0:01

Due to the nature of this

0:03

episode, listener discretion is advised. This

0:05

episode includes discussions of violence, sexual

0:07

assault, and killing. Consider

0:10

this when deciding how and when you'll listen. It

0:17

was an otherwise normal afternoon

0:20

at Mama Mia's Pizzeria in

0:22

Erie, Pennsylvania. The

0:24

employees kept up their usual pace of

0:27

making and delivering pies. Just

0:29

then, the phone rang. Tony DiTomo,

0:31

the store's owner, answered. The

0:34

caller asked if they'd delivered to Upper Peach

0:36

Street. Tony replied that it

0:38

depended on where on Upper Peach. The

0:41

customer tried to describe his location, but

0:43

Tony was having a hard time hearing

0:46

him over the wind in the background.

0:49

He replied that they would be able

0:51

to deliver to him, then quickly handed

0:53

off the phone to his delivery man,

0:56

Brian Wells. Brian

0:58

listened to the directions, but in

1:01

truth, he didn't need them. He'd

1:03

been to Upper Peach before, to

1:05

that exact location. Today's

1:08

delivery would be no ordinary run.

1:11

It was planned. This

1:13

call was his trigger. And

1:16

there was more on the agenda than

1:18

two small pizzas. I'm

1:23

Vanessa Richardson, host of Serial Killers,

1:25

a Spotify podcast. You can find

1:27

us here every Monday. And be

1:29

sure to check us out on

1:31

Instagram at Serial Killers Podcast. Today

1:34

I'm joined by my friend and host

1:36

of Conspiracy Theories, Carter Roy. Hey,

1:38

Vanessa. Thanks for having me. Great to have you

1:40

here, Carter. This is

1:42

our first of three episodes

1:44

on 46-year-old Brian Wells, more

1:47

infamously known as the Pizza Bomber. On

1:50

August 28th, 2003, Wells entered

1:52

a PNC bank in Erie,

1:54

Pennsylvania, with a letter demanding

1:56

$250,000 in cash. and

2:00

with a live collar bomb strapped to

2:03

his neck. And behind

2:05

Brian Wells was a ragtag group of

2:07

conspirators looking to make a quick buck.

2:11

We'll unravel this complicated plot today

2:13

and over the next three weeks.

2:17

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2:26

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4:00

In August of 2003, America

4:02

was riveted by headlines detailing

4:04

a major bank heist in

4:06

Erie, Pennsylvania. Most baffling

4:08

was the otherwise ordinary man at

4:11

the center of an extraordinary crime,

4:14

a 46-year-old pizza delivery man

4:16

by the name of Brian

4:18

Wells. Brian

4:21

was a native of Erie. In

4:23

his early academic career, he

4:26

proved as bright as any other

4:28

grade school student consistently achieving straight

4:30

A's, that is, until

4:33

he entered junior high school. Around

4:35

that time, Brian's father's health was

4:38

deteriorating. Harold Wells struggled with

4:40

multiple sclerosis, which proved to be

4:42

a major stressor for his son Brian.

4:45

As Harold's health steadily declined,

4:48

Brian's grades dropped. In

4:50

response, a school psychologist performed a

4:53

study on Brian, the

4:55

findings of which would prove

4:57

insightful for future investigators. The

5:00

psychologist concluded that Brian's academic

5:02

decline could be somewhat attributed

5:05

to his father's physical incapacity.

5:08

More troubling, however, were Brian's

5:10

other deep-seated issues. The

5:12

psychologist noted that Brian's record

5:15

appears to indicate psychopathic

5:17

tendencies along with paranoid

5:19

flavor. The

5:21

school psychologist had asked Brian

5:23

to draw a person in

5:25

order to gauge his self-projection.

