Free Republic

PITTSBURGH - Federal authorities have figured out how a pizza deliveryman wound up in the middle of a bizarre bank robbery scheme that ended with a bomb around his neck exploding, and the identities of the plotters, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. Brian Wells, 46, robbed a suburban Erie bank on Aug. 28, 2003, with the bomb attached to his neck and then was killed when it exploded as he sat handcuffed in a parking lot while police waited for a bomb squad. No one was charged as authorities struggled to determine who was behind the plot...

Four misdemeanor charges have been filed against William Rothstein, the man who police say helped Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong move the body of a murder victim into a freezer. Rothstein is free on Bond. He faces charges stemming from transporting a corpse, and moving the body into a chest freezer with a pulley system. He has been specifically charged with abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence, and two other conspiracy charges. In Pennsylvania, those charges are only misdemeanors. Each carries a maximum sentence of two years. Rothstein’s lawyer, Gene Placidi also says his client was served with a search warrant Thursday...

FBI appeals for help after pizza man 'forced to rob bank' is killed by bomb fixed around his neck By Andrew Buncombe in Washington 03 September 2003 The FBI has released pictures of a metal collar that was found fixed around the neck of pizza deliveryman who robbed a bank and then died when a bomb that was locked to the collar exploded. State troopers arrested Brian Wells shortly after he robbed a bank outside the town of Erie in Pennsylvania last Thursday. He told the officers that he had been forced to rob the bank and that he was...

(CBS/AP) The FBI on Tuesday released photos of a metal collar found around the neck of a pizza deliveryman who robbed a bank and then was killed when a bomb strapped to his body exploded. FBI Agent Bob Rudge said the bureau hopes that by releasing the photos of the collar and locking device, someone may come forward to help law enforcement solve the strange case. A preliminary exam performed on the collar showed that it was likely not commercially manufactured, Rudge said Tuesday. "We do not believe it has any legitimate industrial use," said Rudge. "Its most likely purpose...

<p>There is no question that the bank robbery and then the death of the robber, Brian Wells, 46, when the bomb he had strapped to his chest exploded is the most bizarre crime to happen in Erie at any time. Everything about the case is hard to fathom.</p>

<p>ERIE, Pa. — A pizza deliveryman told police he had been forced to rob a bank and asked authorities to help him minutes before a bomb strapped to his chest exploded and killed him.</p> <p>On Saturday, federal agents and police in northwestern Pennsylvania were trying to solve the bizarre case of 46-year-old Brian Douglas Wells, who left to deliver a pizza to a mysterious address in a remote area about an hour before he turned up at the bank with a bomb strapped to his body.</p>

<p>Brian Douglas Wells, 46, was killed Thursday when the bomb attached to his neck detonated while he and police were waiting for the bomb squad to arrive.</p> <p>Police probably could not have saved Wells from the bomb if it was armed with a timing device, FBI special agent Ken McCabe, whose agency is helping in the investigation, said.</p>

Blast that killed robber leaves police mystified He died after a bank holdup. He told police another person had forced him into the crime. Associated Press ERIE - Investigators spent Labor Day plotting out a course for solving the bizarre case of a pizza deliveryman who robbed a bank, then was killed by a bomb strapped to his body. An autopsy was completed yesterday on a coworker of the deliveryman who was found dead at his home, but police awaited toxicology tests to determine whether the deaths were related. Federal investigators and police were expected to discuss the case at...

The FBI is investigating the death of a pizza delivery man who said he had been forced to rob a bank by someone who had strapped a bomb to his chest. Brian Wells had entered a bank in Erie, Pennsylvania, and given staff a note which demanded money and said he had a bomb. When he left the bank with stolen money he was surrounded by police and told them he had been forced to rob the bank after someone had started a timer on a bomb under his T-shirt. As the police waited for the bomb squad to arrive...

<p>The bizarre case of Brian Wells' death is still marked by more questions than answers.</p> <p>But clues that could point to how and why Wells robbed a bank before being killed by a bomb strapped to his body are slowly filtering in to the local FBI office.</p>