Original subtitles

When you were watching across the street, did you know Brian Wells was gonna die?

I had no clue.

-[woman] Did you make the bomb? -No.

[Borzillieri] When Ken Barnes confessed, it was the breakthrough

investigators had been hoping for.

Finally, an insider could tell them what happened to Brian

at the tower site, but also if Brian was actually in on the heist.

We learned through interviews with Barnes there was a pre-robbery meeting

at Rothstein's house to discuss roles for each person.

We asked about that, who was present. He described it.

He said, of course, Mr. Rothstein, Marjorie Diehl, and then Mr. Stockton.

Bob Pinetti was present.

And Brian Wells, he was there.

[Borzillieri] The FBI didn't record Ken Barnes' confession.

It was policy at the time. They believed a camera changes the interview dynamic.

I reached out to Ken, he had no problem telling me

exactly what he told investigators.

Ken said his role was to be a lookout

and that Marge came to his house shortly before noon on August 28th, 2003.

[Barnes] She picked me up. I said, "What's going on?" She said, "Today's the day.

Of the bank robbery." I goes: "Oh."

Jim was supposed to drive the getaway car.

I said, "Where's Jim?" She goes, "He's in bed. I think he's sick with flu."

And we went up to, um, like I said, to the Shell station,

Bill came down and made the pizza call.

We went from there up to his house.

And, uh, so, we was up there at the tower site.

With Rothstein, waiting, while Brian came up.

Brian delivered the pizza. He got out of the car.

And Bill's car was in front of her car.

And so he put it up on the hood. Or on the, uh, trunk, rather.

And, uh, Brian was standing there waiting to get paid for the pizza.

Marge and me and Rothstein were eating pizza

when Stockton brought the bomb out from the back of the building.

I don't know, probably within three feet of Brian.

And Brian, at that point, looked like he was terrified.

Like he knew there was something wrong. And started to run.

I walked up to him and said, "Quit being a puss,"

and I smacked him one.

And that's when Rothstein pulled out the gun, shot in the air,

and told him he wasn't going anywhere.

Margie and Rothstein grabbed ahold of him, tackled him down.

And, uh, they were holding him, and Marge and, uh, Stockton put the bomb on him.

And he says, "I don't wanna do this! I don't wanna do this!"

And, uh, I don't know if he thought it was real or if he thought it was fake

or what the situation was.

The T-shirt, Margie put that on him to cover up the bomb.

Somebody gave him the note and says

he was supposed to hand it in to get $250,000.

She said, "If you happen to get caught,"

she said, "Tell them some black guys held you down, put the bomb on you."

She said, "That way it won't bring any heat to us."

They gave him a shotgun. Said, "If you have trouble, use this."

We went from there back out and up to the parking lot of Eat'n Park,

which was across the street and over the hill from the bank.

[Clark] Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and Ken Barnes sat in a vehicle and observed

the bank being robbed through binoculars. They took turns passing the binoculars.

[Barnes] What we needed them for

was to see down into the front part of the bank.

And as she was looking down in there, she goes,

"Ha-ha-ha! Looks like somebody just robbed a bank!"

I said, "Let me see." And at that point the cops were coming in,

and, uh, I said, "Let's get the hell out of here."

[Clark] From there, they drive south on Peach Street

to the Rothstein residence,

where they meet up with Bill Rothstein,

switch vehicles,

and that's when Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong gets back on the highway.

I-79, going in the wrong direction.

We believe going back to the McKean Township sign,

looking for that last site.

[Barnes] Later on that day when I was at home watching the TV,

I felt bad because it wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to be fake.

As far as I knew, or he knew, or anybody else knew,

it wasn't supposed to be real.

But between Marge and Rothstein, they ended up making it real.

[Borzillieri] Now that investigators had Ken's confession,

they were headed up to a Washington State prison

to confront Floyd Stockton, Bill Rothstein's roommate.

The guy Ken claimed helped lock the bomb around Brian Wells' neck.

Stockton, this is video of him from a police interview

during the frozen body case, knew he was cornered.

