Is just makeup. Its a story binge watched around the world. The Netflix Series evil genius. One of the most diabolical cases and criminal history. Reporter a bank robbery and bomb plot. Horrifying. Turned deadly mystery. The note say, we are following you. It seems like someone playing a game. Interviews heard here first. It was murder. Inside the Riveting Story Dateline has covered from the start. We have three different deaths. How are they related . Im thinking, she could really be the mastermind of the evil and death and greed. Its not a Script Spirit is not makebelieve. How horrible can you be . Maybe burn in. Hell. What a pretty summer afternoon had been along the great lake. August 28, 2003. A day people of erie, pennsylvania, will long remember. But for its pleasant leases but for the unexpected violence. Dateline was there. I started with the Pizza Delivery and ended two hours later and more the bizarre Crimes Police have ever witnessed. Maybe you remember bits of it. Pizza delivery guy robbing a bank claim he had eight Ticking Time Bomb around his neck. The images are hard to forget. And still painful to watch. Horrific. Bizarre. Almost like the mother of all whodunit. Strange indy, but on that day we did not have an idea of what was ahead. A few weeks after the bank heist, this happened. There is a frozen body in the freezer in the garage. A 911 call he said there was a man dead in the freezer in his garage and a woman in his living room very much alive. Who is she to you, sir . That call was made by a man in bib overalls who looked like an extra from the old shop he got. But he was no hayseed. He was the smartest guy in the room. He will tell you himself he will become one of the leads and a colorful cast of characters. Lets call them unconventional. All the broken toys of erie, p. A. , showed up in one story. In the center of it all was Marjorie Diehlarmstrong. Where do you even begin . She had danger written all over her. She has a magnetic quality about her. Some people have described it as magnetically revolting. The amazing part for me is that these people all found each other. With the same like mindedness of evil and death. And greed. And started on a thursday. 1 30 in the afternoon. A worker came into mama mias pizzeria. Two pizzas for delivery. The driver brian wells scribbled down the address but it wasnt a home or even a business, the caller wanted them delivered to a cluster of Tv Station Antennas and Satellite Dishes nestled in the woods. The deliveryman headed out in an hour after that, another call came in. This went to 911. Fbi special agent jerry clark was in his office looking forward to a long labor day weekend. I was downtown and got notified there was a bank robbery. Its what you do. Ive been to hundreds in my career. So, this one sounded different, though. Security camera showed just how different. The robber was brian wells, the delivery guy from mama mias. He handed the Teller A Note saying, this is a bank robbery. I have a bomb and i need 250,000 in cash. He had something underneath the shirt, but you could not see exactly what it was. What ever the device was, it was attached around his neck with something that looked like a giant in. He was holding a bag in one hand, he came in the other. At least it looked like a cane. His demeanor was calm. That was the bizarre thing for us. Swinging the cane and walking with the money very casually. He grabs a lollipop which they have on the council. To feel comfortable enough to reach into the basket and pull out a lollipop surprised me. You strolled up with the bag of money. But he might not have been so calm if he knew how fast Law Enforcement was responding. Say troopers were closing in. I got called and it was a bank robbery in progress. Pennsylvania state Police Crime Unit supervisor lamont king rolled out. Jerry was on his way and so was the erie pd bomb squad. That tv news fans were not far behind. The pizza guy turned and reiber turned out of the parking lot but did not get far. Wells was intercepted at the show by troopers, only a few hundred yards from the bank itself. Get out of the vehicle and we noticed the collar around his neck. The robber told them he was wearing a bomb. They werent about to doubt him. The troopers took precautions and handcuffed the individual and it kneeled him down and then took cover. Jerry clark arrived moments later. I came up and i pulled exactly to the end of the lot and thought, oh, man, thats too close. I reversed and came around and got into this parking lot. And hes talking to the officers . He is. Wells identified himself. Said he was a Pizza Delivery man. Sitting on the pavement crosslegged in in handcuffs, he seemed more desperate than desperado. He pleaded for a cigarette and help. Can you at least take this thing off. Its killing my neck. Then he told a story. His words. Some man accosted him, locked the collar around his neck and activated the bomb. He pulled the key out and started a timer. Its going to go off. The conversations back and forth and they went on for quite a while. Police did not know what to make of the man with a bomb but then he is dangerous and kept a safe distance. It was a stalemate with no easy way out. Wells sat on the pavement for 10 minutes, then 20, all the while tick, tick The Bomb Squad was getting close. The traffic was hopelessly snarl. They would be there in a few minutes. Nobody knew that would be time enough. Coming up, he is pleading, can you get this thing off me. A race against the clock. What they would see as the case unfolded would be darker than any of them imagined. I was just overwhelmed by the start feeling. Everybody was lying in and she is at the middle of it. When