5:28

According to the report, Brian

5:30

drew a male figure that

5:32

appeared to be physically strong

5:34

and dominant. His

5:37

examiner concluded that the

5:39

large figure appeared to indicate

5:41

slight manic and grandiose signs

5:43

in Brian's psyche. The

5:45

study also indicated that, although Brian

5:48

was intelligent, he was also a

5:50

troubled and defiant loner with a

5:52

disdain for authority. According

5:54

to the report, Brian claimed that

5:56

he will not please others, and he

5:59

saw adults... as being too demanding

6:01

and that he would lead his own

6:03

life in his own time. Brian's

6:09

self-prophecy came true. In

6:12

1973, Brian dropped out of high school

6:14

at the age of 16 to pursue

6:16

his interest in mechanics. Though

6:18

he seemed to lead a quiet life, his

6:21

psychological struggles ultimately seemed to take

6:24

a toll. As an

6:26

adult, Brian eventually fell into

6:28

alcoholism. Until he pressed

6:30

on without much trouble, Brian's only criminal

6:32

case occurred in 1992 when

6:35

he was 36 years old. He

6:38

was charged with threatening to shoot a magistrate

6:40

over a dispute with his neighbors. In

6:43

the end, he pleaded guilty to

6:45

harassing the magistrate, an extremely minor

6:47

offense. It was nothing

6:49

compared to the treacherous plot he

6:52

would eventually become ensnared in. In

6:57

1994, Brian got a job delivering

6:59

pizzas for a local joint in

7:02

Erie, Mamma Mia's Pizzeria. He

7:05

enjoyed the independence of his delivery

7:07

work and he otherwise

7:09

had no attachments, no wife or

7:11

kids. By now,

7:14

Brian was in recovery for his

7:16

alcohol use disorder and the

7:18

slow pace of the work appealed to him. It

7:21

allowed him to manage his stress and

7:23

his schedule. With both these

7:25

things under control, he was less

7:27

likely to drink. As

7:30

part of his stress management, Brian

7:33

maintained a peaceful routine. He

7:35

woke up each day at 7.15 a.m.,

7:37

bought a copy of the Erie Times

7:39

News, ate breakfast at McDonald's, and drove

7:41

to Mamma Mia's where his shift started

7:43

at 11 a.m. He

7:46

would keep this routine quite literally

7:48

until the day he died. on

8:00

his delivery rounds. 24-year-old

8:02

Jessica Hoop-Sick. Brian

8:06

and Jessica's relationship was anything

8:09

but traditional. She was

8:11

a sex worker and he a loyal

8:13

client. Though it's unclear exactly

8:15

how Brian and Jessica met, she would later

8:17

note that they had been good friends for

8:20

years prior to 2003. Brian

8:23

seemed to care for Jessica deeply. He

8:25

frequently helped her run errands, picking up

8:27

Jessica and her mother and taking them

8:29

to the grocery store or doctor's

8:31

appointments. But Brian enabled

8:34

Jessica as well. Jessica

8:36

was addicted to crack cocaine. And

8:38

though Brian didn't do drugs himself,

8:41

he would often buy them for

8:43

Jessica in exchange for sex. He

8:46

would eventually find himself buried in debt to

8:49

the local drug dealers all

8:51

to support his relationship with Jessica.

8:55

On this particular night, Jessica was accompanying

8:57

Brian near the end of his delivery

8:59

shift. As they pulled into

9:02

the next location, a car dealership, Brian

9:04

double-checked the address on the order. Strangely

9:07

enough, it was for the parking lot

9:09

of the dealership, not the building itself. Who

9:12

was ordering pizza to a parking lot? Suddenly,

9:15

Brian spotted something in the distance,

9:18

a bright orange Camaro and

9:20

a gold Mercury Marquis, a

9:23

small group of people loitered nearby. He

9:26

pulled up alongside the motley crew,

9:29

noting the lone woman among them. She

9:32

was tall, middle-aged with

9:35

dark, stringy hair. Brian

9:38

didn't know it yet, but

9:40

this woman's name was

9:42

Marjorie Deal Armstrong. And

9:45

she would soon seal his

9:47

fate. This

9:57

episode is brought to you by Sonic,

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11:00

Marjorie Deal grew up as an

11:02

only child with an intense desire

11:05

to do right by her well-educated

11:07

mother. She graduated from

11:09

Erie's Academy High School in 1967

11:13

with straight A's, ranking 12th in

11:15

her class of 413. Marjorie would be the first to

11:19

believe that she was no ordinary

11:22

woman. Marjorie was a cut

11:24

above the rest, even brilliant.