But his attorney got him an amazing deal,

immunity in exchange for testifying against Marjorie.

Floyd Stockton had been keeping secrets, too.

He did mention he may have, at Mr. Rothstein's request, asked him

to help make a couple of the pieces for the collar, but it didn't work out.

He didn't do them properly, and Mr. Rothstein took over.

We actually did a reenactment at the scene with Floyd Stockton.

[Clark] He said Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong was there.

And he was ordered by Mr. Rothstein...

to place the device around the neck of Brian Wells.

[Wick] When he described approaching Brian with the device,

he said he could see the fear in his eyes, and, uh--

And he became a little upset

regarding what he was about to do.

After he put it on, he wanted to get away from there

as soon as possible and started walking down that tower site location.

And told us he was serpentining because he thought

he was gonna be shot in the back. And he even said, "You know what?

I'm a convicted child abuser.

I could get shot back here and no one would even care."

Floyd Stockton should've been charged. Um, but if you looked at the group...

as a whole and their roles in this crime, um...

we agreed he was less culpable than the others.

[Borzillieri] Stockton and Barnes answered a lot of questions,

but several mysteries remained.

Both said they did not know who built the bomb and the cane gun,

who wrote the notes... or who was the mastermind.

Who put this in motion, who said, "Let's rob a bank for money"?

Who said that first, Marjorie or Bill? We don't know.

[Borzillieri] Stockton and Barnes couldn't tell investigators anything

about the involvement of Brian's coworker, Robert Pinetti,

who died of an apparent overdose after the heist.

Pinetti's role would never be cleared up.

And oddly, while both men claimed Brian Wells was in on the heist,

they couldn't say how or when he was recruited.

They might have been compartmentalized by Rothstein, where he segregated people.

So, Stockton might not have known what Ken Barnes was to do.

But they're all in the conspiracy.

I think the whole plan initially started out,

was... a way for them all to make some money.

But it developed into more than just making money.

It became almost a game to them. A diabolical, maniacal game,

but a game where, "Let's see how we can get away with this crime,

and we're really smarter than everybody else.

We're certainly smarter than law enforcement."

[Greta] Breaking news tonight in the so-called pizza bomber mystery.

Tonight, we may finally have the answer to a 4-year-old mystery.

[man] Officials say they'll file bank robbery and other charges

against this woman, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong.

Authorities will also charge her buddy, Kenneth Barnes, a convicted drug dealer.

The mastermind, prosecutors say, was Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong,

who allegedly recruited Kenneth Barnes to kill her father and wanted to pay him

-with proceeds from the bank robbery. -This is a weird case, is it not?

Larry, this is as bizarre a case as you're going to find.

They hardly write them this way in Hollywood.

[Mobilia] The purpose of the entire pizza bomber plot?

Money. Diehl-Armstrong needed cash to pay Barnes to kill her father.

Bill Rothstein needed the money to settle an estate.

[man] The big question, was Wells a victim or participant?

Today, a stunning announcement.

Prosecutors say he was both.

Our investigation has led to the belief that Brian became involved

in a limited role.

[Larry] Allan, one of the weirder aspects of this,

is it seems that the victim is being blamed.

In part, that is true.

And that is yet another weird aspect of all of this.

And the mother, in fact, and the siblings were at the press conference here today.

They were actually heckling the U.S. attorney.

I've never seen that in all of my reporting.

It may be that his role transitioned from that of the planning stages

to being an unwilling participant in this scheme.

Liar.

-[man] Wouldn't that make him a victim? -[Buchanan] Yes.

-Damn right. -Amen.

No charges will be filed against Brian Wells,

who died when the bomb went off.

Instead, officials say, he'll be listed simply as an unindicted coconspirator.

[man] Just how surprising is it that Brian Wells has been named

as an accomplice in this whole case?

I think a lot of us were surprised.

For the past four years, we have been portraying him as a victim

because we thought he was a victim.

What evidence is there that he was involved?

