Companion Episode: Evil Genius
A hank heist scavenger hunt mixed with a frozen murdered ex, a couple of hoarders, a drug dealer, and a manipulative puppet master make up the cast of the true crime Netflix docuseries, Evil Genius: The True Story of America's Most Diabolical Bank Heist.
The Ladies of Scarlet tackle the story of Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong and her band of Merry Men as they cover-up murders, make a game of a bank robbery, and turn a common town into the epicenter of small town crime.
Transcript
alright.
Brittney Sherman:I'm um I'm a little flustered.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Uh,
Brittney Sherman:I know it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to you
Brittney Sherman:guys right now because we don't necessarily release our episodes in
Brittney Sherman:the order in which we record them.
Brittney Sherman:But I was just thrown for a little bit of a loop from our last recording.
Brittney Sherman:So I got to kind of get back in the zone here.
Brittney Sherman:Uh, Sanya kinda messed with my head a little.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Okay, well, this will definitely get you back in the
Sonia Meza-Leon:zone because what we're going to be talking about next, Brittany is I
Sonia Meza-Leon:think one of our favorite, docu-series
Brittney Sherman:not my favorite, but,
Sonia Meza-Leon:um, it's perplexing.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Oh,
Brittney Sherman:yeah.
Brittney Sherman:That's for sure.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah.
Sonia Meza-Leon:It's um, I mean, I, I felt a little strange at the end of it, but let's,
Sonia Meza-Leon:uh, let's start at the beginning.
Sonia Meza-Leon:What are we talking about?
Sonia Meza-Leon:Ready?
Brittney Sherman:We are talking about the Netflix docu-series
Brittney Sherman:by the Duplass brothers and
Sonia Meza-Leon:I love them.
Brittney Sherman:I'm calling them out specifically because
Brittney Sherman:they are, they are awesome.
Brittney Sherman:They make some really great shows and movies.
Brittney Sherman:Called evil genius.
Brittney Sherman:Um, and this was, this was a show that came out in, I don't
Brittney Sherman:know, 17, 18, maybe 2018.
Brittney Sherman:Okay.
Brittney Sherman:So it's a lot of new one.
Brittney Sherman:Um, but it's, it's really interesting.
Brittney Sherman:Quick little, uh, Very high level, what the series seems like it's about and what
Brittney Sherman:it's actually about are very different.
Brittney Sherman:It seems like it's about the, was it 2004, three, 2003, 2003 bank
Brittney Sherman:robbery slash bombing that a hostage bombing, single person hostage, uh,
Brittney Sherman:that I remember vaguely happened.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And I don't remember that happening.
Brittney Sherman:Yeah, I remember vaguely and you, my listeners might remember it.
Brittney Sherman:It was the guy who was, uh, had a bomb strapped to his chest.
Brittney Sherman:He had just robbed a bank.
Brittney Sherman:And, um, there, I mean kind of like the iconic scenes of him are on the asphalt
Brittney Sherman:between two squad cars, handcuffed saying he's got a bomb and it's going to explore.
Brittney Sherman:And ultimately explodes.
Brittney Sherman:So the documentary starts out seemingly like it's going to be about that event,
Brittney Sherman:but it's totally not about that at all.
Brittney Sherman:I mean, it is, but not really.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So the docu-series is called evil genius.
Sonia Meza-Leon:The true story of America's most diabolical bank.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And even there, Brittany, like, to your point, it's not what you think, but I'm
Sonia Meza-Leon:not even sure the name is accurate because I worry I'm like, how diabolical was it?
Sonia Meza-Leon:So this was a true story.
Sonia Meza-Leon:This really happened.
Sonia Meza-Leon:But really to your point, you know, So much bigger and so much smaller at the
Sonia Meza-Leon:same time, you know, like it's like, it was such a white wine, you know, like
Sonia Meza-Leon:totally stupid, but, you know, I mean, Hey, it was a windy road to get there.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I will say that.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So this docu series centers around.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Weird cast of characters.
Sonia Meza-Leon:The first of course is the poor dude who got blown up Brian Wells.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And, um, you know, he, this is in Erie, Pennsylvania, so he was a guy,
Sonia Meza-Leon:you know, he's a pizza delivery guy.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Um, he, I mean, he, like Brittany said, you know, he's, we see that we have
Sonia Meza-Leon:a lot of footage of this guy because we know that he goes into a bank.
