Random True Story Of A Pizza Delivery Guy, A Bomb Collar, And A Bank Robbery (14 items)

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  (#11) Authorities Believe That William Rothstein Planned The Whole Thing

  William Rothstein passed of lymphoma back in 2004, not long after the CBH took place. He left behind a lot of unanswered questions, and authorities believe he was the person who engineered the entire plan and that the other players were simply his pawns. Rothstein is the one who built the device, and he had a connection to Diehl-Armstong since they had dated in the past.

  Rothstein also had a fairly long rap sheet, and the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit believed that the money gained from the holdup was never the motive. Instead, Rothstein wanted to create a unique puzzle of a case, which he certainly did. 
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  (#2) He Worked As A Pizza Deliveryman For Nearly 30 Years

  After dropping out of high school, Wells spent much of his adult life delivering pizzas. In fact, he did it for nearly 30 years. He had been working for Mama Mia Pizza-Ria for the last 10 years in Erie, PA, prior to the incident. His co-workers and bosses described him as a reliable, hardworking employee, which made what came next even more baffling.

  Around 1:30 PM on August 28, 2003, he delivered an order to a phony address that turned out to be a TV transmission tower. There, the device was placed around his neck and he received his instructions. Later on, police went to the address and combed the scene, finding Wells's footprints and the tire tracks from his car, but little else. 
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  (#4) The Device Was Professionally Made, But Consisted Of A Number Of Different Objects

  Police investigators and experts examined the collar device after the incident and came to the conclusion that it was professionally made. The device was on the clasp of the collar, which meant that it would detonate with any attempt to remove it. There were also fake wires attached, designed to confuse anyone trying to disarm it.

  Several kitchen items were also part of the design, as well as a countdown timer. Essentially, it was two incendiary pipes connected by a bunch of extemporaneous pieces and attached to a collar. 
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  (#10) Diehl-Armstrong's Boyfriend Was Found Hidden In A Freezer

  In a weird twist, the body of James Roden, Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong's boyfriend, was found contained in a freezer at a house occupied by William Rothstein and Floyd Stockton. What does this have to do with the volatile situation? Well, Diehl-Armstrong reportedly killed Roden because he knew too much about the conspiracy.

  Diehl-Armstrong also once dated Rothstein, who was described as a loner and criminal. So, it's plausible that Rothstein would hide Roden's body for her. It's also possible that Diehl-Armstrong didn't want to share her inheritance with Roden once her father had been taken care of. 
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  (#13) '30 Minutes Or Less' Reminded Moviegoers Of 'The Pizza Bomber,' But Filmmakers Said It Was Pure Coincidence

  Although 2011's comedy feature about "[a] pizza deliveryman forced to [holdup] a bank while wearing a bomb on his chest" - according to US Weekly's synopsis - shares striking similarities with the true-life story of the CBH, filmmakers claimed their story had no connection with the real-life incident or Brian Wells's 2003 passing. 

  Wells's family was reportedly not happy by the film's trivial and comedic portrayal of such a sobering event, but producers insisted they hadn't even heard of the IRL tragedy before the film went into production and may have been "only vaguely familiar" with the story. The stars of the show - including Aziz Ansari, Jesse Eisenberg, and Nick Swardson - also maintained there was no connection.
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  (#7) The Police Didn't Believe That The Device Was Real Until It Went Off

  When Wells was apprehended, he told police that he had an explosive affixed to his neck and it was timed to go off. They didn't seem to believe him, even after he asked why they weren't trying to remove it. According to the authorities, they didn't think it was real because Wells wasn't acting panicky or agitated.

  Instead, he was fairly calm, which they took to signify the device was fake and he was involved in the plot. He calm and cognizant enough to ask, "Why is it nobody's trying to come get this thing off me? I don't have a lot of time." Wells even went so far as to acknowledge the skepticism, saying, "It's gonna go off. I'm not lying. Did you call my boss?" Any doubts the authorities may have had flew out the window when the collar started beeping, however, and the device detonated, ending Wells's life. 

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