PA Pizza Deliveryman Collar-Bomb Bank Robbery Solved
cro...@earthlink.net
By JOE MANDAK
Associated Press Writer
PITTSBURGH — Federal authorities have figured out how a pizza deliveryman
wound up in the middle of a bizarre bank robbery scheme that ended with a
bomb around his neck exploding, and the identities of the plotters, a law
enforcement official told The Associated Press.
Brian Wells, 46, robbed a suburban Erie bank on Aug. 28, 2003, with the bomb
attached to his neck and then was killed when it exploded as he sat
handcuffed in a parking lot while police waited for a bomb squad.
No one was charged as authorities struggled to determine who was behind the
plot and whether Wells was an innocent victim or willing participant.
But the case has been solved and indictments are expected, likely by next
month, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because U.S.
Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan was to make an official announcement at a Friday
afternoon news conference.
The law enforcement official told the AP that Buchanan would not disclose
what the investigators concluded, but would say that the government is
confident they know how and why Wells died.
"The government knows what happened the day of the incident. We know all the
details that led up to the death of Brian Wells and all the parties
involved," the official said.
Investigators from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives, the FBI and Pennsylvania State Police traveled coast to coast to
interview witnesses and chase down leads, the official said.
Buchanan met for about three hours Friday with federal investigators about
the evidence compiled so far.
Buchanan did not immediately return calls for comment after the meeting, but
earlier Friday said she called it because, "In more complicated cases, I
like to meet personally with the law enforcement agencies to discuss the
case and, in many cases, review the evidence myself."
Wells told police before he died that he had been accosted by gunmen who
locked the bomb on his neck and forced him to rob the bank when he went to
deliver a pizza to a TV tower on a dead-end road.
Wells' family has said they believe he was just a victim, and have
criticized the pace of the investigation.
Wells' brother, John Wells, 44, of Phoenix, said the family won't be happy
until justice is meted out.
"The family will be satisfied when everybody is held to account for their
actions that day," Wells said. "We want everybody to take responsibility for
what they did before and after this happened."
An attorney, Lawrence D'Ambrosio, has said the FBI has repeatedly
interviewed his client about Wells' death. D'Ambrosio did not immediately
return a message left at his office Friday.
The client, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, is serving seven to 20 years in state
prison for pleading guilty but mentally ill to killing her boyfriend, James
Roden, in 2003.
Roden's killing led police to question Diehl-Armstrong in the Wells case
because Roden's body was found in the freezer of a man named William
Rothstein, who has since died. Rothstein's house was near the TV tower.
Buchanan said the investigation has been complicated by the deaths of at
least two witnesses. She would not say if Rothstein, who died of cancer in
July 2004, was one of those witnesses.
Buchanan plans to meet once more with investigators to discuss evidence,
witness availability and other logistical details before indictments are
sought. The grand jury is not expected to hear the government's
presentment — a formal detailing of the evidence — until next month, the law
enforcement official said.
___
Bo Raxo
cro...@earthlink.net wrote:
> Official: Erie Collar-Bomb Case Solved
> By JOE MANDAK
> Associated Press Writer
>
> wound up in the middle of a bizarre bank robbery scheme that ended with a
> bomb around his neck exploding, and the identities of the plotters, a law
> enforcement official told The Associated Press.
>
> Brian Wells, 46, robbed a suburban Erie bank on Aug. 28, 2003, with the bomb
> attached to his neck and then was killed when it exploded as he sat
> handcuffed in a parking lot while police waited for a bomb squad.
>
> No one was charged as authorities struggled to determine who was behind the
> plot and whether Wells was an innocent victim or willing participant.
>
I've said all along: he was a willing participant. Now we will find
out. For starters, find me a kidnapping, any time, any where, that
they turn loose the kidnapped person with a loaded gun to go complete
some errand. You don't hand your victim a loaded gun, it's just that
simple. They gave him that gun to boost his confidence, otherwise
what was the purpose?
