Case 81
Brian Wells
Around midday on August 28 2003, 46-year-old delivery driver Brian Wells clocked in for his usual lunchtime shift at Mama Mia’s Pizzeria in Erie, Pennsylvania. At 1:30 PM, he was called to deliver two pizzas at an address at the end of a dirt road on Peach Street.
There, he was fitted with a collar bomb and given a series of bizarre and complex instructions as part of an elaborate bank robbery plot. No one was prepared for what happened next.
CREDITS
EPISODE:
Research & writing – Gemma Harris
Narration – Anonymous Host
MUSIC:
‘Flatline intro’ and ‘Come play with me’ intro and outro – www.dl-sounds.com
Audio production – Mike Migas
Scoring – Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn
OTHER:
Logo and website design – Paulina Szymanska
RESOURCES
BOOKS:
Mania and Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong – by Clark, J & Palattella, E. (2017) Rowan & Littlefield
Pizza Bomber: The Untold Story of America’s Most Shocking Bank Robbery – by Clark, J. & Palattella, E. (2012) Berkley Books: New York
Engendered Death: Pennsylvania Women Who Kill – by Laythe, J. (2011) Lehigh University Press: United Kingdom
ARTICLES:
Erie bombing ‘victim’ was in on bank robbery – Cleveland.com
Erie bomb victim was the dupe in a greedy plan – Cleveland.com
Double-crossed – Cleveland.com
Jury convicts woman in collar bomb robbery – CBS News
Collar bomb bank robber gets 45 years – CBS News
Pizza delivery man who robbed bank had neck measured for bomb collar – Fox News
New details revealed in ‘pizza collar bomb’ heist – CNN
Collar bomb probe gets weirder – CBS News
Was pizza deliverer a robber or a victim? – USA Today
Hostage to misfortune – The Guardian
Erie”s Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong subject of new book – Erie Times-News
Pizza collar bomb case solved, official says – NBC News
Indictment: bomb victim in on bank plot – USA Today
Erie’s Diehl-Armstrong meets lonely end in Texas – Erie Times-News
Court petition seeks Diehl-Armstrong’s remains – Erie Times-News
Why does the weird find its way to Erie – Erie Times-News
Admitted bank robber has sentence cut for his testimony – Reuters
Pizza man bombing remains odd mystery – Fox News
The Incredible True Story of the Collar Bomb Heist – Wired
Suspect pleads guilty in collar bomb case – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
12th anniversary of Erie pizza bomber case – Your Erie
Truth about US collar bomb robbery remains elusive – BBC
Strange death belies pizza man’s quiet life – The Philadelphia Enquirer
Garage searched in bank robbery blast case – Gettysburg Times, p.3. (6 September 2003)
Tool owner denies knowing Erie robber – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, p.33. (7 Sep 2003)
Officials say chaos delayed call to bomb squad after robbery – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, p.10. (8 Sep 2003)
Robbery still unsolved – The Sentinel, p.10. (22 Aug 2004)
One year later, ‘pizza bomber’ is still a puzzle – The Philadelphia Enquirer, p.B06. (23 August 2004)
Feds say they have figured out pizza bomber case – Indiana Gazette, p.3. (17 February 2007)
Attorney: indictment to come soon in bomb case – Indiana Gazette, p.3. (10 July 2007)
Feds says collar bomb victim was part of plot – Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, p.1. (11 July 2007)
Elaborate plot is linked to death of pizza man – The Philadelphia Enquirer, p.B06. (12 July 2007)
DOCUMENTARIES/TV SHOWS:
TRANSCRIPTS:
Special Report – The Pizza Bomber – CNN (12 October 2013)
OTHER:
Have they ever talked about Brian Douglas Wells/the collar bomb pizza guy? – Reddit
Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, Petitioner v. United States
Death of Brian Douglas Wells – Wikipedia
Brian Wells – website
Population Demographics for Erie, Pennsylvania in 2017, 2018
Census and Demographics for Erie
GE Transportation Cutting 1,100 Jobs
List of Shrinking Cities in the United States – Wikipedia