PA PA - Brian Wells, 46, Erie, 28 Aug 2003

The FBI seized letters written by a convicted rapist and interviewed his ex-wife as part of their investigation into the death of a pizza deliveryman killed when a bomb locked onto his neck exploded, according to a published report.

Janet M. Ponsford, who now lives in Aitkin, Minn., told the Erie Times-News for Wednesday's editions that the FBI also took shoes belonging to her ex-husband, 58-year-old Floyd A. Stockton Jr., who is now serving a rape sentence in Washington state. She said the FBI wanted the shoes and letters "to compare things to."

Ponsford, who said she was married and divorced from Stockton three times, said he is mechanically inclined, can be violent, and "likes to doodle."

Special Agent Gerald Clark wouldn't say Wednesday whether the FBI interviewed Ponsford, but said the investigation has "actively picked up and we pursue it vigorously every day."

The Times-News detailed several other links between Stockton and the Wells case, most notably his longtime friendship with a now-dead handyman, William Rothstein.
http://www.timesleader.com/mld/timesleader/12350423.htm

The Times-News detailed several other links between Stockton and the Wells case, most notably his longtime friendship with a now-dead handyman, William Rothstein.

Rothstein, 60, a former high school shop teacher who died last June, was questioned in connection with Wells' death because he lived near the TV tower where Wells went to deliver his last pizza. Ponsford told the newspaper Rothstein had known Stockton, who goes by the first name Jay, for decades.

"He's been a friend of Jay's ever since I can remember, and I have known Jay since 1971," Ponsford told the newspaper.

The FBI has said Stockton was living at Rothstein's house about the time Wells was killed, but they initially found nothing linking him to their investigation.

Rothstein and his longtime friend and former fiancee, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, ran into legal trouble around the time of the bank robbery when a man's body was found in her freezer.

Diehl-Armstrong is serving a 20-year sentence after pleading guilty but mentally ill in the third-degree murder and subsequent dismemberment of James Roden, her boyfriend at the time.

A retired college professor also told the newspaper that the FBI questioned him about seeing Diehl-Armstrong driving the wrong way on the berm of southbound Interstate 79 the day Wells died. That stretch of interstate was part of the route Wells was instructed to take in the note.
http://www.centredaily.com/mld/centredaily/news/politics/12350423.htm

Thanks for locating these articles Mysteriew! I hope they clear Brian Wells name- it's bad enough he died while police didn't believe him and get the bomb squad there soon enough, it was outrageous when they accused him of plotting his own death!!! Who would chose to do that? Even suicide bombers don't chain the bombs to their necks!

The FBI (website) says new leads have poured in since a newspaper
published a story saying that a convicted rapist is being
investigated in the death of a pizza delivery man who died when a
bomb locked onto his neck exploded.

The Erie Times-News first reported that the FBI was investigating whether
Floyd Stockton Jr., who is now serving a rape sentence in Washington state, is a focus of the investigation.

The FBI won't say what kinds of leads they've gotten since the story ran Wednesday, but say they are following them up.
http://www.abc27.com/news/stories/0805/251014.html

Two years after Wells’ mysterious death, authorities don’t know who killed the 46-year-old pizza deliveryman. But a FOX News investigation reveals that several people could be viewed as suspects, although all but one of them is now dead.

Robert Pinetti, a friend of Wells’ who worked with him delivering pizzas for Mama Mia’s, was discovered unresponsive by family members. Nearly the same age as Wells, a coroner’s report obtained by FOX News showed that Pinetti died from a lethal combination of drugs and alcohol in his system. The coroner’s report ruled Pinetti’s death accidental.

Despite the extraordinary coincidence of two men working for the same small pizza delivery shop dying mysterious deaths within days of each other, a thorough investigation turned up nothing linking Pinetti's overdose death to the deadly bomb blast that killed Wells.

But Pinetti’s death would not be the last.

Three weeks after Wells’ murder, William Rothstein -- a substitute teacher, handyman and lifelong Erie resident -- contacted the Pennsylvania State Police to report that there was a body in his freezer.

In an exclusive video obtained by FOX News, Rothstein admits to disposing of the corpse, later identified as James Roden.

“There was a person I have known since the late 60s early 70s. She had a body in her house that she wanted removed … I helped her with it,” Rothstein said. “I put it basically in my garage.”

The woman was Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, a former fiancé of Rothstein’s.