[Wick] Mr. Wells was at Rothstein's house the day before.

Uh, a witness, who was driving past Mr. Rothstein's house the day before...

Wells actually pulled out of Mr. Rothstein's driveway

leaving the meeting. The witness had to slam on his breaks

to avoid hitting him.

That witness was very strong and identified

Mr. Wells as being the driver

of the vehicle he almost hit leaving that meeting.

We stayed silent for four years.

And now we have prosecutors trying to implicate the murder victim.

When you have a bomb locked to your neck

and the federal authorities chop your head off

to get the bomb off,

there was no way Brian put that on himself.

Nineteen hours after the bomb had gone off,

the federal authorities chopped his head off

to get that collar off. Brian did not put that collar on himself.

I-- I can't imagine that, uh, they're trying to get the public to believe this.

[woman] What about the claims that he met with them the day before?

Uh, they can't prove that. Have you seen evidence?

I have not seen any evidence to suggest he knew these people in any way

other than he might have delivered them a pizza.

[man] Prosecutors were also asked if murder charges will be filed

against anyone for the death of Brian Wells,

or if the coconspirators could face the death penalty.

We were told because Brian Wells was believed to be in on the heist,

those charges cannot be filed.

[Buchanan] Under federal law, under the circumstances of this case,

the death penalty is not available, uh, for the conduct, uh,

included in this federal charge.

[man] John, what's the feeling about no murder charges?

My reaction was I can't believe that, uh, they're gonna try to frame my brother

for his own murder.

[woman] Do we know who built the collar bomb and the cane gun?

Um, we never charged anyone with building the device.

Um, it may be each of the coconspirators played a role

in its design or fabrication, but we don't know the answer.

It's not over yet.

We still have one defendant, uh, who is awaiting trial, Marjorie Diehl.

[Borzillieri] The press conference may have felt like closure for prosecutors,

but for the rest of us,

especially Brian's family, there were too many unanswered questions.

Plus, a lot of us still weren't convinced Brian was in on the heist.

[Bremner] Obviously, that was the crux of the case

as to whether or not Brian Wells was culpable in his own death.

[man] An attorney for Diehl-Armstrong says she will plead not guilty.

I was hopeful Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong would take a plea,

because it would take away

any appeal issues that she might have. And always in trial,

uh, especially in today's day and age with the CSI effect

and everybody loving to see

forensics and DNA and fingerprints, which we didn't have...

um, you always would feel more comfortable taking a plea,

which she discussed with her attorney and, uh, declined.

I'm an innocent woman. I'm not messing around.

They offered me a five-year plea for two years.

Think they'd offer five years

if they thought I was the mastermind? Come on. They never-- By the way,

the feds never said I was the mastermind. I don't know if you know that.

-Wait a minute-- -The media-- The media said it.

I went in and I said to Jerry Clark and Jason Wick and I said,

"Look, tell these media once and for all Stockton took under oath

and said he alone put the bomb on Brian Wells,

and he's free as a bird."

Kenneth Barnes said, "Marjorie was there every day.

Marjorie was trying the bomb on Wells.

Marjorie had planning meetings of robbing the bank."

He says he's not getting anything for his testimony against me.

Just getting right with God.

Few months later, he gets 23 years taken off his sentence.

Does that sound like a motive to lie to you?

I hope the rotten son of a bitch dies in prison, that's what I hope.

[Borzillieri] Once the spotlight...

came onto Marge, she became-- She was more erratic with her letters.

They went from, you know, normal margins into stuff all over the page.

Marge was anxious to get to trial and convince a jury she was being framed.

First she needed to be declared mentally competent.

The judge consulted experts to see if Marge could assist in her own defense.

Several doctors determined she was too unstable.

A lawyer who defended Marge the first time she killed a boyfriend

in 1984, was asked what it was like to represent her.

As I think back about defending her...

uh, she was my punishment on Earth.

[inaudible dialogue]

She talked about one thing and then talked about birds,

or God knows what.

Or horoscopes.

She had to brush her teeth 32 times a day.

