He is expected to be released in 2027, prison officials said. After an argument, she allegedly shot him twice with a 12-gauge shotgun. "The family will be satisfied when everybody is held to account for their actions that day," Wells said. One of the sellers confirmed selling a gun to Marjorie and Bill. You can find out everything about the weird, complex crime in Oxygens weekly. Be the first one to comment on this story. 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. PEOPLE has been given exclusive access to the detailed notes recovered by investigators who searched Wells car. According to Rothstein, he hadn't even spoken to Diehl-Armstrong for a long time before she called and asked if he would help her hide Roden's body. He knew this because he was going to be the one killing her dad--but for the fee of $250,000. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. Brian Wells didnt leave the bank without picking up a lollipop from the counter first. On August 28, 2003, pizza guy Brian Wells took one last delivery on his route in Erie, Pennsylvania, before finishing his shift. Barnes was sentenced to 45 years in federal prison, and Diehl-Armstrong was sentenced to life in prison, where she died in 2017. Hoopsick, who was never officially deemed a conspirator, could not be reached for comment by TIME. D'Ambrosio did not immediately return a message left at his office Friday. The story of Brian Wells is about a pizza delivery guy, a bomb collar, and a bank robbery. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Heres where it gets interesting: while recovering James body, investigators realized Bills house was less than five hundred yards from where Brian Wells made his last delivery, right under the transmission tower. It also threatened bank employees and customers, then contained detailed, step-by-step instructions for gathering the money and giving it to the so-called Bomb Hostage. Sanitiza tu hogar o negocio con los mejores resultados. Thats what led Marjorie to come up with the bank robbery plot. He was another genius who was in Mensa. The scavenger hunt was intended to sell the hostage story and throw the police off. Even if Wells could have somehow beat the timers and finished the treasure hunt, he would never have been able to remove the bomb on his own. 1155, Col. San Juan de Guadalupe C.P. About 12 minutes later, Wells left the bank with nearly $9,000 and headed to the McDonalds next door, where he retrieved another note from under a rock. Rothstein agreed to hide the body in his house and eventually dispose of it, but later changed his mind and called police. However, you may visit "Cookie Settings" to provide a controlled consent. He also helped Marjorie get rid of the gun, sawing it into pieces and melting it down with a torch. 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.". Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong died of breast cancer in 2017 while still in prison. They believe that he was an unfortunate hostage and merely forced to go along with the plot. It was merely two pipe bombs and kitchen timers, according to Wired. It all started with a phone call on September 20, 2003, less than a month after Wells' death. The jury reached a verdict on November 1st , 2010, finding Marjorie guilty. 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. In this photo released Sept. 17, 2005, by the FBI, Brian Wells, 46, of Erie, Pa., carries a plastic bag of cash after robbing the PNC Bank in Summit Towne Centre in Erie on Aug. 28, 2003. . Roden's killing led police to question Diehl-Armstrong in the Wells case because Roden's body was found in the freezer of a man named William Rothstein, who has since died. There are entire TV channels and streaming services dedicated to crime stories. Law enforcement knew that Diehl-Armstrong had a history of killing, while Rothstein did not. In interviews, Rothstein cooperated and told police that he didn't kill James Roden. Im watching the Evil Genius doc on Netflix. After Wells came out of the bank, a bank employee quickly called the police. MORE: 15 of the Most Fascinating True Crime Stories Ever Told. The riveting episode airs exclusively on the popular true crime network Oxygen on Wednesday, December 21, 2022, at 7 pm Eastern Time (ET). However, in one twist among many, it was not realistically possible for Wells to complete the instructions in enough time to save himself from the bomb. With a high IQ, she also excelled at college and got a Masters degree. Brian Douglas Wells was 46-years-old and wasn't a bank robber. Wells and his counterparts set a detailed plan in motion on August 28th, 2003. Not for himself, but a prostitute with whom he was in a relationship named Jessica Hoopsick. Later on, it was disclosed that a woman named Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong planned the entire crime. Why is no one coming to get this thing off of me? he asked authorities. 