Erie Bank Robber said he would return for rest of 250K(collar bomb would go off in 22 minutes)

Erie Times-News ^ | 9/5/03

[FootBall]

Wells demanded $250,000 Carrying canelike gun, robber waited his turn in line at PNC Bank

Brian Wells, an unassuming, 46-year-old deliveryman who authorities say robbed a bank before a bomb clasped to his chest by a locking metal collar exploded, killing him last Thursday afternoon. (Associated Press)

By Ed Palattella ed.palattella@timesnews.com and KARA RHODES kara.rhodes@timesnews.com

Brian Wells wanted $250,000 from the bank.

He was willing to wait.

He was also prepared to come back.

Wells, with a live bomb locked around his neck and a canelike gun in his hands, walked into the PNC Bank branch on upper Peach Street shortly before 2:40 p.m. on Aug. 28.

Wells waited in line.

His turn came.

He gave the teller a note demanding a quarter of a million dollars.

Wells soon walked out with a bag full of cash. The amount was less than what he wanted.

Before he left, Wells told the teller the device around his neck "is going off in 22 minutes."

Wells also said he would return to get more money.

About 40 minutes later, the bomb around Wells' neck exploded. The blast killed him.

The Erie Times-News reconstructed those events based on the account of a witness who was inside the PNC Bank branch. The newspaper also relied on a source who has been involved in the investigation of Wells' death.

The Erie Times-News interviewed the witness by submitting questions through an intermediary. The witness asked for anonymity.

The witness was behind Wells when he stood in line at the PNC Bank branch in the Summit Towne Centre shopping center. Six customers were in the bank that day, PNC officials said. The bank branch has 12 employees.

The witness' account is the most detailed public description so far of what happened inside the bank. The FBI and other federal, state and local investigators have yet to say whether Wells was forced to rob the bank, as Wells told police who arrested him, or whether Wells was a willing participant in a plot that ended in his death.

The FBI had scheduled a news conference on the case on Thursday. Agents canceled it to "follow other things in the case," said Bob Rudge, the agent in charge of the FBI's Erie office. He declined to elaborate.

In other developments:

The FBI has been exploring whether one of the bank employees was a girlfriend of a man who worked with Wells at Mama Mia's Pizza-Ria, 5154 Peach St., where the 46-year-old Wells was a deliveryman. The source who has been involved in the investigation told the Erie Times-News a bank employee told investigators she was a girlfriend of someone who worked at the pizza parlor.

Asked about the possible relationship between the bank employee and the pizza-shop worker, FBI spokesman Bill Crowley said agents are "exploring all possibilities."

Crowley declined to comment further.

The gunlike device the FBI said Wells was carrying is a canelike weapon capable of firing a single shot, according to law enforcement sources.

According to the witness' account given to the Erie Times-News, Wells was carrying the cane rather than using it as a walking stick when he entered the bank.

The witness said the cane had buttons on it, and Wells threatened no one with the device.

Authorities described the canelike weapon as unusual, and they said the device — like the bomb-holding collar around Wells' neck — appears to have been homemade. Investigators released photos of the collar and locking device on Tuesday, but decided against releasing photos of the canelike weapon on Thursday.

When Wells entered the bank, holding the cane, he waited in line "like a normal customer," according to the witness' account. When his turn came, Wells gave the teller a note handwritten in block letters, the source involved in the investigation said.

Based on the witness' account:

The teller read the note and looked upset. The teller walked away from the desk and returned with a bag. The teller started filling it with cash.

The teller handed Wells the bag. He looked inside and said to the teller, "This isn't a quarter of a million." The teller told Wells she was unable to get more money because it was locked in the vault.

"This thing is going off in 22 minutes," Wells told the teller. Wells was referring to the device around his neck.

According to the witness' account, the witness noticed Wells' neck collar, but thought it was a neck brace. The witness had no idea Wells was wearing a bomb.

Wells asked the teller when the bank would open the vault. The teller said at 3 p.m.

Wells said he would be back for the rest of the money later.

Wells walked out of the bank. He got into his Geo Metro.

The people in the bank called police about the robbery, police said. State police received the call at 2:40 p.m.

Troopers several minutes later pulled over Wells' car just south of the bank. Troopers ordered Wells out of the car and handcuffed him.

