April 19, 1988. Suncrest, Washington. 36-year old Doyle Wheeler, a former police officer from the San Diego Police Department, is attacked inside his home by a group of armed intruders. They force Wheeler to write a suicide note at gunpoint, hog-tie him, and fire a shot which grazes the side of his head, but he winds up surviving the attack. Evidence seems to link the intruders to another San Diego police officer named Donovan Jacobs whom Wheeler had testified against at a previous murder trial. While Wheeler suspects Jacobs of orchestrating the attempt on his life, Jacobs believes the incident never even happened and accused Wheeler of fabricating the entire story in order to set him up. Did Donovan Jacobs attempt to have Doyle Wheeler killed? Did Wheeler orchestrate a fake home invasion in order to frame Jacobs? Or could an unknown third party have been behind the entire thing? On this week’s episode of “The Trail Went Cold”, we explore the alleged attempted murder of a police officer in one of the most unique and complex stories we’ve ever covered.

This episode of "The Trail Went Cold" is sponsored by Native. Native makes safe, simple, effective products that people use in the bathroom everyday with trusted ingredients and trusted performance. For 20% off your first purchase, please visit nativedeodorant.com and enter the promo code “cold” during checkout. 

“The Trail Went Cold” will be appearing at the Ottawa Podcast Festival, being held at the “LIVE! on Elgin” venue in Ottawa, Ontario on Saturday, August 24. For more information and to purchase tickets to the event, please visit their website (https://www.ottawapodcastfestival.com).

Additional Reading:

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Doyle_Wheeler

https://apnews.com/b7ce295622b630e619207b41e52b55f7

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-07-21-me-9029-story.html

“The Trail Went Cold” is on Patreon! Visit www.patreon.com/thetrailwentcold to become a patron and gain access to our exclusive bonus content.

The Trail Went Cold is produced and edited by Magill Foote.

All music is composed by Vince Nitro.