11:26

She could accomplish whatever she set her

11:28

mind to, good or bad. In

11:32

her spare time, Marjorie taught piano,

11:34

organ and cello. She even graduated

11:37

a year early from Erie's Mercyhurst

11:39

College with a dual major in

11:42

sociology and biology. But

11:44

back when Marjorie was a preteen, she

11:47

began experiencing difficulties with her mental

11:49

health. At just 12

11:51

years old, she developed anorexia. She

11:54

later attributed this disorder to her pursuit

11:56

of perfection, a fear of sexual

11:59

attention. and the desire to please

12:01

her mother. Alongside her

12:04

anorexia, Marjorie recognized she

12:06

was experiencing other symptoms of

12:08

mental disorders. In fact, in

12:10

1972, at 23 years old, she decided to undergo psychiatric

12:12

treatment. Marjorie

12:17

explained to the psychiatrist that she wanted

12:19

to get married and was having trouble

12:21

finding a partner. She

12:24

wanted help overcoming her

12:26

perceived neurotic tendencies, which

12:28

she felt had been a barrier to

12:30

her relationships. But

12:32

despite her initial willingness to

12:34

seek treatment, Marjorie's mental health

12:36

would continue to deteriorate. Retired

12:39

FBI agent and author Jerry

12:41

Clark notes that for the

12:43

rest of Marjorie's life, psychiatrists

12:45

and psychologists would diagnose her

12:47

with bipolar disorder marked by

12:49

narcissism, another possible outcome

12:52

of her perfectionistic upbringing. Marjorie

12:57

constantly strove for perfection, both

13:00

in herself and others,

13:03

and she momentarily believed she'd found

13:05

it in her one-time fiancée, Bill

13:08

Rothstein. In

13:12

1970, 26-year-old Bill was introduced

13:14

to 21-year-old Marjorie through a

13:16

mutual friend. They

13:18

bonded over their love of numerology and

13:21

formed an instant connection. The

13:23

same year they met, Marjorie and

13:25

Bill got engaged. But

13:28

over time, their strong

13:30

connection was replaced by

13:32

incompatibility. Both Marjorie and

13:35

Bill blame the other for the

13:37

dissolution of their relationship. Marjorie

13:39

claimed that Bill tried to push her

13:41

into converting to Judaism, something

13:43

she didn't want to do. Meanwhile,

13:46

Marjorie's lack of accountability took a

13:48

toll on Bill. He once said,

13:51

Marjorie was a person who never

13:53

made a mistake. She was never

13:55

wrong. So therefore, there's always somebody

13:58

else. else's

14:00

fault. Their nine

14:02

month engagement was called off, but they

14:04

remained friends and Marjorie moved on to

14:07

other men, but her next relationship proved

14:10

deadly. In 1984, 35

14:14

year old Marjorie shot and killed

14:16

her then boyfriend, Bob Thomas. In

14:20

an attempt to conceal the evidence, she

14:22

offered a friend $25,000 to dispose of Thomas's body. The

14:28

friend told their mother about Marjorie's

14:30

request and the mother called the

14:32

police. When officers

14:34

arrived at Marjorie's home, they

14:36

found Thomas dead on the

14:38

couch. Marjorie told them

14:40

it was self defense. The Thomas had

14:42

been physically and sexually abusive. She

14:45

said she was forced to kill

14:47

him before he could kill her

14:49

and her self defense plea one.

