Defending the “Evil Genius”: A Discussion with Leonard Ambrose, and his Representation of Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong
Episode description
It was a pleasure to welcome Leonard Ambrose to the JustPod to discuss his representation of the notorious defendant Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong. Ambrose obtained an acquittal of Armstrong after she shot her boyfriend six times as he lay on a couch in 1984. But Armstrong is possibly more well known for her eventual murder conviction in the bizarre Pizza Bomber case in Erie, Pennsylvania—the subject of the Netflix series “Evil Genius.” That case arose from the August 28, 2003 robbery of a bank in Erie Township by Brian Wells, a pizza delivery man. What made the robbery so unusual, and so macabre, was the locked collar around Mr. Wells’ neck when he entered the bank. The collar contained a ticking time bomb that, after a standoff with Pennsylvania law enforcement, exploded, resulting in Mr. Wells’ death. Armstrong was sentenced to life imprisonment, plus 30 years, and died in prison in 2017 of natural causes—unlike her victims.