Indictments in the Wells Case

Two Erie-area residents have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges relating to the "Pizza Bomber" case, and prosecutors say the man who many thought was the victim in this strange plot may not be completely innocent.

Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Kenneth Barnes have been indicted on three counts including robber, armed bank robbery, and using and carrying a destructive device during, and in relation to, a crime of violence. 

The indictment says Diehl-Armstrong and Barnes planned to use a collar bomb attached to the neck of pizza delivery man Brian Wells in a plot to rob the PNC Bank on Upper Peach Street in Summit Township on August 28th, 2003. 

Pennsylvania State Police stopped wells just minutes later.  In less than an hour the bomb exploded, killing Wells.

Now authorities say wells himself was in on the plot and not just an innocent victim.

"We do not know if the others planned on him dying that day," said Mary Beth Buchanan, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania.  "We do know Brian (Wells) participated in a limited role in the planning and carrying out of this robbery," she added.

The case has another surprising twist - about the motivation for the robbery itself.

"In July, 2003, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong solicited Kenneth Barnes to commit bank robbery," Buchanan said.  "That same month, she also solicited him to kill her own father.  She intended to use the proceeds of the bank robbery to pay her father's would-be killer," she said.

Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong has already been convicted of killing her boyfriend, James Roden.  On Wednesday, we learned that authorities believe she killed Roden to keep him from talking about the "Pizza Bomber" plot. 

In reaction, Diehl-Armstrong's lawyer, Thomas Patton, would only read from a prepared statement. 

"Mrs. Diehl-Armstrong denies the allegations made in the indictment and will enter a 'not guilty' plea at her arraignment," he said.

Meanwhile, the Wells family still says their relative is an innocent victim.  Family members even called U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan a liar.  They say Brian Wells had no knowledge of the bank robbery plot.

"There was no way Brian put that on himself," said an outraged John Wells, the brother of Dan Wells.  "Nineteen hours after the bomb had gone off, the federal authorities chopped his head off to get that collar off.  Brian didn't put that collar on himself!"

"He did not do this," said Brian Wells' sister, Barbara Wells.  "The people who did this to Brian, they're criminals, they're murderers, they're cowards, they're stupid!"

The people authorities say are responsible, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Kenneth Barnes, face a maximum sentence of life in prison and a fine of $750,000 each. 

We will have to wait for trial testimony to learn much more information on this bizarre case, and possibly find out the extent of Brian Wells' alleged involvement in the plot that ended his life.