samanthajane13
07-14-2007, 02:05 PM
Thursday, July 12, 2007
John Caniglia
Plain Dealer Reporter
Erie, Pa.
He sat on the road with his legs twisted under him and his hands cuffed behind his back. His oversized glasses drooped as he cried for help.
Brian Wells, a pizza deliveryman, was caught in a bizarre bank robbery Aug. 28, 2003. He had a bomb strapped to his neck, and no one dashed to help him. No one knew what was going on or seemed to understand how a simpleton got involved in such a vicious plot.
Except Wells. He knew he had been double-crossed. His accomplices had told him the bomb was a phony, a prop to fool bank clerks into giving up money. But just as they planned to click it around his neck, they told him the truth: The bomb was real, and it would kill him if he didn't do exactly what he was told.
Investigators revealed Wednesday that Wells, 46, was actually in on the plot, both a victim and an offender in the same crime.
Fifty-five minutes after his cohorts strapped the bomb on, 40 minutes after he robbed the bank and 20 minutes after police caught him, the device blew a softball-sized hole into Wells' chest and killed him.
The slaying stunned this city 90 minutes from Cleveland. For nearly four years, everyone assumed Wells was a tragic and unsuspecting victim. But authorities said he mentally rehearsed the robbery plan for days and even sat for fittings of the device on the belief the bomb was a fake.
Federal indictments unsealed Wednesday blame Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Kenneth Barnes in Wells' death.
The Erie residents are charged with conspiracy, bank robbery and weapons violations and accused of planning the robbery to gain enough money for Diehl-Armstrong to pay for a hit man to kill her father.
A third person involved in the planning, convicted rapist Floyd Stockton, was given immunity in a deal with prosecutors. His attorney, Charbel Latouf, refused to comment.
The man authorities called the plot's mastermind and bomb-builder, William Rothstein, is dead. He died of cancer July 30, 2004 -- one of a trio of other deaths linked to the case.
"Greed was their inspiration; death was just a byproduct," FBI agent Ray Morrow said.
Wells' family exploded at Wednesday's news conference that outlined his role. His sister, Barbara White, railed that her brother was a victim, not a criminal.
"Liar! Liar," she yelled at U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan.
How did simple man get involved in plot?
But in truth, Brian Wells was a follower who was in the thick of the plot, according to the indictments and interviews with investigators and defense attorneys. The indictment called him "a co-conspirator."
He was known as a man with simple tastes, caring for his three cats, eating Sunday meals with his family and fixing his subcompact cars. He was a high school dropout, and in the last decade worked on and off delivering food at Mama Mia's Pizzaria, a cramped, five-table restaurant that catered to construction workers for lunch and young families for dinner.
What people didn't know about was his affection for a prostitute, investigators and defense attorneys said.
Wells met approximately twice a month for about five years with Jessica Hoopsick, who fed her cocaine habit through prostitution, her attorney, Daniel Brabender, said. The two regularly used a home in Erie managed by Barnes, a convicted cocaine dealer who rented rooms in exchange for drugs and cash. Hoopsick even testified before a federal grand jury about Wells' link to Barnes, Brabender said.
In July 2003, Barnes had offered to do a favor for a fishing friend, Diehl-Armstrong: kill her father, Harold, for an estimated $125,000.
Diehl-Armstrong, who has bipolar disorder, is bipolar and often flies into screaming rages when she becomes annoyed or doesn't get what she wants. Her father earned his daughter's ire by refusing to turn over more inheritance money from her mother's death in 2000, federal agents said.
However, by 2003, the inheritance had largely disappeared. Agnes Diehl's estate was once valued at about $500,000, but it had dwindled. Harold Diehl gave his daughter more than $50,000, according to court records. He said he didn't give her more because the money was running out.
"She wouldn't kill me, but she probably would get somebody else to do it," Harold Diehl said in an interview earlier this year. "She tends to be greedy. I just don't trust her."
