But then in August of 2003, the peace would be disturbed when Marjories neighbor heard gunshots coming from the house.. (She mistakenly believed he was wealthy.). It all started with a phone call on September 20, 2003, less than a month after Wells' death. The walking stick Brian Wells was carrying was actually a homemade gu. Roden had been Marjorie's then-current boyfriend, and she had killed him in an argument about money, according to Wired. 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. 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 Because Wells owed Barnes and his friends so much money, he had no choice but to participate, according to Wired. Stunt Performer Ryan Dunn Dies From Car Accident, Attorney Marketing and Website by Fusion 360. Sign up forOxygen Insiderfor all the best true crime content. Brian Wells, a pizza delivery man, robbed a PNC Bank in Pennsylvania on August 28, 2003. 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. When the investigators told her who they were, she went berserk according to State Police Supervisor Lamont King, screaming at them to get out of the house. In 1990, she married her next serious boyfriend, Richard Armstrong, who she called her one true love. Wells made off with $9,000, the most the teller could give him. 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 On top of her sentence for killing her boyfriend, Diehl-Armstrong, 68, was serving a life sentence after being convicted for her role in the robbery. Buchanan said Wells played a limited role in the planning phase of bank robbery. This was because of a technical issue, not a moral one, but the news station held the footage back and later turned it over to authorities. 9 hours ago, by Njera Perkins Probably not.. Nothing more complicated than that. The movie 30 Minutes Or Less basically has the same plot as this crime. Prosecutors believe the 2003 murder of her boyfriend was intended to keep him from disclosing the emerging bank robbery plot. You'll find yourself captivated by the four-part show, which dives deep into the investigation surrounding the murder of Brian Wells (also known as "the Pizza Bomber") and attempts to find links between other mysterious deaths in the town. Behind the murder was a woman named Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong who suffered from multiple mental illnesses and personality disorders. 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. . Barnes has said much the same. Rothstein's letter had been incorrect James Roden's death was directly connected to the case. However, that day, he discovered it was accurate when it was too late. Born in 1949, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong had lived in Erie, Pennsylvania all her life. When questioned, Marjorie tried to pin Rothstein as the mastermind since he had already died. The collar and box were a bomb, and they'd go off in 15 minutes if he didn't get the money, according to All That's Interesting. Thats what led Marjorie to come up with the bank robbery plot. Suburb for 52 Years: U.S. Bill went to the police station for questioning, and explained how he and Marjorie had been friends for years, and that she would often call on him for help, which is how he ended up with a dead dude in his freezer. It was a bank robbery? 1. After Rodens murder, police cleared out Marjories house (pictured above), looking for clues. 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. But don't press "play" unprepared or you could find yourself unwittingly witnessing some seriously gruesome stuff. 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.". Diehl-Armstrong died of natural causes at a Texas prison on April 4, 2017, the Federal Bureau of Prisons said. 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. 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. The impact caused a contusion to his chest and stoppage of his heart. The prosecution sold Marjorie as the catalyst for the entire robbery/bombing, despite Bill building the bomb, and her clear mental instability. 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 inmate also said Diehl-Armstrong told her that Rothstein helped build the bomb and the motive was financial, according to the FBI affidavit. Diehl-Armstrong also said she wasnt responsible. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. As was later proved in court, Diehl-Armstrong hatched the robbery scheme to force Wells into the PNC Bank in Erie with a ticking bomb around his neck because she apparently needed money so she that could have her father killed. 4) William Ansel "Bill" Rothstein and Kenneth Barnes were also involved in the crime. Whatever story youre conjuring up in your mind to go with pizza bomber," the reality is likely crazier. 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. As it so happened, Rothstein also lived in the house right next to the broadcast tower where Wells claimed to be fitted with the bomb collar. Around the 10-minute mark of the first episode, viewers are greeted by the actual video footage of the bomb which is locked around Brian Wells's neck like a But in subsequent years, authorities uncovered an intricate criminal plot and concluded Wells was no pure victim. Those armchair detectives aren't alone, either. In her youth, she was very well-liked and considered to be highly intelligent. At the time, Wells appeared to be a hostage of the same crime he had just committed. The Price of Duty 102: Face to Face with the Pizza Bomber. With cameras pointed at handcuffed Brian Douglas Wells as he was sitting on the road surrounded by the police cars, 15 minutes before the bomb squad arrived, the But before he could make it back to the puppet master, he was apprehended by police, and died when the bomb exploded. Long Waits, Short Appointments, Huge Bills. He was instructed to get $250,000 within 15 minutes. The defense noted that Wells only took $8,701 from the bank. Chris Harris has been a senior