This will be made into a movie eventually (Shocking news)

[Mindz]

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...a103720D75.DTL

[TAG UR IT]

If you haven't seen it, it was a pretty disturbing video. His head was there for one second, and the next, it was GONE.. I felt bad for the guy because no one knew if he was involved or not. If not, I was like "ouch!" That's not cool...

[marczsport]

It's certainly nice to see that justice was served, in a manner of speaking.

It's somewhat bothersome though that it took the authorities so long to figure out that he was actually involved with the scheme and not an innocent victim...

[KILLER74Z28]

Better info...

ERIE, Pennsylvania (CNN)

A woman is charged in a federal indictment with a bizarre plot to fund the murder of her father with proceeds from a bank robbery using a co-conspirator posing as a hostage, federal authorities announced Wednesday.

Brian Wells carries a plastic bag of cash after robbing a bank on August 28, 2003, in Erie, Pennsylvania.

1 of 4 Marjorie Diehl Armstrong's plot fell apart when bank robber Brian Wells, a pizza deliveryman who was drawn into the conspiracy, died when a bomb attached to his neck detonated, U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said at a news conference in Erie, Pennsylvania.

Wells died August 28, 2003, after he claimed gunmen had grabbed him, locked the bomb around his neck and ordered him to rob a bank.

A source with knowledge of the investigation told CNN that eyewitnesses saw Wells meeting with two conspirators the day before the bank robbery.

The source also said that the initial plan had been for Wells to wear a fake bomb during the robbery, but that at the last minute, the other conspirators forced him to wear a real bomb.

Immediately following the robbery, Wells was detained, sat on the pavement and recounted the story to police. A bomb squad was called, but the device exploded before the squad arrived. Watch Wells sit with the bomb around his neck »

"The brutality and utter lack of respect for life displayed by the indicted is rarely seen outside of movie screens," said Special Agent Mark Potter, head of the Philadelphia division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The case drew national attention and was the subject of intense investigation and questions about whether Wells was a willing participant or a murder victim.

Part of the plan was that, if Wells died during the heist, "he could not be a witness against the other co-conspirators," Buchanan said.

As Buchanan spoke, Wells' mother yelled, "Liar!" from the back of the room.

Buchanan appeared sympathetic to the family. She said she had spoken with Wells' family who have said they have seen no evidence he was a willing participant.

"For some time, they have wanted us to publicly disclose the role of their family member," the U.S. attorney said. "We can only make decisions in a case based upon what the facts actually are, not what we want them to be.

"Unfortunately, our investigation has led to the belief that Brian became involved in a limited role with a group of individuals who planned to rob the PNC Bank."

She said it was not clear whether the others -- who were allegedly more involved in the plot -- planned for him to be killed.

"Sadly, the plans of these other individuals were much more sinister," she said. "He died as a result. It may be that his role transitioned from that of the planning stages to being an unwilling participant in this scheme."

But, she added, "We know that he was involved in a limited extent with the planning of this."

Buchanan said she could not talk about what Wells' motive may have been, but said the deliveryman may have tried to back out as the plot went forward.

"We have reason to believe that, at the point this bomb was strapped to his neck, that he had expressed a strong desire to terminate," she said. "Unfortunately, he did go forward and commit the bank robbery."

He could have told people what was going on, she said, yet he chose not to. "That is why he is both a participant and a victim," she said.

The indictment alleges that Wells was told that, if apprehended, he was to say that "three black men had held him down and put this bomb around his neck," Buchanan said.

That is the story he gave police, she said. "Unfortunately, he protected the identities of Diehl-Armstrong and Barnes."

Diehl-Armstrong, 58, and Kenneth Barnes, 53, are named in the indictment unsealed Wednesday alleging that, beginning in February 2003, they conspired to use a destructive device to rob the bank.

Both are charged with armed bank robbery, conspiracy, and using a destructive device during a crime. If convicted, they could be sentenced to a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Wells, too, was involved in planning the robbery and met with the other co-conspirators -- including others now dead -- on August 27, 2003, a day before it took place, Buchanan said. "It was the participants' intention to have it seem that the person wearing the device was a hostage, making it appear he had to follow a series of instructions to deactivate it," she said.

Buchanan said that Diehl-Armstrong recruited Barnes to become involved in the bank robbery in July 2003, the same month she also solicited him to kill her own father, using the proceeds of the robbery to pay him.

The following month, Diehl-Armstrong killed her then-live-in boyfriend, James Roden, "to keep him from disclosing the plan that was being formatted," Buchanan said.

On the day of the robbery, Diehl-Armstrong and Barnes met at a Shell gas station and called the pizzeria where Wells worked, she said.

They met near the gas station and the bomb was affixed to Wells' neck and torso, Buchanan said. Diehl-Armstrong and Barnes then watched from across the street as the robbery was carried out, she said, adding that Diehl-Armstrong was twice seen in the vicinity of the route outlined for Wells to take in instructions he was carrying.

Further evidence of the crime was found in an Erie landfill in December 2003, she said.

After the news conference, Wells' brother John told reporters that the allegations were baseless.

"I would like to let everyone know that Brian was a completely innocent murder victim," he said. "There is no evidence to suggest otherwise or you would have heard otherwise today."

He said the prosecutors were trying to implicate his brother "to make their case easier for them."

Had his brother needed money, he could have gotten it from his mother, three brothers and three sisters, he said. "They're all just as angry as I am ... I'd like to see their evidence."

[cantseeme]

wow crazy! sure would like to know the truth

[MerF]

Holy shit. Yeah I remember seeing this video way back when. Craziness.