By David Lohr

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(Continued)

"You are to go to PNC bank at Summit Town Centre on Peach St.," said one, in a series of handwritten notes.  "Quietly give the following demand notes to a receptionist or bank manager.  Do not cause alarm.  Get retired money and deliver to a specified location by following notes that you will collect as you race against time.  Each note leads to the next note and key until finished.  You will collect several notes and keys and a combination to remove bomb.  After, police won't charge you because you were a hostage... This powerful, booby-trapped bomb can only be removed by following our instructions... If you delay, disobey or alert anyone, YOU WILL DIE!"

On August 27, 2004, the FBI office in Pittsburgh released a "Collarbomber Profile," which was a collaborative effort of the FBI's Behavioral Analysis and Explosives Unit.  According to the profile, the suspect is a "mechanically inclined" individual who "has probably built a variety of objects over the years with a preference towards projects which are destructive, such as knives, projectile shooters, or other weapons."  The profile also said the perpetrator was deceptive, because he/she "used many exaggerations in the warnings concerning the bomb itself... There were wires that went nowhere and were connected to nothing."

"The FBI urges caution to people who believe they know this offender. He is dangerous. He does not want to be caught and go to jail. He sees people as a liability and he does not trust them. Brian Wells could have known this person, but misjudged his level of dangerousness."

Over the past three years, several persons of interest have been scrutinized by both state and federal agencies.  One of the most publicized suspects is Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, 57, a former Erie school teacher who is currently serving a 7-to- 20-year prison sentence for the murder of her boyfriend, James D. Roden, 45.  Roden's body was found in a freezer in a garage just down the street from where Wells made his last delivery on the day of the robbery.

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See Crime Library Feature Story on the 'Collarbomber'

Contact  David Lohr at           crimewriter74@hughes.net

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