The family has set up a web wite, http://brianwells.net The photos
of the gun cane make it more obviously a gun than I'd thought. The
note is quite interesting, seems like a real CYA effort.
Messalina
> cro...@earthlink.net wrote:
> > Official: Erie Collar-Bomb Case Solved
> > By JOE MANDAK
> > Associated Press Writer
>
> > PITTSBURGH - Federal authorities have figured out how a pizza deliveryman
> > wound up in the middle of a bizarre bank robbery scheme that ended with a
> > bomb around his neck exploding, and the identities of the plotters, a law
> > enforcement official told The Associated Press.
>
> > Brian Wells, 46, robbed a suburban Erie bank on Aug. 28, 2003, with the bomb
> > attached to his neck and then was killed when it exploded as he sat
> > handcuffed in a parking lot while police waited for a bomb squad.
>
> > No one was charged as authorities struggled to determine who was behind the
> > plot and whether Wells was an innocent victim or willing participant.
>
> I've said all along: he was a willing participant. Now we will find
> out. For starters, find me a kidnapping, any time, any where, that
> they turn loose the kidnapped person with a loaded gun to go complete
> some errand. You don't hand your victim a loaded gun, it's just that
> simple. They gave him that gun to boost his confidence, otherwise
> what was the purpose?
>
> of the gun cane make it more obviously a gun than I'd thought. The
>
> - Show quoted text -
Looks like this is official Agree With Bo Day. I too thought all
along that Wells was a willing participant. The fact that he was
known to be a tinkerer and the crime was committed with these tricky
devices clinched it for me. Whoopsy on the explosion.
Mez
PattyC
duped. It wasn't his style.
Also note it is not quite SO sure indictments will be handed down next
month. This article below is more interesting & intriguing IMO.
I think the header would be "may solve."
FYI, if someone strapped a bomb around MY neck & said they would set if off
if I did not 'obey,' I might not shoot the gun they gave me either....
PattyC
P.S. U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan was called for jury duty the other
day, but the accused rapist requested she be taken out of the potential
juror pool.
Feds may solve neck bomb case
Saturday, February 17, 2007
By Paula Reed Ward, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Federal officials believe they are close to solving the case of an Erie
pizza delivery man who was killed when a bomb strapped around his neck was
detonated more than three years ago.
For the first time in the investigation into how Brian Wells was killed,
U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan met with all of the state and federal law
enforcement officials involved at her office yesterday.
The meeting lasted for three hours, she said.
"We now believe we have a much better understanding of what happened on Aug.
28, 2003," she said. "I'm very encouraged by the information that has been
collected."
Mr. Wells, 46, was working as a delivery man for Mama Mia's Pizza-Ria when
he received an order about 1:30 p.m. for an address near a television tower.
He left to deliver the two sausage and pepperoni pizzas and wasn't seen
again until a short time later when he showed up at a PNC Bank just south of
Erie to rob it with a bomb strapped around his neck.
Investigators have not said how many people might have been involved in the
elaborate plot.
However, they did find nine pages of handwritten instructions given to Mr.
Wells, including maps and drawings, that he was to follow to rob the bank.
After the robbery, he was stopped by state police and handcuffed in a
parking lot. The bomb detonated a short time later, killing Mr. Wells.
At their meeting yesterday, Ms. Buchanan said she directed investigators to
take several additional steps to conclude the case.
She would not go so far as to say that the mystery has been solved.
She also would not confirm an Associated Press report that quoted a law
enforcement official saying that proposed indictments could be presented to
a grand jury as soon as next month.
"I would never comment on an expected indictment," she said yesterday
evening. "Until the grand jury hears that testimony and determines there's
probable cause, it would be improper to say that."
John Wells, Brian Wells' brother, said yesterday that he was not aware that
federal officials were nearing the end of the investigation.
"We won't be satisfied until everyone is held responsible for their actions
that day," he said.
Included in that everyone, he continued, are members of law enforcement who
didn't call the bomb squad for 32 minutes after his brother had been taken
into custody by state police.
