Brian Wells

Brian Douglas Wells a.k.a. The Pizza Bomber and The Collar Bomber is a pizza deliveryman and the victim of a fatal bombing on August 28, 2003, arranged by a conspiracy that organized a series of robbery attempts through Wells as a proxy in Erie, Pennsylvania, which escalated to murders.

Background[]

Little is revealed about Wells' background. he lived in Erie all his life with five siblings, and he dropped out of school at age 16 to work in mechanics. He also worked in Mama Mia's Pizza-Ria for ten years, ending on the day of his murder. He was remember as single, shy, and more engaged and playful with pets than people, yet still a friendly neighbor and maintaining a loving relationship with his widowed mother. Wells also solicited women in prostitution, which is how the conspirators behind the bombing found him.

Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, a musical prodigy and a master's graduate of Gannon College, suffered bipolar disorder and other psychiatric problems, which derailed her life starting when she was in her 20s. Diehl-Armstrong previously dated one of the conspirators, William Rothstein, in the 60s and 70s. She's believed to have been a serial killer, as numerous men she was in relationships with throughout her life died under suspicious circumstances. In 1984, her boyfriend, Robert Thomas, was shot by her six times with a shotgun while he slept on a couch. In a highly-publicized trial, Diehl-Armstrong argued domestic abuse as her defense, and she was acquitted. In 1992, her husband Richard Armstrong died of a brain hemorrhage. Some reports also say another one of her parts was found dead by hanging in what was ultimately ruled a suicide.

Kenneth E. Barnes was a crack dealer with a former career in television repairs. He had a long history of suffering diabetes. As Barnes used his house as a low-rate brothel, one sex worker he knew introduced him to Wells. William Rothstein, a handyman and shop teacher, was a "fractured intellectual", a brilliant individual struggling with societal acclimation. 1977, he provided a gun to a friend for the murder of the friend's romantic rival, then tried to get rid of the weapon. Rothstein received immunity for his testimony. He hid another accomplice, Floyd Stockton, in his house while Stockton was hiding from justice due to a conviction for raping a handicapped teenager. Every conspirator in the plot was also known to having a hoarding problem.

Diehl-Armstrong, Barnes, and Rothstein wanted a get-rick-quick scheme, meeting at Barnes' house to discuss ideas. Diehl-Armstrong wanted to pay Barnes to kill her father Harold, as she figured he was depleting her inheritance. Barnes agreed to a $250,000 fee, so Diehl-Armstrong figured a series of heists would secure the funds she needed. Rothstein constructed a timed collar bomb, after the group changed their minds about using a fake one, and they decided Wells would be the proxy they would use. Wells was informed of the plot beforehand and reportedly even participated in rehearsals, to the disbelief of his family and friends, but he always assumed he'd still wear fake explosives throughout the crime spree.

Robbery, Bombing, and Other Deaths[]

On August 28, 2003, after 1:30pm, the pizzeria was called from a payphone for Wells to deliver to a dirt road near a local cable channel's transmission tower, not far from the pizzeria. When Wells found out he would be fastened to a real bomb, he was forcibly locked in it and given a shotgun disguised as a cane. Ordered to lie three black men fastened him to the bomb, he was given written instructions for a "scavenger hunt", where he'd go on the property crime spree he was arranged to and, after each crime, would find keys the deactivate pieces of the bomb, until the bomb was fully neutralized at the end of the spree. At 2:30pm, Wells slipped a note to a bank teller at the Summit Town Center PNC Bank demanding $250,000 from the vault and warning the bomb would detonate in 15 minutes. The teller could only gather slightly over $8,700 within eight minutes, then Wells left. Wells was about to commit the second crime when police detained him, fifteen minutes after he left the bank. They cleared the area of bystanders, and the bomb squad was delayed by traffic congestion. At 3:18pm, the bomb exploded, Wells being the only one killed. Police collected the rest of the props for the spree later as evidence, determining Wells would've died from not reaching the key points in time. His head was severed postmortem to even remove what was left of the collar and study the bomb with how securely it was fastened.

On August 31, Wells' pizzeria college Robert Pinetti died from a combined alcohol and drug overdose, but his death was ruled accidental and never connected to the bombing. However, on September 20, 2003, Rothstein, having written a suicide note yet never attempting suicide, led police to the remains of James Roden, Diehl-Armstrong's latest boyfriend. Diehl-Armstrong killed him with a shotgun in a fight over money and to silence his testimony about the bombing, then paid Rothstein $2,000 to place Roden's remains in a freezer in his garage.

Media Attention, Trials and Aftermath[]

The Wells case conspirators, from left to right: Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, Kenneth Barnes, William Rothstein, Floyd Stockton, Jessica Hoopsick

Erie's ABC News station recorded the entirety of Wells' detainment, but not the bombing itself. It was leaked to shock jock Elliot Segal, then went viral on video-sharing sites. News coverage of the case was nationwide and left the public fearing terrorism, only two years shy of 9/11. The show America's Most Wanted publicized the case on three separate occasions as calls for answers. The coverage was so extensive that scientific studies on information novelty followed numerous articles on the crimes. Wells' family was up in arms over his death and the ensuing rampant publicity, as well as the notion that he was ever a conspirator. Wells' murder and other details of the case also inspired multiple fiction adaptations, mostly notably in crime shows such as the Law & Order franchise, the Criminal Minds franchise, and Bones. The sixth film of the Saw torture-franchise showed a captive victim "tested" to save himself or various people associated with him from deadly traps, after which he'd received keys deactivating bombs strapped to each of his limbs. The 2011 comedy film 30 Minutes or Less is blatantly inspired by the murder of Wells. In 2018, Netflix renewed nationwide interest in the case with the documentary series Evil Genius.

