Pa. collar-bomb suspect ruled competent for trial

ERIE, Pa. — A judge says a Pennsylvania woman accused of masterminding a bizarre bank robbery that ended when a bomb strapped around a pizza deliveryman’s neck exploded and killed him is competent to stand trial.

Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong, who’s now 60, has maintained that she’s innocent of the 2003 robbery in which 46-year-old Brian Wells was killed. Wells told police that he’d been forced at gunpoint to wear the collar bomb. It exploded and killed him before police could defuse it.

U.S. District Judge Sean McLaughlin had ruled a year ago that Diehl-Armstrong was incompetent to stand trial due to mental illness. But the judge ruled Tuesday that she had recovered to the point that she could understand the charges against her and assist a lawyer in her defense.

Information from: Erie Times-News, www.goerie.com