Death of Brian Wells
Brian Wells | |
---|---|
Collar bomb explosion | |
Nationality | American |
Occupation | Pizza delivery driver |
On August 28, 2003, pizza delivery man Brian Douglas Wells
In conjunction with the
Wells' involvement in the plot is a matter of controversy. Investigators concluded Wells was a willing participant in the robbery, but was told the bomb was fake. Wells' family said he was forced to rob the bank by the conspirators. Known as the collar bomb case or pizza bomber case, the incident gained extensive media coverage, including the 2018 Netflix series Evil Genius.
Biography
In 1973, when Wells was a 16-year-old sophomore, he dropped out of East High School in Erie, Pennsylvania and went to work as a mechanic.[2]
Conspirators
At Kenneth Barnes' home, he, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, and William Rothstein discussed ways they could make money. Diehl-Armstrong suggested Barnes kill her father, Harold Diehl, so she would receive an inheritance. Barnes told her he was willing to do this for US$250,000 (equivalent to $414,074 in 2023).[3] The collar bomb-bank robbery plot was hatched to obtain enough money to pay Barnes to kill Diehl-Armstrong's father.[a] In return for a reduced sentence, Barnes later told investigators that Diehl-Armstrong was the mastermind of the crime and that she wanted the money to pay Barnes to kill her father, whom she reportedly believed was squandering her inheritance.[5]
Diehl-Armstrong, Barnes, and Rothstein all seem to have suffered from
Marjorie Eleanor Diehl-Armstrong (February 26, 1949 – April 4, 2017) had a history of suffering from multiple
Kenneth Barnes (1954 – June 20, 2019) was a retired television repairman, crack dealer, and Diehl-Armstrong's "fishing buddy". He suffered from diabetes and died in prison on June 20, 2019, at the age of 64–65.[12]
William Ansel Rothstein (January 17, 1944 – July 30, 2004) dated Diehl-Armstrong in the late 1960s and early 1970s. He was implicated in a 1977 murder after he gave a handgun to a friend who used it to murder a romantic rival; he later attempted to destroy the weapon but was granted
Floyd Arthur "Jay" Stockton Jr. (1947 – August 10, 2022) was a convicted rapist of a disabled teenager.[16] Stockton lived as a fugitive at Rothstein's house. He was granted immunity for his testimony against Diehl-Armstrong, but was never called to testify in court due to illness.[1] Stockton died of acute respiratory failure in Bellingham, Washington at the age of 74–75. His death was ruled accidental.[17]
Conspirators' connection to Wells
Immediately after his death, investigators searched Wells' house and found a list of people he knew, including two prostitutes unknown to other members of his family. One of the prostitutes he frequented, Jessica Hoopsick, knew Kenneth Barnes, who dealt crack and whose house was used by prostitutes.[18][19]
Wells as conspirator
According to law enforcement reports, Wells participated in the planning of the bank robbery the day before and was aware of the complex plot; he believed the bomb would be fake but would serve as exculpatory evidence if he was caught.[20][21] According to an FBI affidavit, two witnesses confirmed that Wells talked about the robbery about a month before it occurred.[1] Wells was seen leaving Rothstein's house the day before the incident, and investigators believe he participated in a rehearsal. It was believed Wells was killed to reduce the number of witnesses.[19]
Wells' family and friends dispute his involvement in the bank robbery and his own death; according to them, Wells was accosted at gunpoint and forced to wear the bomb.[22]
Jessica Hoopsick, a woman who was Wells' friend and sex worker, confessed on the Netflix documentary Evil Genius that she set Wells up to participate in the crime by providing his name and delivery schedule to one of the conspirators in exchange for money and drugs.[2][23] She said he had no knowledge of the robbery.