Not 31, not 33.

It's just amazing to me, four times I had her committed,

and four times the mental health system found her to be competent.

It was like Jonah being swallowed by the whale.

She stayed in the belly for a period of days,

the whale opened its mouth,

the mental health system, boom, out she came.

We shouldn't talk about a collar bomber.

We shouldn't be talking about FBI agents and ATF agents.

She should have been confined. She was sick, she was disturbed,

and anybody that was around her knew that.

You have to deal with the disease. If you have a disease that won't get better

and your thinking is way off, why jeopardize society

by putting the person on trial, run the risk? They'll be acquitted.

[Borzillieri] It took months of medication and psychiatric treatment,

but eventually, the judge actually declared Marjorie competent

and set a date for what was now being called "Erie's Trial of the Century."

Marge said she was thrilled to get her day in court.

And she said she had more good news.

Apparently Stockton, who had been given immunity to testify against her,

was not going to be at trial.

He needed heart surgery.

That meant one less person to link Marge to the bank heist.

[Marjorie] So, you know, it's fantastic.

Now we don't have Stockton, so hopefully...

-[Borzillieri] You must feel-- -Yeah.

[Borzillieri] You must feel really invigorated by that.

[Marjorie] I am. I think it is a sign from God.

It seems like everybody that's involved with this

either gets sick or dies or...

Did you notice?

[Borzillieri] Marge asked if I'd come to her trial. She wanted support.

I left New York, drove to Erie...

walked into the courtroom that first day, sat down.

Marge turned around, saw I was sitting behind the prosecution

and blurted out, "Hey, Trey, what are you doing over there?

You're on the wrong side. Get over here."

I moved.

[Kevin-John] I think she's taken a shine to you. Yeah.

I think-- I think that was very interesting.

I'm very familiar with the case.

Um, I was here seven years ago when the incident happened.

I've been familiar with the case all the way

and have seen her on camera.

To see her in person and, you know,

she has those dark eyes that kind of look right through you.

I have to admit that, uh, a little bit of a chill ran through my blood.

[Borzillieri] Over the next several days, witnesses who'd seen Marjorie

at various heist locations took the stand.

As did the inmates who said Marge confessed behind bars.

One testified Marjorie admitted the coconspirators were afraid

of the death penalty and would watch each other's backs.

[Clark] Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong's behavior during trial

was so interesting to watch,

because she would act out at certain points,

but knew just how far to go before

she knew she would be admonished by the judge.

After the jury would be taken on a break, the judge would be off of the bench,

and it would just be her at her table, prosecution and myself at our table,

and she would turn the chair around, swivel the chair,

and begin talking to people in the crowd.

[Borzillieri] Midway through the trial, Jessica Hoopsick,

Brian Wells' favorite prostitute, took the stand.

I was on the edge of my seat, because I'd read in federal documents

that Jessica might have some inside knowledge about the heist.

But she was nervous when she answered questions.

Jessica did testify that one night while she was on Barnes' front porch,

she overheard a conversation about a bank robbery, and a woman was there.

But she didn't know who.

I noticed Jessica never once looked at Marjorie in court.

So, when Jessica left, I ran after her,

asked if she would do an interview for this film. She said yes.

We made plans to meet, six o'clock down by the Erie lakefront tower.

I waited anxiously.

An hour went by.

Jessica never showed up.

[Mobilia] I think the jurors, for the first time,

got to see her as a human

rather than this alleged criminal on trial

that has allegedly committed all these crimes.

When she broke down into tears talking about her childhood

and how abusive it was, um, I think that most of the jurors sympathized with her.

[Treanor] Going into testimony with the evidence against her,

I thought it'd take a miracle to find her not guilty.

Now you think she'd made headway with the jury.

[Mobilia] With the first couple government witnesses,

I really thought she was toast. Now I think that her testimony

is, uh, actually helping her.

When we all thought that it would hurt her.

[Kevin-John] Early in the case,

I wanted to bring out the, um-- For lack of a better word, the animal.

