An apparent collar bomb was placed around the neck of 18-year-old student Madeleine Pulver[1] by a balaclava-clad home intruder.
[2] A note attached to the device stated that any attempt to alert law enforcement would "trigger an immediate BRIAN DOUGLAS WELLS event".
[5][6] Paul Douglas Peters, a man with no direct links to the victim or her family, was arrested in Kentucky, United States, after leaving Australia a few days after the incident.
[7] On 8 March 2012 he pleaded guilty in Sydney's Central Local Court to aggravated break and enter and detaining for advantage.
In sentencing the judge said although Peters had marital and mental health issues, he engaged in a "deliberate act of extortion" and was not in a psychotic state at the time of the offence.