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🇰🇷 South Korea /Crime & Justice

Netflix documentary 'Evil Genius' revisits bizarre 2003 pizza delivery bomb plot

From Hankyoreh · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

In-depth Named sources Context piece
  • The Netflix documentary 'Evil Genius' examines the 2003 case of Brian Wells, a pizza deliveryman killed by a bomb during a bank robbery.
  • The investigation revealed a complex plot involving Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, who hired a hitman to kill her father and used Wells in the bank robbery to fund the murder.
  • The documentary highlights the bizarre nature of the crime, the flawed investigation, and the psychological complexities of the individuals involved.

The 2003 case of Brian Wells, a pizza deliveryman tragically killed by a bomb locked around his neck, is brought to light in the Netflix documentary 'Evil Genius.' The bizarre incident began when Wells was sent to deliver pizzas to a remote broadcast tower, only to be confronted by armed individuals who placed a collar bomb on him and forced him to rob a bank. Despite his compliance, the bomb detonated at 3:18 p.m. while he was being broadcast live, killing him minutes before bomb disposal experts arrived.

Initially shrouded in mystery, the investigation eventually pointed towards Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong. She was arrested weeks later for shooting her boyfriend, Jim Roden, and hiding his body at the home of her ex-boyfriend, Bill Rothstein, who had allegedly built the bomb for Wells's neck. Rothstein vehemently denied any involvement in the Wells incident, but investigators remained suspicious of both him and Diehl-Armstrong.

We have no relation to the Wells case.

— Bill RothsteinBill Rothstein's strong denial of involvement in the Brian Wells case.

Diehl-Armstrong, who was serving a life sentence, boasted to fellow inmates about her knowledge of the Wells case. The investigation gained further traction in 2005 when a drug dealer named Ken Barnes confessed to being hired by Diehl-Armstrong to kill her father. Barnes revealed that Diehl-Armstrong had orchestrated the bank robbery using Wells to obtain the money for the hit.

Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, described as a prodigy who earned a master's degree and played in an orchestra, had a history of mental health issues. She had previously been acquitted of murder in 1984, claiming self-defense, and her husband died in a fall in 1992. As her father began distributing his assets to neighbors and charities, Diehl-Armstrong, believing she was being deprived of her inheritance, plotted his murder. The documentary 'Evil Genius' meticulously reconstructs this complex and disturbing narrative, exploring the intricate motivations and psychological depths of those involved in the "evil genius" plot.

I was going to get my inheritance from my father. He was spending my inheritance.

— Marjorie Diehl-ArmstrongMarjorie Diehl-Armstrong's alleged motive for plotting her father's murder.
About this summary

Originally published by Hankyoreh in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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