On July 23, 2004, Rothstein died from longstanding non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, age 60. Stockton received immunity in the case in exchange for his testimony. In January 2005, Diehl-Armstrong pleaded guilty but mentally ill to third-degree murder of Roden and abuse of his corpse, being sentenced to 7 to 20 years in prison. To be transferred to minimum security, Diehl-Armstrong told a state trooper in April she had information on the bombing. She told FBI agents Rothstein was behind the entire plot, she provided the kitchen timers, and Wells was indeed involved. Barnes' brother-in-law later reported Barnes, who was in prison on unrelated drug charges. In July 2007, the U.S. Attorney announced Diehl-Armstrong was identified as the mastermind and would face the primary charges. On July 29, 2008, the U.S. District Court found Diehl-Armstrong not competent to stand trial and placed her in Texas for psychiatric treatment. On September 3, 2008, Barnes pleaded guilty to conspiracy for bank robbery and aiding and abetting. He was later sentenced to 45 years in federal prison, which, in exchange for later testifying against Diehl-Armstrong, was reduced to 22 and a half years. Diehl-Armstrong was found competent for trial in 2010, testifying in her own defense once prosecution was underway. On November 1, 2010, Diehl-Armstrong was found guilty of armed bank robbery, conspiracy for armed bank robbery, and use of a weapon of destruction, later being sentenced to life in prison to be consecutively served with her sentence for killing Roden. All of Diehl-Armstrong's appeals have been rejected. On April 4, 2017, Diehl-Armstrong died from breast cancer, age 68. On June 20, 2019, Barnes died in his mid 60s. On August 21, 2022, Stockton died of acute respiratory failure in his mid 70s.

In 2018, Jessica Hoopsick came forward revealed she was the liaison between the group and Wells, the latter of who she reported was never a conspirator, in exchange for money and drugs. ATF agent Jason Wick publicly stated law enforcement suspected she knew more, but she was previously uncooperative and her credibility was questionable. Hoopsick would later be a witness in the murder of Keeno Butler by his girlfriend Windi C. Thomas that same year, as Thomas bought drugs from Hoopsick shortly before turning herself in.

Modus Operandi[]

Brian Wells Other Victims — Other decedents surrounding the Wells case, from left to right: Robert Pinetti, James Roden

The bomb strapped to Wells consisted of a handcuff-style collar, fastened with shrapnel explosives and both kitchen and electronic timers. It was designed with misdirecting red herrings, including inactive wires, a toy phone, and stickers with misleading messages for disarmament. Wells, originally planned to have a fake bomb, but strapped in at gunpoint by the group once a real bomb was constructed, was directed to be the threatened party directly executing the crime spree the masterminds arranged, with multiple destinations where keys that would unlock and deactivate parts of the bomb would be there for Wells to acquire once he completed all his tasks. The latter component was inspired by the Great Key Scavenger Hunt led by a local Erie newspaper. Armed with a shotgun shaped like a cane, Wells passed a note to a teller in a bank to demand money, but Wells only left with a fraction of the amount. The remainder of the crimes Wells was to commit were never specified. The bomb detonated as a consequence of police stopping Wells, Wells not collecting all the keys he needed to disarm it, and the bomb squad not arriving in time. The dual pipe bombs killed Wells by blasting all across his upper body and through his chest, Wells being the only casualty since police cleared people out of the blast radius.

On Criminal Minds[]

Season One
- "Won't Get Fooled Again" - While never directly mentioned or referenced in the franchise, the case appears to be an inspiration for the episode's unsub, David Walker - Both are cases of bombers who were motivated originally by get-rich-quick schemes, used male victims who were strapped to necklace bombs, targeted public offices (Walker targeted a police station, Wells' killers targeted a bank), made their victims deliver extortion messages to their targets, the crimes ended with someone involved being fatally bombed (though while Walker fatally bombed himself, Wells' killers fatally bombed him), and federal law enforcement were brought onto the cases.
Season Nine
- "Gabby" - While never directly mentioned in the franchise, the case appears to be the inspiration for Sue Walsh and her group - Both are criminal conspiracy masterminds with psychiatric problems ultimately targeted family members, the masterminds killed men who knew about the plots before they were executed, one conspirator was a boyfriend and another was a sex offender (though they were one in the same in Walsh's case), each group's respective crimes involved a hostage the group new (Walsh's niece and pizza deliveryman Brian Wells, a mutual acquaintance, respectively), one conspirator made a dump at a secondary location after the crime was committed (William Rothstein dumped debris into a landfill, Ian Little dropped the remains of Doug Hoffer in a river), and federal law enforcement were brought onto the cases.

On Evolution[]

Season Two
- "Conspiracy vs. Theory" - While never directly mentioned or referenced in the franchise, the case appears to be an inspiration for the season's main unsubs, The Gold Star Killers - Both groups are bombers led by female serial killers with psychiatric illnesses, met their victims through criminal affiliates, lured victims to obscure locations using their jobs, strapped them to bombs at gunpoint and took them hostage, forced them to commit criminal acts while wired with the bombs, intended more crimes after the attacks (which only the Gold Star Killers were successful with), the victims were apprehended by law enforcement in attempts to disarm the bombs (though this failed with Wells, who was killed when the bomb was detonated), and the leaders shot their respective boyfriends as the authorities closed in, and federal law enforcement were brought onto the cases.

Brian Wells

Contents

Background[]

Robbery, Bombing, and Other Deaths[]

Media Attention, Trials and Aftermath[]

Modus Operandi[]

On Criminal Minds[]

On Evolution[]

Sources[]

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