14:52

And Marjorie was convicted

14:54

only for carrying a revolver without

14:56

a license. She was given

14:58

15 months of probation,

15:00

but otherwise walked free. But

15:04

the series of unfortunate events

15:07

surrounding Marjorie's lovers was just

15:09

getting started. In

15:12

1991, 42 year old

15:14

Marjorie married her first and only husband,

15:17

Richard Armstrong, a

15:19

relationship that would also end in

15:21

death. On

15:24

August 22, 1992, a mere 20 months after the wedding,

15:29

paramedics entered Marjorie and Richard's

15:31

home. They found Richard on

15:34

the floor in a pool of his

15:36

own vomit, dizzy and unable to

15:38

walk. Richard

15:40

said he had fallen and struck his

15:42

head on the table, an

15:45

injury that would result in a brain

15:47

hemorrhage and eventually a coma. He

15:50

died just two days after the

15:52

incident. Marjorie

15:56

filed a wrongful death suit against

15:58

the hospital where Richard died

16:00

and four years later she was

16:02

awarded $175,000. The

16:07

mysterious events surrounding Richard's death

16:09

cast perpetual doubt about Marjorie's

16:11

involvement, but it was never

16:14

investigated further. Now Marjorie

16:16

was constantly preoccupied with money,

16:18

often hoarding her cash. When

16:21

her mother Agnes passed away in 2000,

16:23

Marjorie became obsessed with securing

16:26

her inheritance. She

16:28

was furious when the local PNC

16:30

bank, not knowing of

16:32

Agnes' deal of passing, allowed

16:35

Agnes' husband Harold to access the

16:37

safe deposit box before the will

16:40

was settled. Several

16:42

days later, Marjorie arrived at the bank

16:44

with her personal lawyer. She

16:46

believed the money was rightfully hers, and

16:48

her father should not have been allowed

16:50

to touch it, never mind the fact

16:52

that he was the surviving spouse. It

16:55

was the beginning of an ongoing

16:57

dispute over the estate, and Marjorie

16:59

was further incensed when, in the

17:02

summer of 2003, she learned

17:04

that her father was giving away the money

17:06

he'd taken. Harold

17:10

Diehl shelled out $100,000 to one neighbor, $50,000 to another, and

17:12

$1,000 to the mail carrier,

17:19

all people he believed to have taken care

17:21

of him over the years. Marjorie

17:24

didn't receive any money at all.

17:27

Marjorie was irate. She was

17:29

determined to stop her father

17:31

from giving away her inheritance

17:34

at any cost, even

17:36

if it meant killing him.

17:40

Marjorie had gotten rid of

17:42

problematic men before, and she

17:44

could do it again, so she decided

17:47

to visit her ex-fiancee

17:49

and longtime friend, 59-year-old

17:51

Bill Rothstein. Marjorie

17:53

sat at the kitchen table with

17:56

Bill and his longtime friend, Floyd

17:58

Stockton. Floyd was a real registered

18:00

sex offender with a long-standing

18:02

record. Just a year before, in

18:04

May of 2002, he

18:07

was charged with raping a

18:09

16-year-old disabled girl. By

18:11

the time the prosecutor issued charges, Floyd

18:14

had gone on the lam. Bill had

18:16

invited Floyd to move in, or

18:18

rather hide out, at his house.

18:21

The three of them sat around

18:23

the table commiserating their woes.

18:26

Marjorie complained about her father's reckless

18:28

spending. Floyd, about the

18:30

rape charges, and Bill had recent

18:32

financial troubles of his own. His

18:35

mother had died three years prior, in August

18:37

of 2000. Her estate, however,

18:41

remained unsettled. Bill's

18:43

sister had taken him to court, claiming

18:46

that Bill, who was the

18:48

executor of the estate, had failed to

18:50

liquidate its assets, including the

18:52

house he currently lived in. Bill

18:56

reluctantly listed the house for sale,

18:58

with an asking price that significantly

19:00

surpassed its actual value. While

19:03

the home was appraised for $83,000, Bill had listed it for $250,000. He

19:10

was in no rush to sell. It

19:13

was his childhood home, and more importantly,

19:15

he had no money of

19:17

his own and nowhere else to go. Marjorie

19:22

and Bill described the perfect

19:24

crime, insisting it was fail-proof,

19:27

despite how dangerous it would look from

19:29

the outside. The plan was

19:31

for Brian to wear a fake bomb

19:33

while executing the heist. No one would

19:35

dare question a man wearing a bomb,

19:37

yet Brian himself would not be in

19:40

any real danger. Bill

19:43

and Marjorie parked up. The

19:45

idea of pulling off a bank

19:47

heist was extremely appealing to them.

