The story feels almost too insane to be real if it were a fictional movie plot, you might think: "Eh, this feels like a bit of a stretch.". Diehl-Armstrong and Barnes were both eventually convicted of conspiracy and armed bank robbery charges. Somewhere along the planning phase, they deceived Wells that he would be wearing a fake bomb. 4. Wells, 46, was killed Thursday afternoon when a bomb attached to the collar exploded after a bank robbery. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Marjorie passed away at the age of 68 on April 4, 2017, from breast cancer while she was in jail. In 2007, Diehl-Armstrong and Barnes were indicted for their roles in the deadly bank robbery. Authorities said he was holding a loaded homemade shotgun that looked like a walking cane and wearing a T-shirt over an improvised explosive device, which he showed the teller, according to FBI records. Rothstein, meanwhile, was charged for his involvement with the crime, but never saw his day in court. State troopers found Wells inside a parked vehicle and handcuffed him. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! WebAt 2:28 pm on August 28, 2003, a middle-aged pizza deliveryman named Brian Wells walked into a PNC Bank in Erie, Pennsylvania. Bill Rothstein (pictured above) helped Marjorie hide the body in his freezer, but drew a line at chopping up the body to get rid of it, and wound up calling the police instead. 1513 N. Hill Field Road, Suite 01-080, Layton, UT 84041, 180 North University Avenue, Suite 270 - #9220, Provo, UT 84601. On August 28, Wells was forced to go to Erie's PNC Bank to carry out a heist. But in subsequent years, authorities uncovered an intricate criminal plot and concluded Wells was no pure victim. Horrifyingly, this last bit was captured on camera. The scavenger hunt was intended to sell the hostage story and throw the police off. The plotters had gotten away with it and Wells had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time when he got that pizza order. By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from POPSUGAR. At 3:18pm the bomb exploded. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. This is an FBI handout photo of the collar device used to secure a bomb to Brian Wells' neck. Namely, why Wells, a pizza guy with no criminal record, agreed to participate despite knowing that Diehl-Armstrong was dangerous. Brian had given the police little detail aside from his name and place of work, and the accusation that someone had set him up. On the stand, Marjorie gave a long and rambling testimony (possibly a symptom of bipolar). Afterward, police recovered several pages of handwritten instructions from Wells car. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. All right, well we've had those before, and many times you arrive on scene and they're hoax devices. In July 2007, four years after the robbery, federal prosecutors announced that Barnes and Diehl-Armstrong were believed to have been responsible, along with other conspirators including Wells, who was involved in a limited extent with the planing.. Please consult us at Robert J. DeBry & Associates for a professional, experienced lawyer. Barbara Schroeder, Evil Genius writer-director with co-director Trey Borzillieri, drew from years of work including countless interviews with Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, whom prosecutors have described as one of the pizza bombing plots masterminds. Meanwhile, here are some truly mind-blowing facts about the case to whet your whistle. She conspired to rob the bank to get money so that she could pay a man named Kenneth Barnes to take the life of her own father. The true crime documentary revisits this so-called diabolical plot, which resulted in the death of an on-duty pizza delivery driver, who robbed a PNC Bank in Erie, Pa. with a bomb clamped around his neck. Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play. Police arrested Diehl-Armstrong for the murder of James Roden, for which she was sentenced to 20 years in prison, according to All That's Interesting. Ken pled guilty to his role in the conspiracy and was sentenced to 45 years in prison, and on the stand, he testified against Marjorie.Ken also said that he and Marjorie had followed Brian to the bank, watching from a vehicle parked across the street. It beeped for about 10 seconds before it detonated, killing Wells and stunning an audience that had gathered to watch the bizarre situation unfold. At the time, police didn't make anything of it, but as they uncovered more clues in the case, they found this hoarding to be a recurring theme in their investigation. The sentence would begin as soon as she finished serving her time, or was paroled, for killing James Roden. The impact caused a contusion to his chest and stoppage of his heart. According to police, a month before the robbery Diehl-Armstrong had asked her friend Kenneth Barnes if he knew how to build a pipe bomb. Whoever put the bomb collar on Brian Wells never intended for him to live through the day. The pizza delivery man, who was reportedly a hostage in the deadly crime, left the PNC bank in a petrified state as if someone was controlling his every movement. Shortly after, authorities arrested Diehl-Armstrong, who later implicated herself and Rothstein in the collar bomb crime. Federal authorities have figured out how a pizza deliveryman wound up in the middle of a bizarre bank robbery scheme that ended with a bomb around his neck exploding, and the identities of the plotters, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc. When police arrived at Rothstein's residence, they found Rothstein himself, the dead man in the freezer, later identified as James Roden, and a suicide note from Rothstein (who had not even attempted suicide) that, peculiarly and completely unprompted, stated in its intro that the body in the freezer had nothing to do with Brian Wells' case, according to Wired. WebThe notes given to Wells. Brian Wells went from being a planner to being the only murder victim of a Bank Heist. 