Sonia Meza-Leon:We know that he has a bomb strapped to his chest because
Sonia Meza-Leon:it's pretty obvious there's a.
Sonia Meza-Leon:On over the bond, but it's huge and it's a color, it's a color bomb.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So essentially it's a collar around his neck that he can't get off.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And by the way, he also has a gun that's in the shape of a king.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So he, how pray, tell did this gentleman get like, this is what you're probably
Sonia Meza-Leon:asking, but we'll tell you about that.
Sonia Meza-Leon:He goes into the bank.
Sonia Meza-Leon:He demands money.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I think they give them some money.
Brittney Sherman:Yeah, I think they do.
Brittney Sherman:And I, he, he was sent into the bank with this like long, almost like
Brittney Sherman:manifesto that long and short of it was give me $250,000 or I'm going to
Brittney Sherman:blow up this bomb attached to my chest.
Brittney Sherman:So I don't know what they actually give him, but they give him something.
Brittney Sherman:I mean, I've always heard that banks are insured.
Brittney Sherman:So in those situations they're essentially told, just do it.
Brittney Sherman:Don't cause a panic there's that probably that like explosive dye stuff in there.
Brittney Sherman:Anyway, the bank is insured.
Brittney Sherman:The police will be called instantly.
Brittney Sherman:So he goes in, he gives the note, he gets the money you walks out and
Brittney Sherman:pretty much police swarm instantly.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So was weird about it.
Sonia Meza-Leon:You would say to yourself when you see the footage of this dude, that
Sonia Meza-Leon:he doesn't look to be under any real stress entering in, he's got his cane.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Um, it would appear that.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Somehow or another, you know, it maybe knows that either the bomb's
Sonia Meza-Leon:not real or he's, he doesn't, doesn't appear to think that he's in any
Sonia Meza-Leon:danger, I guess is what I'll say.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Right.
Sonia Meza-Leon:He strolls in, he strolls out, he goes out to his car and the police swarm him.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I think he's sitting down in front of his car on the, uh, there's a
Sonia Meza-Leon:lot of footage of this, by the way.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah.
Sonia Meza-Leon:It's like what?
Sonia Meza-Leon:And then, uh, of course he's sitting there.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah.
Sonia Meza-Leon:What starts happening, you know, they put, I think, I don't know if they have
Sonia Meza-Leon:handcuffs on and he's sitting on the ground, he's sitting on the ground.
Sonia Meza-Leon:The police have no freaking idea what to do.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Cause they're terrified.
Sonia Meza-Leon:They're like, well, we know the guy's got a bomb somewhere and
Sonia Meza-Leon:we don't want to go up there.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Isn't real.
Sonia Meza-Leon:The guy doesn't seem to be acting like it's real.
Sonia Meza-Leon:He doesn't seem to be in under any.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Except when it starts ticking.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And then he's like, I think this thing's going to go off.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And this is when you kind of see the shift in him and it's like, oh shit.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Even.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So though
Brittney Sherman:there's, there is somewhat of a shift in him, but it's
Brittney Sherman:still less of a shift than I would expect for someone who's about to be blown up
Brittney Sherman:because he's like, Hey guys, no real.
Brittney Sherman:It's going to explode as opposed to like, holy shit.
Brittney Sherman:Oh my God, I'm going to die.
Brittney Sherman:Get me outta here.
Brittney Sherman:Like, there's not panic.
Brittney Sherman:It's just, this is serious.
Brittney Sherman:Come on.
Brittney Sherman:You know, let's hurry this up.
Brittney Sherman:Let's let's move this along
Sonia Meza-Leon:that.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Well, exactly.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And let's remember that because.
Sonia Meza-Leon:There's conversations later about whether this gentleman, you
Sonia Meza-Leon:know, participated in this crime.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And I think that's a real tell that I do feel like you, Brittany that up
Sonia Meza-Leon:into the minute where he got blown up.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I don't think he thought that he was going to get blown up.