"I didn't do it," Wells can be overheard telling the troopers, according to a videotape taken by WJET-TV. "I didn't do anything."

The bomb exploded at 3:18 p.m.

Tim Hahn contributed to this report.

[GovernmentShrinker]

The one found dead in his home apparently had a history of recreational drug abuse, and had refused medical help a few hours before he died. Perhaps the perps are drug dealers and he was client of theirs, but I doubt there's any more connection than that. Dopeheads tend to die prematurely.

[Diddle E. Squat]

Yeah, but the timing is suspect. Maybe he knew the murdered guy well, and took extra drugs to deal with his sadness. Maybe.

[GovernmentShrinker]

But NONE of his co-workers, boss, relatives, landlady, etc. thinks he was a "nut case".

[GovernmentShrinker]

People don't necessarily think rationally when somebody has locked a bomb around their neck and told them to deliver cash from a bank robbery quickly, or else the bomb will go off. And he may have avoided loud yelling and moving around because he was afraid of setting off the bomb prematurely. This guy was a 46 year old high school dropout who delivered pizza for a living. Quick and accurate thinking under extreme pressure wouldn't be his strong point.

[GOP_Proud]

How many times after a criminal event have you heard neighbors say, "but he was a wonderful neighbor". "Oh, he was the least likely person I would suspect doing this". Yada. Yada. Yada.

[Psalm 73]

"OK. This does it for me. The guy was a nut."

Close, I'd say by taking into account the other reports about his life-style, that perhaps he was mildly retarded, a little slow and was duped into this - just the way he talked to the teller, kind-of like naive or not having a close grip on reality.
He lived alone with his cats, was quiet, and a generally nice neighbor. He aspired to nothing more than to work at his pizza delivery job and live a simple life - on second thought, maybe he was lucid, and I'm out of touch......

[maggief]

More from goerie.com:

http://www.goerie.com/

EXCERPT

Bank robber asked troopers to help ease weight of bomb

By Jule Gardner

In the last minutes of Brian Wells' life, he asked state troopers to uncuff him so he could at least lift up the weight of the bomb clamped tightly around him.

"It's killing my neck," he is heard saying about five minutes before the bomb exploded on upper Peach Street, killing him.

A detailed viewing of the video recorded by WJET-TV the day Wells told police he was forced to wear the bomb and rob a bank revealed much of what the pizza deliveryman had to say before his death.

The task force investigating the bizarre crime agreed, requesting copies of all of WJET-TV's tapes relating to the incident. The request arrived in the form of an order issued this week by the criminal division of the Erie County Court of Common Pleas.

Much of the discernible audio was captured by a cameraman's shotgun microphone, attached to his camera as he zoomed in on Brian Wells, 46, from across Peach Street.

WJET-TV agreed to let the Erie Times-News view its footage and transcribe what Wells can be heard saying.

Some of Wells' words can be heard clearly and have been aired numerous times since the Aug. 28 bombing, which occurred in a parking lot near the recently robbed PNC Bank branch in the Summit Town Centre. Some of what Wells said is less clear and has not yet been released, including his complaint about neck pain.

Five minutes and 23 seconds before the explosion, in a portion of the tapes in which the audio is slightly muddy, Wells can be heard saying "bomb," something about "20 minutes" and the words "until (he or we) can get the money."

He then said to the troopers, "Maybe if you can get the keys ..." and, "I'm not lying."

Wells then said quite clearly, "Can you at least take these freakin' handcuffs off? So I can hold this thing up? It's killing my neck."

He is also heard saying, "I didn't do it," or, "I didn't do anything."

In the tapes, Wells, seated on the pavement behind his Geo Metro compact car, fidgets and appears to be attempting to lift the bomb up with his legs. He bends his legs in front of him and then switches to an Indian-style position. He appears to be wearing at least two T-shirts. The outer one, which says "GUESS jeans," had been cut by officers after Wells told them he had a bomb strapped underneath it, according to a state police spokesman.

The footage with the muddy audio lasts 2 minutes and 22 seconds. In it, Wells is seen saying more to the troopers than can be heard.

At one point, according to an investigator, Wells asked for a cigarette, which he did not receive. That request was not on tape.

In dramatic footage, WJET-TV captured 25 seconds of video in which Wells' voice is clear. An edited version of that tape, which ends 2 minutes and 36 seconds before the blast, has aired on national TV and in several other countries.