19:51

Both were desperately in need of cash.

19:53

Marjorie was toying with the idea of hiring

19:56

a hit on her father, while

19:58

Bill was looking to pay off his sister. and

20:00

keep the house. A successful

20:02

bank robbery seemed like the

20:04

perfect solution. Now

20:07

that the seed was planted, there was no

20:09

turning back. Floyd suggested that

20:11

they should use a pizza delivery man

20:13

in the robbery since Bill loved pizza

20:16

so much. Bill, a self-proclaimed

20:19

mastermind, loved

20:21

this personal touch. They

20:23

would soon cross paths with

20:26

a perfect candidate. In

20:31

the meantime, Marjorie and Bill began laying

20:33

the groundwork for the robbery. They

20:35

decided to target PNC Bank, the

20:38

same institution that had allowed Marjorie's

20:40

father to access her deceased mother's

20:42

safe deposit box. Next,

20:45

they got to work hammering out the

20:47

technicalities of the heist. Marjorie

20:49

knew that another of her

20:52

friends, 49-year-old Kenneth Barnes, was

20:54

a skilled technician. She

20:57

hoped to pick his brain about

20:59

making a homemade bomb. Ken

21:02

was once a television repairman. For

21:05

14 years, he had taken

21:07

apart and reassembled TV sets,

21:09

computers, stereos, and vacuum cleaners.

21:12

But all of that had changed in 1998 when a

21:15

car accident left him injured and on

21:17

disability. After the accident, he collected

21:19

a $152 a month in food stamps and $630 in

21:22

social security benefits. He supplemented

21:28

his income through his drug dealing

21:31

and he frequently rented out rooms

21:33

to sex workers looking for a

21:35

place to entertain clients. Coincidentally,

21:38

one of these tenants was

21:40

Brian's friend, Jessica Hoopsick. In

21:44

the late spring of 2003,

21:47

Marjorie and her boyfriend Jim hired Ken

21:49

to help them remodel an attic space

21:51

in Marjorie's house. She used

21:53

the opportunity to ask him if he wanted

21:56

to help her rob a bank. Ken declined,

21:58

but Marjorie was not nothing if not

22:00

persistent. She asked Ken flat out if

22:03

he knew how to make a bomb.

22:06

He admitted that he did, but that he

22:08

wouldn't be making one for her. Still,

22:11

she pressed him, and at last,

22:13

Ken relented. He agreed to build

22:15

a pipe bomb. He offered to

22:17

give Marjorie some LEDs, a circuit

22:19

board from a VCR player, and

22:21

a radio electronics magazine. He

22:24

said that the magazine contained a

22:26

diagram with instructions for building a

22:28

timer. Pushing her

22:30

luck a little further, Marjorie asked

22:32

Ken if he would kill her

22:34

father. He jokingly replied that he'd

22:36

do it for a quarter of

22:38

a million dollars. Marjorie

22:41

promised to use the money from the bank

22:43

robbery as a down payment for the hit,

22:46

to which Ken seemed to agree. The

22:50

mechanics of the plot were all

22:52

coming together, but they

22:54

still needed to secure their hostage. None

22:57

of them were willing to wear the

22:59

homemade bomb themselves. The

23:01

perfect opportunity would soon present

23:03

itself. In

23:10

late spring of 2003, Marjorie,

23:13

Jim, and Ken took a break from

23:15

their attic renovation to go out for

23:17

pizza. On the way, Marjorie's

23:19

car stalled, and she called Bill to come

23:22

help. Bill arrived and tried

23:24

to jumpstart the Camaro, but to no avail.

23:27

As they struggled to revive the car,

23:29

Marjorie decided to have a pizza delivered

23:31

right then and there. Roughly

23:33

ten minutes later, Brian

23:36

Wells arrived, with

23:38

Jessica Hoopsick in the passenger seat.

