RedHanded - Killers, Cults and Queens - A Sneak Peek!

Episode Date: September 9, 2022

SURPRISE!!! We've got an exclusive sneak peek of a brand new show called Killers, Cults and Queens! From Audioboom Studios, Cheryl Hole and Nikki Druce are on a whistle stop tour of the weirdest corners of the universe. They’ll be stopping to learn about the craziest true crime cases in history, spooky paranormal activities, truly bonkers internet mythology, very convincing cults and much much more. So buckle in… it’s going to be a wild ride! Subscribe to Killers, Cults and Queens wherever you listen to podcasts!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to Red Handed early and ad-free. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. They say Hollywood is where dreams are made. A seductive city where many flock to get rich, be adored, and capture America's heart. But when the spotlight turns off, fame, fortune, and lives can disappear in an instant. Follow Hollywood and Crime, The Cotton Club Murder on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Sarah and I have always said the only way anyone could top Red Handed

is if they watched RuPaul's Drag Show and somehow mixed up true crime and drag. But unfortunately for us, but luckily for you, somebody somewhere has. Starting today is a brand new podcast from Audioboom Studios called Killers, Cults and Queens. It's part true crime and part truly fabulous. RuPaul's Drag Race UK star Cheryl Hull

is being given a whistle-stop tour of true crime by spooky expert Nikki Druce. Together they're going to be travelling to the weirdest corners of the world and discussing everything from killer cults to paranormal ponderings. Killers, Cults and Queens is out now with brand new episodes every Thursday. So search Killers, Cults and Queens wherever you're listening to this and click follow so you never miss an episode. And luckily for you, you don't even need to leave our feed to listen to our exclusive first look at their first ever episode on the iconic pizza bomber. So stick around and make sure you have a listen.

You okay, hon? Love you, Cheryl. It's a warm early afternoon in August 2003 in the sleepy city of Erie, Pennsylvania. During the lunchtime rush at around 1.30, the phone rings at Mamma Mia's Pizza on Peach Street. Tony Ditmo, the owner of the restaurant, takes an order for two large sausage and pepperoni pizzas, but he can't quite make out the address that the customer is giving for delivery. So he hands the phone over to his colleague, Brian Wells.

Even though it's the end of his shift, 46-year-old Brian notes down the delivery address, grabs the pizzas, and heads out. Just two hours later, a sinister scavenger hunt has resulted in Brian finding himself sitting in the middle of the street, surrounded by police, after just robbing a bank with a bomb cuffed around his neck, begging them to help him. The clock is ticking for him, but how did he get here? And was he an innocent man held captive? Or was he hiding a secret? Let's find out. Wow. 30 seconds in and oh my Christ.

So he went from a simple sausage pizza to blowing up a bank. Well, him not blowing up a bank, but robbing a bank. And he now has a bomb secured around his neck, sitting outside the bank. I really don't have any words already because I'm just so confused. Do you know what? Right, shall we do this? I'm going to make an executive guess. I think he was behind it all along. And then when we get to the end of the podcast, we'll see if I'm going to make an executive guess. I think he was behind it all along.

And then when we get to the end of the podcast, we'll see if I'm correct. Oh, Detective Cheryl is on the case. Look, I've got my binoculars out. I'm looking from a safe distance because I don't want to get involved. I don't want to get my hands dirty. But I think my executive decision from the jump

is that good old Bri is a naughty boy. Might have possibly had something to do with this. Okay, right. Pizza, sausage pizza, bank, bomb. Let's go. Let's dive in. Brian Wells was born on November the 15th, 1956 in Warren, Pennsylvania. He was raised in the Erie area of the state along with his six

siblings. He didn't really get into much trouble as a kid but academics were not really his strong suit and he showed up for just 39 days of high school before dropping out at just 16 to become a mechanic. But his career plans didn't last long and he ended up working full-time at Mamma Mia's Pizza in the city of Erie as a pizza delivery guy where he would work for decades. Brian was said to have been a shy and unassuming guy. He lived in a fairly normal apartment complex with his three cats. He lived frugally and didn't have a lavish lifestyle, choosing to sleep on a mattress on the floor and was seemingly happy with his lot, according to his friends. His landlady and

neighbour, Linda Payne, said that Brian was a kind but shy guy, and he apparently even took wheel trims off his car because they were too shiny. He's basically the complete antithesis of you and me. Nothing shiny, whereas we're all about the shiny. Look, if you could see me right now, I'm sitting recording this podcast in full drag. So I'm here in a head to toe rhinestone cat suit. Yeah, exactly. Look, I'm never going to like, if you want the simple life in the words of Paris and Nicole, you do you, boo. But I would like a bed frame.

Yeah, me too. There's just little things in life that I don't think are too shiny like having a bed frame yeah yeah it's fine you could get a wooden one from ikea babe yeah exactly billy bookcase exactly yeah it'd be fine okay so he's a shy retiring mechanic who went to school for 37 days 39 days oh given those those two extras okay yeah but gave up and went went to work at a pizza place mama mia's pizza does sound like a seven days. 39 days. Oh. Given those two extras. Okay, yeah. But gave up and went to work at a pizza place. Mamma Mia's Pizza does sound like a lovely establishment. And I can just envision, like,

pictures of, like, Mario and Luigi on the wall because you just hear, like, Mamma Mia! Yeah, exactly. Princess Peach serving you pepperoni. On Sundays, he would invite his widowed mum over for dinner and a movie. But other than that, he was happy to be alone, telling his landlady that he would rather go homeless

than move back in with his mum after he got into a car accident, which wrecked his vehicle, and he had nothing to deliver pizzas in anymore. Brian was so unassuming and trustworthy, in fact, that his landlady, Linda, actually helped him buy a used car to get him back on his feet so he could start delivering pizzas again.

