EXCLUSIVE
The heartbroken mother of a man who died after fleeing police and jumping into a crocodile-infested river has been dealt another blow after a local council tore down her son’s memorial and installed CCTV to prevent it from being replaced.
Martin Wheeler, 36, was being chased by officers through the center of Rockhampton, central Queensland, due to an outstanding arrest warrant when he jumped into the Fitzroy River last October.
Wheeler, who ran his own landscaping business, called for help and disappeared underwater before his body was found after a three-day search by divers and helicopters.
His mother, who wanted to be called “Daph, Marty’s mother”, set up a makeshift shrine for him at Memorial Gardens, run by Rockhampton Regional Council.
He wrapped lights around a tree he called ‘Marty’s Tree of Life,’ along with photographs, flowers, messages of love and a cross.
The monument had been in place for six months, but Daph was horrified to receive a call from the council last week saying it had been removed and he needed to come collect the items due to the “damage caused to the tree”.
Martin Wheeler, 36, was being chased by officers through the center of Rockhampton, central Queensland, due to an outstanding arrest warrant when he jumped into the Fitzroy River in late October last year.
Mr Wheeler’s mother installed a memorial to her son in a tree at Memorial Gardens in Rockhampton. In the photo a friend of Mr. Wheeler appears with the tree.
The monument had been in place for six months, but Mr Wheeler’s mother was horrified to receive a call from the council last week saying it had been removed and she needed to come collect the items due to the “damage caused to the tree” .
He said everything had been “ripped off”, including the lights and photographs.
‘I’m devastated, it’s all I had. “It’s not his tree of life now,” Daph told WhatsNew2Day Australia.
Daph said he can no longer visit his son’s memorial after what happened.
His daughter Lara Ashcroft also rests there after she was murdered 23 years ago.
Daph’s husband’s ashes are also found in Mr Wheeler’s tree of life after his passing in 2020.
“My family is reeling,” he said.
Daph said he wrapped lights around the tree to honor his son.
Surveillance cameras have already been installed on the tree.
“I can’t go to Memorial Gardens anymore because of all this trash and I’ve been going there for 23 years.”
Daph visited the memorial site several times a week and took Mr. Wheeler’s dogs to remember his son.
On Friday night, to honor the sixth anniversary of their son’s death, Daph and other loved ones visited the tree and put up temporary decorations.
He removed them on Sunday and the tree is now bare.
This week she was stunned to see that surveillance cameras had also been placed on the tree.
She maintains that the lights around the tree were not nailed into the bark.
A Rockhampton Regional Council spokesperson said they recognized it was a “difficult time” for Daph’s family following the death of their son.
“Items that could cause damage to the tree were removed, while items at the base of the tree were left in place,” they said.
“All items removed were returned to the family.”
Daph denies any items were left there at the base of the tree and criticized the council for its “disrespectful” approach.
The mother had previously opened up to WhatsNew2Day Australia about why her son was running from police.
He said authorities had been looking for him over AVOs against him in the weeks before his death, but he did not go to court over one of the matters.
Mr Wheeler’s body was recovered from the Fitzroy River (pictured) after a three-day search.
He said the allegations were “all lies” and that Mr. Wheeler “never hurt anyone” but that he would be arrested when officers were called to internal discussions because “he had a strong voice.”
She said her son was always respectful of officers and responded with “yes or no, sir” when asked, however, he had become terrified of police officers after a recent confrontation.
“I was just afraid of the police,” he said. ‘The police came into my house a week ago and treated him like a criminal.
‘The police hated him because he ran away. But he was simply afraid of them. He drowned as he screamed for help. Nobody caught him.
‘Why did they chase him? He was frantic.
Lara Ashcroft (pictured), Wheeler’s sister, was murdered when she was 23 years old.
Wheeler was just 14 when his sister was killed and Daph said he never got over her death.
She believes it was the catalyst for her series of unstable relationships and her being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder 18 months ago.
He had recently been living in a caravan parked in his mother’s front garden while he ran his tree felling business.
Daph said his son was “devastated” when he went to the shopping center to get a haircut on the day of his disappearance, where he was discovered and later chased by police.
“It was too much for him. He was beside himself,’ she said.
“When I went into panic mode, I would just run.”
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