Dr. Jerry Clark, who was the lead FBI investigator in the Brian Wells’ “pizza bomber” case spoke to a packed room in the Findley Lake Community Center on July 14. Photos by David Prenatt

FINDLEY LAKE — Details of the “pizza bomber” bank robbery incident that happened in Erie, Pa., in 2003 are known worldwide.

However, few know the shocking final details, Dr. Jerry Clark, who was the lead FBI investigator, said in a presentation sponsored by Community Connections at Findley Lake recently.

Clark, retired from the FBI and who now teaches at Gannon University, has written four books, two of which are related to the robbery. He has lectured around the world about it and has been featured on several TV programs, including Dateline and CSI. He was also interviewed for the Netflix four-part series, “Evil Genius.”

The episode began Aug. 28, 2003, when Brian Wells, a delivery person for Mama Mia’s Pizza, entered the PNC Bank on Peach Street in Erie, Pa., and handed the teller a note. The note informed the bank employee that Wells wanted $250,000 and that he had a bomb around his neck.

Wells left the bank with only $8,270, Clark said. He then went to the adjacent McDonalds where he retrieved a set of instructions from a flower bed. After that, he drove 300 yards to the Eye Glass World where he was apprehended by police.

Wells told police officers about the bomb. The bomb squad was called and was putting on their gear when the bomb exploded, killing Wells instantly.

“At 3:18, we heard a slight beep, beep, beep, and then, ‘Bang,’ off it goes. We’ve never had a bomb detonate; it was horrific,” Clark said.

As the investigation progressed over a two-year period, details of the incident turned more bizarre, Clark said. Within three weeks, two more people involved in the bank robbery were murdered, he added.

The case was designated FBI Major Case No. 203 — one of only a select number of major cases in the FBI’s history, Clark said. Other major cases include that of Timothy McVeigh, the Olympic bomber and the Pentagon bombing. Clark said daily updates were sent directly to the FBI director’s desk.

“We did not know what we had. We had never seen it before,” Clark said.

The case took another twist when, three days after the bombing event, Robert Panetti, the other delivery person at Mama Mia’s Pizza where Wells worked, was found dead of an overdose.

Three weeks later, Clark received a call from a man by the name of William Rothstein who said there was a dead body in his freezer. Rothstein’s house bordered the “tower site” where Wells had gone to deliver two pizzas just before the bank robbery, he said.

Rothstein told the FBI that a woman, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, had killed her boyfriend, James Roden, and he was helping her dispose of the evidence, Clark said.

“We had three dead people in three weeks. … My job was to figure out how they were related,” he said.

Rothstein was extremely arrogant and thought he could outwit law enforcement, Clark said. By pretending to need help figuring out the Wells case and presenting him with hypothetical questions, Clark said he tricked Rothstein into revealing singular knowledge that he could not have known without being involved from the beginning.

Diehl-Armstrong was arrested for the murder of Roden, but was declared mentally incompetent. Clark was not able to interview Diehl-Armstrong until 2005 when she was finally declared competent again, he said.

Clark interviewed Diehl-Armstrong nine times. At the end of the first interview, Diehl-Armstrong brought up the name Ken Barnes, Clark said.

When all the pieces fell into place, Clark said, the bank robbery was planned simply so Diehl-Armstrong could obtain $250,000 to pay Barnes to kill her father so she could inherit more than $2 million.

“The whole crux of this case was to rob the PNC bank to get the money to pay Ken Barnes to kill Marjorie’s father,” he said.

Barnes was indicted in 2007. He pleaded guilty, and in 2008, he testified against Diehl-Armstrong. She was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2011, Clark said. She died in prison on April 4, 2017.

Clark said he is still amazed that this case fascinates people worldwide, even to this day.

“I never forget that three people died in a horrific way,” Clark said. “You can never forget the victims.”