that his client would also be pleading guilty, but not to second-degree murder. Eric agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder and grand theft by possession in exchange for the death penalty being taken off the table. In response to this announcement, Washington County's prosecutor stated, "I believe that this resolution is fair and just. For my contacts with the family of Mr. Wheeler, I know of the painful year they have endured. I am satisfied now that justice will be done." End quote.
31:45 Speaker 01 David's widow Christie told reporter Charles Etlinger that she didn't think her late husband would have wanted to see either of the offenders put to death. From what I read in the news coverage, the Wheelers were described as fairly religious people, and the idea of capital punishment was a subject Christie said she and her husband had talked about prior to this incident. In the end, the family and their close friends were just happy they didn't have to go through a trial. David and Christie's children were elementary and middle school age at the time, and on top of what they'd already been through, I'm sure their mother was just glad they could all try and move on. A month earlier, the federal building in Baker City, Oregon, which housed a U.S. post office and several offices for Willawa Whitman National Forest employees, was renamed
32:28 Speaker 01 the David J. Wheeler Federal Building. As of this recording, it still bears that name, but reporting by the Baker City Herald in March of 2025 explained that it's actually one of several hundred government-owned properties that could be sold due to being deemed functionally obsolete for the modern workforce. Now, even though Eric's previous psychological evaluation had determined he was fit to stand trial, it also was considered in the sentencing phase. Ronald eventually had one too, by the way, because understanding his mental health history would have some bearing on how the judge decided to punish the teens. At their sentencing hearing in early May 1996, the doctor who performed those exams testified,
33:09 Speaker 01 but his specific findings were not archived in the court records that are available. However, coverage from that time by the Associated Press explained that the doctor had learned that in the days prior to the crime, Eric had read materials about religions, including Satanism, and expressed to other people that he needed to kill someone in order to become a Satanist. The psychologist also noted that Ronald was the much more reserved of the two and was a person with an intellectual disability. The doctor said Ronald was more likely to be a follower than a leader when it came to making big decisions, which is a characterization Ronald's own loved ones later echoed in court.
33:48 Speaker 01 In addition to the doctor's testimony, several investigators, relatives of the defendants, loved ones of the victim, and Eric Brown himself took the stand. David Wheeler's father-in-law testified before the defendants and stated in part, quote, "You two, you may be from torn families, but what the hell do you think you did to this one? I have no sympathy and I have no empathy for either of you." He later continued, "I am only sorry that you didn't meet your Lord and Maker the very next day, and I'm sure now you never will. But I hope you never walk the streets of this earth a free person ever again, neither one of you. You destroyed the life of a loving and caring man." End quote.
34:31 Speaker 01 Before leaving court that day, Kristy, David's wife, gifted Eric and Ronald bibles with a photo of the Wheeler family inside. The books also contained a letter, info about David's memorial service, and the family's New Year's resolutions. She told the press outside of court that she genuinely wished Eric and Ronald well and hoped that if they ever got out of prison one day, they would strive to be contributing members of society and seek and receive God's forgiveness. When all was said and done, the judge sentenced Ronald to concurrent sentences of 15 years to life for second-degree murder and two to five years for the grand theft charge. Eric was given concurrent sentences of 30 years to life and two to five years for grand theft.
35:14 Speaker 01 The judge told the defendants he didn't think that either of them were remorseful or had compassion. He especially took issue with the fact that Eric had reportedly bragged about the murder while in jail awaiting trial. He said, quote, "Both of you are cold-blooded killers." End quote. According to the news coverage, neither the 22 rifle or the murder weapon used in this crime were ever found. After learning his fate, Eric quickly appealed to have his sentence reduced, but that request was denied in 1997. He and Ronald continued seeking post-conviction relief in the years after that, but their bids were eventually dismissed. As of this recording, Eric is still serving time in prison
35:57 Speaker 01 in the Idaho Department of Correction. Ronald's records show that he was paroled in December of 2020 after serving roughly 24 years. Both men are in their mid to late 40s, which coincidentally is around the same age David Wheeler was when they took his life.
36:16 Speaker 01 In 1996, several rotary clubs in Oregon and Idaho banded together to build a footbridge on property owned by the Boy Scouts near Wallawa Lake. When it was complete, it was named the Wheeler Memorial Footbridge. It was moved about two decades later after some flooding affected the area it originally spanned over. About 10 years after the crime, David's daughter Melissa spoke with reporter Jason Jacoby, or it might be pronounced Jacoby, for the Baker City Herald, and recounted in detail some of her favorite memories of her late father. By then, she was an adult who'd gone to college and started a life of her own, but she still remembered stories about her dad like it was yesterday. She shared what it was like learning of his death at such a young age and trying to navigate
37:00 Speaker 01 life, school, and even something as simple as getting her learner's permit without him in the picture. Her mother eventually remarried after the murder and remained in Oregon, as did Melissa. She told the publication that even though she would likely never know why Ronald Steiner and Eric Brown killed her dad, she was never really angry at them. She stated, quote, "The way I grew up with people who loved me and a community that supported me, I just could never fathom killing someone or wanting to hurt someone. It makes me sad to think something was so wrong with their lives." She later continued, "I feel like a pretty happy, complete person. I've got a whole life ahead of me and they don't. If I was going to spend my life being angry, that would have taken me down some different
37:44 Speaker 01 paths, and I know that's not what Dad would have wanted. It's kind of a cliche, but I think I'm the person I am because I've been through that tragedy." End quote. Before David Wheeler was killed, he'd set his sights on becoming the president of his local rotary club. Part of that process included him writing out the reasons why he wanted to fulfill that position. In the Baker City Rotary Club's April 1995 newsletter, which came out the same month as David's murder, some of the reasons he wrote down were published and read, quote, "I believe in service above self. There's become apparent to me, mostly through trial and error, that I am happiest when I help someone else be happy." End quote.
38:28 Speaker 01 With every bone in my body, I believe that David Wheeler meant exactly what he wrote in that statement. In his final moments, he had to have believed the two teenage boys who asked him for water would be happier if he gave them some. So he chose to help them. He chose to be kind. Let that be the overarching theme you take away from this story, because it's the one thing that could define the legacy you leave behind.
39:00 Speaker 01 Park Predators is an AudioChuck production. You can view a list of all the source material for this episode on our website, parkpredators.com. And you can also follow Park Predators on Instagram, @ParkPredators.
39:19 Speaker 01 I think Chuck would approve.
39:25 Speaker 01 In the dark, even the most familiar trail can feel like it leads somewhere else. Every rustle becomes a warning, every shadow, a doorway. In Full Body Chills, those doorways open into worlds pulled straight from your nightmares. This spooky season classic returns with chillingly tales, immersive sound, and no promise that you'll find your way back. So step off the familiar path if you dare. Listen to new episodes of Full Body Chills every week, wherever you get your podcasts.
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