# Man Explodes After Being Forced to Rob Bank, Murderer Sought **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 1, 2003, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919 "2003-09-01T04:40:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![belladonna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@belladonna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/belladonna)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/1 "2003-09-01T04:40:46Z")
I read a lot of news stories every day. I have mostly ceased to be shocked by the depths other people can sink to. From roasting kids in the family car to suicide bombers on buses in Israel, it all seems horribly blase. But this story, to me, reads like a horror right out of the movies. I just wanted to post it and see if anyone else reacted so strongly, because for some reason it’s struck me more than most of the other nasty items of news I read and I’m curious as to why. [Man Dies in Forced Self-Explosion.](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/news/archive/2003/08/30/national1933EDT0614.DTL) ---
**Author:** ![Ale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Ale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ale)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/2 "2003-09-01T04:50:06Z")
Things like that really depresses me, when I´m reminded that there´s really no limit for human perversion. Fortunately seems that there´s no limit for other, more positive behaviours too; so after some time I get better; but the feeling that this world has gone completely FUBAR lingers on. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/3 "2003-09-01T04:52:37Z")
Possibly more reliable, but not dissimilar, info from the [[http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/01/national/01ERIE.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/01/national/01ERIE.html)]NYT Bizarre. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/4 "2003-09-01T04:53:05Z")
What movie is that from? I remember seeing it when I was a little kid, where they strapped a bomb to this guy’s chest and sent him into a bank. ---
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/5 "2003-09-01T05:09:51Z")
Seems to me there’s a good chance that the guy did it to himself either so he’d have an alibi or as a means of suicide if he should be caught. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/6 "2003-09-01T05:15:21Z")
There was an X-Files episode involving a bomber and a bank, but that wasn’t forced, as this appears to have been. ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/7 "2003-09-01T05:31:57Z")
[Co-worker blown up.](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,96130,00.html) “No obvious connection.” :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/8 "2003-09-01T05:35:33Z")
It doesn’t say the co-worker was blown up. He was “found dead” several hours after refusing medical assistance. That sounds like O.D. ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/9 "2003-09-01T05:38:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Desmostylus \* > \*\*It doesn’t say the co-worker was blown up. He was “found dead” several hours after refusing medical assistance. That sounds like O.D. \*\* That’s what I get for skimming articles. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/10 "2003-09-01T06:15:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by belladonna \* > \*\*But this story, to me, reads like a horror right out of the movies. I just wanted to post it and see if anyone else reacted so strongly, because for some reason it’s struck me more than most of the other nasty items of news I read and I’m curious as to why. > \*\* Probably for the same reason it did me: the police didn’t help. The man was allowed to die when he didnt’ necessarily have to. ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/11 "2003-09-01T06:17:12Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Stoid \* > \*\*Probably for the same reason it did me: the police didn’t help. The man was allowed to die when he didnt’ necessarily have to. \*\* To be fair…what was there to be done? They were awaiting the arrival of the bombsquad. Why would some untrained cop attempt at removing a complicated and likely fatal device when the professionals were en route? What other tangible and rational options had presented themselves? ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/12 "2003-09-01T06:29:47Z")
The main problem (to me) is that this is an incredibly poor way to rob a bank and is not likely to have any real world degree of success. Unless we’re dealing with someone with the smarts to devise a sophisticated bomb who then suddenly turns into the worlds biggest criminal retard when it comes to pulling off a heist, I’ve got to think the most likely explanation (but possibly incorrect) is that the guy that was blown up was somehow involved with this scheme and essentially committed suicide in a dramatic way. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/13 "2003-09-01T06:36:27Z")
True. The stories are badly written. They make no mention of any effort by police to examine or remove the device, or that the bomb squad had even been called. I mean, they HAD to have called the bomb squad, right? Even if they didn’t believe that someone else had forced the bomb on to him, or that the bomb was real, they would have called them as a precaution. Right??? ---
**Author:** ![Daoloth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/82dd89/32.png) [@Daoloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daoloth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/14 "2003-09-01T06:38:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by spooje \* > \*\*True. The stories are badly written. They make no mention of any effort by police to examine or remove the device, or that the bomb squad had even been called. > > I mean, they HAD to have called the bomb squad, right? Even if they didn’t believe that someone else had forced the bomb on to him, or that the bomb was real, they would have called them as a precaution. > > Right??? \*\* It’s late, and I’m therefore confused. So I’m not sure if you’re being sarcastic, or what. I’m basing what I heard off the news footage I viewed. They put the man out of the way of the scene and secured the area, along with calling in the bomb squad. The bomb detonated prior to their arrival, sadly. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/15 "2003-09-01T06:42:03Z")
From what I heard on CNN-HN, the bombsquad was only a few minutes away. **Stoid** , it’s not like John Q. Cop has any knowledge about disarming bombs. Non-bomb squad training for explosives consists of little more than ‘Get everyone away, and call the bomb squad’. ---
**Author:** ![Desmostylus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Desmostylus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desmostylus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/16 "2003-09-01T06:43:42Z")
> [@](#): > > Indeed, he was not. As the authorities waited for a bomb disposal team to arrive, the device strapped to Mr. Wells exploded and he was killed in the blast. He was the only casualty. > > Agent Rudge said that the state police had ordered Mr. Wells to sit on the pavement near a police car. He said they had cleared an area around him and called in the Erie police bomb squad, but that the bomb went off before they arrived. (From the NYT story above) ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/17 "2003-09-01T08:06:44Z")
It seems that I just don’t read that well… ---
**Author:** ![corndog\_man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@corndog\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corndog_man)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 10:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/18 "2003-09-01T10:28:33Z")
As mentioned in another post, in the old 1960s TV show Adam-12, there was a story about a madman that kidnapped people and strapped bombs on them, forcing them to rob banks. The actor who played the madman was the original bartender on “All in the Family”. ---
**Author:** ![Brutus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Brutus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brutus)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/19 "2003-09-01T12:11:33Z")
The movie ‘Speed’ had that scene were Hopper put a bomb on Bullock. No robbery involved, though. ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2003, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919/20 "2003-09-01T13:07:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tuckerfan \* > \*\*What movie is that from? I remember seeing it when I was a little kid, where they strapped a bomb to this guy’s chest and sent him into a bank. \*\* I don’t know, but if I had anything to do with it, my ass would be running for the hills, lest I get smitten by the litigious shotgun of doom. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-explodes-after-being-forced-to-rob-bank-murderer-sought/198919.md?page=2)