Sometimes even the most malevolent acts have an absurdity attached to them. That would be true about allegations against a septuagenarian blind man who may have had someone post an ad on Craigslist for a bomb. Here’s the allegation against an elderly Wisconsinite:
The husband of a former Dane County Board member faces a possible attempted murder charge after he allegedly posted an Internet advertisement looking for someone to build him a bomb that he could send to his estranged wife’s boyfriend in Montana, police and court records said.
Jansson S. Wheeler, 76, a former city alderman, a retired attorney for the state of Wisconsin and the husband of recently-retired Dane County Sup. Dorothy Wheeler, posted his ad on Craigslist on May 10 with the help of an assisted living aide, according to a search warrant filed Tuesday in Dane County Circuit Court.
See, Police: Vengeful Blind Man Asked Assistant to Help Post Craigslist Ad for Bomb.
Wisconsin has had more than her share of crimes, including some terrible ones, but these allegations have both malice and oddity combined. The Wisconsin State Journal relates that Wheeler spoke unknowingly with an Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent (posing as a bomb-maker) about his request, and that Wheeler was wearing gloves when he met the agent to accept delivery of the supposed bomb.
Odder still is that someone, working at the assisted living home where Wheeler lived, may have helped the elderly blind man place his ad online.
There’s nothing humorous about any of this, but there is something strange about how methodical the accused’s search seems to have been, one for which he must (being blind) have had help.