And he eventually paid it back in full. He also only ever called in to work late because one of his beloved cats had died. Oh, don't. I know. Oh, my heart is melting already. But basically, he was generally a model employee. The only thing maybe a little bit out of the ordinary about Brian

was that he was fond of hiring sex workers. He kept an address book with the names and numbers of the local sex workers in the area, and it was clear who his favourite was, a woman by the name of Jessica Hoopsick, which is a very unfortunate name. Oh, God bless her. I hope she's got a good doctor. Yeah, I'm going to need it. Oh, no. Look, Nikki, I love you with all my heart and soul, but when you tease me like this, it's like you're twisting my knickers. I can't take it. Brian's last day alive started like any other. He went to buy breakfast at McDonald's and then picked up the daily newspaper before heading home and essentially passing the time until work began.

And it's then things take a turn. Remember that delivery he made at the end of his shift? Well, the address didn't turn out to be somebody's house. It was an old disused TV transmission tower at the bottom of a dirt track. I know. When Brian arrived at the address, he claimed he was jumped by two men who forced something around his neck, fixing it like a giant handcuff. Once it had clicked into place, it seemed to set off a ticking timer, and it was then he realised it was a bomb. What in the saw is going on? Brian was then given instructions for a scavenger hunt by the men, and a list of four things to do. If he was successful in completing his tasks, he would

find a code which would disarm the bomb, allowing him to unlock it. As part of his scavenger hunt, Brian is provided with a walking stick that is secretly a shotgun. And to be honest, it's very obvious that it's a shotgun. It really does look like one. Yeah, Nikki, I'm not going to lie to you. I don't think there's any disguising of a shotgun. No, even as a walking stick because how are you gonna hide that handle oh yeah let me let me just hide the bullets let

me just hide the trigger okay it's just a piece of wood yeah it's just a piece of wood it's not a problem he was also given a t-shirt to wear that had the word guess in capital letters scrawled across the front in what looked like marker pen and i gotta be honest since i learned about this case every time i see someone wearing a guest jeans t-shirt now i think of this and you will too yeah no no i'm never going to be able to look at guests ever again so the scavenger hunt police found eight handwritten pages of instructions and information but let's first look at the rules. You must follow a course of instructions to find keys and combination codes to disarm the bomb.

Do not insert keys into keyholes until instructed. Some keyholes are booby-trapped to prevent tampering. Drive 60 miles an hour throughout the course. Use only two or three minutes at each stop. A sentry will be watching at each stop to ensure you are not being followed. Bomb has tripwires. Forcing or tampering will detonate. All weapons, papers, containers, tapes, etc. must be returned to us.

Each item you find after dropping money has a key and or combination word. You will need to decipher the combination. This will disarm some tripwires before you unlock. This procedure is to make sure you leave no materials behind. Do you know what I've just thought about? What? What happened to the two sausage pizzas? I'm not sure if it's because I'm hungry

or I'm too traumatised by the intensive rules, but the two pizzas just left at the tower. So if this was you, you'd be like, alright, but first I'm having a slice of that. Look, I've got to have my fuel. I've got to have my energy

to go 60 miles an hour with my shotgun walking stick. Or else this scavenger hunt has come into an abrupt end because I'm hangry. Look, I am a very hangry person. If I don't get some foodie woody in my system, it's game over. But oh my God, these rules are insane. I know. Eight pages of them. That's a lot to take on before going and risking your life. Well, and think somebody's just clamped a bomb around your neck

and then they hand you eight pages of instructions. I would not be reading that. No. I'd be going, I'd be on the tube trying to read like a map, for example. I would not cope. I'd be like Gemma Collins. I'm claustrophobic

but yeah it's i'm sick of playing games i'm literally gamed out from this scavenger hunt already search for killers cults and queens on your favorite podcast app and make sure you follow so you never miss an episode i'm jake warren and in our first season of finding i set out on a very personal quest to find the woman who saved my mum's life. You can listen to Finding Natasha right now exclusively on Wondery+. In season two, I found myself caught up in a new journey to help someone I've never even met. But a couple of years ago, I came across a social media post

by a person named Loti. It read in part, Three years ago today that I attempted to jump off this bridge, but this wasn't my time to go. A gentleman named Andy saved my life. I still haven't found him. This is a story that I came across purely by chance, but it instantly moved me and it's taken me to a place

where I've had to consider some deeper issues around mental health. This is season two of Finding, and this time, if all goes to plan, we'll be finding Andy. You can listen to Finding Andy and Finding Natasha exclusively and ad-free on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery Show American Scandal. We bring to life some of the biggest controversies in U.S. history. Presidential lies, environmental disasters, corporate fraud. In our latest series, NASA embarks on an ambitious program to reinvent space exploration with the launch of its first reusable vehicle, the Space Shuttle. And in 1985,

they announced they're sending teacher Krista McAuliffe into space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger, along with six other astronauts. But less than two minutes after liftoff, the Challenger explodes. And in the tragedy's aftermath, investigators uncover a series of preventable failures by NASA and its contractors that led to the disaster. Follow American Scandal on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. Experience all episodes ad-free and be the first to binge the newest season only on Wondery Plus. You can join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Start your free trial today.