23:41

As Brian got out to deliver

23:43

the pizza, Ken recognized Jessica. She

23:46

often rented a room in his home for sex

23:48

work. Brian and Jessica hung

23:50

around in the parking lot to talk for

23:52

a few minutes. The

23:54

details of this conversation remain unclear,

23:57

but in the end, Bill

23:59

decided to drive back to his house to

24:01

find a part to fix the Camaro. Marjorie,

24:04

Kim, and Ken loaded into Bill's

24:06

car and drove off. Brian

24:09

and Jessica followed suit. When

24:12

they got to Bill's house, Brian got out

24:14

of the car telling Jessica he'd be right

24:16

back. She later recalled

24:18

watching as he made his way over

24:20

to Marjorie and Bill. The

24:23

trio spoke intently. They

24:26

may have been using the opportunity to enlist

24:28

Brian's help with the robbery in exchange

24:31

for the promise of a big

24:33

payday. Marjorie and

24:35

Bill described the perfect crime,

24:37

insisting it was fail-proof, despite how

24:40

dangerous it would look from the

24:42

outside. The plan was

24:44

for Brian to wear a fake bomb

24:46

while executing the heist. No one would

24:48

dare question a man wearing the bomb,

24:51

yet Brian himself would not be in

24:53

any real danger. There

24:55

was even an insurance policy built

24:57

in. On the off

24:59

chance Brian was caught by police, he

25:02

could absolve himself by claiming he was forced

25:04

to wear a bomb. By the

25:06

way, Brian would be safe. Brian

25:10

mulled over this proposal. He

25:12

considered his quiet life and the daily

25:14

routine that kept him sober. Did

25:17

he really want to upend everything? He

25:20

also undoubtedly thought of the steep

25:22

debt he had acquired thanks to

25:24

his relationship with Jessica. Time

25:27

and time again he had purchased drugs on

25:29

credit to pay her for sex. Eventually

25:33

he needed to pay off the

25:35

dealers. This could be

25:37

his chance. After all, if he

25:39

wanted to keep Jessica around he needed to

25:41

keep paying her. To

25:43

this day it's unclear exactly when

25:46

Brian Wells decided to proceed with

25:48

the PNC Bank heist. Most

25:51

likely he was hesitant. So

25:54

the plan's masterminds, Marjorie Deal,

25:56

Armstrong and Bill Rothstein, recruited

25:59

another Mama Mia Pizzeria

26:01

employee to persuade him. 43

26:04

year old Robert Panetti. Whatever

26:07

Panetti said seemed to

26:09

convince Brian. He

26:11

agreed to participate. Marjorie

26:14

and Bill now had

26:16

their hostage. Have

26:23

you ever told a friend? Oh, I'm fine.

26:26

When you really felt? Just

26:28

so overwhelmed. Or sent a

26:30

text. Can't sleep. Are

26:33

you awake? When you couldn't find the

26:35

words to say. I'm scared to

26:37

be alone with my thoughts right now. Then

26:40

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Play responsibly. Marjorie

27:25

and Bill were the masterminds, but

27:28

strangely gave themselves small roles in the heist itself. Instead,

27:32

they recruited their friends to do the

27:34

dirty work. Marjorie's

27:36

boyfriend, Jim Roden, would drive

27:38

Brian to the PNC branch. Brian would go

27:41

in and rob the place with a fake bomb strapped to

27:43

himself. Bill would intercept the money from

27:46

Brian, and Ken would be the getaway

27:48

driver. The money

27:50

would then be handed off to Floyd,

27:53

who would hide it until the commotion died

27:55

down. So far,

27:57

everything was going smoothly. That

28:00

is, until Marjorie began getting pushback

28:03

from her boyfriend Jim. In

28:06

the summer of 2003, Jim got cold feet. He

28:09

no longer wanted to go through with the plan. Marjorie

28:12

was worried that Jim would go to the police. She

28:15

couldn't take that chance. Nothing

28:18

was going to get in her way. So

28:20

in the middle of the night, on August 10,

28:23

2003, Marjorie climbed the staircase of her house

28:27

up to the bedroom. Her

28:30

unsuspecting boyfriend lay clothed on the

28:32

bed. He was face

28:34

down sleeping. Marjorie

28:37

frowned at him, disgusted by

28:39

his cowardice. Then

28:42

she aimed a shotgun. Buckshot

28:45

plowed through the middle of

28:48

Jim's back, killing him instantly.