Brittney Sherman:No, we'll, uh, we'll talk about that towards the end, because
Brittney Sherman:that's how I kind of felt, but then.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I don't know either.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So let's go with a cast of characters because we've got the initial incident.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So let's talk a little bit of a mom, more of this, this
Sonia Meza-Leon:guy, he gets blown up he's um,
Brittney Sherman:and by the way,
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah, it's crazy.
Sonia Meza-Leon:He falls over the police are like, what do we do?
Sonia Meza-Leon:You know, is he going to blow up again or do we walk up to them?
Sonia Meza-Leon:Right.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I mean, how do we know if he's alive?
Sonia Meza-Leon:Do we help him?
Sonia Meza-Leon:Is he the victim or is he a criminal?
Sonia Meza-Leon:Like didn't even know.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I think they figured out after a while by the look on his face, I'm
Sonia Meza-Leon:sure that he's no longer alive and.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Here's where I was like, whoa, that's crazy and weird.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So he's got a collar bomb on.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Right.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And so they, and rightly, so these police are very concerned that
Sonia Meza-Leon:this thing might blow up again.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And if they take it off of him or try to manipulate the bomb
Sonia Meza-Leon:in any way, it could explode.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So they're scared.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Right?
Sonia Meza-Leon:So they cut his head off to get the ball.
Sonia Meza-Leon:On the, on the sidewalk essentially.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah, right there, right there in the middle of shenanigans.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Just everybody.
Brittney Sherman:Yeah.
Brittney Sherman:Yeah.
Brittney Sherman:So, but also it's the, the cut is, I think they tried to remove
Brittney Sherman:the collar because the, the, the.
Brittney Sherman:Big backstory of this is, it was actually kind of a game
Brittney Sherman:where he had this collar on.
Brittney Sherman:He was going to, he, he robbed the bank and then he was being sent on
Brittney Sherman:a scavenger hunt of other places.
Brittney Sherman:And he was going to get information that was going to lead him to the
Brittney Sherman:keys so he could let himself out of the collar and it turned, and
Brittney Sherman:there were four like locks on the.
Brittney Sherman:Only two of them were even capable of being unlocked.
Brittney Sherman:So two of them were like, just decoys anyway.
Brittney Sherman:So part of that is what messed up with the officers too, is that
Brittney Sherman:they didn't know if there was even really a way to get that collar off.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And, and try not to move the guy.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And I hate rightly so.
Sonia Meza-Leon:You know, I don't really blame them and I think.
Sonia Meza-Leon:The family was pissed off, but it's an unusual circumstance.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And I think the police had to do what they had to do to
Sonia Meza-Leon:make sure that they were safe.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Now we, we move along again.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Brittany's point we find paperwork in the car, um, uh, Brian Wells, and
Sonia Meza-Leon:we know that there's a bomb and it's pretty easy to dissect the pieces,
Sonia Meza-Leon:the flew everywhere and understand and potentially figure out who made the bomb.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So that happens, right?
Sonia Meza-Leon:That's on the news.
Sonia Meza-Leon:That's known as the pizza bomber, so on.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And so.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Parallel to that.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Right?
Sonia Meza-Leon:We've got another case where we've got a gentleman named bill Rothstein, call the
Sonia Meza-Leon:police and say, Hey, I need to tell you that I got a dead body in my freezer and
Sonia Meza-Leon:this crazy woman, Marjorie deal Armstrong, who was my, or is my ex-girlfriend or not.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Maybe she's my girlfriend who knows.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I'm not really sure.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I'm not sure.
Sonia Meza-Leon:But she's with me and she made me put the body in the freezer and,
Sonia Meza-Leon:um, you know, I've been stalling for time because I know it's wrong.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And the way I've been selling for crime is time, time as I've been going
Sonia Meza-Leon:around, pretending like I'm buying meat, grinders, and other ways to do this body,
Sonia Meza-Leon:but let's be sure we freeze it for now.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Um, and so this is where it gets weird, man, the police.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Go over to bill Rothstein.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So the person who's talks about again, Marjorie deal Armstrong.
Sonia Meza-Leon:We'll talk about her in a minute.
Sonia Meza-Leon:The police go over to his house and he shows them around, gives
Sonia Meza-Leon:them a tour, including the tour of the freezer with the dead body.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So Brittany, who is in the freezer, would you like to share.
