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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)
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.
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.