28:51

Marjorie ran out of the house straight for her

28:53

Jeep. She hid out

28:55

there for several days, contemplating how

28:57

to dispose of his body. Finally,

29:00

she called Bill. Marjorie

29:03

offered him $78,000 from her own

29:05

bank account to help get rid

29:07

of Jim's body. Bill

29:10

accepted. On August 12, at

29:13

roughly 10 p.m., the pair

29:15

drove back to Marjorie's house where Jim

29:17

had been dead for two days. Paired

29:20

with a van and several plastic

29:22

tarps, they wrapped up

29:25

Jim's bloodied body. They

29:27

dragged it down the stairs, spilling blood

29:29

as they made their way through Marjorie's

29:31

fly-infested house. Jim's

29:34

body was loaded into the van and taken

29:36

to Bill's house, where Jim was

29:38

left on the floor of the garage. The

29:45

next day, Bill bought a freezer

29:47

to store Jim's body. Then

29:50

he shifted his focus to the murder

29:52

weapon. Bill cut the

29:54

shotgun into little pieces with a

29:56

reciprocating saw and an acetylene torch.

30:00

drove around Erie dispersing the

30:02

pieces. After this

30:04

was done, he and Marjorie returned to

30:07

her house and scrubbed the murder scene

30:09

with Clorox and hydrogen peroxide. Once

30:12

the house was clean of evidence,

30:14

they could refocus on the more

30:16

pressing task at hand. The

30:18

PNC robbery, which was scheduled to go

30:20

down in just a few weeks. On

30:29

August 27, 2003,

30:31

Brian Wells drove up to the TV

30:33

tower on Peach Street right near Bill's

30:36

house. Marjorie, Bill, and

30:38

Ken were already assembled. Jim,

30:40

of course, was conspicuously absent.

30:44

Brian took a deep breath as

30:46

he approached them, steadying his nerves.

30:49

They walked Brian through the plan one

30:51

last time. He would drive

30:53

to the bank and walk in wearing the

30:55

fake collar bomb. They had

30:57

written instructions for Brian to present to

31:00

the tellers. The notes threatened

31:02

that Brian's bomb would detonate if the bank

31:04

didn't fork over $250,000 in

31:07

cash. They instructed Brian to

31:10

leave the bank with the money and

31:12

immediately handed over to Bill, who would

31:14

be waiting outside. This way,

31:16

if the police caught up with Brian, he would

31:18

have no money on hand. Bill

31:20

disappeared momentarily. When he reappeared,

31:23

he was holding the fake

31:25

bomb. He remeasured

31:27

Brian's neck to make sure the collar would

31:29

fit. Once it was all

31:31

set, Brian got back in his car and

31:34

left, completely unaware of the

31:36

dark turn of events that would

31:38

take place in his absence. After

31:44

Brian left, Ken approached Bill,

31:47

concerned with the appearance of

31:49

the metal collar. Right

31:52

now, it had an empty box

31:54

dangling from the front. There was

31:56

obviously no bomb inside.

32:00

would do to make it look more authentic. Ken

32:03

replied that he would put some wires in

32:05

it from the collar down, put them in

32:07

the box, but don't have them go anywhere.

32:11

Bill ultimately would do more than

32:14

that. In fact, he

32:16

would go the extra mile and rig

32:18

the box with an active

32:20

bomb. It's unclear

32:23

who knew about Bill's addition to the

32:25

plan, but Ken would later testify that

32:27

he had no prior knowledge of the

32:29

working device. He had thought it

32:32

was a gag to scare the teller. What's

32:34

certain though is that Brian Wells

32:36

had no idea. On

32:40

August 28, 2003, Marjorie woke up

32:43

with even more energy than usual.

