Two Teens Charged With Killing Forest Worker Forest Service Employee Shot In Apparent Robbery Attempt

Two teenage boys who walked away from juvenile custody in Mountain Home were charged Thursday with murdering a Forest Service employee in western Idaho’s Payette National Forest.

But a U.S. Justice Department spokesman said it did not appear the Oregon man’s slaying was a case of antigovernment violence.

David Jack Wheeler, 49, of Baker City, Ore., was shot to death Wednesday while working alone at the Mann Creek Guard Station about 15 miles north of Weiser.

Weiser District ranger John Baglien said Wheeler was an engineer on temporary assignment inspecting bridges in the Idaho forest. He was sitting in a green Forest Service vehicle and wearing chest waders and a Forest Service shirt with a gold name tag when he was killed.

Ronald Stiner, 16, and Eric S. Brown, who turns 18 on Friday, were held without bond Thursday after appearing before Washington County Magistrate Gregory Culet on adult charges of first-degree murder and possession of stolen property. A preliminary hearing was scheduled for May 8.

Stiner and Brown were arrested on escape charges Wednesday in Weiser, where Washington County Sheriff Mike Wadley said they were spotted walking after their vehicle apparently became stuck.

Baglien said police found Wheeler’s wallet in their possession, and after an hour of interrogation they led officials to the murder scene.

The sheriff said no gun had been recovered and he would not speculate on a motive. But Justice Department spokesman John Russell said it did not appear to be an anti-government crime.

“The motive is believed to be attempted robbery,” Russell said from his Washington, D.C., office. “We see it as a local crime and not a crime against the government.”

Still, he said FBI agents and Forest Service officers were helping Washington County with the investigation.

Baglien said Wheeler apparently had either just finished inspecting a bridge that was installed last year or was preparing to inspect it when the teenagers arrived.

Elmore County Sheriff Rick Layher said Brown and Stiner escaped Wednesday morning from a “non-secure” detention trailer in Mountain Home, about 100 miles southeast of the murder scene. The trailer is used as temporary housing for juveniles awaiting transfer to a secure detention facility, he said.

The teens allegedly stole a pickup truck near Mountain Home and drove to the Weiser area, Layher said.

Wheeler had lived in Baker City for more than five years and usually worked in Oregon’s Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. He is survived by his wife, Kristi; a 12-year-old daughter, Melissa; and a 10-year-old son, Jace.

“Dave was a champion for barrier-free access for recreational and administrative facilities across the forest,” WallowaWhitman supervisor Bob Richmond said. “He strived to be a mentor and counselor to co-workers.”

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