The crime
Collar bomb
The bomb used in the killing consisted of a hinged collar that worked like a large
Pizza delivery
For 10 years Wells worked as a pizza delivery driver at the Mama Mia's Pizzeria in Erie until his death.[24][25] Just after 1:30 p.m. on August 28, 2003, the pizzeria received a call from a payphone at a nearby gas station. The owner could not understand the customer and passed the phone to Wells, who received a call to deliver two pizzas to 8631 Peach Street, an address a few miles from the pizzeria. The address was the location of the transmitting tower of WSEE-TV at the end of a dirt road.[26]
According to law enforcement, upon arriving at the television tower, Wells found the plot had changed and learned the bomb was real. Wells' family disputes this account of the events at the television tower; according to them, Wells was accosted at gunpoint by strangers and forced to participate.[22] The details of events at the tower that led to the bomb being attached to Wells' neck have never been firmly established, but evidence suggests there was a struggle and that Barnes, Diehl-Armstrong, Rothstein, and Stockton were all present at that time.[27]
In interviews by law enforcement, Stockton claimed to be the one to put the bomb around Wells' neck. When Wells discovered that the bomb was real, Barnes said a pistol was fired in order to force Wells' compliance, and witnesses confirmed hearing a gunshot.[28] After the bomb was applied, Wells was given a sophisticated home-made shotgun, which had the appearance of an unusually shaped cane.[29][30]
Wells was instructed to claim that three black men had forced the bomb on him and were holding him as a hostage.[31]
Scavenger hunt
Inside Wells' car police found nine pages of handwritten instructions addressed to "Bomb Hostage," directing him to rob the bank. The instructions also included a scavenger hunt, listing a series of strictly-timed tasks of collecting keys that would delay detonation and eventually defuse the bomb. The pages warned that Wells would be under constant surveillance and any attempts to contact authorities would result in the bomb's detonation. "ACT NOW, THINK LATER OR YOU WILL DIE!" was scrawled at the bottom of the instructions.[5]
Robbery
Wells was instructed to "quietly" enter the PNC Bank at Summit Towne Center on Peach Street and give the teller an affixed note demanding $250,000, and to use his shotgun to threaten anyone who did not cooperate or attempted to flee. Upon entering the bank around 2:30 p.m., Wells slid the note to a teller.[32] The note stated the bomb would explode in fifteen minutes and that the full amount must be handed over within that time. The teller was unable to access the vault that quickly and gave Wells a bag containing $8,702, with which he exited the bank.[32][33]
At 2:38, a witness called
Arrest and death
Around fifteen minutes after Wells left the bank, he had completed the first task of the scavenger hunt. He was proceeding with the second task when police saw him standing outside his automobile and promptly arrested him, handcuffed him and left him sitting on the ground in the parking lot. Wells said three unnamed black people had placed a bomb around his neck, provided him with the shotgun, and told him they would kill him unless he committed the robbery and completed several other tasks.[5]
The responding police officers did not attempt to disarm the device, instead focusing on clearing the immediate area of pedestrians and ensuring Wells could not detonate the device.
Aftermath
Though the note claimed Wells would gain extra time by each key found, police later traveled the note's route and could not complete it in the allotted time, implying Wells would not have had enough time to get the bomb defused.[19] The collar of the bomb was still intact so authorities were forced to sever Wells' head from his body so the bomb could be retained and investigated.[23]
Death of Robert Pinetti
The case also involved two further deaths linked to the conspirators. On August 31, 2003, Wells's coworker at the pizza store and its only other delivery driver, Robert Thomas Pinetti, was found dead in his home after suffering a drug overdose.[39]
Murder of James Roden
On September 20, 2003, Rothstein, who lived near the television tower, called police to inform them the body of a man, James Roden, was hidden in a freezer in a garage at his house. After he telephoned police, Rothstein wrote a suicide note indicating his planned death had nothing to do with Wells.[10] Investigators do not believe Rothstein ever attempted suicide.[40]
Roden had been living with Diehl-Armstrong for 10 years. In custody, Rothstein claimed Diehl-Armstrong had murdered her then-boyfriend Roden with a 12-gauge shotgun during a dispute over money. Rothstein said she subsequently paid him $2,000 to help hide the body and clean the crime scene at her house.[13]
In January 2005, Diehl-Armstrong pleaded guilty but mentally ill to third degree murder and abuse of a corpse for killing Roden and was sentenced to between seven and twenty years in prison. She is believed to have killed Roden to prevent him from informing authorities about the robbery plot.[41]
Diehl-Armstrong and Barnes charged
In April 2005, Diehl-Armstrong told a state trooper she had information about the Wells case and after meeting with FBI agents, said she would tell them everything she knew if she was transferred from the
