New DNA testing technology could help solve 2005 Paulding County cold case

DALLAS, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — The Paulding County Sheriff’s Office says new DNA testing could help solve the 2005 killing of Regan Wheeler, who was shot to death in broad daylight at his Dallas home.

Investigators say they do not believe the October 2005 shooting was random, but that the suspects may have been trying to burglarize Wheeler’s home.

Detectives recently sent shell casings recovered from the scene — held in evidence for two decades — to a specialty laboratory for testing using a new DNA extraction technology called Bode X-traction.

Wheeler’s son, Matthew Brooks, who also works in law enforcement, called the development one of the most significant in the case because of what the technology is capable of.

Brooks described Wheeler as a doting husband and father who wanted to make the world better and often ministered to people society may have written off, including making regular visits to jails to visit and preach to inmates.

“Possibly he was targeted by someone that saw him that might have been in the jail or relayed that information about him to some outside individual,” said Brooks.

Results could take months to come back. In the meantime, the family and sheriff’s office are asking anyone with information to come forward, saying technology has caught up to the crime.

“We’re hoping some of the folks who either still live there or lived there at the time can kind of go back to that day,” said Jordan Yuodis, public information officer for the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office.

A $30,000 reward is being offered for information that can lead to an arrest. You can call Crime Stoppers at (404) 577-TIPS, or the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations Division at (770) 443-3015.