Unable to come up with money to pay Barnes, she approached her good friend, Rothstein, whom she knew for years and almost married. He also was being hassled by a family member over money, and they discussed various schemes, including a bank robbery.
The indictment said Diehl-Armstrong provided Rothstein with two egg timers for use in building the bomb.
As the robbery plan crystallized, the group pulled Wells in with a lure of cash. Wells helped plan the robbery, authorities said, and his partners told him the bomb would be fake. If arrested, he was told to tell police he was a hostage and that three black men had forced him to do it, Buchanan said.
They said police would then let him go and he would later collect some money.
Wells betrayed as scheme unfolds
On Aug. 28, 2003, Rothstein, Barnes and Diehl-Armstrong went to a nearby gas station and called Mama Mia's Pizzaria and ordered two pizzas. The gas station's surveillance cameras saw them make the call and later speed away.
About 2 p.m., Wells drove to a wooded lot near Rothstein's home on Peach Street in Erie. Rothstein, Barnes, Stockton and Diehl-Armstrong confronted Wells there, and Wells, for the first time, learned that the device was real, authorities said.
He wrestled with the men and tried to flee, but one of the men fired a gun, causing Wells to stop. They then restrained him and forced the device onto his neck. They gave him an oddly shaped cane, which was actually a gun, and told him to threaten someone with it if he found trouble at the bank.
Why the double-cross?
Buchanan, the U.S. attorney, said it was simple: It was one less witness.
The accomplices gave Wells a nine- page note that put Wells on a scavenger hunt for clues so that he could pry off the bomb after the robbery.
"This powerful, booby- trapped bomb can be removed only by following our instructions," the note said. "Using time attempting to escape it will fail and leave you short of time to follow instructions. Do not delay."
The bomb had a timer that gave Wells 55 minutes to complete the scavenger hunt. Despite the note, investigators said, Wells could have gotten out of it. The device appeared to be sophisticated, but agents said it was built like a child's toy bracelet that would have snapped open, given the proper pressure and instructions.
Part 2 coming
John Caniglia
Plain Dealer Reporter
Erie, Pa.
He sat on the road with his legs twisted under him and his hands cuffed behind his back. His oversized glasses drooped as he cried for help.
Brian Wells, a pizza deliveryman, was caught in a bizarre bank robbery Aug. 28, 2003. He had a bomb strapped to his neck, and no one dashed to help him. No one knew what was going on or seemed to understand how a simpleton got involved in such a vicious plot.
Except Wells. He knew he had been double-crossed. His accomplices had told him the bomb was a phony, a prop to fool bank clerks into giving up money. But just as they planned to click it around his neck, they told him the truth: The bomb was real, and it would kill him if he didn't do exactly what he was told.
Investigators revealed Wednesday that Wells, 46, was actually in on the plot, both a victim and an offender in the same crime.
Fifty-five minutes after his cohorts strapped the bomb on, 40 minutes after he robbed the bank and 20 minutes after police caught him, the device blew a softball-sized hole into Wells' chest and killed him.
The slaying stunned this city 90 minutes from Cleveland. For nearly four years, everyone assumed Wells was a tragic and unsuspecting victim. But authorities said he mentally rehearsed the robbery plan for days and even sat for fittings of the device on the belief the bomb was a fake.
Federal indictments unsealed Wednesday blame Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Kenneth Barnes in Wells' death.
The Erie residents are charged with conspiracy, bank robbery and weapons violations and accused of planning the robbery to gain enough money for Diehl-Armstrong to pay for a hit man to kill her father.
A third person involved in the planning, convicted rapist Floyd Stockton, was given immunity in a deal with prosecutors. His attorney, Charbel Latouf, refused to comment.
The man authorities called the plot's mastermind and bomb-builder, William Rothstein, is dead. He died of cancer July 30, 2004 -- one of a trio of other deaths linked to the case.
"Greed was their inspiration; death was just a byproduct," FBI agent Ray Morrow said.
