The law enforcement official told the AP that Buchanan would not disclose what the investigators concluded, but would say that the government is confident they know how and why Wells died. Wells' brother, John Wells, 44, of Phoenix, said the family won't be happy until justice is meted out. 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. They believe that he was an unfortunate hostage and merely forced to go along with the plot. She has said she believed Wells was involved in the heist and that Rothstein was the brains behind the entire plot, not her. She would not say if Rothstein, who died of cancer in July 2004, was one of those witnesses. I dont have a lot of time, he said, according to a video By signing up, I agree to the Terms and Privacy Policy and to receive emails from POPSUGAR. The world was stunned when Brian Wells strode into a bank armed with a shotgun cane and with a bomb strapped around his neck Credit: SUN. But before he could make it back to the puppet master, he was apprehended by police, and died when the bomb exploded. WebThe story of Brian Wells is about a pizza delivery guy, a bomb collar, and a bank robbery. WebBrian Douglas Wells Collar Bomb Video. . To be fair, it's not a terrible plan, and it seems at first, Wells was only meant to wear a fake bomb. He, too, died in prison in 2019. Get an all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance". He was also walking with a cane, which police later found out was an expertly crafted, hand-made handgun. Police found two notes from Brians car explaining how to remove the bomb along with the phrase, 'act Diehl-Armstrong had a history with police, as mentioned earlier. This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. Check out never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more! This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. 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. The police called in the bomb squad. She was also not unknown to Erie, PA law enforcement. The robbery was merely a setup for her to acquire $250,000 to pay a hitman Barnes himself. They turned their attention to the bomb instead. Viewers of Dateline: Secrets Uncovered have been buzzing with curiosity to learn all about the strange 2003. But perhaps one of the strangest and most unique crimes in history was none of these things. 5. According to testimony given during the trial, Wells was deeply in debt to Barnes for crack. Im watching the Evil Genius doc on Netflix. 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. While searching Marjories house, police managed to find two ads in the paper circled by Marjorie a few days before James murder. Shortly after, Bill was diagnosed with terminal cancer. In 2007, Diehl-Armstrong and Barnes were indicted for their roles in the deadly bank robbery. Near the end of 2005, police received the final clue that led them to conclude that Brian Wells participated in the robbery. The papers were addressed to the Bomb Hostage and contained directions first to rob the bank and then to proceed on an elaborate scavenger hunt for keys and codes to disable the explosive Wells wore. Fisher says this is why Rothstein alerted police to the body in his freezer and why his "suicide" note very explicitly mentioned Brian Wells. Para nosotros usted es lo ms importante, le ofrecemosservicios rpidos y de calidad. An odd but smart guy, and a retired television repairman. A balding man with thick glasses, the only thing that made him stand out was his strange choice in attire. Rothstein was trying to control the narrative and slowly reveal his plot. Barnes has said much the same. It just got weirder and weirder as the years went on, and there are still some unanswered questions, too. According to the indictment, heres how it happened: Ray Morrow, special agent in charge of the FBIs Pittsburgh office, called the three-year, 10-month case an outstanding, old-fashioned investigation and lauded the joint efforts of the Pennsylvania State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The Pennsylvania Department of Corrections said Hoopsick had been in the state prison system for theft between May 2012 and July 2014, when she was paroled. 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. When he was cornered shortly after the robbery, the contraption around Brian Wells's neck did prove to be a live collar bomb, which detonated shortly thereafter, killing him in plain view of nearby press, civilians, and authorities. He seemed like any other ordinary customer who might have come in that day except for one very odd thing he had a large, metal collar around his neck. Everyone can be their own personal Sherlock Holmes, and you don't even have to go outside. After Brian Wells was dead, police picked up two key pieces of evidence: The instructions provided by his attackers and the remnants of the bomb itself. The collar was still attached around Wells' neck, and initial investigations revealed something stunning. The bomb collar was nothing at all like it was described in the instructions. The story of Brian Wells is about a pizza delivery guy, a bomb collar, and a bank robbery. 12 hours ago, by Alexis Jones She was deemed disabled due to her psychological condition, and got disability payments from Social Security, on top of the hospital pay out and help from her father, who bought her a house. As she got older, though, her mental condition began to worsen. 