In it, Wells says:


"Why is it nobody's trying to get this thing off me?"

"I don't have a lot of time."

"He pulled a key out and started a timer. I heard the thing ticking when he did it."

"It's gonna go off."

"I'm not lying." After this statement, Wells looks at the troopers and shakes his head somewhat slowly from side-to-side.


The last thing Wells is recorded as saying is, "Did you call my boss?"

A trooper can be heard saying "yes we did... ." It's the only recorded response heard from troopers, although a spokesman said there may have been more dialogue.
(snip)

[GovernmentShrinker]

Yes, that was likely a contributing factor since, as I understand the time line, he refused medical help some hours AFTER the death of Brian Wells. Could well have been in an "I don't care if I live or die -- just leave me alone" state of mind, and probably not levelling with either his parents or the EMTs as to what and how much he'd taken.

[GOP_Proud]

< This guy was a 46 year old high school dropout who delivered pizza for a living. >

This is the only rationale that can change my mind without more info. Perhaps he was a bit simple and the perps knew he could be used easily. I don't know. But that theory is the only one that sways me to see him as the vic.

We definitely need more info.

[rond]

NONE of his co-workers, boss, relatives, landlady, etc. thinks he was a "nut case."

True. If anything, most of the interviews with acquaintances paint the dead man as "simple," perhaps even Gumpian. That could be revisionist history, spoken by people who grieve, but if there had been violence in his past, we would likely have heard about it by now.

My fearless prediction: It's an inside job, but the delivery man wasn't in the loop. He was just used, then discarded.

[GovernmentShrinker]

There are usually some friends and relatives saying stuff like that, but they are also usually contradicted by other sources (often police, pointing to a long rap sheet). NOBODY has yet come forward to offer any inkling that they think Brian Wells was capable of doing this himself.

[GOP_Proud]

This is the first I've heard of this dialog. I'm leaning towards him being a bit on the "simple" side and easy to be used.

[GOP_Proud]

Not necessarily true. In many cases no one ever had an inkling someone would do whatever the person did. It happens all the time.

However, from my most recent posts you can see that I'm willing to think the guy was just easily used.

[VRWC_minion]

Query: The tellers supposedly put a "dye bomb" in the bag. Would the detenation of that cause a bomb to go off ?

[GOP_Proud]

<< My fearless prediction: It's an inside job, but the delivery man wasn't in the loop. He was just used, then discarded. >.

I agree.

[VRWC_minion]

This makes it more likely it was a suicide that he wanted to look like a murder with lots of witnesses.

[Diva Betsy Ross]

The rumor around Erie is that he was slow. Techers i know who would ahve taught when this giy was in school said that.

[RANGERAIRBORNE]

"I'm NOT going into that bank and wait in line."

Me, either. Also, would the mysterious folks who supposedly placed this bomb around his neck have given him a firearm? It seems unlikely. Also, how did they think they were going to get the money- even a dumb criminal (that is, almost all of them) would know that he would leading a parade of police cars when and if he came back from the bank.

This makes NO SENSE as a crime- as a "suicide by cop", it sort of hangs together. Hard to make all the pieces fit, though (sorry!).

[GovernmentShrinker]

The last thing Wells is recorded as saying is, "Did you call my boss?"

If Wells had put the bomb on himself, and knew it was about to go off, this would be a mighty strange thing to say. Really sounds to me more like a simple guy, desperate with fear, hoping that his nice and reliable boss who knew him well would 1) be worrying about his prolonged absence, and 2) be able to assure police that Wells hadn't done this himself. POSSIBLY (but again, no inklings of this from any acquaintances who've talked to the press), the boss was the perp and had taken advantage of this simple-minded employee. I don't really think so though, as Wells had earlier referred to "he" putting the bomb around his neck and turning the key to start the timer, but didn't mention the "he" being his boss.

And food for thought: I've so far seen reports of 4 prior collar bomb incidents, 2 fictional (a TV show and a Tom Clancy book), and 2 real (both in South America). These all involved someone putting the bomb on an unwilling victim. My guess is that somebody got the idea from one of these sources and copied it. For a simple pizza delivery guy to get this idea from one of these sources (much less out of his own mind) and then decide to vary the scheme by putting the bomb on HIMSELF just strikes me as extremely unlikely.