In late 2005, Barnes, who was in jail on unrelated drug charges, was turned in by his brother-in-law after revealing details of the crime to him. On September 3, 2008, Barnes pleaded guilty to conspiring to rob a bank and to aiding and abetting.[28][43] On December 3 that year, he was sentenced to 45 years in prison by a federal judge in Erie for his role in the crime.[44] Barnes's sentence was later reduced to 22.5 years after he testified against Diehl-Armstrong.[45]
In July 2007, U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan announced Diehl-Armstrong and Barnes had been charged with the crime, with Diehl-Armstrong as the mastermind. The deceased Rothstein and Wells were named as un-indicted co-conspirators.[20] Buchanan stated Wells had been involved in the plot from the beginning but that his co-conspirators fitted him with a real bomb that would have exploded even if it were removed.[21][46]
Diehl-Armstrong trial
On July 29, 2008, U.S. District Court Judge Sean J. McLaughlin made an initial finding that Diehl-Armstrong was mentally incompetent to stand trial due to a number of mental disorders, indicating this ruling would be reviewed after she had received a period of treatment in a mental hospital.[47] Diehl-Armstrong was then transferred for treatment to a federal mental-health facility in Texas. On February 24, 2009, Judge McLaughlin scheduled a hearing for March 11, 2010, to determine whether Diehl-Armstrong was now competent to stand trial.[48] On September 9, the judge determined she was now competent. In October 2010, Diehl-Armstrong took the stand to testify on her own behalf as part of her defense.[49] She asked for a change of venue, arguing extensive media coverage of the case prevented her from receiving a fair trial in Erie. Judge McLaughlin denied this request, noting while the allegations were unusual, "the [news] coverage as a whole has been about as factual and objective as it could be under the circumstances".[50]
On November 1, 2010, Diehl-Armstrong was convicted of armed bank robbery, conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, and of using a destructive device in a crime.
Hoopsick confession
In 2018, Jessica Hoopsick admitted to her involvement in the plot. Melissa Chan of Time wrote; "Hoopsick says a conspirator approached her to find a 'gopher' who could be scared into robbing a bank".[56] In the 2018 documentary Evil Genius, Hoopsick identifies the conspirator as Barnes and alleges she recommended Wells, whom she described as "a pushover".[57]
Admitting to setting up Wells in exchange for money and drugs, Hoopsick expressed regret for her role and said Wells had no advance knowledge of the robbery.[56][58] ATF agent Jason Wick stated Hoopsick was uncooperative in 2003 and that authorities "always believed that [she] knew more" about the case; however, Wick also expressed concern Hoopsick might not be a credible witness.[56]
Media attention
As the case continued to develop, the investigation garnered national media coverage in America. Less than two years since the September 11 attacks, many at first believed the incident to be terrorism-related.[59] Fox's America's Most Wanted featured the story three times and publicized newly released evidence in hopes officials could obtain new clues in the case.[60]
Due to its novelty and complexity, the story retains a fascination for many people. The January 2011 issue of
A collection of news articles that reported developments in the Wells story was analyzed in a scientific study of information novelty.[63]
In fiction
The 2011 American comedy film 30 Minutes or Less depicts a pizza delivery man being forced to wear a bomb vest and rob a bank, with the mastermind seeking the money to hire a hitman to kill his father and receive his inheritance. The film's similarity to the Wells case was criticized by Wells' family, but Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group said the cast and crew were not aware of the Wells case and the screenwriters were "vaguely familiar" with it.[64]
See also
- List of unusual deaths
- 1973 Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce bank robbery, in which a bank robber was killed due to an explosive device
- Mosman bomb hoax, a 2011 extortion attempt using a fake collar bomb
Notes
- last will and testament left $2,000 to Diehl-Armstrong, but the estate's obligation to pay outstanding medical bills before inheritances meant she received nothing.[4]
References
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External links
- The 30 Strangest Deaths in History
- "More coverage: The Erie Bomber case". The Plain Dealer. July 11, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2007. (Newspaper articles, audio clips)
- Silver, Jonathan D. (August 25, 2005). "Killing of pizza deliveryman with necklace bomb still unsolved". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on June 22, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2007.
- "Brian Wells". Brianwells.net. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved December 18, 2018. Website created by Brian's brother; contains reproductions of the nine page letter, along with photos of the cane gun and collar bomb.
- "Brian Wells". Malefactor's Register. Archived from the original on March 9, 2007.
- Collarbomber FBI Profile August 27, 2004, press release from the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania FBI website.
- Brian Wells at Find a Grave