Brian Douglas Wells

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Brian Douglas Wells
Brian Douglas Wells

Brian Douglas Wells (November 15, 1956 – August 28, 2003 (aged 46)) was an American pizza delivery man who was killed by a time bomb explosive fastened to his neck, purportedly under duress from the maker of the bomb. After he was apprehended by the police for robbing a bank, the bomb exploded. The bizarre affair was subject to much attention in the mass media.

In a July 2007 indictment, Federal prosecutors alleged that Wells had been involved in the planning of the botched crime. Two of his co-conspirators, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Kenneth Barnes, were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of bank robbery, conspiracy and weapons charges. A third co-conspirator, William Stockton, was given immunity in exchange for his testimony.[1]


Contents

[edit] The event

Wells had dropped out of high school in 1973. For nearly 30 years, he had worked as a pizza delivery man and was considered a "valued and trusted employee" of the "Mama Mia Pizzeria" in Erie, Pennsylvania. On the afternoon of August 28, 2003, Wells received a call to deliver two pizzas to an address a few miles from the pizzeria. It was later found that the address was that of an unmanned radio tower at the end of a dirt road.

According to law enforcement reports, Wells was meeting people he thought were his accomplices, including Barnes. Wells participated in the planning for the robbery; he had been told the bomb was going to be fake[2] and he was to claim that three black men forced the bomb on him and tell police he was a hostage.[3]

At the radio tower Wells, for the first time, learned that the device was real. He wrestled with the men and tried to scamper away, but one of them fired a gun, causing Wells to stop. They gave him an oddly shaped cane, which was actually a shotgun, and told him to use it if he found trouble at the bank.

Wells then entered a bank with the sophisticated home-made shotgun and demanded $250,000. When police intervened, Wells claimed that three unnamed people had placed a bomb around his neck, provided him with the shotgun, and told him that he had to commit the robbery and several other tasks, otherwise he would be killed.

Triple-banded metal collar that was locked around Wells' neck.
Triple-banded metal collar that was locked around Wells' neck.
Cane-like shotgun used by Wells during the bank robbery.
Cane-like shotgun used by Wells during the bank robbery.

At first, the police made no attempt to disarm the device. The bomb squad were finally called at 3:04 PM, at least 30 minutes after the first 9-1-1 call. At 3:18 PM, the bomb detonated, blasting a fist-sized hole in Wells' chest just three minutes before the bomb squad arrived. It is now believed that Wells was killed by Diehl-Armstrong and her co-conspirators to reduce witnesses against herself and others.[2]

The story remained in the news for several days after the event, with various media outlets speculating as to whether Wells had been an innocent victim, a co-conspirator, or the lone perpetrator of these events. A $100,000 reward was offered by the FBI.

A note found on Wells had instructions for him to carry out four tasks—the first of which was the bank robbery—in a set period of time before the bomb went off. Wells would gain extra time with the completion of each task. However, it was later determined that regardless of what had unfolded, Wells would never have had enough time to complete the tasks to get the bomb defused.[2]

Wells was drawn into the plot through Barnes, whom he knew through a prostitute who often used Barnes' home as a place to have sex with customers.[2] The whole plot was hatched to get money to pay Barnes enough money to kill Diehl-Armstrong's father, so Diehl-Armstrong could get an inheritance, authorities said. However, Wells got nowhere near the $125,000 needed for the killing. Furthermore, the inheritance Diehl-Armstrong coveted was largely spent.

This has not been the only death caused by a bomb fastened to a person's neck. In Colombia, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia placed a similar device on a woman and asked for money.[citation needed] Though the woman called the police, both she and the special agent attempting to disarm the device died when it exploded.

[edit] Media attention

When the story first broke out, many believed the incident to be terrorism related.[4]

On November 5, 2005, and January 6, 2007, and again most recently on July 14, 2007 the story of Brian Wells was featured on America's Most Wanted with newly released evidence in hopes that officials could gather new clues behind the puzzling case.[5]

On October 13, 2006, the story was featured on Anderson Cooper 360. The show dealt with the FBI's most mysterious cases, and featured John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted. A document from the Erie police stated that "this investigation is now at a critical point."

On January 6, 2007, Brian Wells was featured on Fox News Channel's "In The Line Up" profiling new evidence regarding new suspects and new details in the case.

[edit] 2007 developments

On February 16, 2007 the Associated Press reported that "the case has been solved and indictments are expected, likely by next month."[2] A federal grand jury in Erie, PA was still hearing evidence in the case as of May 13, 2007, according to the Erie Times-News.[6] According to the paper, it appears that three suspects have been identified as perpetrators of the plot.[7]

On July 10, 2007 charges were filed against two individuals for crimes related to the robbery and death. Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong (who is currently imprisoned on an unrelated murder charge) was charged with three criminal acts: bank robbery, conspiracy to commit bank robbery and felony use of a firearm in connection with a crime. Kenneth Barnes (who is currently imprisoned on unrelated drug charges) was also charged without disclosure of the specific crimes.[8]

On July 11, 2007 the US Attorney's office[9] and the FBI announced that Brian Douglas Wells had been named as a co-conspirator because of his participation in the planning of the robbery, and that Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Kenneth Barnes had been charged with felonies in the case. A third person in the case, Floyd Stockton, 60, was given immunity in a deal with prosecutors to testify against Barnes and Diehl-Armstrong.[2] Despite naming Wells as a co-conspirator, U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said she couldn't comment on what his motive might have been.[10]

[edit] Popular culture

The story of Brian Wells was used as a basis for the pilot episode of 2006 series Heist.[citation needed], and was also used as the basis for "Pas de Deux", an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.[citation needed] Literary references to the crime include a mention in Dean Koontz's 2006 fictional thriller novel The Husband.[citation needed]

There are also nonfictional popular culture references, including a feature on The 99 Most Bizarre: Crimes. It was one of the "Most Bizarre" on the show. A collection of news articles that reported developments in the Brian Wells story was analyzed in a scientific study of information novelty.[11]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Caniglia, John (July 11 2007). ""Brian Wells" Erie bombing 'victim' was in on bank robbery". Plain Dealer. 
  2. ^ a b c d e f Nephin, Dan. "Indictment: Bomb Victim in on Bank Plot", Associated Press, 2007-07-12. Retrieved on 2007-07-12. 
  3. ^ Caniglia, John. "Double-crossed: Erie pizza bomber Brian Wells was both victim and conspirator", The Cleveland Plain Dealer, 2007-07-12, pp. 3. Retrieved on 2007-07-15. 
  4. ^ USATODAY.com - Was pizza deliverer a robber or a victim?
  5. ^ The Erie Collar Bomber. America's Most Wanted. Retrieved on 2006-09-05.
  6. ^ GoErie.com: Diehl-Armstrong claims FBI framing her
  7. ^ GoErie.com: Newest links to day of bomb
  8. ^ Two Charged in the Pizza Bomber Case. ABC News. Retrieved on 2007-07-10.
  9. ^ America's Most Wanted
  10. ^ Nephin, Dan. "Indictment: Bomb victim in on bank plot", 2007-07-11. Retrieved on 2007-07-11. 
  11. ^ Newsjunkie: Providing Personalized Newsfeeds via Analysis of Information Novelty. Microsoft Research. Retrieved on 2006-09-05. [PDF] (see Figure 5 in Section 5.2 of the paper)

[edit] External links