I wanted to bring out the villain in my illustrations.

Dark tones, dark eyes, wild hair.

After I see her mingling with you and some of the other people

and being this charming character,

I found myself, today, starting to soften the likeness

that I'm illustrating of her.

[Hickton] Everybody ready?

Okay.

The jury found Ms. Diehl-Armstrong guilty on all counts for her actions...

surrounding the events of August 28th, 2003.

Specifically, the jury found Ms. Diehl-Armstrong guilty

of conspiracy to commit armed bank robbery,

armed bank robbery in which death resulted,

and use of a destructive device

in furtherance of a crime of violence.

The next phase of this case is the sentencing

which is scheduled for February 28th.

After the verdict, Diehl-Armstrong turned to her lawyer, "You didn't do your job."

Then she turned to the gallery and said, "There'll be an appeal.

I can tell you that."

[operator] Thank you for using Evercom. You may start the conversation now.

[Borzillieri] Hi, Marjorie.

Oh, Trey, I am so damn mad.

I am so damn mad at that stupid jury.

So damn mad at that shithead lawyer.

I listen on TV tonight and they're having these--

Dancing on my grave, these bastards on the news.

I really feel shell-shocked about it because there's no truth to it.

I can't see how these people could be in their right minds. And to convict me.

I bought stuff because I thought it was gonna be a party.

Because I was gonna get acquitted and it turned out to be nothing.

[Borzillieri] Before sentencing Marjorie, the judge addressed the courtroom.

"The defendant," he said, "has a long history of mental illness.

But there are people with these conditions who do not solicit to kill their father

or seal a man's fate by strapping a ticking bomb to his neck.

It is worth noting Ms. Armstrong was an excellent student

who graduated 12 out of 413 students in her high school class.

She went on to obtain a bachelor's degree in sociology

as well as a master's degree in education.

All of which begs the question as to what might have been."

Marge stood up, was sentenced to life plus 30.

She was quiet, said nothing as she was taken out of the courtroom.

[sighs]

As children, we could never have imagined this happening.

The utter waste of somebody who was

really a star.

I mean, intellectually and physically. This beautiful woman

with great charisma, musical talent, brains...

love for animals.

You know, and it's just all gone down the tubes. It's extremely sad.

[Borzillieri] After trial, Marge went into a deep depression.

Stayed in her cell, kept insisting she was innocent.

She wrote often about how unfair it was that she was the only one paying a price.

Rothstein died before he was caught.

Floyd Stockton, the guy who put the collar on Brian Wells,

was free after serving time on that rape charge.

He was married now, living in Washington State.

I asked him to do an interview, but he said no.

[woman] Ken, did you do it?

-No? -[Borzillieri] And Ken Barnes?

He actually likes being in prison, because he's finally off drugs.

[Barnes] I-- You know, I was constantly high day after day after day after day.

It was bad, if I'd have still been doing that,

I would've been dead by now.

Me being here and them taking care of me,

there's benefits for me.

And as far as being locked up from society, it doesn't really matter.

The only thing I'm missing is the bars and the drugs

and the whores on the street, you know?

So, I've got my food, my medication, a place to sleep.

There's people in here to talk to. It may be old men,

sill somebody to talk to, you know?

Looking back on it, I think as far as saying what would haunt me

or bother me about the case, um...

The case is closed. Is it solved? Yeah. People were charged for it,

so, it's a cleared case, for what that is.

Do I think the whole story will ever come out? I don't believe so.

The overwhelming, number one unanswered question

for most of us is what exactly was Brian Wells' culpability?

How much did he know?

Was he...? Was he played by these people?

Was he an active participant with these people?

Or was he just, uh, completely duped,

a pizza delivery guy who showed up.

Few of us believe, you know, the initial story

that they called for a pizza and whoever showed up

they'd put this on and say "Go rob a bank."

Few of us believe that's the case.

That fine line of where exactly Brian Wells' culpability lies

is probably something that now we'll never know.

[Marjorie] We're having a big thunderstorm. I'm loving it.

