The State - News from April 21, 1988

The investigation into the wounding of Doyle A. Wheeler, a former San Diego police lieutenant who testified against a fellow officer in the Sagon Penn police-shooting case, revealed that a note left at the scene was in Wheeler’s handwriting, San Diego police said. The shooting occured in the small community of Suncrest, north of Spokane, Wash., when three men burst into Wheeler’s home while his two children were at school and his wife was away. Police said Wheeler, 36, was found tied up and had what appeared to be cigarette burns on his body, a grazing bullet wound behind his ear and his old San Diego Police Department badge pinned to his shirt. He reportedly used his tongue to dial the emergency 911 number. Police have refused to confirm a television report that the note said, “This is a payback.”