Collar Bomb Victim's Family Outraged

They Insist Pizza Deliveryman Was A Victim, Not Part Of Robbery Plot

(CBS/AP)  The family of a pizza deliveryman being killed by a bomb locked around his neck in a bank robbery scheme is outraged that prosecutors have linked the man to the plot.

Brian Wells, 46, told police before the bomb killed him in August 2003 that he was innocent and had been forced at gunpoint to wear the bomb.

"I'm not lying. It's going to go off," Wells said.

But in indictments unsealed Wednesday, Wells is named as a co-conspirator along with Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and her friend, Kenneth E. Barnes.

"It was the participants' intention to have it seem as though the person wearing the explosive device was a hostage," U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said.

It was the first time authorities have said they believe he helped plan the heist.

"Liar!" exclaimed Wells' sister Barbara White. "What if somebody bolted a bomb around your neck, Mary Beth? What would you do?"

Wells' brother John said prosecutors were not doing their jobs and vowed that "the truth will come out."

"Where is the evidence? There is no evidence. You cannot link a man when there is no evidence," John Wells said, his voice trembling with anger. "When he was accosted at gunpoint, taken from his job, that's not a co-conspirator."

"Brian did not put that collar on himself," he said.

"There were opportunities when he could have let people know what was happening and that is why he was both a participant and a victim," Buchanan said at her news conference.

Officials admit they aren't sure how Wells got involved and say there is evidence suggesting he tried to back away from participation at some point, reports CBS News correspondent Cynthia Bowers.

"I think the conventional wisdom will be that he got snookered into this, maybe by being offered a very small amount of money or some compensation, but didn't buy into the fact that there was going to be a real bomb around his neck and he would eventually be killed," CBS News legal analyst Mickey Sherman said on CBS News' The Early Show. "I don't think he knew what he was getting into."

Diehl-Armstrong is already serving time for the murder of her boyfriend, James Roden, whose chopped-up body was found in a freezer during the investigation into Wells' death.

In the indictment, authorities say she killed Roden to keep him from disclosing details of the robbery plot.

"The brutality and utter lack of respect for life displayed by the indicted is rarely seen outside of a movie script," said Mark Potter, special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives office in Philadelphia.

Both Diehl-Armstrong, who is currently serving a prison sentence for killing her boyfriend, and Barnes are charged with bank robbery, conspiracy and a firearms count.

"I had no part in this," Barnes said as he was led to FBI offices Thursday morning for processing, the Erie Times-News reported. He pleaded not guilty at his arraginment.

Barnes, 53, is jailed in Erie County on unrelated drug charges. Authorities have described him as Diehl-Armstrong's fishing companion.

"Everything is designed to get those two people," Sherman told Early Show co-anchor Julie Chen.

"Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong got a pretty small sentence in her last case on the killing of the boyfriend," Sherman said. "So I think the U.S. Attorney wants to make sure she does not see the light of day outside of prison and they're using everybody they can and unfortunately this Wells is a little bit of collateral damage."

Diehl-Armstrong, 58, wanted the money so she could pay someone to kill her father, authorities said.

"I've been told she's wanted to kill me before," Howard Diehl told the Erie Times-News. "She figured if she killed me ... she'd have this house ... She's got a demented mind. If she wanted a million dollars, she wouldn't ask me for it. She'd try to kill me."

[three-o-six]

Boston
What do your comments have to do with this atricle -- have you left reality behind??

[boston1954]

I hope Hillary NEVER comes back to the White House,,Barack will do jsut fine

Posted by seaslew at 10:10 AM : Jul 12, 2007
*********************************

He's too D*** young.

[boston1954]

I can't wait to get my loved one back so that we can LEAVE THIS MISERABLE COUNTRY!

Look what we've become - a country run by a D I C T A T O R! It makes me sick!
Posted by DeborahCox05 at 08:43 AM : Jul 12, 2007

*******************

And just what other miserable country would you like to live in?????

[welovebjhope]

The prosecution relies on a woman who freezer-bagged one guy while raising money to kill another. Obviously, she blabbed about planning to kill her father. So, Wells comes along while she%u2019s coffin-shopping, and what? Lets her strap a REAL bomb around his neck?

If he knew the bomb was real, he put his life in the hands of an aspiring murderer. That would make him an idiot. But, his family says he was a very intelligent musician and puzzle enthusiast. That doesn%u2019t preclude a few mistakes, but still.

If he was sinister enough to take part in such a plot, he would be conniving enough to keep a backup key %u2013 like any good escape artist.

Some insist he was in on it, but thought the bomb was fake. But, when the police scrambled to safety, wouldn%u2019t he have known it was all too real? Wouldn%u2019t that be the time to turn on his co-conspirators? His ordeal was on live TV, but he never screamed their names and addresses.

Say he was truly %u2018gangsta%u2019 and put a live bomb on his own neck. After being interrupted, hog-tied and televised, wouldn%u2019t he give the bomb squad a blueprint? A code? Something? He certainly wouldn%u2019t sit around in handcuffs PRETENDING TO PLEAD FOR HIS LIFE until the timer ran out. They messed up this hostage situation and are now trying to blame the victim.