32:45

The big day had arrived. She

32:48

picked up Ken Barnes in her red

32:50

Jeep Cherokee around 10.30 a.m. and

32:54

they made their way to the Barnes and Noble

32:56

on Peach Street, where Bill was supposed

32:58

to meet them in the parking lot. Bill's

33:01

car was nowhere to be seen, so

33:03

Marjorie and Ken went inside and ordered

33:05

coffee from the Starbucks. Marjorie

33:07

even bought a book, but when they

33:10

came back outside, Bill still wasn't

33:12

there. They left and

33:14

finally met up with Bill a little

33:16

while later at the nearby Shells station.

33:19

Bill pulled up in his Mercury Marquis,

33:21

and while Ken filled Marjorie's Jeep with

33:24

gas, she and Bill made their

33:26

way over to a pay phone. The

33:28

fateful call to Mamma Mia's was placed.

33:31

Bill ordered two small pizzas to be

33:33

delivered to Upper Peach Street,

33:35

a signal for Brian. Brian

33:39

nervously took his cue. There

33:41

was no turning back now. He

33:44

packed up the pizzas and got in his

33:46

car. Then he made his way

33:48

back to the TV tower on Peach. When

33:51

he arrived, Brian saw Ken, Marjorie,

33:54

Bill, and his co-worker Robert Panetti

33:56

in the distance. Brian

33:58

got out of the car. doing

34:00

his best to stifle his

34:03

mounting anxiety. He carried

34:05

over the pizzas and set them on the

34:07

hood of Bill's van. Suddenly,

34:09

Floyd came out of Bill's house

34:11

carrying the device. Brian

34:14

caught sight of the collar and

34:16

was immediately confused. It looked

34:18

significantly different than it had the day before.

34:20

It looked real.

34:23

Of course, that's because it was. Brian's

34:27

eyes went wide with panic. He

34:29

didn't want to go through with this. He turned

34:31

and ran. Bill

34:34

fired his pistol into the air. A warning

34:37

shot. While Brian was

34:39

distracted, Robert and Floyd ran

34:41

over and tackled him. They

34:43

pinned Brian to the ground while Marjorie

34:45

and Bill rushed over with the

34:48

device and strapped it around Brian's

34:50

neck. Brian screamed that he

34:52

didn't want to be part of this, but

34:54

Ken walked up and punched him in the

34:56

face. For a moment, Brian

34:59

had the wind knocked out of him, but

35:01

it was nothing compared to the fate that

35:03

awaited him. As the

35:05

collar clicked into place, Brian

35:07

went from being a faux

35:09

hostage to a very real

35:11

one. He had one hour

35:15

left to live. Thanks

35:25

for listening to Serial Killers, a Spotify

35:27

podcast. We'll be back next week with

35:29

part two of this story. And be

35:32

sure to check us out on Instagram

35:34

at Serial Killers podcast. For

35:36

more information on Marjorie Diehl Armstrong

35:39

amongst the many sources we used,

35:41

we found Maynia and Marjorie Diehl

35:43

Armstrong by Jerry Clark and Ed

35:45

Palatilla, extremely helpful to our research. Until

35:48

next time, remember, the truth

35:50

isn't always the best story. And

35:53

the official story isn't always

35:55

the truth. Stay safe out

35:57

there. Serial

36:01

Killers and Conspiracy Theories are

36:03

Spotify podcasts. This episode was

36:06

written by Natalie McKeeran, edited

36:08

by Kate Gallagher, researched by

36:10

Adriana Gomez, fact-checked by Kara

36:13

McEerline, and sound-designed by Sam

36:15

Baer. Our head of programming

36:17

is Julian Bwarot, our head of production

36:20

is Nick Johnson, and Spencer Howard is

36:22

our post-production supervisor. Conspiracy

36:25

Theories is hosted by Carter Roy, and

36:27

Serial Killers is hosted by me, Vanessa

36:29

Richardson.