Deliberations to resume in collar-bomb robbery

Associated Press

ERIE, Pa.

Jurors will resume deliberations today in the case of a woman charged with plotting to force a pizza delivery driver to rob a bank wearing a metal bomb collar that exploded shortly after the August 2003 heist.

The Erie panel heard closing arguments Thursday and deliberated all day Friday without reaching a verdict in the armed bank robbery and other charges against 61-year-old Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong.

The defense argues that she is being framed and also says her mental disorders make it unlikely that she could focus on such a plot.

Prosecutors say two men were also involved in the plot that led to the death of Brian Wells. One has since died of cancer.

The other, 57-year-old Kenneth Barnes, pleaded guilty and is serving 45 years in prison. He testified that Diehl-Armstrong was heavily involved in the scheme.

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