Oregon Man Accused Of Plotting Two Killings Police Say Man Wanted To Kill Ex-Wife And Her Boyfriend

Thu., June 3, 1999

An Oregon man suspected of plotting to kill his ex-wife and her boyfriend is in the Spokane County Jail charged with two counts of first-degree attempted murder, according to court records.

Gerald L. Wentz, 38, was arrested Saturday after a deputy responding to a burglar alarm at a Spokane Valley home spotted him hiding in a boat in the back yard.

Deputy J.P. Melton found a loaded .357-caliber pistol in the boat, according to an affidavit of probable cause filed in District Court by detectives.

Wentz admitted stealing a pickup and a gun and driving to Spokane from The Dalles, Ore., intending to kill his ex-wife, Janet McFadden, and her boyfriend, Patrick Wheeler, according to the affidavit.

He told Detective Timothy Hines he accidentally set off the alarm when he tried to break in the back door of Wheeler’s house in the 7100 block of East Sixth.

Wentz said he then climbed into the boat to wait for the couple to get home.

“Why else would you do it unless you were going to kill somebody,” Wentz told Melton, according to the affidavit.

Neither McFadden nor Wheeler was hurt.

Wentz is being held on $200,000 bond.

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