-I love thunderstorms. -[Borzillieri] Really?

And we're having-- Oh, I love them. I always have.

I even love being out in the rain, Trey. It just makes my day.

-All right, have a great day. Take care. -You, too.

Sugar loves you. All right, bye.

Bye.

[Borzillieri] It was now three years after the trial, ten years after the heist.

And I was still talking with Marjorie. My friends and family all wondered why.

The case was closed. People were in prison.

But I couldn't stop thinking about the innocence of Brian Wells

and how no one was charged with his murder.

And I'd been wanting to ask Marge a crucial question

when the time was right, which was now.

All her appeals had been denied. She wouldn't be getting out of prison.

Maybe she would finally tell me the truth.

[Borzillieri on recording] At this point, with all your knowledge on the case,

do you think that Brian Wells was involved at this point?

Well, yes, I do. I don't like to say that, though

-because I don't like to hurt his family. -Gotcha.

-Don't you think he was involved, too? -[Borzillieri] I don't.

-You don't? -No.

[Marjorie] Where do you get the idea he's innocent?

-Where do you get that idea from? -Well, I come from

innocent until proven guilty and I haven't see all the--

[Marjorie] People are telling you, coconspirators tell you he was involved.

That's good enough for me. Just think.

Why do you think Wells was innocent? What in the world makes you think that?

'Cause that is so wrong.

Why? Is your movie gonna say--? Is your movie gonna say that, Trey?

I mean, he was a 46-year-old fuck-up that couldn't even make a living

and he's out here wanting to work

with the crack whores to scoop up big money.

If you don't even believe that, you better get your head out of your ass.

-[Borzillieri] Marge, calm down. -I am sick of Brian Wells!

I didn't know the son of a bitch! I didn't kill the son of a bitch!

He's the fucking reason everybody is doing this to me. That's it.

I'm tired of your bullshit. I don't wanna talk to you.

[line disconnects]

[Borzillieri] It was our first fight. I was wondering if this was it between us.

Marge's reaction stunned me.

Why was she so insistent Brian Wells was in on the heist

if she claimed she had nothing to do with it?

Maybe, as I found out from legal experts,

it was the fact that there is no statute of limitations on filing murder charges.

Which meant the coconspirators could be charged with murder

and face the death penalty if Brian Wells was actually not in on the heist.

-[Borzillieri] Hi, Marge. -[Marjorie] Hello, Trey.

I hope we have a better conversation today.

'Cause I was really hurt. Are you still there?

-Yeah, I'm here. -Understand where I'm coming from?

Marge, I always understood. All this stuff we've talked about.

[Marjorie] Well, then what is it, Trey, that has turned you so...

It really hurts me, especially now when I need friends and support.

I'm mentally ill and I do the best I can.

I'm bipolar. And I do the best I can.

I'm smart.

But I'm not street-smart.

And I'm being framed here and this is the truth.

[Borzillieri] I backed off and just started listening to Marge again,

convinced there was more to the story. And sure enough, several months later,

something happened at the prison Marge was in.

Marge told me that Jessica Hoopsick, Brian's favorite prostitute,

was brought in on a drug charge.

Marge claimed Jessica had been bad-mouthing her,

and she had to have a conversation with her.

I didn't tell Marge this,

but now that I knew where Jessica Hoopsick was,

I wrote Jessica a letter and she got back to me.

Jessica had nothing to say about the bank heist,

but she talked about Brian a lot.

Apparently even though he paid her for sex,

their relationship turned into a friendship.

[operator] This call is from the correctional institution

and is subject to monitoring and recording.

[Hoopsick] Brian became a friend of the family's.

Uh, my mom knew him, my sister knew him.

He took me to the doctor, took me grocery shopping,

my family grocery shopping.

Um... There was definitely special feelings.

I'm not going to say that it was love, but there was definitely special feelings.

He was a good guy. There's only a few of them left in the world.

[Borzillieri] I asked Jessica what happened with Marge in the prison yard,

if they'd really just had a conversation. Jessica said Marge was lying.

