[liff] Why One Should Choose One's Friends With Care

865. Remember Brian Wells, that hapless pizza delivery driver who was apparently forced to rob banks last year about four years back with a time-bomb locked to his neck?

It's beginning to appear that the poor fellow was certainly feckless, but hardly as innocent as has been claimed. From the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

As the robbery plan crystallized, the group pulled Wells in. They told him the bomb would be fake, and, if arrested, he would claim that he was a hostage, authorities said. They said police would then let him go, and he would later collect some money.

....

About 2:15 p.m., Wells drove to a wooded lot near Rothstein's home on Peach Street in Erie. Rothstein, Barnes and Stockton confronted him there and Wells, for the first time, learned that the device was real.

He wrestled with the men and tried to scamper away, but one of them fired a gun, causing Wells to stop. They gave him an oddly shaped cane, which was actually a gun, and told him to use it if he found trouble at the bank.

The whole story can be found here, which is the stuff of prostitutes, conspiracy to murder for an inheritance...all great stuff for true crime buffs. Would have made a hell of a Chandler story.

Tags: Brian Wells, Pizza Bomber, True Crime, News of the Weird