Naman Shrestha
The episode titled ‘The Man Eater’ of ‘Very Scary People’ explores the brutal killing of Pennsylvania resident Brian Douglas Wells in 2003. The mystery surrounding the unconventional death of the 46-year-old pizza delivery man led the detectives on a years-long investigative journey as they searched for the truth and potential perpetrator/s. Featuring interviews with the loved ones of the victim, the episode manages to provide a detailed account of the case and the investigation that ensued.
Brian Douglas Wells Had a Bomb Connected to His Neck at the Time of His Death
On November 15, 1956, in Warren, Pennsylvania, Rose M. Wells and Harold C. Wells welcomed their baby boy into the world and named him Brian Douglas Wells. Raised alongside his five siblings in a hard-working and dedicated household, he ended up dropping out of East High School at the age of 16 and began working as a mechanic. In 1990, the family’s patriarch tragically passed away from muscular sclerosis. The years leading up to the tragedy were filled with difficulty for the family, but they somehow managed to pull through and thrive despite the loss.
Having grown up to become a determined young man, Brian was still described as childlike by his loved ones. From the 1990s to the early 2000s, he had been working as a pizza delivery man at Mama Mia’s Pizza-Ria. Having a radiant energy about himself, he could light up any room he walked into. Therefore, his unexpectedly passing made his loved ones feel as if a light had gone from their lives. On August 28, 2003, the 46-year-old man was surrounded by the police when an explosive device locked around his neck detonated, leading to his sudden demise. In order to uncover the mystery behind the case, the FBI launched an investigation to solve what they would describe as “one of the most complicated and bizarre crimes in the annals of the FBI.”
An Unlikely Witness Led the Police to the Perpetrators
On the fateful afternoon of August 28, 2003, Brian Douglas Wells went inside a PNC bank in Erie, Pennsylvania, with a bomb wrapped around his neck. Upon entering the bank, he instructed the teller to fill the bag with $250,000 within 15 minutes with the help of a note that said the same. Although the latter did not have access to the vault, she put over $8,000 into his bag. By the time Brian exited the bank and went over to his car, the police had him surrounded. In his defense, he claimed that a couple of men forced him to commit the robbery and had even placed the bomb around his neck.
As a precautionary measure, the bomb squad was called to take a look at the bomb. However, before they could arrive, it exploded and ended up killing Brian. After the explosion, the authorities searched his vehicle and discovered a gun and notes with different instructions. Just when the case started to become cold a month after the incident, the authorities were contacted by Bill Rothstein, who admitted to having a dead man in his freezer. He confessed that his ex-girlfriend, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, killed his then-live-in boyfriend, Jim Roden, and he had agreed to help her cover up the crime. The authorities then learnt of a shocking connection to the Brian Wells case.
Four Individuals Emerged as the Primary Suspects in the Collar Bomb Case
When the investigators dug deeper into the life of Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, who had a criminal past related to the deaths of her boyfriends, they were shocked to find a connection to Brian Douglas Wells’ death. According to reports, the suspect discussed making quick money with Bill Rothstein and Kenneth Barnes and came up with the idea of getting her father, Harold Diehl, killed in order to receive an inheritance. When she asked Kenneth to do the killing for her, he allegedly offered to carry out the deed for $250,000, the same amount Brian was instructed to rob from the bank.
It is alleged that to obtain the sum demanded by Kenneth, Marjorie devised the collar bomb-bank robbery plan. The same was confirmed by Kenneth during his interrogation when he was offered a reduced sentence for his involvement in the crime. However, the authorities also believed that there were pieces of evidence that indicated Brian’s knowledge of the bank robbery plan to some extent. For instance, he reportedly participated in the planning the day prior to the robbery as he was allegedly seen exiting Bill’s house and had also talked about it a month before, as per the claims of a couple of witnesses.
On the other hand, his loved ones refused to believe so, and one of his friends, Jessica Hoopsick, also claimed that she provided his name to the conspirators, but he had no idea about the robbery. Since Bill had already passed away before being charged and Floyd Stockton, another conspirator of the crime, had been allowed immunity in exchange for his testimony against Marjorie, the police then arrested Marjorie and Kenneth in 2007. In July of the same year, the two accused were officially indicted for their involvement in the collar bomb case and the murder of Brian Douglas Wells.
Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Kenneth Barnes Died While Serving Their Respective Sentences
About a year after their arrests, on July 29, 2008, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong was found mentally incompetent to stand trial because of dealing with multiple mental disorders. Meanwhile, on September 3, 2008, Kenneth Barnes took a guilty plea and admitted to conspiring to rob a bank and to aiding and abetting. Thus, on December 3 of the same year, he was sentenced to 45 years in prison for his involvement in the crime. In September 2009, Marjorie was deemed fit to stand trial, and more than a year later, in October 2010, she testified in her defense, claiming that Bill Rothstein was the mastermind of the bank robbery plot.
On top of that, she alleged in the court that Brian was also a part of the plan, but only until he found out that he would have the bomb wrapped around his neck. However, Kenneth testified against her in the trial and claimed that she was the one who planned the entire thing. Thus, on November 1, 2010, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong was found guilty on three different charges — armed bank robbery, conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery, and using a destructive device in a crime. Due to his effective testimony against her, Kenneth’s sentence was reduced to 22 and a half years.
A few months later, on February 28, 2011, she received a life imprisonment sentence for her crimes without the possibility of parole. In the following years, she tried to appeal and get his convictions overturned but in vain. On April 4, 2017, Marjorie, who had been battling breast cancer at the time, died at the Federal Medical Center-Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas, due to natural causes. A couple of years later, on June 20, 2019, her co-conspirator, 65-year-old Kenneth, also passed away at the Federal Medical Center at Butner, North Carolina, near Raleigh.
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