[extremophil]

Stupid + Greedy Sucker = Brian Wells.

[mediabrat60]

"I think he was probably innocent. Why would someone be so stupid!"
Posted by susieq_13


Are you serious?? Someone needs to educate you, criminals are basically stupid, why else do something so insane as to get yourself thrown in prison?!

[navychief8]

If I were this man's family, I would sue the socks off of Erie PA...and maybe bring charges in civil court against the cops that helped to murder this man.

Posted by MissUT2 at 11:46 AM : Jul 12, 2007
+ report abuse

I have no opinion about the mans involvement. My comment is about the armchair law enforcement QB's on this thread. If you didn't notice in the video, the FBI was on the scene. And I am sure that they were advising the local police in how to respond to the situation. You weren't there dealing with the situation, and more than likely have no training/experience in how to deal with a suspect with a bomb strapped to them selves. So it is awfully childish to pass judgement on how they handled the situation. Just so you know. It does take a bit of time to get EOD on the scene. It doesn't just happen at the snap of a finger. Anyway, bottom line, there initial response is to secure the safety of the public so that there aren't more victims. My hat is off the the local and federal officers who had to deal with this. They did there best.

[mnelsonix]

These folks are so clever. Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Kenneth E. Barnes would make a good republican ticket.

Armstrong and Barnes in 2008.

[cryonbrian]

The family should be upset because this fool lost his head for nothing!

[mamichael59]

This is definitely a case of law enforcement and other higher ups to cover their own rear ends, at the expense of a man who is not here to defend himself.

I hope the family brings a wrongful death suit against all involved.

[billyann1]

I just don't beleive that this man was involved in this whole mess and it is wrong for the police to release this theory without a thorow study of the whole situation.

[susieq_13]

I think he was probably innocent. Why would someone be so stupid!

[republic1776]

He was involed, he thought the bomb was a fake.
Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and her friend, Kenneth E. Barnes thought why not make it real, more money for us. He was double crossed.
Live by the sword, die by the sword.

[missut2]

tonysprout, I agree with you...the cops were indeed cowards. I remember watching this live and was screaming at the television for someone to help this guy. He looked so uncomfortable, he was sitting in an awkward position. You can't tell me that a city the size of Erie doesn't have someone trained in bombs or a bomb squad. But to just stand there, guns drawn, hiding behind cruisers watching this poor man die is the height of incompetence. And to think that these same cops were thought of as heroes! If that is the case, we are worse, as a people, than I thought.
In my opinion, these cops should be reprimanded for their actions.

This man's family has every right to be angry...it's been 4 years and this is all the cops can come up with. Like someone said, let's just blame the victim...he's not here to defend himself. This way, they can get this case off their books and move on to another botched case.

If I were this man's family, I would sue the socks off of Erie PA...and maybe bring charges in civil court against the cops that helped to murder this man.

[ironstring]

It seems only reasonable that the U.S. Attorney reveal the specifics as to why she's asserting this guy was in on the plan. If she deems it too early to do so, she also should have deemed it too early to make the accusation public, a decision with no apparent upside. All the accusation does at this point is muddy the already murky waters of this truly strange case. If the prosecution is going to lay part of the blame on a man who cannot respond in his own defense, one hopes they have some strong evidence, because thus far their version of events strains logic. The family of the deceased has every reason to be upset. If their loved one was guilty, it now seems the real story will come out sooner or later. So why the rush? He's not a flight risk.

[passerby2]

I highly doubt anyone is willing to strap a live bomb with a ticking timer to himself to rob a bank. A suicide bomber maybe, but a bank robbery?

this sounds like a sick copycat of those Saw and Hostile movies. I don't understand why anyone would want to watch people getting tortured and maimed.

[tonysprout]

DOJ has no credibility in ANY regime; WACO, RUBY RIDGE, Elian Gonzalez.

Repugmocrat Partisans ARE the problem.

DOJ is covering for the cowardly cops. Notice they did their duty and managed to get handcuffs on that viscious bank robber, then backed away to protect themselves. Why did no cop use his flak jacket to surround the bomb in an attempt to TRY and save Brian's life?

Protect and Serve? Yah, right. Protect your own arse, and serve yourself from the public trough, in addition to all the graft they can handle.

[zootallures2]

afterall, a criminal's defense attorney is just a paid liar.
Posted by Prinzowhales at 10:19 AM : Jul 12, 2007

Not if they are innocent. But that rule holds up if your taking politicians.

[nishaboston]

It's getting impossible to find one that isn't. America is stooping below the 3rd world. Hamas has a mouse on PalTV and we got rats on all our networks.
Posted by zootallures2

The type of crimes that happens in America rarely happens in the Third World. You think people who have a less better social standings would do these types of crimes. I don't think so.

[zootallures2]

everyone is in a mood today,, lol,, good morning
this story is odd ,,

Posted by seaslew at 10:07 AM : Jul 12, 2007

It's getting impossible to find one that isn't. America is stooping below the 3rd world. Hamas has a mouse on PalTV and we got rats on all our networks.