One of my most favorite recent true crime documentaries is Evil Genius, a docuseries that depicts one of the most well-known American cases, the collar bomb case. The details of this case are beyond complicated and definitely take viewers on the journey to finding the truth. I highly recommend checking it out and learning more about what happened to Brian Wells and the others involved.
Seemingly, this case begins on the afternoon of August 28, 2003 when a pizza-delivery man, Brian Wells, strolled into a PNC bank in Erie, Pennsylvania. He walked in with what appeared to be a cane, but was actually a gun and a large bulge underneath a white t-shirt near his neck. He passed the bank teller a note that read “Gather employees with access codes to vault and work fast to fill bag with $250,000” and “You only have 15 minutes.” He then exposed the bulge underneath his shirt and the teller knew it was a bomb. Not having access to the vault, she filled the bag with exactly $8702 and gave it back to Wells who then took a lollipop from the counter and left the bank. About 15 minutes later, he was apprehended in a parking lot not far from the bank and was cuffed and sat down on the pavement by police.
Obviously shaken, he told police that a group of African American men assaulted him and put the bomb around his neck at gunpoint forcing him to rob the bank while he was out delivering pizza. He then claimed “It’s going to go off!” and “I’m not lying.” While waiting for the bomb squad to arrive, this even attracted a lot of attention and within minutes local bystanders and TV cameras crews started to crowd around. Wells sat there on the ground with guns pointed at him for about 25 minutes before the bomb around his neck began to beep. It then exploded, throwing Wells onto his back and creating a large gash in his chest. He died on the pavement of that parking lot at about 3:18 P.M before the bomb squad even arrived three minutes after.
To investigate, police determined it was necessary to decapitate Wells in order to keep the bomb intact. They found that the homemade bomb was made of two separate parts and combined into the final product. The final product had four keyholes, two kitchen timers, and one countdown timer with two pipe bombs that were loaded with smokeless powder and attached to his neck like a handcuff. It also had numerous wires, many of which were connected to nothing, to throw off the investigation. Even though it was homemade, investigators determined the bomb was made with professional tools. After searching Wells car, police found handwritten notes addressed to the “Bomb Hostage” instructing them to rob the bank for $250,000. They were then told to follow instructions in order to find keys and combinations hidden throughout the town in order to free him from the bomb. The notes stated “There is only one way you can survive and that is to cooperate completely.” Police determined the best way to find answers was to complete the scavenger hunt themselves, so they followed the steps outlined in the notes. However, when trying to complete one of the steps they found that the jar mentioned in the notes was empty, leading them to believe whoever set up this hunt had ended it once police became involved. Police became more confused; they couldn’t understand the purpose of sending a random hostage around town in broad daylight to commit crimes, and why was Wells chosen out of all people.
Police first looked into Mama Mia’s Pizza where Wells was working the day of the incident. A call came in for two small pies and the delivery location was a tower site in a wooded area that was only reachable by a dirt road on the outskirts of town. Wells took the delivery and left at about 2 P.M. Police blocked off the road, but reporters stationed right outside noted that there was a large man that was pacing in front of his home that was located right next to the road; the man was later identified as Bill Rothstein. Rothstein, aged 59, was a very intelligent man who seemed to not know anything about the investigation that was happening right next to his house; however, it was found out later that he was hiding many secrets. On September 20, he called 911 and stated “At 8645 Peach Street, in the garage, there is a frozen body” and told police “It’s in the freezer.” The address he provided police was in fact his own home address.
Police apprehended Rothstein and brought him into custody to further interrogate him. The police did find a body in the freezer and determined it to be the body of Jim Roden, but Rothstein claimed he did not kill this man or even participate in murdering him. He told police that in August he got a phone call from ex-girlfriend Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong when she told Rothstein that she had killed Roden by shooting him in the back after arguing over money. She asked Rothstein for help moving the body and cleaning up the scene. Marjorie was well known in the community because of her record of dead husbands. She was convicted of murdering her boyfriend in 1984. She was also very intelligent, but suffered from bipolar disorder which led her to be paranoid and narcissistic. Rothstein kept the body in his freezer and melted the gun used and spread the pieces throughout the county, but he refused to grind up the body because he was afraid of Marjorie. The next day, she was arrested for murder and plead guilty to the crime for which she received 20 years in prison. Rothstein died of lymphoma in 2004.
Investigators in the collar bomb case thought the two cases were unrelated until Marjorie told an officer that Roden’s murder was directly linked to the collar bomb case. She promised to tell them everything she knew in exchange for a transfer to a different prison. She admitted that she knew about the plot and even provided the kitchen timers that were placed inside the bomb, but claimed to not be involved. She told police that Wells was not a victim, but was instead involved in the plot that was said to be masterminded by Rothstein. Not only was she implicating herself, but others that police had spoken to stated that Marjorie had talked to them about the plot in detail and even claimed to have killed Roden because he was going to tell the police about the plot.
A few months later a witness came forward stating that another man, Kenneth Barnes, was also involved in the case. Barnes agreed to tell investigators everything he knew about the crime if they would promise him a reduced prison sentence. He told police that Marjorie was the mastermind behind the whole ordeal, and orchestrated it because she needed cash to pay Barnes to kill her father. She wanted her father dead because she believed that he was blowing through his fortune that was supposed to be left to her upon his death. On February 10, 2006 federal agents told Marjorie they had enough information to indict her in the plot. Ultimately in July 2007, authorities held a press conference stating that the investigation was over and that Marjorie and Barnes would be held accountable for the plot, and also stated to the public that both Rothstein and Wells were involved. They believed Wells agreed to the plot, but as time went on, realized that his life was actually in danger and in turn became a victim. The FBI later released information that the bomb was rigged and that any attempt to remove it would set it off, meaning that Wells was going to die regardless of the circumstances.
There are many questions still surrounding this elaborate plot, not only for the families and participants involved, but also for many people following the case around the nation. Barnes pled guilty to his involvement in the plot and was sentenced to 45 years in prison. Marjorie was originally deemed unfit to stand trial in the case, and once this was reversed, she was diagnosed with glandular cancer putting the trial on hold once again. After receiving news that Marjorie had 3 to 7 years left to live, the trial finally went on and Marjorie was found guilty. Some still believe that Rothstein was the mastermind, and alerted the police to Marjorie so that he could frame the case in a way in which would help himself. He died a free man, and may have died with answers only he could share.
Pictured Below(Left to Right, Top to Bottom): Brian Wells robbing the bank, http://www.nbcnews.com/id/17190943/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/t/pizza-collar-bomb-case-solved-official-says/: Brian Wells sitting outside police car after being aprehended, https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/tv-radio/2018/10/18/Dateline-NBC-TV-pizza-collar-bomb-robbery-wells-erie-pennsylvania/stories/201810180102: Image of the collar bomb used, https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2020/02/the-bizarre-tale-of-the-pizza-collar-bomber/, Example of one of the notes that Brian was to follow, https://pizzabomber.com/evidence-from-the-case/: Bill Rothstein, https://www.wbur.org/npr/132965166/unraveling-the-mysteries-of-the-pizza-bomber: Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/crime-courts/2020/02/17/Mark-Marvin-Erie-Marjorie-Diehl-Armstrong-loses-appeal-married-Brian-Wells-pizza-collar-bomber/stories/202002180023: Kenneth Barnes, https://www.goerie.com/news/20190624/erie-pizza-bomber-co-plotter-ken-barnes-dies-in-prison: Evil Genius Netflix docuseries, https://dailysoapdish.com/2020/03/evil-genius-is-a-tangled-netflix-true-crime-docu-series/.
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