dateline continues. And tough to keep wondering if this is as good as it gets. But trelegy has shown me that theres still beauty and breath to be had. Because with three medicines in one inhaler, trelegy keeps my airways open and prevents future flareups. And with one dose a day, trelegy improves Lung Function so i can breathe more freely all day and night. Trelegy wont replace a Rescue Inhaler for sudden breathing problems. Tell your doctor if you have a Heart Condition or high Blood Pressure before taking it. Do not take trelegy more than prescribed. Trelegy may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. Call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, Vision Changes, or eye pain occur. What a Wonderful World ask your doctor about oncedaily trelegy for copd because breathing should be beautiful. Announcer on tv Wicu 12 Oninterrupts this program. D a suspected bank robber who was cornered by police. Ryan wells started the day as a Pizza Delivery driver. Then he robbed a bank. Now he was a Ticking Time Bomb. Well, maybe if i can get out the device was locked around his neck and wells did not have the key and said the bombs timer was sticking down. Was ticking down. He was on the ground and surrounded. Police with guns drawn. News crews getting it all. Fbi agent jerry clark was 20 feet from wells. The men people described as calm when he robbed the bank seemed increasingly anxious. He is pleading, can you get this thing off me. No one dared approach. The standoff lasted 30 excruciating minutes. Then something happened. You hear a Countdown Beep very faintly. Beep, beep, beep. A digital countdown timer. Lamont king heard it also and grabbed a pair of binoculars and zoomed in on wells. I have him zoom in and i hear another beep. Once i heard the second beep, he got agitated. The standoff had lasted 31 minutes. The clock was 3 18. The device locked around his neck exploded. I will never forget it. Mr. Wells fell back and i watched his chest and the air went out but never came back. I thought, this is a fatal situation. And Debris Sailing through the air . You can feel the precaution from the device. I felt a couple pieces hit around here. What sticks in my mind where the eyes going into the back of his head and he went down. He died moments after the explosion. The bomb crushed his chest and lacerated his heart. It was a horrifying scene. All of it captured by news cameras. Later that night, brian sister was relaxing at home completely unaware. I turned on the news and somebody robbed the bank and i look and i was like, there is my brother brian. What is he doing there . City in the road. Sitting in the road and i said, doesnt look like uncle brian and basic, em. It seemed impossible. She turned to her husband. He said, your brother is not a bank robber. I said, i know but it looks like ryan. As she watched the standoff, she saw exactly how he died. You are watching the last moments of his life . Right. He was sitting there handcuffed and Police Officers were pointing guns at him. Like hes a criminal. What did he need at that moment . He needed help. He needed compassion. He needed to be heard. But none of that happened. Maybe what he needed most was for bomb text to defuse the device around his neck. The area bomb squad didnt get that chance. Coming from another part of town, they arrived two minutes after the explosion. The commander suited up into his bomb gear. What did you make of it . The collar was still on his neck. You could see that but we couldnt tell if there were any more explicit devices inside what remained of that collar. Had you ever seen anything like it . Like that . No. Nobody in the United States have ever seen anything like that. That included jerry clark with 20 years of experience under his belt. He was joined at the scene by his supervisor. After both of us said, oh my god, i cant believe what we saw, i said, i have to have this case. He said, its yours. Lets go. From the first moment, every move he made would be under intense scrutiny. It was a media frenzy. I mean, live Satellite Dishes, local, national, international news. It was a big event. One of the people watching was on the day he died, he was a couple hours in buffalo settling his mother pope was the state. It was a bittersweet two weeks and buffalo. I reached out to some friends and said lets have a drink to say goodbye. He was in by to his hometown and heading back to his new life in New York City where he was trying to become a documentary filmmaker. All he needed was a good story. What do you think the ingredients are for the thing you want to do . It had to be something that was shocking and pulled you in. While raising a glass with friends, he noticed the coverage of the bank robbery in erie. The newscast came over the tv in the corner of the bar and i was hooked. It seemed like it had all the pieces from the start. Have you found your well . Absolutely and i thought, how desperate did that man have to be . In erie, brian wells sister was thinking how desperate her brother looked in his last moments. That fit her belief that he was a victim. Nothing else made sense. He was a fun person, a quiet person, a humble person. He was one of eight children and he likes puzzles and Scavenger Hunts. It was a simple life and it suited him just fine. He never wanted to be in the spotlight. He he could ever have imagined what happened to them, he was thought, no, thats not me. The younger sister said his last hour was not as a criminal but as a hostage of the real bank robbers, the people who accosted him. Locked the collar around his neck and activated the bomb. It was exactly as brian said. Jerry clark heard him say that with his own ears. It