Wells' family exploded at Wednesday's news conference that outlined his role. His sister, Barbara White, railed that her brother was a victim, not a criminal.
"Liar! Liar," she yelled at U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan.
How did simple man get involved in plot?
But in truth, Brian Wells was a follower who was in the thick of the plot, according to the indictments and interviews with investigators and defense attorneys. The indictment called him "a co-conspirator."
He was known as a man with simple tastes, caring for his three cats, eating Sunday meals with his family and fixing his subcompact cars. He was a high school dropout, and in the last decade worked on and off delivering food at Mama Mia's Pizzaria, a cramped, five-table restaurant that catered to construction workers for lunch and young families for dinner.
What people didn't know about was his affection for a prostitute, investigators and defense attorneys said.
Wells met approximately twice a month for about five years with Jessica Hoopsick, who fed her cocaine habit through prostitution, her attorney, Daniel Brabender, said. The two regularly used a home in Erie managed by Barnes, a convicted cocaine dealer who rented rooms in exchange for drugs and cash. Hoopsick even testified before a federal grand jury about Wells' link to Barnes, Brabender said.
In July 2003, Barnes had offered to do a favor for a fishing friend, Diehl-Armstrong: kill her father, Harold, for an estimated $125,000.
Diehl-Armstrong, who has bipolar disorder, is bipolar and often flies into screaming rages when she becomes annoyed or doesn't get what she wants. Her father earned his daughter's ire by refusing to turn over more inheritance money from her mother's death in 2000, federal agents said.
However, by 2003, the inheritance had largely disappeared. Agnes Diehl's estate was once valued at about $500,000, but it had dwindled. Harold Diehl gave his daughter more than $50,000, according to court records. He said he didn't give her more because the money was running out.
"She wouldn't kill me, but she probably would get somebody else to do it," Harold Diehl said in an interview earlier this year. "She tends to be greedy. I just don't trust her."
Unable to come up with money to pay Barnes, she approached her good friend, Rothstein, whom she knew for years and almost married. He also was being hassled by a family member over money, and they discussed various schemes, including a bank robbery.
The indictment said Diehl-Armstrong provided Rothstein with two egg timers for use in building the bomb.
As the robbery plan crystallized, the group pulled Wells in with a lure of cash. Wells helped plan the robbery, authorities said, and his partners told him the bomb would be fake. If arrested, he was told to tell police he was a hostage and that three black men had forced him to do it, Buchanan said.
They said police would then let him go and he would later collect some money.
Wells betrayed as scheme unfolds
On Aug. 28, 2003, Rothstein, Barnes and Diehl-Armstrong went to a nearby gas station and called Mama Mia's Pizzaria and ordered two pizzas. The gas station's surveillance cameras saw them make the call and later speed away.
About 2 p.m., Wells drove to a wooded lot near Rothstein's home on Peach Street in Erie. Rothstein, Barnes, Stockton and Diehl-Armstrong confronted Wells there, and Wells, for the first time, learned that the device was real, authorities said.
He wrestled with the men and tried to flee, but one of the men fired a gun, causing Wells to stop. They then restrained him and forced the device onto his neck. They gave him an oddly shaped cane, which was actually a gun, and told him to threaten someone with it if he found trouble at the bank.
Why the double-cross?
Buchanan, the U.S. attorney, said it was simple: It was one less witness.
The accomplices gave Wells a nine- page note that put Wells on a scavenger hunt for clues so that he could pry off the bomb after the robbery.
"This powerful, booby- trapped bomb can be removed only by following our instructions," the note said. "Using time attempting to escape it will fail and leave you short of time to follow instructions. Do not delay."
The bomb had a timer that gave Wells 55 minutes to complete the scavenger hunt. Despite the note, investigators said, Wells could have gotten out of it. The device appeared to be sophisticated, but agents said it was built like a child's toy bracelet that would have snapped open, given the proper pressure and instructions.
Part 2 coming