Following a cold case investigation that uncovered twists and turns seemingly out of a crime novel or action film — including prisoner escapes, yacht thefts, name changes and a drug manufacturing lab — authorities say they have identified the man who shot and killed 34-year-old Richard Wesley Wheeler in September 1980, in Nockamixon Township.
Peter Eric Marschner, who changed his name after fleeing from authorities, shot Wheeler four times and hid his body on a wooded property off Center Hill Road, approximately a mile south of the intersection with Kintner Hill Road, in Nockamixon, the Bucks County District Attorney’s Office said. Wheeler’s body was located on Sept. 18, 1980.
The investigation, pieced together by Bucks County Detective David Hanks and Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Christopher Cleveland, determined Marschner killed Wheeler under orders from another man, Leslie Schmidt, because Schmidt believed Wheeler mishandled a large sum of money Schmidt had entrusted Wheeler to manage.
Both Marschner and Schmidt have since passed away — Marschner in 2006 and Schmidt in 2022. The Bucks County District Attorney’s Office considers this case solved due to the deaths of all the participants in the murder. The DA’s office said the victim’s family said it is grateful this crime is now solved.
In what the DA’s office called an “incredible piece of investigative work,” the investigators built a timeline of events that ultimately solved this cold case. The final piece to this mystery was accomplished earlier this year, the DA’s office said Friday, when investigators were able to track down the shooter.
The investigation found that the three men — Wheeler, Marschner and Schmidt — met while incarcerated in Danbury Federal Prison in Danbury, Conn.
Marschner, a German national known as “the Captain,” had a history of stealing yachts, boating equipment and money from harbors in the Caribbean. Marschner was sent to prison in May 1974 for two years for stealing a 41-foot sailboat in Martinique.
After he was released from prison, he was supposed to be deported to Germany, but he found his way back to the Caribbean by working as a crewman on a private yacht. The yacht was in St. Lucia in February 1977 when the owners went ashore for the night. The next morning, Marschner, all the money onboard, $10,000 worth of boating equipment and a motorized dinghy were missing.
A month later, Marschner stole a 43-foot sailboat from a harbor in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. After an extensive manhunt, Marschner was arrested by French officials in May 1977. Marschner eventually pleaded guilty to grand larceny and interstate transport of stolen goods, landing him in Danbury Federal Prison, where he met Wheeler, a marijuana dealer who escaped a California prison, and Schmidt, a Bucks County methamphetamine dealer.
While incarcerated, the three men conspired to set up a methamphetamine lab in Upper Bucks County once they were released from prison. Wheeler was the first to be released in November 1979. Later that year, Schmidt was released on a 30-day furlough.
During his time out of prison, Schmidt introduced Wheeler to a friend, who leased Wheeler the property in Nockamixon. Schmidt also provided Wheeler $250,000 that was to be used to care for Schmidt’s family while Schmidt finished serving the remainder of his sentence.
In July 1980, Marschner was released from prison and was taken by U.S. Immigration officials to JFK Airport in New York City to be sent back to Germany. During the confusion caused when his deportation flight was canceled due to mechanical issues on the plane, Marschner managed to escape and walked away from the airport.
Wheeler had begun work for the methamphetamine lab on the Nockamixon property and was living in a camper on the property. Schmidt was still in prison but was financing the drug operation. Marschner re-connected with Wheeler in Bucks County and became Wheeler’s personal bodyguard and driver.
At some point, Schmidt and Wheeler had a falling out over their business venture. Schmidt believed Wheeler was mishandling the $250,000 Schmidt had given Wheeler, and he was using the funds for himself and not for Schmidt’s family. Because of that belief, Schmidt ordered Marschner to kill Wheeler, the investigation concluded.
Wheeler was shot four times, sometime between Sept. 8 and Sept. 18, 1980. After the killing, Marschner, who was 42 at the time, fled in Wheeler’s pickup truck to New Jersey. In 1983, investigators spoke to witnesses, concluding that Schmidt hired a “German guy to pull the trigger.” Further, the gunman was someone Schmidt had met in Danbury Federal Prison, investigators learned.
Throughout the case, investigators have tried to locate Marschner, who disappeared after killing Wheeler. Earlier this year, investigators examined Marschner’s criminal history and discovered he was arrested in 1982 on drug conspiracy charges in New York and identified himself as Charles McLaren.
The fingerprints from McLaren’s arrest in 1982 matched those of Marschner’s arrest in 1977. The investigation found that Marschner had been living as Charles McLaren, with a new name, date of birth and social security number. After being released on the drug conspiracy case, he moved to New Jersey, got married, had children and ran a successful limousine service in New York City before his death in 2006.
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