sounded like a declaration of an inspired man who seemed to know he was about to die. But clark wasnt ruling anything in or out. For him, it was just one piece in an already strange and complicated puzzle. Coming up. Could someone had unlocked the bomb in time . A Scavenger Hunt to find the key. Each site was having notes on where to go next. Another hunt begins. For the suspect. They ran up on me just like gang busters. Like i was Charles Manson or somebody. When dateline continues. T of Episodic Migraine in adults. Dont take if allergic to nurtec odt. Allergic reactions can occur, even days after using. Most common side effects were nausea, indigestion, and stomach pain. Its time we all shine. Talk to a Healthcare Provider about nurtec odt from pfizer. Air wick. How far would you go to set the ambience of your space . Try the air wick way with air wick essential mist. Infused with natural Essential Oils to fill your moment with immersive fragrance for up to 45 days. Now thats a breath of fresh air wick. Shingles. The rash can feel like an intense Burning Sensation that can last for weeks. Shingles could disrupt work and time with family. Over 50 . The virus that causes shingles is likely already inside of you. Dont wait. Ask your doctor about shingles today. It was a grotesque scene and maybe still potentially lethal. Dont wait. It was a grotesque scene. And maybe still potentially lethal. When The Bomb Squad gave the all clear, jerry clark headed for his car. A chevy geo. Absolutely. The car held one peculiar thing. The cane he twirled inside the bank was there but it wasnt a simple cane, it was a shotgun that was fabricated to look like a cane. It was loaded. You find the money. In the back, well demanded 250,000 from the teller. The bank found in the car was less than that. It turned out brian wells lost his life over 1702. Investigators also recovered handwritten notes with detailed complicated instructions apparently written for wells on how to carry out the robbery. The notes involved in this case were voluminous. There were nine total pages of notes. They referred to wells as a hostage and were peppered with dire warnings. Like bomb has trip wires. Forcing or tampering will detonate. We are following you. If you delay, disobey or alert anyone, you will die. The bomb around his neck have four key holes. The notes included maps and instructions directing well to a location where he would find the key and get more instructions on where to find another key and then another until finally he would be free of the bomb. An illustrated manuscript of treachery. I get the sense that there is a Scavenger Hunt going on. If he follows the note in a timely manner, he can go from point a to b, to c and come up with the holy grail which is the key to unlock this thing. It was a Scavenger Hunt. Each location had note where to go next and a key to one of the four key holes that held the device around his neck. Jerry clark had never seen anything like it. No one had. Investigator decided to retrace wellss steps. It looked as if he was following the instructions to the letter. Im looking over here and i see an urgent care business. In 2003, that was the bank. That was pnc bank. Mr. Wells rob the bank and has here into where we are standing. This is the start of this crazy scavenger point. What he was supposed to do at this location was go into this flower bed, turn over a rock or stone and retrieve a note. The note under the rock directed him to his next destination that he never made it. Law enforcement makes an entry here and does a felony car stop. Basically places mister wells under arrest. Is this the famous picture we see . This is it. Right here. Wells Scavenger Hunt in his life ended here. An hour after the explosion, lamont king followed the rest of the directions exactly as written. We went to the first site and we were supposed to find things and we found them but everything we found we bagged for evidence. King made all the stops will another trooper time the trip. It took well over an hour and that was a Crucial Point because the Timing Device turned out to be a common 60 minute kitchen timer. Would you have had enough time to make all of these rounds in the Scavenger Hunt and recover the key to save your life . You would have never had the time. That indicated to us that the device was never meant to come off. Plus, there were no keys found in any of the sites. There never was a key. The plan was not designed for him to live. It was a very cruel death. Very cruel death. The thought was chilling. Brian wells appeared to be the victim of a diabolical plot. A wrong time, wrong place theory. Did you find anything on the internet . Nothing of the kind. But ages discovered a list of names and Phone Numbers written by wells. They started making calls. A woman on the list had an African American boyfriend and the fbi tracked him down. He had a history of knowing explosives and was in the military. He spent some time working with explosives. And your victim is saying, his word, black guys did this to me. He looked really good and his girlfriends name was and mr. Wells handwriting in his apartment. He was known by his initials. Jj. He was found at work and then they went to his home. We did a Search Warrant and he was upset. Dateline talk to jj in 2003 not long after that Search Warrant was executed. He was still upset. I voluntarily let them search my house. The second time, they ran up on me like gang busters. Like i was Charles Manson or somebody. The search of his home was exhaustive. But it turned up nothing. None of the evidence pointed that jj had any involvement at all. Hes coming off the list. An early lead fizzled. Jj was cleare