Jul 13, 2007 9:08 am US/Eastern
Arraignment Delayed For Collar Bomb 'Mastermind'
ERIE (KDKA) ―
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Investigators say Majorie Diehl-Armstrong wanted to use money from a bank robbery to hire a hit man to kill her father
A court appearance is delayed for the woman whom federal investigators have called the mastermind behind a 2003 Erie bank robbery and collar bomb case that killed a pizza delivery man.
Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, 58, was supposed to face arraignment today for her role in the plot that left Brian Wells dead; but the hearing has been postponed until Tuesday morning.
Diehl-Armstrong is expected to plead "not guilty" for her role in the plot that left Brian Wells dead.
Shortly after robbing a PNC bank with a bomb around his neck, Wells died when the device detonated.
During a news conference this week, US Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said Wells was actually involved in the plan. "We do know, unfortunately, that Brian participated in a limited role in the planning and carrying out of this robbery," Buchanan told reporters Tuesday.
Federal investigators say Diehl-Armstrong and another man, Kenneth Barnes, came up with notes to make it appear as though Wells was a hostage.
Prosecutors say Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong masterminded the plan because she wanted the money to hire a hit man to kill her father.
Harold Diehl told KDKA he wasn't surprised by that news. "She was thinking of killing me and that's what I heard years ago and she did a lot of thinking and most of it didn't amount to nothing so I figured that didn't amount to nothing either."
Diehl, 88, said his daughter was an excellent student but something went terribly wrong. "Things don't stay wonderful and I don't know where she went wrong or whatever happened," he added.
"She wasn't in a normal mind," Diehl said. "Mentally, she's probably a little sick in the head."
Diehl-Armstrong is already serving time for killing her boyfriend around the time of the bank robbery plot. Officials investigating the collar bomb case found his body in the freezer of a home near the TV tower where Wells made his final pizza delivery.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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