Collar Bombing Darwin Award

[jdub]

Remember that guy, allegedly a pizza guy taken hostage and forced to wear a collar bomb around his neck and rob a bank by some kidnappers? You remember. It ended badly for him. Anyway, it's now being reported that he was actually a co-conspirator. Shouldn't that make him a shoe-in for a Darwin Award, provided he was indeed a co-conspirator?

[pzarquon]

Well, he was a co-conspirator up to a point. The point being when, surprise, the "fake bomb" around his neck turned out to be a real one. Not the brightest bulb on the tree, no, but a sad, creepy double cross to be sure.

The whole story of the Erie plot is so fantastically weird (http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2007/07/a_follower_became_a_robber_and.html), it's gotta be a movie. No doubt one by the Coen Brothers, in true "Fargo" fashion.

[glossyp]

I'm not completely buying the story told by the government. If the device could be removed so easily, why did they decapitate him to remove it more than a day later? Maybe it was to study it as they claim, maybe not. Regardless, as PZ says, it is a "fantastically weird" story.

[shaveice]

i don't recall which program aired it but the brother of the guy who died made a reasonable statement: "where's the evidence (that his brother was part of the bank robbery)?

i don't know enuf about this whole affair (and i'm not going to spend any time trying to find out more) but i think the brother's right: if the gov says he was part of the whole show, why not provide the evidence to support that claim. apologies, of course, if the gov has laid out the evidence; i just haven't heard or seen anything that supports the claim.

in any case, a very sad story....

[jdub]

Well, he was a co-conspirator up to a point. The point being when, surprise, the "fake bomb" around his neck turned out to be a real one. Not the brightest bulb on the tree, no, but a sad, creepy double cross to be sure.

The whole story of the Erie plot is so fantastically weird (http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2007/07/a_follower_became_a_robber_and.html), it's gotta be a movie. No doubt one by the Coen Brothers, in true "Fargo" fashion.
Wow. You're dead on with the Coen Brothers suggestion, PZ. I can already see John Turturro as the poor dupe. They've probably already optioned it.

[cezanne]

Well, he was a co-conspirator up to a point. The point being when, surprise, the "fake bomb" around his neck turned out to be a real one. Not the brightest bulb on the tree, no, but a sad, creepy double cross to be sure.

The whole story of the Erie plot is so fantastically weird (http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2007/07/a_follower_became_a_robber_and.html), it's gotta be a movie. No doubt one by the Coen Brothers, in true "Fargo" fashion.

Very weird indeed. Sounds like a script from CSI or something.