[Hoopsick on recording] I went to Muncy. And good old Marjorie Diehl was there.

Soon as she found out I was there she came and found me.

So, I walked over to Marge and she was like,

"You fucking whore" and, "I'm gonna kill you!

I don't care whether we're inside or outside of prison.

I'm gonna find you. I'm gonna send somebody after you."

[Borzillieri] Jessica was vague when I asked her

why exactly Marge was so mad at her.

But we stayed in touch. Apparently news travels fast in prison.

Somehow, Marge found out that I'd been talking with Jessica,

because I got this letter from Marge:

"Dear Trey, are you speaking with Jessica Hoopsick?

Went to visit? Talk on the phone?

I must know the truth about this lying crack whore."

[Borzillieri] I heard-- Listen, I heard that you approached Jessica at the prison.

You and some of your friends.

[Marjorie] I told her to stop lying about me and was gonna take her to court.

-That's what I told her. -And did you guys, like, corner her?

-And try to intimidate her? -[Marjorie] No.

-If she said that, she's a fucking liar. -So, what happened?

[Marjorie] She lied and told me that she had never said anything about me.

I know damn well. She's a fucking liar. Everybody knows she's a fucking liar.

If you're basing your movie on her, I'll tell you it'll be shit.

[Borzillieri] Neither Marge nor Jessica would tell me

what that fight was really about.

Jessica got a restraining order against Marge and moved to a new facility.

Jessica called again.

I told her Marge said she was a liar.

Jessica took a deep breath,

and after a long pause and in a steady, strong voice said:

"Marge thinks she's so smart.

Well, I'm smart, too."

And in that moment, the tables turned.

Jessica asked to do an interview for this documentary.

She had something important to say.

She could meet near a bus stop at night. She was put in a work release program.

And this time, Jessica Hoopsick showed up.

It, um...

hurts me that...

I could do this to somebody who I cared about.

My name is Jessica Hoopsick.

I'm a friend of Brian Wells. I'm ready to tell the real story now.

I want people to know he was innocent.

And that he was a good guy.

[Hoopsick] One day I walked in Ken's house,

and him and a couple of friends were planning on robbing a bank.

He wanted me to find a gofer to rob the bank for him.

He wanted somebody who they could scare into doing this,

that wouldn't run or call the cops.

They said it won't be real.

It was just gonna be a scare tactic to scare him into going to rob the bank.

They offered me $5000.

I was high for about three days and I called Kenny and told him:

"Can you give me some money now if I tell you his name?"

He said, "I can give you some crack now," and I said okay.

I went down there and said, "I know Brian.

And he's, you know, he's a pushover. You could probably use him."

I, um, set it up for the next week to bring Brian over there.

I brought Brian over there.

Then he's seen who Brian was and...

But I didn't introduce them or anything. I took him in, seen him, and took him out.

They asked me for his work schedule.

The next day Marge gave me $1500.

They told me it was gonna be in the second week of August,

but they canceled it because Marge had something to do.

She couldn't be there.

[Borzillieri] What about the pre-robbery meeting the day before?

The one that Barnes and Stockton say that Brian was at?

Um, I was with Brian the day before for a couple hours.

I don't believe that he was there.

I know he was supposed to go to work at 4:00 that night.

And he was with me from 12

until 2:30, which gave him time to go home and get ready.

So, I don't believe he was with them.

I had a lot of remorse for a lot of stuff I did, and a lot of shame and guilt.

I definitely want justice for Brian's memory.

He wasn't out to hurt nobody.

He had no parts in planning. He had no idea what would happen to him.

[Borzillieri] For the next several weeks, I kept Jessica's secret

while I tried to confirm what she told me.

I wrote Ken Barnes again, told him Jessica had confessed.

Ken insisted Jessica was lying.

But the more he talked, the more his story was falling apart.

This was one of the last times he called.

[operator] This call is from a federal prison.

[Barnes] Marge and me and Rothstein were eating pizza.

Brian was standing there waiting to get paid for the pizza...

