Back in 2003, a Pennsylvania man named Brian Wells died when a bomb that had been strapped around his neck exploded after he robbed a bank. Initially, the story was that Wells was coerced into robbing the bank, now it seems he was in on the plan from the beginning:
ERIE, Pa. — A pizza deliveryman who robbed a bank and was then blown up by a bomb locked around his neck helped plan the robbery and then got caught up in something “much more sinister,” a federal prosecutor said Wednesday.
The deliveryman, Brian Wells, 46, had told police before the bomb exploded in August 2003 that he was an innocent victim and had been forced by gunmen to rob the bank.
However, in the indictments unsealed Wednesday, Wells is named as a co-conspirator. Two other people _ Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, who is currently serving a prison sentence for killing her boyfriend, and her friend Kenneth E. Barnes _ are charged with bank robbery, conspiracy and a firearms count.
Authorities said Diehl-Armstrong, 58, wanted the money so she could pay someone to kill her father, but they said Wednesday that they didn’t know what motive Wells might have had for getting involved.
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The indictments say Diehl-Armstrong and Barnes contrived a series of notes to make Wells appear to be “merely a hostage,” with the plan being to get the money from Wells in a way that if he was caught, he could claim he was an unwilling participant. According to the indictments, they locked a live bomb onto Well’s neck to ensure he turned over the money.
“If he died, he could not be a witness,” authorities said in the indictment.
Obviously not.
