Man with bomb also had odd weapon (cane like - pictures to be released)

New York Times ^ | 9/4/03

[stlnative]

Posted on Thu, Sep. 04, 2003

Man with bomb also had odd weapon

ERIE, Pa. - The mystery of the pizza deliveryman turned bank robber who was killed by a bomb around his neck deepened Wednesday as investigators said the man had a gunlike weapon in his possession before he died.

Authorities described the weapon as "unusual" and "unique," saying it appeared to have been homemade or custom-made in a machine shop. One official said it was shaped like a walking cane.

Investigators also said that the locking metal collar used to attach the bomb to the neck of the dead man, Brian Douglas Wells, also appeared to have been custom-made.

The uniqueness of the devices suggests that "the individual or the individuals that may be associated with this are pretty skilled and independent-thinking," Kenneth McCabe, an FBI special agent, said on CNN on Wednesday.

The FBI, which is leading the multi-agency investigation, said it was considering releasing a photograph of the gunlike weapon today in hopes of garnering tips. The agency released photographs of the metal collar Tuesday.

The investigators said that detailed analysis of the machine work had not been completed, and that it is too early to know whether there are any similarities in the craftsmanship of the gunlike weapon and the collar.

[stlnative]

Mod... please do not remove, more information is coming out today about this story.

[stlnative]

FBI tries to verify Pa. bank heist story

By JUDY LIN
The Associated Press
9/4/2003, 4:19 a.m. CT


ERIE, Pa. (AP) — Living in a rented cottage with hand-me-down furniture and three cats, Brian Douglas Wells was content to deliver pizzas 27 hours a week and spend much of his free time listening to his stereo. Money, say his friends, never meant much to him.

That's why people who knew Wells can't believe he could have masterminded any bank heist, particularly a plot as bizarre as the one the 46-year-old deliveryman has been linked to for a week.

FBI agents and other law enforcement officials have been trying to determine what happened to Wells, who died last Thursday after robbing a bank near Erie when a bomb tethered over his chest and hanging from a locked, metal collar around his neck exploded.

Pleading with police to help him get the bomb off, Wells told authorities he had been forced to rob the bank, indicating that someone else had clasped the bomb to him.

Authorities have been trying to figure out whether that story was true, or whether Wells had played a more willing part in the robbery.

His friends and neighbors are firm in their belief that Wells was a victim.

"He had a different set of values," said his landlord, Linda Payne, who rented the white cottage behind her home to the unmarried Wells for five years.

While Wells' family members have refused to speak publicly, others described him as a quiet man of average intelligence, friendly and willing to help with chores from picking up the mail to shoveling snow in winter.

Investigators haven't talked about what a search of Wells' home produced, but Payne said she doesn't believe they found much to support a theory that he was willingly involved in the heist or the making of the bomb.

"He didn't have a computer. He couldn't get it off the Internet. He would have no desire to make a bomb. He would have no desire to hang something around his neck," Payne said.

Investigators seized drill bits, household tools, phone bills and letters from Wells' home when they searched it last Friday, according to court documents. FBI officials have said they are trying to reconstruct the bomb and analyze notes found with Wells to determine whether he was forced to rob the bank by someone who had locked the collar around his neck.

Korac Timon, chief deputy coroner in Erie County, says the blast killed Wells, leaving a postcard-sized hole in his chest.

FBI Agent Kenneth McCabe said through a spokesman Wednesday he has never heard of such a collar-bomb device being used in America but that he was aware of at least one similar case in Colombia.

In May 2000, in what was believed to be an extortion attempt, a collar packed with explosives and placed around the neck of a 53-year-old woman exploded, killing her and a bomb technician trying to disarm it. This summer, Colombian rebels were accused of using a so-called "necklace bomb" to try to extort money from a Venezuelan rancher. Police were able to disarm that bomb, authorities said.

Authorities investigating the case in Erie have said they do not believe Wells' death was an act of terrorism, and, on Wednesday, Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge, a native of Erie and a former assistant prosecutor in the county, said his agency is not investigating.

"I'm confident that they will get to the bottom of this, but it's a very strange occurrence. It's very bizarre," said Ridge.

___

[stlnative]

Few Clues in Rob-Bomb Plot - A man deemed ordinary killed by unusual device - Sept 4, 2003 - LA Times

[swilhelm73]

Hmm, so I think we know that there are other people involved, though the police have no clues as to their identity, and it is likely that this guy was tricked or forced into doing this.

We also know the planners of this plot have some level of explosive and weapon design training and experience, and previous usage of this type of device comes to us from a group of terrorists in Columbia.

So...what is the only thing the police really claim to know for sure??? Not terrorism...

Maybe it is and maybe it isn't, but I'm past sick and tired of the old "it isn't terrorism" saw coming out long before the police have the information to make that judgement. Didn't they learn a thing from the LAX shooting?

[stlnative]

oops I meant to put a ? behind released in the title

[TomGuy]

And shoebomber Reid was just a tourist on vacation who just happened to pick up the wrong pair of shoes before he got on the plane from Europe.