Brian Wells died, his brother said, after 46 minutes in custody.
Mr. Wells is unsure why the investigation has taken such a long time. A
federal grand jury was seated just a month after his brother was killed, he
said.
Ms. Buchanan said that the investigation has been complicated by the deaths
of at least several witnesses in the case.
"A number of individuals connected in some way with the facts of this case
have died," she said.
Ms. Buchanan would not say if any of the deaths were related to the case.
Since Brian Wells' death, several theories about what happened that day have
been advanced.
They include that he was taken hostage and used by his kidnappers to rob the
bank. But others have speculated that Brian Wells may have been involved in
the robbery attempt and could have thought the bomb was a fake.
John Wells dismissed that idea.
"Everyone knows Brian was an innocent victim," he said.
Ms. Buchanan said she could not comment on Brian Wells' role, if any, in the
crime.
The family has a Web site about the case, www.brianwells.net.
"Messalina" <destruc...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1171678561....@p10g2000cwp.googlegroups.com...
JonesieCat
"PattyC" <pattycno...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:OLJBh.123$4J4.114@trnddc01...
> Not so sure about the Pizza guy's guilt. I am more inclined to think he
> was duped. It wasn't his style.
>
> Also note it is not quite SO sure indictments will be handed down next
> month. This article below is more interesting & intriguing IMO.
>
> I think the header would be "may solve."
>
> FYI, if someone strapped a bomb around MY neck & said they would set if
> off if I did not 'obey,' I might not shoot the gun they gave me either....
>
> PattyC
I agree. Hope we learn more tho.
jc
Uncle Clover
>
> cro...@earthlink.net wrote:
> > Official: Erie Collar-Bomb Case Solved
> > By JOE MANDAK
> > Associated Press Writer
> >
> > PITTSBURGH - Federal authorities have figured out how a pizza deliveryman
> > wound up in the middle of a bizarre bank robbery scheme that ended with a
> > bomb around his neck exploding, and the identities of the plotters, a law
> > enforcement official told The Associated Press.
> >
> > Brian Wells, 46, robbed a suburban Erie bank on Aug. 28, 2003, with the bomb
> > attached to his neck and then was killed when it exploded as he sat
> > handcuffed in a parking lot while police waited for a bomb squad.
> >
> > No one was charged as authorities struggled to determine who was behind the
> > plot and whether Wells was an innocent victim or willing participant.
> >
>
>
> I've said all along: he was a willing participant. Now we will find
> out. For starters, find me a kidnapping, any time, any where, that
> they turn loose the kidnapped person with a loaded gun to go complete
> some errand. You don't hand your victim a loaded gun, it's just that
> simple. They gave him that gun to boost his confidence, otherwise
> what was the purpose?
To rob a bank, I should think. Why would any bank teller care if the collar was
all he had it he was the only one that would get blown up by it?
--
L8r,
Uncle Clover
__________________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Every birth carries within
it the seed of its own
demise
__________________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Narrow minds
breed thick skulls.
__________________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Darkness is just light
that's traveling...
in a different direction...
than where you're looking.
__________________________
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Blog: "Family - The Binds That Tie"
http://bindsthattie.blogspot.com/
Bo Raxo
Uncle Clover wrote:
> On 16 Feb 2007 16:26:13 -0800, "Bo Raxo" <crimene...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >
> > I've said all along: he was a willing participant. Now we will find
> > out. For starters, find me a kidnapping, any time, any where, that
> > they turn loose the kidnapped person with a loaded gun to go complete
> > some errand. You don't hand your victim a loaded gun, it's just that
> > simple. They gave him that gun to boost his confidence, otherwise
> > what was the purpose?
>
> To rob a bank, I should think. Why would any bank teller care if the collar was
> all he had it he was the only one that would get blown up by it?
Why would you need a gun to rob a bank? The tellers are told to
cooperate (as the experts always advise in a robbery). Someone
demands money, they hand it over - though often with the dye pack
included, of course.
