The Pizza Delivery Man With a Bomb Locked to His Neck

Erie, Pennsylvania, August 28, 2003: a pizza order to an address that turns out to be a TV tower. Less than an hour after the call, the driver walks into a bank on the same road. Who sent him? Documentary based on public records · Conclusions are the authorities' own · Not everyone named was charged · AI narration and AI reconstruction images · Not affiliated with any government agency In July 2026 the FBI posted 752 pages on this case to its online reading room. Together with the FBI's own case file, Major Case 203, and the federal court record, they let us rebuild that afternoon the way the agents had to: one stop at a time. Then we follow the long investigation that tried to answer one question, and show where the record stops. 💬 Question for the comments: you're one of the first investigators on this case. A pizza order, a TV tower, a bank, a set of handwritten pages. Which thread do you pull first? Please keep it to the evidence: no accusations against the family, living people, or anyone who was never charged. CHAPTERS 0:00 Cold open 1:09 One: Upper Peach 7:05 Two: Act Now, Think Later 11:43 Three: Major Case 203 15:25 Four: The House Beside the Tower 18:55 Five: Something to Trade 22:28 Six: Across the Road 27:50 Seven: The Answer on Paper 32:26 Eight: Beneath the Report 39:08 Nine: One Dollar More ABOUT THIS FILM Presented for documentary and educational purposes, based on the public records listed below and on published reporting, which is attributed in the film. Brian Wells was never charged, and no court ruled on his role. His family has said he was an innocent victim. William Rothstein was never charged in the Wells case. Others discussed who are not described as charged, including Rothstein's housemate, a co-worker of Wells's and a woman interviewed in 2018, were never charged in this case. Conclusions about responsibility are those of the authorities that reached them. Opinions and allegations of named sources are presented as their views, not as established fact. Reconstruction images are AI-generated illustrations, not photographs or footage of the real people, places or events. Narration is a synthetic (AI) voice. Not affiliated with any government agency, or with any film or series about this case. 'Pizza Bomber' is a media nickname for this case, used here only to identify it. In memory of Brian Wells and James Roden. SOURCES Primary sources: • FBI file "MC 203" (FOIPA 1420290-000, 1502224-000, 1502221-000) • FBI Vault, "Brian Wells," Parts 01–02 (July 2026) • FBI Pittsburgh, "Collarbomber Profile" (Aug 27, 2004) • FBI.gov (Jul 11, 2007) • U.S. Attorney's Office, W.D. Pa., press releases (2007, 2008, 2010) • U.S. v. Diehl-Armstrong, W.D. Pa. No. 1:07-cr-00026 • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, No. 11-1601 (Nov 15, 2012) • U.S. Supreme Court dockets 12-7609 and 16-5764 News and other sources: • AP (Jul 11, 2007; Mar 1, 2011 via The Seattle Times; 2011) • CBS/AP (Jul 12, 2007; Dec 3, 2008) • MSNBC (Aug 29, 2005; Jul 11, 2007) • Wired (Dec 27, 2010) • TIME (May 12, 2018) • Erie Times-News (Aug 28, 2023) • TribLive (Feb 22, 2014) • Fox News (Aug 20, 2005) and CBS/AP (Sep 5, 2003): reports of the coroner's ruling • J. A. Tanda, "The Detonator" (IABTI), Mar/Apr 2012 CREDITS FBI and court documents and FBI images: U.S. government works, public domain (17 U.S.C. §105). Note images: evidence released by the FBI on Aug 27, 2004, shown in part for commentary. Public-domain images and footage (U.S. government works, 17 U.S.C. §105): FBI (FOIA file MC 203; FBI Vault; FBI.gov video), DVIDS, National Archives (via Internet Archive), NASA Earth Observatory, U.S. Geological Survey (topographic map, 1996), Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division (Carol M. Highsmith Archive; Historic American Buildings Survey). The appearance of U.S. Department of War (DoW) visual information does not imply or constitute DoW endorsement. Photos via Wikimedia Commons: • "Interstate 79 - Pennsylvania" by Dougtone (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi..., licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... cropped and colour-graded. • "Lake Erie Sunset with fish net" by Sensor (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi..., licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/... cropped and colour-graded. Our cropped and colour-graded versions of the CC BY-SA photos are shared under the same licences. Reconstruction images: AI-generated, created locally with Stable Diffusion XL 1.0. Maps, 3D and graphics: original. Narration: synthetic (AI) voice. Music and sound effects: original. Fonts: SIL OFL / Apache-2.0. #truecrime #fbifiles #documentary