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. From the 1960s to the early 1970s, Rothstein was in a romantic relationship with Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong. Bill said that six weeks earlier, Marjorie had called him in a panic, saying shed shot and killed her boyfriend, James Roden. On August 28, 2003, a man wearing a white Guess brand t-shirt and carrying a cane (later proven to be a homemade shotgun shaped like a cane) walked into a PNC bank in Erie, Pennsylvania, according to Wired. Wells would be the delivery driver. She said the investigators set her up and the government framed her, and that Bill was the true mastermind.. Brian Wells didnt leave the bank without picking up a lollipop from the counter first. "I get a call, 'Hey we got a new bank robbery at 7200 Peach Street, [and there is] a potential bomb utilized during the robbery.' Not for himself, but a prostitute with whom he was in a relationship named Jessica Hoopsick. In 1990, she married her next serious boyfriend, Richard Armstrong, who she called her one true love. Never have the public at large had so many options when it comes to learning about people committing terrible acts. The astounding true story is chronicled in episode 23 of the series' season 8. There are plenty of amateur sleuths who suspect that Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong was telling the truth and she wasn't the mastermind. At about 2:20 p.m., Wells entered a bank and presented the teller a demand note. Create your free profile and get access to exclusive content. But things took yet another turn when Marjorie was found mentally incompetent to stand trial by the court in 2004. So it seemed like Brian had really been jumped, but the police obviously had to get to the bottom of it. WebWells warned police that he was wearing a bomb and running out of time, but as bomb technicians were summoned the device exploded, killing Wells and leaving behind an Diehl-Armstrong was the plot's mastermind, according to Barnes. Rothstein would have a better chance with a personal injury lawyer for his case. Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. A still showing Brian Wells from Netflix's "Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist". After being convicted for the murder of James Roden, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong approached the authorities. 9 hours ago, by Njera Perkins They detained Wells and placed him outside of a police vehicle, where he sat on the ground in a parking lot. Why is no one coming to get this thing off of me? he asked authorities. 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. 46 year old Brian Douglas Wells worked as a pizza delivery man at Mama Mia Pizzeria in Erie, Pennsylvania. She had also been diagnosed with cancer, the Erie Times-News reported at the time. 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. Be the first one to comment on this story. Now in a state mental hospital, Marjories testimony against Bill would be useless. In July 2007, a month shy of the four-year anniversary of Wells' death by collar bomb, the US attorney's office in Erie called a news conference about "a major development" in the case. Standing before a bank of TV cameras, US attorney Mary Beth Buchanan announced that the investigation was over. So it seemed like Brian had really been jumped, but the police obviously had to get to the bottom of it. As United States Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said in 2007: Sadly, the plans of the other individuals were sinister, much more sinister., The Bizarre Real-Life Story of the Pizza Guy Who Robbed a Bank with a Bomb Around His Neck, Dentist Confessed to Murdering Wife on African Vacation, Prosecutor Says at Trial: 'I Killed My F---ing Wife', Pizza Delivery Driver Fatally Shot as He Stopped to Help 76-Year-Old Gunshot Victim: Police, Pa. A new Black Mirror episode called Shut Up And Dance also eerily dramatises a similar crime. Subscribe at iTunes or Google Play. They used the time limits from the pages and found that it was physically impossible for someone to complete the steps necessary in the 55 total minutes allotted. She had killed her first husband by shooting him six times while he sat on the couch, but successfully managed to convince a jury that it was in self-defense. Marjorie said he had fallen, and the coroner corroborated, saying the death was accidental. She would then use proceeds from the robbery to pay Barnes to kill her father and collect an inheritance, the indictment says. Oxygen Insider is your all-access pass to never-before-seen content, free digital evidence kits, and much more. A cane-shaped shotgun found in Brian Wells' car. 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. Forty-seven months later, however, in July 2007, law enforcement held a press conference where they announced the strangest twist yet: Brian Wells was not just an innocent bystander. As Clark predicted, this was no ordinary bank robbery.. If youre a fan of the Netflix show Black Mirror, the latest season has an episode where the plot revolves around an unseen person controlling others to do their bidding. 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