5. Link your TV provider to stream full episodes and live TV. According to Ken, Marjorie also killed James -- remember, he was her ex, who was found in Bills freezer -- because he threatened to tell police about her plot. You can find out everything about the weird, complex crime in Oxygens weekly. Wells' family said he With a walking-stick and a huge protrusion in the front of his shirt what bank customers thought was a neck injury apparatus, but Wells claimed was a bomb Buchanan did not immediately return calls for comment after the meeting, but earlier Friday said she called it because, "In more complicated cases, I like to meet personally with the law enforcement agencies to discuss the case and, in many cases, review the evidence myself.". But at a 2007 news conference that drew the ire of Wells family, prosecutors said he was not entirely innocent and had a limited role in planning the robbery. In her youth, she was very well-liked and considered to be highly intelligent. Is it a coincidence that Roden's body had been stored in Bill's freezer (pictured above)? The keyholes on the collar did nothing. Three minutes before the bomb squad arrived, the collar detonated, tearing a hole in Wells' chest and killing him within moments, according to All That's Interesting. After being convicted for the murder of James Roden, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong approached the authorities. 8. Her co-conspirators were her then-boyfriend James Roden, who she murdered in the course of the crime, her ex-fiance Bill Rothstein, and another friend, Ken Barnes. Until something clearly went wrong, that is. 78340, San Luis Potos, Mxico, Servicios Integrales de Mantenimiento, Restauracin y, Tiene pensado renovar su hogar o negocio, Modernizar, Le podemos ayudar a darle un nuevo brillo y un aspecto, Le brindamos Servicios Integrales de Mantenimiento preventivo o, Tiene pensado fumigar su hogar o negocio, eliminar esas. Another suspect, Kenneth Barnes a longtime friend of Diehl-Armstrongs told authorities that Diehl-Armstrong solicited him to kill Roden and also Diehl-Armstrongs father because he was giving away money she believed was her inheritance to charities and friends. By Subject- Art Theft - Civil Rights - Counterterrorism - Crimes Against Children - Criminal Justice Information Services - Cyber Crimes - Director/FBI Leadership - Field Cases - Foreign Counterintelligence - General - History - Intelligence - International - Lab/Operational Technology - Linguist/Translation Program - Major Thefts/Violent Crime - Organized Crime/Drugs - Partnerships - Public/Community Outreach - Public Corruption - Recruiting/Diversity - Responding to Your Concerns - Technology - Training - White-Collar Crime. According to an FBI affidavit, Rothstein said his former fiance, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, had murdered her own boyfriend, James Roden, and stuffed his body in the freezer. He is expected to be released in 2027, prison officials said. While waiting for the bomb squad to arrive, the collar bomb went off, and after a few struggling breaths, Wells died on the pavement he was seated on. Woman questionedAn attorney, Lawrence D'Ambrosio, has said the FBI has repeatedly interviewed his client about Wells' death. WebInvestigators concluded and a federal prosecutor's indictment alleged Wells was a knowing participant in the bank robbery but was told the bomb was fake and did not know his co-conspirators intended for him to die. On August 28, 2003 at about 1:30 p.m., the co-conspirators used a pay phone to order two pizzas for delivery to a remote TV tower site, which happened to be next door to one of the conspirators houses. For cases such as these Personal Injury lawyers are used to build cases and file for compensation. 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Rothstein was a compulsive hoarder, with trash and various knick-knacks piled high across his house. Netflix's four-part docuseries Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist opens with an intense episode focusing on the "pizza bomber" of Rothstein's house was near the TV tower. D'Ambrosio did not immediately return a message left at his office Friday. He had a bomb locked around his neck like a handcuff, resulting in a giant protrusion out the front of his t-shirt. Wells reportedly needed money for his own debts. Or Rob Thomas, for Matchbox 20 fans. The treasure hunt, as authorities later called it, involved Wells going to specific locations to find items and four special keys that the instructions said would unlock the collar around his neck. But the case has been solved and indictments are expected, likely by next month, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan was to make an official announcement at a Friday afternoon news conference. Heres what to know about the collar bomb case: On Aug. 28, 2003, Wells was working as a pizza deliveryman when he walked into a PNC Bank in Erie, Pa. at about 2:20 p.m. and handed the teller a note demanding $250,000. Mere minutes before the bomb squad could arrive. Her second husband died of a cerebral hemorrhage, but there was evidence that he actually had a head injury. All right, well we've had those before, and many times you arrive on scene and they're hoax devices. Diehl-Armstrong was the plot's mastermind, according to Barnes. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. Barnes was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison, and Diehl-Armstrong was sentenced to life in prison, where she died in 2017. Fisher's theory goes even further, though, claiming that Rothstein's crime wasn't about money but about making a puzzle that would confound authorities, according to Wired. At 1:30 PM, he was called to deliver two pizzas at an address at the end of a dirt road on Peach Street. It took eight police a whopping four days to get rid of the mess shed collected, and they filled up at least six dumpsters with trash. Im not lying. Wells was handcuffed and left on the pavement. Shortly after the heist, the metal collar device fastened to him exploded, killing him while he sat cross-legged and handcuffed on the ground. Hoax devices repeatedly interviewed his client about Wells ' neck pages of handwritten instructions from car., traffic source, etc in 2007, Diehl-Armstrong and Barnes were indicted their! Of the collar device used to build cases and file for compensation murder victim of a dirt road on Street! Go to Erie 's PNC bank to carry out a heist why Wells, 46, was charged his. 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