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. Suburb for 52 Years: U.S. Stunt Performer Ryan Dunn Dies From Car Accident, Attorney Marketing and Website by Fusion 360. Probably not.. The weirdest part was Marjories reason for wanting to rob the bank: Ken said Marjorie wanted to rob the bank in order to kill her father to get an inheritance. By bragging, Bill willingly admitted to police he fit the exact profile of their bomb maker they were looking for. Diehl-Armstrong and Barnes are currently serving unrelated sentences in prisonDiehl-Armstrong for killing her boyfriend in 2003 and Barnes for a drug-related offense. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". Minutes before a bomb squad arrived, the device Wells was wearing exploded his death captured by local news cameras. Brian Douglas Wells (November 15, 1956 August 28, 2003) was an American man who died after being forced to be involved in a complex plot involving a bank robbery, a scavenger hunt, and a homemade explosive device. Wells was killed when an explosive collar detonated while he was surrounded by police in his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. The prosecution sold Marjorie as the catalyst for the entire robbery/bombing, despite Bill building the bomb, and her clear mental instability. The police went straight to Bills house--and found Marjorie there, sitting in the bed. 'We know all the details'"The government knows what happened the day of the incident. They said he had, in fact, helped plot part of the same scheme that led to his death. A cane-shaped shotgun found in Brian Wells' car. Brian Douglas Wells died at 3:18 PM on August 28, 2003. Bank employees are trained to be aware of threats, to be on alert for anything that might be amiss. Brian Wells, 46, robbed a suburban Erie bank on Aug. 28, 2003, with the bomb attached to his neck and then was killed when it exploded as he sat handcuffed in a parking lot while police waited for a bomb squad. Rothstein would have a better chance with a personal injury lawyer for his case. 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.". At the time, Wells appeared to be a hostage of the same crime he had just committed. For better treatment in prison, Diehl-Armstrong would finally tell everything she knew about Brian Wells, the pizza bomber. Direccin: Calzada de Guadalupe No. Wells told police before he died that he had been accosted by gunmen who locked the bomb on his neck and forced him to rob the bank when he went to deliver a pizza to a TV tower on a dead-end road. Like Diehl-Armstrong, Rothstein was highly intelligent and had a history of metalwork and machining, making it likely that he created the bomb collar itself. This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Shortly after, authorities arrested Diehl-Armstrong, who later implicated herself and Rothstein in the collar bomb crime. 5. Before his death, Wells was a pizza delivery man who, shortly before his death, made a delivery stop outside of Erie. Bill said that six weeks earlier, Marjorie had called him in a panic, saying shed shot and killed her boyfriend, James Roden. The three-count indictment, returned on July 9, contains charges of conspiracy to commit bank robbery, armed bank robbery, and using and carrying a destructive device in a crime of violence. A new Black Mirror episode called Shut Up And Dance also eerily dramatises a similar crime. As soon as he was gone customers in the bank began dialling 911, and he only made it a few hundred yards in his car before a State Trooper pulled him over. If not for losing his life, he could have gotten a personal injury lawyer and built a case against them. The infamous pizza bomber narrative isas explosive as it sounds--although filled with more twists and turns than actual pizza. Unfortunately, there was no DNA or fingerprint evidence on the bomb that could link it to its maker. She is in an all-female prison near Fort Worth, Texas. On August 28, Wells was forced to go to Erie's PNC Bank to carry out a heist. In January, Hoopsick was sentenced over a drug charge but paid a $100 fine and did not have to serve time, according to Michael Dejohn, her public defender at the time. Police also took Wells' instructions and put together a route to follow. 