It has happened again

 A man has been murdered in his home, dead of multiple gunshot wounds. Although it should be, this is not an unusual occurrence.

This is a developing story, and details are being added hourly; this much is known: David Wheelock was a registered sex offender, required to be on the registry in the state of New Hampshire for one incident involving 28 charges of viewing illegal pornography in 2005. He was compliant with his legal requirements. He was found shot to death this past Saturday night, Dec. 21, in his home in Keene, New Hampshire. Mr. Wheelock was wheelchair bound due to multiple sclerosis.

Even though attacks on registered citizens are escalating, with an especially brutal vigilante double murder in South Carolina in June targeting a registrant and his wife, it is yet unknown if this was the motivation behind Mr. Wheelock’s murder.

His registrant status, though, certainly plays a part in media presentation and public reaction. Every article that I could find about his murder identifies him as a registered sex offender although, kudos to New Hampshire, not blaring from the headlines, which is more the norm.

One article notes that the attack was a "vicious" one. Another makes mention of the “dehumanizing effect” that placement on the list creates, and this is certainly borne out by comments on a Facebook page and online comment boards, often by people who have no qualms identifying themselves fully--unless they are using fake names and false photographs. 

Joel Kaplan: “No sympathy. Good riddance.” And “Guilty pervert. Only place left for him is hell.”

Nhstoneybrook: “A dead child molester is a good one.” (There is no indication Wheelock was a child molester; this is part of the negativity of the registry: sex offender = child molester in many people's eyes.)

Jenny Dow Dang: “I hope he died terribly.”

None of these people, nor the others who posted equally vile remarks, knew Mr. Wheelock. They do not know the specifics of his offense and his charges. They do not know whether he was actually guilty, only that he was adjudicated guilty. (28 charges could easily result from a scant handful of images and is an extremely low number for most who collect child porn.) They do not care that there has been no offense since the one arrest. They apparently do not care that he was seriously ill and disabled, confined to a wheelchair, posing no risk to public safety.

All they needed to know to make them feel totally justified in their vileness, viciousness, and hatred is that he was reported to be a registered sex offender.

http://freekeene.com/2013/12/22/investigation-into-homicide-on-pearl-street/

http://www.newhampshire.com/article/20131224/NEWS03/131229646&template=newhampshire1405

http://www.unionleader.com/article/20131224/NEWS03/131229678

http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local_crime_reports/keene-man-died-from-multiple-gun-shot-wounds/article_8091dfd9-79bd-5081-b614-43842a369917.html

I will be updating when new information is available.

Update 12/25; most interesting: from the office of the New Hampshire Attorney General:
http://doj.nh.gov/media-center/press-releases/2013/20131224-wheelock-autopsy.htm