Death of Brian 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]

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.

Triple-banded metal collar that was locked around Wells's neck

The bomb used in the killing consisted of a hinged collar that worked like a large handcuff to go around the neck, four keyholes that went under the chin, and a rectangular housing containing two pipe bombs and two kitchen timers. One electronic timer hung down over the chest. The device had several decoys, such as unconnected wires, a toy cell phone, and stickers bearing deceptive warnings.[5]

Wells worked as a pizza delivery driver at the Mama Mia's Pizzeria in Erie for ten years before 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]

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]

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 9-1-1 from the bank and reported a male leaving the bank with "a bomb or something wrapped around his neck". This is the first-known emergency call for the incident.[34] According to witnesses at the bank and surveillance footage, after entering the bank, Wells waited in line. When he reached the counter, he began sucking a lollipop. He appeared confident as he left the bank, swinging his cane gun and the bag of money "like Charlie Chaplin" according to one witness.[35]

A map showing key locations of the case

Around fifteen minutes after Wells left the bank, he had completed the first task of the treasure 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.[34] The bomb squad was first called at 3:04 p.m., at least thirty minutes after the first 9-1-1 call from the bank and about ten minutes after Wells was arrested. At 3:18, three minutes before the bomb squad arrived, the bomb detonated and blasted a fist-sized hole in Wells's chest, killing him in seconds.[5][36] Traffic congestion in the area delayed the bomb squad's arrival but personnel from the ATF still considered their response appropriately quick.[34]

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]

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]

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 Muncy Correctional Institution to a minimum-security prison in Cambridge Springs. During a series of interviews, Diehl-Armstrong admitted to providing the kitchen timers used for the bomb, stated Rothstein masterminded the plot and that Wells had been directly involved in the plan.[42]

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]

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.[48]

On February 24, 2009, Judge McLaughlin scheduled a hearing for March 11, 2010, to determine whether Diehl-Armstrong was now competent to stand trial.[49] 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.[50] 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".[51]

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.[52] On February 28, 2011, she was sentenced to life in prison, to be served consecutively with the prison term imposed in 2005 for killing Roden.[53] In November 2012, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed her conviction.[54] In January 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court denied her petition for certiorari, declining to hear her case.[54][55] In December 2015, Diehl-Armstrong lost a second appeal of her conviction.[56]

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".[57] In the 2018 documentary Evil Genius, Hoopsick identifies the conspirator as Barnes and alleges she recommended Wells, whom she described as "a pushover".[58] Admitting to setting up Wells in exchange for money and drugs,[57] Hoopsick expressed regret for her role and said Wells had no advance knowledge of the robbery.[57][59] 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.[57]