Roger Wheeler (businessman)

Roger Milton Wheeler was born in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1926, the son of Sidney Sea Wheeler and Florence Edith (née Kendall) Wheeler.{{cite book |last1=Yadon |first1=Laurence |last2=Smith |first2=Robert Barr |date=2014 |title=One Murder Too Many: Whitey Bulger and the Computer Tycoon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tNlODgAAQBAJ&pg=PT71 |location=Gretna, LA |publisher=Pelican Publishing |pages=71–72 |isbn=978-1-4556-1820-0 |via=Google Books |ref={{sfnRef|Yadion and Smith}}}} He was raised in Boston and Reading, and graduated from Reading High School in 1943.{{sfn|Yadion and Smith|pages=71-72}} After graduating, Wheeler served in the United States Navy Reserve while attending the University of Notre Dame and Rice University.{{sfn|Yadion and Smith|page=72}} He graduated from Rice in 1946 with a bachelor of science degree in engineering.{{sfn|Yadion and Smith|page=72}}

While still in high school, Wheeler was involved in several business ventures, including owning and operating a neighborhood newspaper and a stamp collecting service.{{sfn|Yadion and Smith|page=72}} He then started the Reading Wood Company and used a truck purchased on credit to haul the product from Vermont for resale in Reading.{{sfn|Yadion and Smith|page=72}}

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.{{sfn|Yadion and Smith|page=72}} In 1949, he started his anode production enterprise, Standard Magnesium and Chemical.{{sfn|Yadion and Smith|page=72}} Fifteen years later, Wheeler sold Standard Magnesium for $10 million (more than $70 million in 2021).{{sfn|Yadion and Smith|page=72}}

In the mid-1960s, Wheeler and a group of investors purchased Telex Corp., a maker of hearing aids, speakers, and other sound equipment.{{sfn|Yadion and Smith|page=73}} Wheeler was the largest shareholder, and served as chairman and chief executive officer.{{sfn|Yadion and Smith|page=73}} Under his leadership, Telex branched out to the manufacture of computer accessories, including printers and tape drives.{{sfn|Yadion and Smith|page=73}} Telex grew to employ 5,000 people in the Tulsa area, and Wheeler was a multimillionaire.{{sfn|Yadion and Smith|page=73}}{{cite news |last1=Patterson |first1=Matt |title=Movie raises memories of '81 Tulsa mob hit |url=https://www.oklahoman.com/article/5447667/movie-raises-memories-of-81-tulsa-mob-hit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211213193955/https://www.oklahoman.com/article/5447667/movie-raises-memories-of-81-tulsa-mob-hit |archive-date=December 13, 2021|access-date=16 October 2022 |publisher=The Oklahoman |date=September 18, 2015|url-status=dead}}

On May 27, 1981, Wheeler, 55, was murdered in his car while he was preparing to leave Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa.{{cite news |last1=Jackson |first1=Debbie |last2=Pittman |first2=Hilary |date=September 10, 2015 |title=Throwback Tulsa: Mob-style murder at posh golf course shocked Tulsa in 1981 |url=https://tulsaworld.com/news/local/history/throwback-tulsa-mob-style-murder-at-posh-golf-course-shocked-tulsa-in-1981/article_5f0464f1-6fd5-5d8a-bc95-ad56bb5f69b1.html |work=Tulsa World |location=Tulsa, OK}} {{subscription required}} Subsequent investigations revealed that Wheeler was killed after uncovering an embezzlement scheme at one of his other business ventures, World Jai Alai in Miami, Florida. After retiring from the FBI, H. Paul Rico took a job as head of security for the jai alai organization.{{cite news |agency=Associated Press |date=October 9, 2003 |title=Former Boston FBI agent arrested in connection with 1981 murder |url=https://www.newson6.com/story/5e367eeb2f69d76f62092807/former-boston-fbi-agent-arrested-in-connection-with-1981-murder |work=Newson6.com |publisher=KOTV-DT Television |location=Tulsa, OK}} 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.[http://www.voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/wheeler-roger/ "Voices of Oklahoma:Roger Wheeler, John Earling interview transcript, June 13, 2013"] 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.{{cite book |last=Carr |first=Howie |author-link=Howie Carr |date=2007 |title=The Brothers Bulger |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fu5dxbQwLssC&pg=PT167 |location=New York, NY |publisher=Grand Central Publishing |page=167 |isbn=978-0-4465-0614-4 |via=Google Books}}

