Quite bizarre, gruesome and seemingly straight out a of Hollywood movie... Fox News Sunday, August 31, 2003 ERIE, Pa. — Federal and local authorities are investigating the case of a pizza deliveryman who was killed when explosives strapped to his neck detonated after he robbed a bank. Brian Douglas Wells, 46, answered a delivery call Thursday to a mysterious address in a remote area and ended up at about an hour later at a bank wearing a bomb. As the time bomb ticked tried in vain to convince police, who were waiting for the bomb squad to arrive, that he was forced into the crime, but died when the explosives detonated. WJET-TV of Erie captured audio and video from Wells as he sat handcuffed in front of a state police cruiser. "Why is nobody trying to come get this thing off me?" he asked. Evidence, including pieces of the bomb and the bank-robbery note, have been flown to an FBI lab in Quantico, Va., for further inspection, Ken McCabe, an FBI agent investigating the case told Fox News Sunday. State police are also looking into the death of a 43-year-old co-worker of Wells’, Fox News has learned. The man called paramedics Sunday morning and said he wasn’t feeling well but then he refused treatment. He was later found dead in his parents’ home, where he lived. Despite the unusual aspects of the incident, which McCabe said: “This looks like a good old fashioned bank robbery with a new twist on it,” and that as of now it is a homicide investigation because there was a death involved and there is no evidence it was a suicide. “We’re not ruling anything out, we’re investigating it hot and heavy all weekend,” McCabe said adding that the FBI was working with the Erie police and Pennsylvania state police. McCabe said the most unusual feature of the robbery was that the bomb was wrapped around the man’s neck. “This is probably one of the most dangerous bombs to try to defuse…the bomb squad would have to do a hand entry and use their hands and tools and try to get it off.” No one else was hurt in Thursday's explosion, which happened in front of law enforcement officers as they waited for a bomb squad to arrive. A state police spokesman confirmed Friday night that Wells had made a number of statements, including that he had been forced to rob the bank. The tape shows Wells telling authorities someone had started a timer on his bomb under his T-shirt, and that there was little time left. "It's going to go off," Wells said. "I'm not lying." Erie Chief Deputy Coroner Korac Timon said Saturday the bomb appeared to have hung from Wells' neck, and that he had been told it was of a "very sophisticated construction." FBI Special Agent Bob Rudge called the case unusual, noting that while bank robbers sometimes claim to have a bomb, few actually do. While no one has been arrested or identified as a suspect, Rudge said the investigation was "going extremely well." Wells' death was being investigated as a homicide and investigators were looking into Wells' background. Linda Payne, who owns the property where Wells lived, described him as a private, trustworthy person who liked music and cared for three cats. He was a friend of Payne's husband, who also had been a pizza deliveryman, she said. "I couldn't believe that he would rob a bank. He doesn't care that much about money," Payne said. "I think somebody lured him into that place delivering a pizza, dropped a bomb on him and sent him into the bank ... He would not have decided to do that on his own." Wells' boss and one of the owners of Mama Mia's Pizza-Ria outside Erie, who asked that his name not be published, said Saturday he took a call Thursday for a pizza delivery but didn't recognize the address given. He put Wells on the phone to get directions. Wells left to make the delivery and never returned, the pizzeria owner said. The address of the delivery was a rural spot along a main drag that runs south of the city, where a gravel road leads to a television transmission tower. According to police, Wells entered the PNC Bank branch outside Erie on Thursday afternoon and producing an "extensive note" demanding money and saying he had a bomb. Rudge would not provide any details about the note. Wells left with an undisclosed amount of money and got into his car. Police surrounded him a short time later in a nearby parking lot, pulled him out of his car and handcuffed him, authorities said. The bomb exploded about 40 minutes after he entered the bank. Authorities obtained a search warrant and took evidence from Wells' home, but a state police spokesman refused to say what was taken. The evidence arrived at FBI laboratories in Washington, D.C., but Rudge could not say how long testing would take. State police forensics teams also searched near the spot of Wells' last pizza delivery. It was not known what, if anything, they found. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96109,00.html
Hollywood representatives insist that the high level of violence in movies does not affect people in to real life. Who are we -- the little people -- to disagree?
And now his coworker and friend has died... But they are now calling him the bank robber! I thought he was forced to go to the bank with the bomb...
I agree SLA. Erie is about 45 minutes away from me, I missed this on the news, though(heard about it on Friday morning). Why is it just now making national news?
This is pretty whacked out. Seems like revenge against that delivery service. It doesn't seem like money was the motive. But then again maybe. sicko.
Doesn't a movie studio already hold an option on this idea? I think we might be looking at a copyright-infringement lawsuit. I guess this goes to show that much like how you should not get into a car with strange men, you should not consent to robbing a bank just because someone straps a bomb to you. If the police aren't going to help you, you may as well just take a bullet. I feel sorry for the guy. RIP. +
I bet it was a suicide. How do you get a timed bomb on yourself and not contact the police immmediately?
It's not hard to convince someone you have gun aimed at their head. Or that you have a trigger switch. Or that you have killed before. Maybe even his friend. So it's not hard to become a victim in a case like this if you ask me. I think it's weird. But completely within the realm of likely. If someone had a gun pointed at my head I'm pretty much at their mercy. Robbing a bank is better than dying. I can't really blame the police. You have to be on the safe side. Who knew what his agenda was at that moment. Or what danger was involved to everyone. Only the bomb squad could know that.
Posting an excerpt of an article from the Fox News website; details of this heinous crime are indeed slowly becoming known. This just begs the question: What kind of psychopath / sociopath is at work here...or how many? Tuesday, September 02, 2003 FoxNews ERIE, Pa. — Agents investigating the bizarre death of a pizza deliveryman are now focusing on the collar-like bomb that was locked around his neck, authorities said at a press conference Tuesday. The triple-banded metal collar is "unique and sophisticated," FBI Special Agent Bob Rudge said, adding that it appears to have been specifically designed for this incident and features four locks and a dial combination. But it remains a mystery how the collar became locked around the neck of Brian Douglas Wells (search), 46, who answered a delivery call Thursday to a mysterious address in a remote area and ended up about an hour later at a bank wearing a bomb. The FBI has asked that anyone who has information on the incident call 1-866-219-2008. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96216,00.html
