Documents violence · domestic violence — written to inform, not to shock.
Illustrative
On August 28, 2003, pizza delivery driver Brian Wells robbed a PNC Bank at the Summit Towne Center on Peach Street near his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, with a bomb-like collar device already locked around his neck. He passed a teller a note demanding $250,000 within fifteen minutes; unable to open the vault that quickly, the teller gave him $8,702. A witness called 9-1-1 minutes later. Police arrested him in a parking lot about fifteen minutes later as he worked through handwritten 'scavenger hunt' instructions found in his car describing timed tasks meant to disarm the device. The bomb detonated at 3:18 p.m., roughly three minutes before a bomb squad arrived, killing Wells within seconds.
The FBI, working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Pennsylvania State Police, opened an investigation the FBI itself described as 'one of the most complicated and bizarre crimes in the annals of the FBI.' Investigators concluded Wells helped plan the robbery and knew of the underlying scheme, but believed the device was fake; his family and friends dispute this, saying he was accosted at gunpoint and forced to wear a live bomb. Exactly what happened when the device was attached to his neck was never conclusively established, though evidence indicated a struggle and a gunshot fired to compel his compliance.
In July 2007, federal prosecutors charged Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Kenneth Barnes with the crime, naming Diehl-Armstrong as the plot's mastermind. Investigators determined she devised the robbery to raise money to pay Barnes to kill her father for an inheritance she believed he was squandering. Diehl-Armstrong, who had a documented history of bipolar disorder and had previously been acquitted, on self-defense grounds, of a 1984 killing of a boyfriend, was ruled incompetent to stand trial in 2008 and competent again in 2010. On November 1, 2010, she was convicted of armed bank robbery, conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, and using a destructive device in a crime; on February 28, 2011, she was sentenced to life in prison without parole, and her appeals were denied through 2015. Barnes pleaded guilty in September 2008 and was sentenced to 45 years, later reduced to 22.5 years after he testified against Diehl-Armstrong.
Diehl-Armstrong separately pleaded guilty but mentally ill in January 2005 to third-degree murder and abuse of a corpse for killing James Roden, who had lived with her for ten years, and was sentenced to seven to twenty years; investigators believe she killed him to stop him from telling authorities about the robbery plot. A man who had been romantically involved with Diehl-Armstrong decades earlier and lived near the delivery address, identified by investigators as the bomb's likely designer, died of cancer on July 30, 2004, before any charges were filed against him; he and Wells were both later named in the 2007 indictment only as un-indicted co-conspirators. A second man living at the same address told investigators he had placed the device on Wells and was granted immunity for his cooperation but was never called to testify in court.
Diehl-Armstrong died of breast cancer in prison on April 4, 2017, at age 68. Barnes died in prison of lung cancer on June 20, 2019. In 2018, a woman who knew Wells said in a Netflix documentary that she had given a conspirator his name and delivery schedule in exchange for money and drugs, and that Wells had no advance knowledge of the robbery. Known as the collar bomb case or pizza bomber case, the crime drew extensive national media coverage, including a 2012 true-crime book and a Netflix documentary series.
Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong fatally shoots her boyfriend; she is later acquitted of murder on grounds of self-defense.
2003-08-28
Brian Wells robs a PNC Bank near Erie, Pennsylvania, with a bomb locked to his neck; the device detonates after police arrest him, killing him.
2003-09-20
The body of James Roden is found hidden in a freezer at the home of a man later linked to the robbery plot, after he calls police to report it.
2004-07-30
The man who reported Roden's body, earlier identified by investigators as the bomb's likely designer, dies of cancer before any charges are filed against him.
2005-01
Diehl-Armstrong pleads guilty but mentally ill to third-degree murder and abuse of a corpse for killing Roden and is sentenced to 7 to 20 years in prison.
2007-07
Federal prosecutors charge Diehl-Armstrong and Kenneth Barnes with the bank robbery and bombing, naming Diehl-Armstrong as the plot's mastermind.
2008-09-03
Barnes pleads guilty to conspiring to rob a bank and to aiding and abetting.
2008-12-03
Barnes is sentenced to 45 years in prison, later reduced to 22.5 years after he testifies against Diehl-Armstrong.
2010-11-01
Diehl-Armstrong is convicted of armed bank robbery, conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, and using a destructive device in a crime.
2011-02-28
Diehl-Armstrong is sentenced to life in prison without parole.
2015-12
Diehl-Armstrong loses a second appeal of her conviction.
2017-04-04
Diehl-Armstrong dies in prison of breast cancer at age 68.
2018
A woman who knew Wells admits in a Netflix documentary to providing his name and delivery schedule to a conspirator in exchange for money and drugs.
2019-06-20
Barnes dies in prison of lung cancer.
Best coverage
VIDEO
Kendall Rae / 29 min
The Pizza Bomber Bank Robbery
People
Brian Wells
VICTIM
Pizza delivery driver killed on August 28, 2003 when a bomb locked to his neck detonated after he robbed a bank; investigators concluded he was a willing participant who believed the device was fake, a characterization his family disputes.
citation on file
Kenneth Barnes
CONVICTED
Pleaded guilty on September 3, 2008 to conspiring to rob a bank and to aiding and abetting; sentenced to 45 years, later reduced to 22.5 years in exchange for testifying against Diehl-Armstrong.
citation on file
Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong
CONVICTED
Convicted on November 1, 2010 of armed bank robbery, conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, and using a destructive device in a crime; identified by investigators as the mastermind of the robbery-bombing plot. Sentenced February 28, 2011 to life without parole. Separately pleaded guilty in January 2005 to third-degree murder and abuse of a corpse for killing James Roden.
citation on file
James Roden
VICTIM
Killed by Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong; she pleaded guilty but mentally ill to third-degree murder and abuse of a corpse in January 2005, and investigators believe she killed him to keep him from telling authorities about the robbery plot.
Pizza delivery driver Brian Wells died in Erie, Pennsylvania, on August 28, 2003, when a bomb locked around his neck detonated shortly after he robbed a bank under an elaborate scheme; two co-conspirators were later convicted in the case, which became known as the collar bomb or pizza bomber case.
Where did the killing happen?
Erie, Pennsylvania.
Who was convicted?
Kenneth Barnes (Pleaded guilty on September 3, 2008 to conspiring to rob a bank and to aiding and abetting; sentenced to 45 years, later reduced to 22.5 years in exchange for testifying against Diehl-Armstrong.) and Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong (Convicted on November 1, 2010 of armed bank robbery, conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, and using a destructive device in a crime; identified by investigators as the mastermind of the robbery-bombing plot. Sentenced February 28, 2011 to life without parole. Separately pleaded guilty in January 2005 to third-degree murder and abuse of a corpse for killing James Roden.).
