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Roger Wheeler (businessman)

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Roger Wheeler
Born
Roger Milton Wheeler

(1926-02-27)February 27, 1926
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedMay 27, 1981(1981-05-27) (aged 55)
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Cause of deathGunshot wound
Resting placeMemorial Park Cemetery, Tulsa, Oklahoma
NationalityAmerican
EducationRice University
OccupationBusinessman
Years active1943–1981
Known forOwner of World Jai Alai
SpousePatricia Jane Wilson (m. 1946)
Children6

Roger Milton Wheeler Sr. (February 27, 1926 – May 27, 1981) was an American businessman from Tulsa, Oklahoma, the former chairman of Telex Corporation, and former owner of World Jai Alai. He was murdered by members of organized crime who discovered that Wheeler had uncovered their embezzlement scheme at World Jai Alai.

Early life

Roger Milton Wheeler was born in Boston, Massachusetts on February 27, 1926, the son of Sidney Sea Wheeler and Florence Edith (née Kendall) Wheeler.[1] He was raised in Boston and Reading, and graduated from Reading High School in 1943.[2] After graduating from high school, Wheeler served in the United States Navy Reserve while attending the University of Notre Dame and Rice University.[3] He graduated from Rice in 1946 with a bachelor of science degree in engineering.[3]

Career

While still in high school, Wheeler was involved in several business ventures, including owning and operating a neighborhood newspaper and a stamp collecting service.[3] He then started the Reading Wood Company and used a truck purchased on credit to haul the product from Vermont for resale in Reading.[3]

Wheeler worked for Gulf Oil and Standard Oil in Texas, and in 1946 relocated to Tulsa to work for a company that produced anodes for use in the petroleum industry.[3] In 1949, he started his anode production enterprise, Standard Magnesium and Chemical.[3] Fifteen years later, Wheeler sold Standard Magnesium for $10 million (more than $70 million in 2021).[3]

In the mid-1960s, Wheeler and a group of investors purchased Telex Corp., a maker of hearing aids, speakers, and other sound equipment.[4] Wheeler was the largest shareholder, and served as chairman and chief executive officer.[4] Under his leadership, Telex branched out to the manufacture of computer accessories, including printers and tape drives.[4] Telex grew to employ 5,000 people in the Tulsa area, and Wheeler was a multimillionaire.[4][5]

Death

On May 27, 1981, Wheeler was murdered in his car while he was preparing to leave Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa.[6] Subsequent investigation revealed that Wheeler was killed after uncovering an embezzlement scheme at one of his other business ventures, World Jai Alai in Miami, Florida.[6] After retiring from the FBI, H. Paul Rico took a job as head of security for the jai alai organization.[7] While he was head of security, Rico's former informants Whitey Bulger and Steve Flemmi of Boston's Winter Hill Gang ran a skimming operation that embezzled $10,000 per week from World Jai Alai's parking lot revenues.[8] Upon discovering the theft, Wheeler investigated; this created major problems for Bulger's gang, and led to between four and six murders, two of which remain unsolved.[9]

On March 14, 2001, three members of the Winter Hill Gang — Bulger, Flemmi and Johnny Martorano — were indicted for Wheeler's murder; two other alleged co-conspirators were already dead.[10] In a plea bargain, Martorano confessed to some 20 murders by the gang, including Wheeler's.[11] He was given a 15-year sentence, but was released in 2007 after serving only six years.[12][13] Flemmi also pleaded guilty to the murder of Wheeler and others and received a life sentence.[14] Bulger fled to avoid prosecution and was on the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list from August 19, 1999 until his capture on June 22, 2011.[15] [16] In 2003, Rico was also indicted for Wheeler's murder.[17] He pleaded not guilty and died of natural causes while in custody awaiting trial.[17]

Wheeler's case was covered in the first-ever episode of long-running investigative show Unsolved Mysteries in January 1987.[6] In the Whitey Bulger biopic Black Mass (2015), Wheeler is portrayed by David De Beck.[18]

References

  1. ^ Yadon, Laurence; Smith, Robert Barr (2014). One Murder Too Many: Whitey Bulger and the Computer Tycoon. Gretna, LA: Pelican Publishing. pp. 71–72. ISBN 978-1-4556-1820-0 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Yadion and Smith, pp. 71–72.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Yadion and Smith, p. 72.
  4. ^ a b c d Yadion and Smith, p. 73.
  5. ^ Patterson, Matt (September 18, 2015). "Movie raises memories of '81 Tulsa mob hit". The Oklahoman. Archived from the original on December 13, 2021. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  6. ^ a b c Jackson, Debbie; Pittman, Hilary (September 10, 2015). "Throwback Tulsa: Mob-style murder at posh golf course shocked Tulsa in 1981". Tulsa World. Tulsa, OK. (subscription required)
  7. ^ "Former Boston FBI agent arrested in connection with 1981 murder". Newson6.com. Tulsa, OK: KOTV-DT Television. Associated Press. October 9, 2003.
  8. ^ "Voices of Oklahoma:Roger Wheeler, John Earling interview transcript, June 13, 2013"
  9. ^ Carr, Howie (2007). The Brothers Bulger. New York, NY: Grand Central Publishing. p. 167. ISBN 978-0-4465-0614-4 – via Google Books.
  10. ^ Mahony, Edmund H. (March 15, 2001). "FBI Informants Charged in Jai Alai Killing". Hartford Courant. Hartford, CT.
  11. ^ Braun, Bill (May 4, 2001). "Wheeler hit man pleads guilty in Tulsa courtroom". Tulsa World. Tulsa, OK. (subscription required)
  12. ^ "The hit at Southern Hills - golfer Roger Wheeler killed 20 years ago", Dave Kindred, Golf Digest, June 2001
  13. ^ Nelson, Steven (June 19, 2013). "Lenient Deal for Bulger's 'Executioner' Was Worth It, Prosecutor Says". U.S. News & World Report. New York, NY.
  14. ^ "Winter Hill Gang Leader Pleads Guilty" (Press release). Drug Enforcement Administration. October 14, 2003. Archived from the original on February 25, 2007. Retrieved May 2, 2022 – via Illinois Police and Sheriff's News (IPSN).
  15. ^ "Famed crime boss James 'Whitey' Bulger arrested in Santa Monica". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 9, 2022. Retrieved October 16, 2022.
  16. ^ Nagourney, Adam; Lovett, Ian (June 23, 2011). "Whitey Bulger Is Arrested in California". New York Times. (subscription required)
  17. ^ a b "Former FBI agent Rico dies in hospital had pleaded not guilty in businessman's slaying", The Boston Globe Obituary, January 18, 2004 (subscription required)
  18. ^ Smith, Michael (August 21, 2015). "Tulsan Roger Wheeler's murder depicted in Johnny Depp's 'Black Mass' Whitey Bulger movie". Tulsa World. Tulsa, OK. (subscription required)
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