Penn Case Witness Shot by Intruders : Former S.D. Officer Told of Death Threats

A former San Diego police lieutenant who reported receiving death threats in connection with his controversial testimony in the Sagon Penn police-shooting case was found shot Tuesday--reportedly amid bizarre circumstances--at his home in Washington State, authorities said.

Unconfirmed press reports citing witness accounts suggest that the former officer, Doyle A. Wheeler, may have been tortured, perhaps with burning cigarettes, and may also have been left in his suburban Spokane house with a San Diego police badge pinned to his person.

Wheeler, 36, a highly commended 10-year veteran of the San Diego force before his disability retirement for stress in 1985, was listed in stable condition at a Spokane hospital, where he was being treated for a gunshot wound to the head, said Richard Andres, sheriff of Stevens County, situated outside of Spokane.

Minor Wound

A sheriff’s dispatcher said the wound was minor. Several press reports indicated that the gunfire had only grazed Wheeler’s head. Andres declined to be more specific about the wound.

San Diego police plan to dispatch two internal affairs investigators to Washington to meet with the investigators handling the case, according to a high-placed police source.

Authorities in Washington are seeking three suspects, all described as white males in their late 20s, in connection with the matter, Sheriff Andres said. The three are believed to have fled in two cars, including Wheeler’s 1978 white Toyota, he said.

As of late Tuesday, details on the shooting remained sketchy.

Andres declined to comment on the reports that Wheeler may have been tortured and that a badge was found on his person. He also declined to say whether Wheeler had been tied up or if a weapon had been found.

(San Diego station KFMB-TV reported that a note left with Wheeler by his assailants said, “This is a payback.”)

Asked if the possibility existed that the wounds may have been self-inflicted, Andres replied: “We’re treating it as though there was an attempt on his life.”

Authorities Summoned

Despite his wounds, Andres said that Wheeler was able to dial the 911 emergency number. The Sheriff’s Department was notified about 2 p.m.

Because of fear for the victim’s safety, Andres said he would not release the name of the hospital where Wheeler is being kept.

Wheeler’s injury comes after he warned that he might be a target of foul play.

Two months ago, Wheeler walked into the newsroom of KXLY-TV, the ABC affiliate in Spokane, and told of death threats he had received in connection with the Sagon Penn case in San Diego, according to Elizabeth Ruggeri, the station’s assignment editor.

“He said . . . he just wanted somebody to hear his story because, if he turned up dead, it . . . wouldn’t be what it seemed to be,” Ruggeri said.

Wheeler then recounted his testimony in the Penn trial and said he had been receiving two or three death threats a month, Ruggeri said. “He said over and over again that these threats were coming from the (San Diego) Police Department, either from former members or current members,” Ruggeri said. Wheeler declined to be interviewed on tape, saying he was not seeking publicity, Ruggeri said.

Two Murder Trials

Penn was tried twice and eventually cleared in the 1985 shootings of two San Diego police officers--one of whom died--as well as a civilian ride-along. The controversial and highly publicized trials of of Penn, who is black, underlined deep racial divisions between San Diego’s minority community and its mostly white police force.

During the proceedings, Wheeler characterized Police Agent Donovan Jacobs, who was wounded by Penn, variously as a “hothead,” as “cocky,” and as “overly aggressive.” In addition, Wheeler testified that he had warned other senior police officers of Jacobs’ bigoted tendencies, and recounted an instance when Jacobs had purportedly slammed a black suspect head-first against a wall.

Wheeler’s testimony, said Milton J. Silverman, Penn’s attorney, was an act of courage in defiance of the Police Department’s “code of silence.”

But the prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael Carpenter, portrayed Wheeler as a troubled individual with deep psychological problems who attempted suicide in 1985 and bore a grudge against the department. The prosecutor suggested that Wheeler’s testimony was motivated by his “hatred” for the department, an assertion denied by Wheeler.

Wheeler, father of two young children and a Vietnam veteran, retired from the force in 1985 on a stress disability, according to court testimony. After living in New Jersey for a while, he has reportedly been in suburban Spokane with his wife and two children for the past 1 1/2 years or so. He now reportedly makes his living as a salesman.

San Diego Police Chief Bill Kolender declined Tuesday night to comment on the incident.