(end sarcasm)

I agree. I remember back when the Murrah Building was bombed. NBC immediately suggested foreign (Middle Eastern) terrorism. Within an our, that was dropped and never mentioned again; domestic terrorism had replaced the "foreign" reference. Ever since, authorities seemed to have had a blind eye to the investigation and reporting from several different people that Middle Easterners were directly linked to Tim McVey.

[R. Scott]

Authorities described the weapon as "unusual" and "unique," saying it appeared to have been homemade or custom-made in a machine shop. One official said it was shaped like a walking cane.

Not too unusual for pizza delivery people. I delivered for a number of years, and weapons of some type – even unusual firearms – were common with the people I worked with. Our company was the only one in the area that didn’t red-line.

[stlnative]

you know what would be freaky is if the 3 digit lock combo was 911. I am sure they know the combo by now.

[stlnative]

I did too, I delivered newspapers and was always armed during my early morning route.

[stlnative]

Posted on Thu, Sep. 04, 2003

Necklace bomb recalls Colombia
The unusual device reminds FBI agents of S. American methods
JUDY LIN
Associated Press

ERIE, Pa. - FBI agents said the bomb locked to the neck of a pizza deliveryman who told police he was forced to rob a bank is a type unusual in the United States.

FBI agent Kenneth McCabe said Wednesday that the device was of a kind he had heard of only once, in Bogota, Colombia. A spokesman for the bureau, Bill Crowly, confirmed the rarity of the device. Crowley also said that a second weapon was found in connection with the robbery.

The bomb that killed Brian Wells was secured with a metal collar and lock that FBI officials do not believe was commercially manufactured. Officials released photographs of the device Tuesday in the hope that someone may recognize it.

The second weapon found in connection with the robbery was unique, Crowley said, but he refused to describe it further.

McCabe, the agent in charge of the FBI's Pittsburgh office, had said in an interview with ABC's "Good Morning America" that the second weapon was "a sort of a gun."

Investigators are still trying to determine whether Wells, 46, was a willing participant in the bank robbery Aug. 28.

After police surrounded and handcuffed him, Wells said he had a bomb strapped to him and that someone -- he apparently did not say who -- had started a timer on the bomb and forced him to rob the bank.

While police waited for a bomb squad to arrive, the bomb exploded.

FBI experts in Quantico, Va., are reconstructing the bomb, which hung from the lock over Wells' chest, and analyzing a multipage note that was used by the robber. One part of the note was for bank employees, demanding cash, and the other part was instructions for the robber.

Officials refused to discuss the specific contents of the note or further details about the bomb, including whether it had a timer or a remote-control device.

Earlier this summer, Colombian rebels were accused of using such a necklace bomb to try to extort money from a Venezuelan rancher. The man's attackers threatened to detonate it in 72 hours unless they received the equivalent of $187,500, but Colombian and Venezuelan secret police were able to disarm the bomb, authorities said.

A similar bomb in 2000 killed a woman and a police officer who had tried to help defuse the bomb in Bogata.

[Amelia]

Not too unusual for pizza delivery people.

Just speculating here, but is it possible that he obtained the unusual weapon for self-defense on the job, and then whoever supplied it decided to use him for nefarious purposes?

[jaykay]

Every official with a working mouth can't wait to say "not terrorism" before they have any idea of what it was or was not.

[rintense]

It always ends up that these quiet, keep-to-themselves type of folks have very hidden lives. I think he was a victim. Kinda like Doc in the movie Back to the Future. He was paid to design sophisticated and unique bombs/weapons, and when he didn't live up to the bargan, or was expendible, he became a victim of his own creations. Just a theory, mind you.

[Sacajaweau]

This cane like weapon sounds like it's big and was in his car and not on his person. That would lead me to believe that he was part of this and not a victim. The whole scenario sounds like this guy wanted to wind up on TV and what we saw was what was supposed to happen except maybe a cop was supposed to get killed, too.

The neighbors comments that we've heard mean little. We see what we want to see. One of their comments was that he was always working on his car. Mechanical abilities?? We know nothing about the other dude that died.

They are telling us NOTHING!! It's one of those FBI things. They like to solve this themselves. They even had a party when they picked up the unabomber. Interestingly, one of the earliest reports, likened the 9 page note to a manifesto...the same term used in the unabomber case.

[R. Scott]

That’s one possibility.

[stlnative]

Who was Brian Wells? - 9/4/03

Most members of Wells' family declined to comment about him or the robbery-bombing incident. But his sister, Jean Heid, said her brother "was an innocent martyr."


Is it just me that finds it odd his sister used the word martyr to describe her brother?

[Sacajaweau]

Whoa!!!! Yes, martyr is an interesting word. "Victim" would be more the norm.

[BOBWADE]

Sounds like the device used in the movie "deadlock" with Rutger Hauer. An eighties film that featured a new style of prison without walls and limited guards. The security was provided by the inmates in prison. If either prisoner left a marked perimeter or tampered with their collar, both collars would explode killing the prisoners. This kept the prisoners watching after their assigned partners. Interesting concept.

[Sacajaweau]

That would be freaky. I always used my three digit area code on my briefcases.

[BOBWADE]

here is the review on "deadlock", interesting read.
http://www.movieactors.com/ScienceFiction/f7.htm