true crime reporter for PEOPLE since late 2015. She earned another 30 years for using a bomb in the crime. The crime went down in 2003, when a pizza delivery man was jumped, fitted with a collar that he was told was a bomb, and sent on a bizarre scavenger hunt that involved robbing a bank. It meant that anything she said might not be able to be used in court. The device was attached to his neck like a large handcuff, and was beeping. The hair-raising case also involved two other individuals named William Ansel "Bill" Rothstein and Kenneth Barnes. MORE: 15 of the Most Fascinating True Crime Stories Ever Told. The footage is shown or implied again several times in the docuseries, but the aforementioned instance in the premiere episode is the only one where the footage is unblurred. The scavenger hunt was intended to sell the hostage story and throw the police off. The men jumped him, forced the bomb collar on him, and gave him several pages of instructions and the shotgun-cane. Marjorie was later convicted for her monstrous crimes, which included armed bank robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, and the use of a deadly device. The FBI thought one possible scenario was that the maker was a shop teacher with a background in electronics, and had a workshop at their house. 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. After Marjorie broke off the engagement, she really began struggling with her mental disorders, including bipolar and depression. Or, at least, that was the story, but in an interview for Netflix's 2018 mini-series about the case, Evil Genius, Hoopsick claimed that this wasn't actually true. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. Many leads for potential suspects turned up empty until a local man named William Rothstein tipped off state police to a frozen body in his garage. 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 It also describes violent content that some audiences may find disturbing. 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. The next time he was seen was later that same afternoon, when he walked into Eries PNC Bank and passed the teller a note demanding $250,000. Wells had told police he had been forced to rob the bank. 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. 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. PEOPLE has been given exclusive access to the detailed notes recovered by investigators who searched Wells car. Brian Wells is the pizza man who walked into a PNC bank in Erie, Pennsylvania, and handed the teller a note demanding $250,000 (pictured above). 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. State troopers found Wells inside a parked vehicle and handcuffed him. The police arrested Marjorie for the shooting. If not for losing his life, he could have gotten a personal injury lawyer and built a case Rothstein was trying to control the narrative and slowly reveal his plot. Its a weird line to draw when youre already ass-deep in a murder, and one that would ultimately put Marjorie in prison. An award-winning journalist who has worked forRolling Stone and MTV News, Chris enjoys prog rock, cycling, Marvel movies, IPAs, and roller coasters. They said that if he followed the instructions on the paper, he would be able to disarm the bomb and would be unhurt, but he had a time limit he had to follow. The entire thing was caught on local news cameras, but contrary to popular belief, Wells' death was not broadcast live. In 2008, Barnes was sentenced to 270 months for conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, using and carrying a firearm during a crime of violence, according to FCI Coleman Low, the federal correctional facility where hes currently incarcerated in Florida. Marjorie was apparently devastated by the death, and despite settling for $250,000 with the hospital in a medical malpractice case, Marjorie began to struggle even more with her mental illnesses. They were for shotguns. Mere seconds later, it exploded, leaving a 5-inch gash in Wells chest. She was an only child to two parents who ran a successful awning business. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Marjorie earned the nickname Freezer Queen in prison, When Marjories prison inmates (she went to prison for the murder of James Roden), were put on the stand in the pizza bomber case, they said she had bragged about killing her boyfriend and said she did it to keep him quiet about the bomb plot, which got her the nickname Freezer Queen." You can find out everything about the weird, complex crime in Oxygens weekly. 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. Her next boyfriend was James Roden, an unemployed alcoholic. Can A Car Accident Lawyer Help Me Maximize Compensation? A still showing Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong from "Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist" on Netflix. WebMarjorie Diehl-Armstrong, the Pizza Bombers mastermind, has been identified. According to the indictment, Diehl-Armstrong and Barnes contrived a plan to make it look as though Wells was merely a hostage, which would give Wells an alibi should he be captured. Either way, Barnes said that Wells and Roden knew the full details of the plot and had been killed to ensure their silence. Marjorie was considered a child prodigy, was good at music and graduated at the top of her class. Police believed her, but not in the way she expected. 25 minutes later, the collar bomb began to beep, a sound that escalated until the moment it exploded, killing Wells. After leaving the bank, Wells was cornered by police in a parking lot. Hoopsick, who was never officially deemed a conspirator, could not be reached for comment by TIME. Diehl-Armstrong told her that Rothstein helped build the bomb collar on him, forced bomb... When youre already ass-deep in a parking lot the plot and had been Marjorie 's then-current boyfriend Richard... 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