“She's had bad luck with significant others. One individual was shot seven or eight times while he was asleep,” said Foulk, the district attorney.

“She had a significant other that hung himself … She had a significant other that apparently stumbled and hit his head on a coffee table and died … and Mr. Roden was shot while he was asleep as well with two blasts from a shotgun,” Foulk said.

Of the four suspicious deaths connected to Diehl-Armstrong, she was convicted in only one. She was found guilty of murder in the third degree for the death of James Roden. She admitted to causing one of the other deaths but she claimed spousal abuse.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166160,00.html

Two years after an Erie pizza delivery man robbed a bank and then was killed when a bomb clamped to his neck exploded, the FBI has made no arrests in the bizarre and complex case but has developed "promising" leads following more than 1,000 interviews, the agent overseeing the investigation said.

"We're certainly in a better position than we were two years ago. We've made a lot of progress. We've identified a couple of avenues of investigation that are promising to investigators," Robert Rudge, assistant special agent in charge of the Pittsburgh FBI office, said Friday.

I think the investigation has been flawed from the beginning," Wells said from Erie, where some of his family still lives. "It's the same thing -- we're investigating, we're getting tips and we're tracking down leads. I'm like, the family needs a lot more than rhetoric. It needs results."

"Wells' primary gripe is that the agency has not declared that his brother was an innocent victim. As well, he is upset that investigators have not released the full text of the notes. Four of the nine pages have been released almost in their entirety, and Wells has placed them on his Web site, www.brianwells.net.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05240/561408.stm

Geraldo had an hour long special on this last Sunday on FOX. It was fascinating, IMO. I tried to find a transcript of the show, but couldn't.

FWIW, there was a portion where Geraldo asked LE about this witness of the woman driving on the wrong side of the highway the day of the incident and LE said they'd never even heard of him. They allowed Geraldo to interview him in a hotel room (in their presence) and immediately after had FBI and other LE talk to him as well.

JMHO
fran



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166034,00.html

Now Geraldo Rivera brings new, never before seen information to light, including a video confession and an eyewitness the FBI had previously overlooked. It's a story everyone remembers but few really know.

FBI has released photos of Brian Wells robbing the bank. Story was on Greta Van Susteran last night and Catherine Crier today, have no idea why they released the photos, but here is link to site his family set up.

http://www.brianwells.net/

Also for those interested, as I am, here is America's most wanted"s take on this
http://www.amw.com/fugitives/case.cfm?id=27382

I guess nobody that is on here right now is interested in this but me. My fiance and I sat and watched this on tv and we've been completely hooked. here's more..

http://www.sliceny.com/archives/2005/08/geraldos_pizza.php

Has anyone who has been following the news figured out why excactly the bank photo was released other than to just bring attention to this case again?

UpallNite I am interested in this case.
I thought the GEraldo special a few weeks ago was good.
I don't think that those photos released today meant anything. The FBI saying he was too calm? HUH? What was he suppose to do?

He was a victim and there are people under the radar. Some are dead but the rest will be hunted.Keep the faith!

mic730 said:

UpallNite I am interested in this case.
I thought the GEraldo special a few weeks ago was good.
I don't think that those photos released today meant anything. The FBI saying he was too calm? HUH? What was he suppose to do?

Click to expand...

I don't know about you Mic, but I don't think he looked calm, I think he looked really scared.

upallnite said:

I don't know about you Mic, but I don't think he looked calm, I think he looked really scared.

Click to expand...

I could not tell anything from those pics they released today.
But that FBI agent on Abrams saying he did not give a good description of who did this to him. What 40 minutes before he blew up that was suppose the be his concern? It was outrageous to me.

concernedperson said:

He was a victim and there are people under the radar. Some are dead but the rest will be hunted.Keep the faith!

Click to expand...

I think he is a victim too.

Here is a fox article about this case. I find it startling about how many of Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong"s boyfriends died suspiciously. Also startling is that Rothstein would help her out by keeping one of their bodies in a freezer and then turning around, calling the police and telling them he has the body. Strange in this article what she blurted out about Rothstein having harboring fugitive rapist in his house for two years.



http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,166160,00.html

Other articles on this case at this link:
http://websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=27594&highlight=Brian+Wells

Thanx, mysteriew for showing me this thread. When I searched I only put in "pizza bomber". I've always thought it was strange that when the coronor examined Brian's body that there was shotgun pellets in his leg. Very mysterious.