Pizza Bomber

Brian Douglas Wells (November 15, 1956 – August 28, 2003) was an American man who died after becoming involved in a complex plot involving a bank robbery, a scavenger hunt, and a homemade explosive device. Wells was killed when an explosive collar detonated while he was surrounded by police in his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania. The collar had been forcibly locked onto his neck as part of the plot. The crime was investigated by a task force led by the FBI in conjunction with the ATF and the Pennsylvania State Police, and has been described as "one of the most complicated and bizarre crimes in the annals of the FBI".[1]

Investigators concluded that Wells was a knowing participant in the bank robbery, but did not know that his co-conspirators intended to let him die. In a July 2007 indictment, federal prosecutors alleged that Wells had been involved in planning the botched bank robbery. His co-conspirators, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Kenneth Barnes, were indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of bank robbery and conspiracy, as well as weapons charges, while other co-conspirators had already died. In 2008, U.S. District Judge Sean J. McLaughlin sentenced Barnes to 45 years in federal prison. Two years later, Diehl-Armstrong was sentenced to life in prison, where she died of breast cancer in 2017.[2]. Wells's family argues that he was not a willing participant, adding to the significant attention the story has garnered in mass media.

Pizza delivery

Brian Wells, a high-school dropout, had worked as a pizza delivery man at the Mama Mia’s Pizzeria in Erie, Pennsylvania for ten years before his death.[3][4] On the afternoon of August 28, 2003, Wells received a call to deliver two pizzas to 8631 Peach Street, an address a few miles from the pizzeria. The address was WSEE-TV's transmitting tower at the end of a dirt road.[5]

According to law enforcement reports, Wells participated in the planning for the bank robbery and was aware of the complex plot, although he believed the bomb would be fake rather than live.[6] Upon arriving at the television tower, Wells found the plot had changed and learned that the bomb was real. The details of what occurred at the tower that led to the bomb being attached to Wells's neck have never been firmly established, but there is evidence that Kenneth Barnes was present at that time.[7] After the bomb was placed, Wells was given a sophisticated home-made shotgun, which had the appearance of an unusually shaped cane, and nine pages of hand-written instructions.[8][9] He was instructed to claim that three black men had forced the bomb on him and were holding him as a hostage.[10]

Wells's family disputes this account of the events at the television tower, and have stated that Wells was accosted at gunpoint by strangers and forced to participate.[11]