Brian Douglas Wells

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Brian Douglas Wells (November 15, 1956 – August 28, 2003) was an American pizza delivery man who was killed by a time bomb fastened to his neck, purportedly under coercion 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] Kenneth Barnes subsequently pleaded guilty in September 2008 and largely confirmed that Wells was indeed involved in planning the robbery but also revealed Wells was under the impression an actual bomb would not be used. When he discovered the bomb was real, Barnes said a pistol was fired, and witnesses confirmed hearing a gunshot, in order to force Wells' compliance.^[2] On December 4, 2008, Barnes was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison for his role in the robbery/murder by U.S. District Judge Sean J. McLaughlin.^[3]

Contents 1 The event 2 Media attention 3 2007 developments 4 2008 developments 5 2009 developments 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[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 WSEE-TV's transmission tower^[4] 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^[3] and he was to claim that three men forced the bomb on him and he was to tell police he was a hostage.^[5]

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

At first, the police made no attempt to disarm the device. The bomb squad was 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.^[3] The event was also broadcast on television and subsequently the footage found its way to video sharing sites.

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.^[3]

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.^[3] The whole plot was hatched to get funds to pay Barnes enough money to kill Diehl-Armstrong's father, so Diehl-Armstrong could get an inheritance, authorities said. However, Wells had stolen only $8,702, far from the $125,000 needed for the killing. Furthermore, the inheritance Diehl-Armstrong coveted was largely spent.

[edit] Media attention

When the story first broke, many believed the incident to be terrorism related.^[6]

On November 5, 2005 , January 6, 2007, and July 14, 2007, the story of Wells was featured on America's Most Wanted with newly released evidence in hopes that officials could gather new clues behind the puzzling case.^[7]

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, Wells was featured on Fox News Channel's In the Line Up profiling new evidence regarding new suspects and new details in the case.

The story of 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]} An episode of the drama Flashpoint used a "bomb necklace" similar to the one used in the events.

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.^[8]

[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."^[3] 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.^[9] According to the paper, three suspects were identified as perpetrators of the plot.^[10]

On July 10, 2007 charges were filed against two individuals for crimes related to the robbery and death. Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong (who was imprisoned on an unrelated murder charge at the time) 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 was imprisoned on unrelated drug charges at the time) was also charged without disclosure of the specific crimes.^[11]

On July 11, 2007 the US Attorney's office^[12] and the FBI announced that Brian Douglas Wells had been named as a co-conspirator because of his participation in the execution of the robbery. U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan argued that Wells' action of actually robbing the bank made him a co-conspirator in the crime. 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.^[3] 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.^[13]

[edit] 2008 developments

On July 29, 2008 A federal judge ruled that Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong was mentally incompetent to stand trial for the bombing.^[14]

On September 3, 2008 Kenneth Barnes pleaded guilty to conspiring to rob a bank and to aiding and abetting.^[15][2] On December 3, 2008 Kenneth Barnes was sentenced to 45 years in prison by a Federal judge in Erie for his role in the crime. ^[16][17]

[edit] 2009 developments

On February 24th, U.S. District Court Judge Sean McLaughlin scheduled a hearing for March 11th, 2009 to determine if Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong is competent to stand trial.^[18] Judge McLaughlin ruled Diehl-Armstrong incompetent to stand trial due to bipolar disorder in July of 2008. Since that time, she has received treatment in a federal prison mental health facility in Texas.^[19]

[edit] See also

• List of unusual deaths

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Victim of collar bomb a participant in robbery plot, sources say
• The 30 Strangest Deaths in History
• "More coverage: The Erie Bomber case". The Cleveland Plain Dealer. http://blog.cleveland.com/pdextra/2007/07/more_coverage_the_erie_bomber.html. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.  (Newspaper articles, audio clips)

• Rivera, Geraldo. "Pizza man Bombing Remains Odd Mystery". FoxNews. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166160,00.html. 
• Silver, Jonathan D. (2005-08-25). "Killing of pizza deliveryman with necklace bomb still unsolved". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05240/561408.stm. Retrieved on 2007-07-10. 
• "Brian Wells". Brianwells.net. http://www.brianwells.net. Retrieved on 2006-09-05.  Website created by Brian's brother; contains reproductions of the nine page letter, along with photos of the cane gun and collar bomb.
• "Brian Wells". Malefactor's Register. http://markgribben.com/?page_id=33. Retrieved on 2006-09-05. 
• Collarbomber FBI Profile August 27, 2004 press release from the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania FBI website.
• Brian Douglas Wells at Find a Grave