http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166160,00.html
I had never heard about this...
Thursday, August 18, 2005
Collar Bomb in Pizza Man's Death
ERIE, Pa. — Brian Wells' last words came at 3:18 p.m. on Aug. 28, 2003. "Did you call my boss?" he asked the police surrounding him.
A moment later, Wells — a bank robbery suspect who had his hands cuffed behind his back as he sat in an empty parking lot — died when the bomb that was wrapped around his neck exploded. The blast left a postcard-sized hole in his chest.
Two years after Wells' mysterious death, authorities have not come up with an answer as to who killed the 46-year-old pizza deliveryman. But a FOX News investigation reveals that several people could be viewed as suspects.
Wells grew up in a middle-class neighborhood in Erie, a city of 103,000 on the southern shore of Lake Erie (search). His brother, John, described Brian as a man content in his simple life, not the sort of person who would rob a bank.
"He was a very talented artist, very talented musician," John Wells said. "But if he heard me telling you that he'd say, 'No I wasn't. I wasn't that good.' … He never wanted to be in the spotlight."
Six months after the death of Brian Wells (search), the FBI released several pages of handwritten instructions that Wells said he was forced to follow in order to disarm the bomb. The instructions bore a strange resemblance to instructions for a local newspaper contest called the "Great Key Hunt."
"The behaviors seen in this crime was choreographed by someone on the sidelines according to a written script in which the offender directs people who are involved," said FBI agent Bob Rudge (search) at the news conference called to release the instructions.
The instructions show that Wells had been sent on a kind of scavenger hunt to find notes hidden underneath rocks and keys that should have opened the collar bomb that was around his neck.
Who wrote them? Could they really have saved his life? Or were they simply a cruel, handwritten death sentence?
Tick Tock
Though the final moments of Brian Wells' life were recorded on videotape, the 40 minutes leading up to his arrest are still shrouded in mystery.
At approximately 2 p.m., a male voice called Mama Mia's pizzeria and ordered two pies. Wells got directions from the caller.
Wells got in his Geo Metro compact car and headed south on Peach Street. The directions led him down a deserted dirt road that ended in an array of TV satellite dishes and towers. It was here that Wells later told police that he was jumped, an explosive device attached to his neck and the timer started.
At 2:40 p.m., Wells pulled up to a PNC Bank in Summit Town Center.
"He had in his possession a cane that had been fabricated into a single-shot shotgun … he presents a note to the teller indicating what his demands were," said Erie District Attorney Brad Foulk.
Wells left with an undetermined amount of cash in a black plastic garbage bag but not before someone in the bank pressed a silent alarm.
He didn't get far.
Police caught up with him in a parking lot next to the bank. Soon, television news cameras arrived and they proceeded to broadcast the situation live.
"We really didn't believe that this guy had an actual bomb because you always hear about people holding up banks using bombs and it turns out to be the guy's got some road flares or a cell phone or just a handful of wires," said Brian Sheridan, who at the time was a television reporter assigned to cover the story.
Police had their guns drawn on Wells but when they had some of Wells' shirt removed, they saw the device around his neck and backed away, Sheridan said. Soon thereafter, the bomb exploded.
More Deaths, More Questions
Three days after the strange death of Brian Wells, Erie was faced with another strange incident.
Robert Pinetti (search), a friend of Wells' who worked with him delivering pizzas for Mama Mia's, was discovered unresponsive by family members. Nearly the same age as Wells, a coroner's report obtained by FOX News showed that Pinetti died from a lethal combination of drugs and alcohol in his system.
Pinetti's death would not be the last.
Three weeks after Wells' murder, William Rothstein (search) — a substitute teacher, handyman and lifelong Erie resident — contacted the Pennsylvania State Police to report that there was a body in his freezer.
In an exclusive video obtained by FOX news, Rothstein admits to disposing of the corpse, later identified as James Roden (search).
"There was a person I have known since the late '60s, early '70s. She had a body in her house that she wanted removed … I helped her with it," Rothstein said. "I put it basically in my garage."
The woman was Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong (search), a former fiancée of Rothstein's.
"She's had bad luck with significant others. One individual was shot seven or eight times while he was asleep," said Foulk, the district attorney.
"She had a significant other that hung himself. … She had a significant other that apparently stumbled and hit his head on a coffee table and died … and Mr. Roden was shot while he was asleep as well with two blasts from a shotgun," Foulk said.
Of the four suspicious deaths connected to Diehl-Armstrong, she was convicted in only one — found guilty of murder in the third degree for the death of James Roden. She admitted to causing one of the other deaths but she claimed spousal abuse.
'They Won't Let the Information Come Out'
Jim Fisher is a former FBI agent turned freelance writer. He's followed the Wells case from day one and he believes the person responsible would have been a handyman of sorts, a "jack of all trades."
"To make a bomb is a dangerous thing to do," Fisher said. "If you make a mistake, the mistake could be fatal, so the bomb components — the electronics, the circuitry — that goes into this would suggest someone who is comfortable with these skills."
"I see this as a onesy twosey — one or two people involved in this. People who sort of have, you know, a relationship. … There would be a certain amount of dominance there. Where the subservient partner would be afraid, you know, of the mastermind," Fisher said.
Despite the speculation, investigators have not identified anyone as a prime suspect in Brian Wells' violent death. They haven't ruled anyone out either — including Wells himself. And, two years later, that wears on his brother, John.
"I'm never going to get over the loss of my brother," John Wells said. "You can't imagine trying to live through this. You don't know what it's like, you know, having to go cry in your shower so your family members don't see you crying. And the best is they keep covering it up. I won't say cover up. They won't let the information come out."