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.{{cite news |last=Mahony |first=Edmund H. |date=March 15, 2001 |title=FBI Informants Charged in Jai Alai Killing |url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-2001-03-15-0103151099-story.html |work=Hartford Courant |location=Hartford, CT}} In a plea bargain, Martorano confessed to around twenty murders by the gang, including Wheeler's.{{cite news |last=Braun |first=Bill |date=May 4, 2001 |title=Wheeler hit man pleads guilty in Tulsa courtroom |url=https://tulsaworld.com/archive/wheeler-hit-man-pleads-guilty-in-tulsa-courtroom/article_57772693-3ad9-55a5-826f-749ee4cb4898.html |work=Tulsa World |location=Tulsa, OK}} {{subscription required}} He was given a 15-year sentence, but was released in 2007 after serving six years."The hit at Southern Hills - golfer Roger Wheeler killed 20 years ago", Dave Kindred, Golf Digest, June 2001{{cite news |last=Nelson |first=Steven |date=June 19, 2013 |title=Lenient Deal for Bulger's 'Executioner' Was Worth It, Prosecutor Says |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/newsgram/articles/2013/06/19/deal-for-bulger-executioner-martorano-was-worth-it-prosecutor-says |work=U.S. News & World Report |location=New York, NY}} Flemmi also pleaded guilty to the murder of Wheeler and others and received a life sentence.{{cite press release |title=Winter Hill Gang Leader Pleads Guilty |url=https://ipsn.org/characters/bulger/doj_flemmi_press_release.htm |publisher=Drug Enforcement Administration |via=Illinois Police and Sheriff's News (IPSN) |access-date=2 May 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070225094256/https://ipsn.org/characters/bulger/doj_flemmi_press_release.htm |archive-date=2007-02-25 |date=14 October 2003 |url-status=dead}}{{cbignore}} 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.{{cite web|title=Famed crime boss James 'Whitey' Bulger arrested in Santa Monica|url=https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/06/whitey-bulger-arrest-santa-monica.html|work=Los Angeles Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220509115745/https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/06/whitey-bulger-arrest-santa-monica.html|archive-date=May 9, 2022|access-date=16 October 2022|url-status=dead}}

{{cite news |last1=Nagourney |first1=Adam |last2=Lovett |first2=Ian |date=June 23, 2011 |title=Whitey Bulger Is Arrested in California |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/23/us/23bulger.html |work=New York Times}} {{subscription required}} In 2003, Rico was also indicted for Wheeler's murder.[http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2004/01/18/former_fbi_agent_rico_dies_in_hospital/ "Former FBI agent Rico dies in hospital had pleaded not guilty in businessman's slaying"], The Boston Globe Obituary, January 18, 2004 {{subscription required|paywall}} He pleaded not guilty and died of natural causes while in custody awaiting trial.

Wheeler's case was covered in the first-ever episode of long-running investigative show Unsolved Mysteries in January 1987. In the Whitey Bulger biopic Black Mass (2015), Wheeler is portrayed by David De Beck.{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Michael |date=August 21, 2015 |title=Tulsan Roger Wheeler's murder depicted in Johnny Depp's 'Black Mass' Whitey Bulger movie |url=https://tulsaworld.com/entertainment/movies/tulsan-roger-wheelers-murder-depicted-in-johnny-depps-black-mass-whitey-bulger-movie/article_e345cf2f-0758-577f-8c7d-29ea3464b409.html |work=Tulsa World |location=Tulsa, OK}} {{subscription required}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://voicesofoklahoma.com/interview/wheeler-roger/ Voices of Oklahoma interview with Detective Mike Huff]. First-person interview conducted on June 13, 2013 concerning his investigation into the murder of Roger Wheeler.
• {{Findagrave|71875061}}

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Category:1926 births

Category:1981 deaths

Category:People murdered in Oklahoma

Category:Deaths by firearm in Oklahoma

Category:Businesspeople from Tulsa, Oklahoma

Category:People murdered by the Winter Hill Gang

Category:American murder victims

Category:20th-century American businesspeople

Category: 1981 murders in the United States