Bush Aide Found in Dumpster Died of 'Blunt Force Trauma' --Toxicology 'didn't play a role" in his death, officials said. 28 Jan 2011 Homicide victim John P. Wheeler III, a former Pentagon official and presidential aide whose body was discovered Dec. 31 in a Wilmington landfill, was beaten to death in an assault, the Delaware medical examiner’s office announced today. The official cause of Wheeler’s slaying was "blunt force trauma," agency spokesman Karl Kanefsky said. Wheeler was a defense consultant and expert on chemical and biological weapons, who most recently worked part-time for the MITRE Corp.