Show me a bank robbery in the last thirty years where the teller
refused to hand over the money. There aren't any.
No, the gun was handed to Wells for another reason. To boost his
confidence, as a sign of trust by his co-conspirators, but it wasn't
because he needed it to rob that bank.
Bo Raxo
edi...@netpath.net
> But the case has been solved and indictments are expected, >likely by next month, said the official, who spoke on >condition of anonymity because U.S.
> Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan was to make an official >announcement at a Friday
> afternoon news conference.
Yeah, really. If the perp(s) aren't charged yet, he or they will
be in Mexico or Canada by tomorrow. It's obvious that the fedcops
really don't know who did what in this case - and are desperately
trying to scare somebody into either talking or otherwise
incriminating himself so they can solve what now is a case going
nowhere. How many times where the police really know who did a murder
do they act like this?
No $4 to park! No $6 admission! http://www.INTERNET-GUN-SHOW.com
Alison MacIntyre
Um.... was the gun even loaded? I don't think it was. So that means
it was only a prop to convince the teller to hand over the cash. Big
difference.
Uncle Clover
Man, talk about grasping for straws! Honestly, now, how many would-be bank
robbers actually think like that? How many bank robberies do you know of where
not even a hint of a gun was involved?
Alison MacIntyre
> "PattyC" <pattycnospam4...@verizon.net> wrote in message
>
> - Show quoted text -
Let this be a lesson for future reference. If anyone locks a bomb
around your neck and hands you a loaded gun with instructions to rob a
bank... immediately shoot the the 'asshole' and drive yourself to the
nearest bomb squad. I mean... like... what have you got to lose?
Snort!
edi...@netpath.net
> Looks like this is official Agree With Bo Day. I too >thought all along that Wells was a willing >participant. The fact that he was
> known to be a tinkerer and the crime was committed with >these tricky devices clinched it for me.
I also all along thought he'd been a willing participant from the
start. Along with all else, ask yourself how many bank robbers in
America even allegedly involve coerced robbers who were innocent
victims picked by the real robbers to do the robbery for them?
Alison MacIntyre
wrote:
> > >>> of the gun cane make it more obviously a gun than I'd thought. The
> > >>> note is quite interesting, seems like a real CYA effort.- Hide quoted
> > >>> text -
>
> > >>> - Show quoted text -
>
> > >> Looks like this is official Agree With Bo Day. I too thought all
> > >> along that Wells was a willing participant. The fact that he was
> > >> known to be a tinkerer and the crime was committed with these tricky
> > >> devices clinched it for me. Whoopsy on the explosion.
>
> > >> Mez- Hide quoted text -
>
> > - Show quoted text -
>
> Let this be a lesson for future reference. If anyone locks a bomb
> around your neck and hands you a loaded gun with instructions to rob a
> bank... immediately shoot the the 'asshole' and drive yourself to the
> nearest bomb squad. I mean... like... what have you got to lose?
>
> - Show quoted text -
And while we're on the subject of 'Dumb and Dumber'... I'm still
wondering why the cops didn't put the guy inside the bank vault... to
block any signals from triggering the bomb. Ever try to make any calls
on your cell phone from a vault? Sheesh!
Messalina
I quite irritated that lthe authorities won't disclose what happened.
Mez
Bo Raxo
Alison MacIntyre wrote:
>
> And while we're on the subject of 'Dumb and Dumber'... I'm still
> wondering why the cops didn't put the guy inside the bank vault... to
> block any signals from triggering the bomb. Ever try to make any calls
> on your cell phone from a vault? Sheesh!
Because the vaults are air-tight, and the locks work on a timer.
Close it, and it doesn't open until the next morning. By which time
anyone inside is asphyxiated (which is a security precaution, both
against fire and because there have in years past been bank robberies
perpetrated by a guy hiding in the vault, popping the safe deposit
boxes, and walking out in maintenance coveralls in the morning).