4) William Ansel "Bill" Rothstein and Kenneth Barnes were also involved in the crime. The entire plan was executed under her supervision. WebBrian Douglas Wells (November 15, 1956 August 28, 2003) was an American man who died after a homemade neck- bomb exploded while being involved in a plot involving a bank robbery in Erie, Pennsylvania. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Indeed, Marjorie would only leave the house one night per week--on garbage pickup night, shed scour the neighborhood looking for things on the side of the road to add to her collection of hoarded ephemera. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other. Wells then followed the next set steps of his instructions, which directed him to a McDonald's near the bank, where he'd find a note with more instructions under a stone in the parking lot. The bomb collar was nothing at all like it was described in the instructions. Wells family was present for this announcement and vocally protested the allegation. It just got weirder and weirder as the years went on, and there are still some unanswered questions, too. Now in a state mental hospital, Marjories testimony against Bill would be useless. The walking stick Brian Wells was carrying was actually a homemade gu. Marshals, 'Happy-Go-Lucky' Girl, 13, Allegedly Killed by Man Who's Accused of Sexually Assaulting 2 Women, 'Victims Are Getting Lost in All This':Mallory Beach Family Attorney on Murdaugh Murder Mysteries, Alex Murdaugh's Lawyer Admits Botched Suicide Plot, Says Client Was Depressed After Murders of Wife, Son, 2nd Former Iowa Schools Employee Found Dead Amid Allegations of Sexual Misconduct with Students, Woman Accused of Killing Her Friend, Then Framing Victim's Husband, Who Spent Years in Prison. The police went straight to Mama Mias Pizzeria, where Brian worked, and his co-workers expressed sincere doubt that Brian would have been able to make a bomb himself. Rothstein, who died in 2004, was never charged but denied involvement and offered to police unprompted that he had nothing to do with the Wells case.. The last-minute call came from an address with an obscure address: a transmission tower site, down a dirt road, on the outskirts of town.Wells, 46, never returned to the pizza shop. At 3:18pm the bomb exploded. 1. Truth is stranger than fiction in the case ofMarjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Brian Wells. There are plenty of amateur sleuths who suspect that Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong was telling the truth and she wasn't the mastermind. 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. Chris Harris has been a senior true crime reporter for PEOPLE since late 2015. Mom Allegedly Planned Killings of Sons a Week in Advance, Gave Instructions About Disposing Ashes, Revisiting PEOPLE's 2017 Story on the 'Fitbit Murder': Web of Lies a Wife Killed, a Husband Accused, Cigarette Butt from Site of Wash. Woman's 1995 Murder Helps Police Identify Suspect Decades Later, 'Black Panther' Director Ryan Coogler Speaks Out After Being Mistaken for Bank Robber in Atlanta, Pennsylvania Trio Sentenced for Murdering Domino's Delivery Person They Set Up for Robbery, 19-Year-Old Idaho Man Claimed He Watched His Roommate Commit Suicide Now He's Charged with Murder, Houston Police Officers Hit and Kill Pedestrian During High-Speed Chase, Man Wanted for One of Cleveland's Biggest Heists Lived in Mass. 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. He, too, died in prison in 2019. She was convicted with conspiracy to commit bank robbery with the utilization of a destructive device, and she was sentenced to life in prison on February 28th 2011. When authorities arrived, Brian was found standing in a parking lot outside his car. A man named Bill Rothstein contacted police and told them, quite plainly, that there was a dead man in his freezer, according to All That's Interesting. FBI analysis found that the bomb was not amateur work--it was very well designed. Bill said he went to Marjories, wrapped the body in tarps, and dragged it to his van, before taking it home and putting it in the freezer. Roden had been Marjorie's then-current boyfriend, and she had killed him in an argument about money, according to Wired. 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. She earned another 30 years for using a bomb in the crime. Bank employees phoned police. Hoopsick introduced the two, and later felt regret for the decision, saying that Wells was innocent. "I'm not lying. Compatriots of the plotters were watching him every step of the way and could remotely detonate the bomb if he didn't follow instructions. 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