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Slain Customs agent remembered in PTC

By JOHN MUNFORD
jmunford@TheCitizenNews.com

The federal agent believed to have been killed Saturday by an escaped prisoner from the Fulton County Courthouse was living at an apartment in Peachtree City with his wife, officials confirmed.

David G. Wilhelm, 40, was found dead of a gunshot wound to the abdomen early Saturday morning at a Buckhead home he was purchasing, according to a report filed by the Atlanta Police Department.

Wilhelm, a supervisor for the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Investigation’s Office of Investigations, oversaw investigations involving narcotics smuggling and drug laundering, said Kenneth Smith, special agent in charge of the Atlanta ICE office.

Just two of the thousands of cases he worked on took roughly $5 million out of the hands of drug traffickers, Smith said. Wilhelm oversaw a group of about 35-40 employees who also worked human smuggling cases in addition to the narcotics trafficking cases and more typical customs-related investigations.

Smith recalled Wilhelm as a person who excelled not only in his profession, but in every aspect of his life. He had a “wonderful relationship” with his wife, Candee, in addition to his parents whom he remained close with, Smith said.

“He literally is the best that we had,” Smith said. “Just exceptional in every way.”

Early on, the suspect in Wilhelm’s killing was identified as Brian Nichols, 34, police said. Nichols escaped from the courthouse Friday after shooting a Fulton County judge, court reporter and deputy, all of whom later died, police said.

Wilhelm was working on part of his Buckhead home himself, and his body was discovered by a crew coming by to do other work on the house, the police report states.

The first officer reporting to the scene noticed that Wilhelm’s weapon, wallet, identification and personal vehicle were missing from the scene, according to the police report. Wilhelm’s truck was found later near the Gwinnett County apartment complex where Nichols took a woman hostage before allowing her to escape and ultimately giving himself up in the face of a heavily-armed SWAT team.

Nichols was at the courthouse, scheduled to be on trial for rape and other charges when he escaped from the facility after tussling with the sole sheriff’s deputy who was handling him at the time, police said. Although officers initially determined he escaped in a green Honda he briefly car-jacked, Nichols ultimately used a MARTA train to escape the area, police said.

Agent Wilhelm is survived by his wife, Candee. His funeral service will be Thursday in North Carolina. His body was escorted out of the state by a procession of law enforcement vehicles that left Tyrone Monday morning. Local arrangements were handled by Carmichael-Hemperley Funeral Home of Peachtree City.

Smith noted that ICE officials were very appreciative of the support they have received from the community since Wilhelm’s death.

“He was the kind of person you wanted to be around,” Smith said, adding that Wilhelm was just “a special guy.”