[Borzillieri] Why would he be waiting to get paid if he was in on the robbery?

[Barnes] Well, because he just delivered the pizza.

You know, he had to pay for the pizza.

[Borzillieri] Didn't he know that was the day of the robbery?

[Barnes] No, that was his surprise. To him, it was a total surprise.

They didn't tell him.

They tricked him into coming there with the pizza.

By calling to tell him they wanted a pizza delivered.

He came out not thinking about what was gonna go on.

Because they hadn't said nothing to him yet.

[Borzillieri] So, you didn't see them? There was no day-before activity?

[Barnes] No. No.

[Borzillieri] So, I was told that when Brian Wells arrived on August 28th,

he arrived and was looking to be paid for the pizzas.

Okay, now, also...

[Marjorie] Who told you that?

-[Borzillieri] Who do you think? -Barnes?

[Borzillieri] Yeah.

[Marjorie] When are you gonna learn that Barnes is making up shit?

Why whitewash Brian Wells? That's what I wanna know.

First of all, he was a coconspirator and when you're a coconspirator

there can't be a death penalty case. And he was a coconspirator.

I don't know why you wanna believe

-these goddamn losers -I think you--

and don't wanna believe me. I was never in their fucking category, period!

I am not some evil genius who is greedy and wanted some guy

that looks retarded to rob a bank for me. I didn't even know this guy.

You're an asshole if you think otherwise.

[Borzillieri] This guy was innocent, you guys wanted to avoid the death penalty.

I know this.

[Marjorie] First of all, you are totally wrong. I am not "you guys."

And if you say otherwise in the movie I will sue your fucking balls off.

I didn't have anything to do with the goddamn crime.

[line disconnects]

[Borzillieri] For the rest of her life, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong insisted

she had nothing to do with the heist.

It is remarkable that Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong,

someone who talks so much,

someone who's often been called Crazy Marge,

has been able to manipulate people and keep secrets.

She knows exactly who wrote those bank hostage notes,

who decided to make the bomb live... and who the mastermind is,

the person ultimately responsible for the death of Brian Wells.

Bill Rothstein knew, too, and he went to his grave protecting Marge.

Long after the trial,

one of Bill's friends gave me a green duffel bag

Bill had taken from his house after he sold it, before he died.

It was filled with his prized possessions. Family photos,

his parents' glasses,

a songbook.

When I looked inside, one of the pages was dog-eared.

It was an old Peter, Paul and Mary tune called, "I Have a Song to Sing,"

about a lonely man with a sad soul who longs for the love of a lady.

[Bremner] Unlike a lot of other people who dated Marge, he never wound up dead.

It's an interesting dynamic. He was sort of

the one guy that she dated that kind of survived that process.

So, I don't know what that means.

If their relationship evolved to the point where they were

friends and business partners

and they were able to do this nefarious stuff together.

They had complementary skills. If she's the brains writing these things,

he was the handyman who could create a cane gun

or could help put together the device that ultimately ended Brian Wells' life.

So, you know, maybe in their minds,

they had complementary skills, or for whatever reason,

he never grew to the point where she distrusted him enough

that she would want to take him out.

He had a thing for her that went beyond just...

boyfriend-girlfriend kind of thing.

It was like somehow she got into his psyche...

and just lived there.

-[dispatcher] Who is she to you, sir? -[Rothstein] Uh...

I helped her do some stuff that I shouldn't do.

She is extremely intelligent. Extremely intelligent.

Manipulates people. Oh, yes!

Oh, yes.

[Borzillieri] There is nothing normal about Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong.

She's mentally ill, but she's also smart and cunning.

Able to get the men in her life,

even the one who said she broke his heart, to do anything for her.

Marjorie was never going to tell the truth.

Which is why questions about FBI major case number 203 will go unanswered,

and why no one has ever been charged with the murder,

the very public execution of Brian Wells.

[officer] Gonna need a radio out here.

[cameraman] This guy's looking right at us.

It's gonna go off.

I'm not lying.