Brittney Sherman:Uh, so I have to admit, I have a little bit of a confession
Brittney Sherman:to make, uh, this is the, this is the second time I've watched this series.
Brittney Sherman:And the end of episode one is when bill calls the police, the start-up
Brittney Sherman:of episode two is when he starts showing the police around his place.
Brittney Sherman:I fell asleep watching episode two, the second time.
Brittney Sherman:And watch it all the way through the first time I fell asleep the second
Brittney Sherman:time, um, the, the victim, the body at this point is Marjorie deal.
Brittney Sherman:Armstrong's another one of her ex-boyfriends.
Brittney Sherman:He was, he was her former boyfriend at the time.
Brittney Sherman:His last name is roadblock and tell you why you remember his
Brittney Sherman:last name, but what's his first.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Jeez, this gentleman's name and if they had been dating
Sonia Meza-Leon:apparently for quite a while.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So when we talk about Marjorie a little bit, well, first of all, go,
Sonia Meza-Leon:can he stay with her for 10 years, but a changed route and was his name.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And he was folded up like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and put into
Sonia Meza-Leon:the freezer and kept there for a while.
Sonia Meza-Leon:While bill was, I guess, just trying to figure out what to do with
Brittney Sherman:Marjorie and.
Brittney Sherman:Uh, so, okay.
Brittney Sherman:This is a total sidebar.
Brittney Sherman:I don't know why, but I kept on remembering, uh, James Rodin's last
Brittney Sherman:name because I kept on calling it Rodin, which I'm pretty sure it
Brittney Sherman:was a name of a Godzilla Kaiju.
Sonia Meza-Leon:That is exactly Britney.
Sonia Meza-Leon:You are in the band.
Brittney Sherman:And that's how I kept I that's how I remembered his last name,
Brittney Sherman:but clearly I forgot his first name.
Sonia Meza-Leon:James it's spelled it is, but that's how I remember.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah, Nana for sharing.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I think Rodin is, uh, the it's sounds like the French version of road.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And, but, uh, the road 10 is the three headed monster and that's another one.
Sonia Meza-Leon:There's
Brittney Sherman:another one, 300 monsters and Godzilla.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I'll send you a picture.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And I think that turtle has three heads.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Do they had a lot of things that have had multiple heads.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I'll send you a picture of what I have.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Sorry guys.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Any who?
Sonia Meza-Leon:Back to the track.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So bill roster.
Sonia Meza-Leon:For some reason decides that he wants to share with police.
Sonia Meza-Leon:You know, stop whatever he's doing with Marjorie.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And he turns her in and, um, because not only does he show them where
Sonia Meza-Leon:the body is, but he tells them who to ultimately murdered James Roden.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And he says it's Marjorie.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And it's pretty easy to see that someone murdered James.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Because he didn't put himself in the freezer and the x-ray x-ray him and
Sonia Meza-Leon:he's got shrapnel in his, uh, throat.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So apparently someone decided to use a shotgun to shoot James Roden
Sonia Meza-Leon:and then decided to either keep him on ice for whatever reason.
Sonia Meza-Leon:We'll talk about that later.
Sonia Meza-Leon:But, um, you know, this is where Billy on scene and Marjorie, um,
Sonia Meza-Leon:you know, are obviously at odds.
Sonia Meza-Leon:You ask us, what would this have to do with the pizza bomber case?
Sonia Meza-Leon:And we don't really realize until a little bit later in the docu-series
Sonia Meza-Leon:that they actually do, because it appears that Marjorie and bill and, uh,
Sonia Meza-Leon:uh, a couple of other folks conspired to, uh, and Marjorie will never admit
Sonia Meza-Leon:this, but conspired to do sort of do the pizza heist or the, the bank ice.
Sonia Meza-Leon:It's so strange because you know, Marjorie's Marjorie deal arm from is
Sonia Meza-Leon:apparently a very intelligent person.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yes.
Sonia Meza-Leon:A person who was very manipulative is, um, she doesn't appear to be a nice person.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So she, on, in her interviews on camera it's, she's not very likable and
Sonia Meza-Leon:she, but loud, aggressive almost felt like she had Tourette's a little bit.
Brittney Sherman:It's very, very clear.
Brittney Sherman:She has pretty significant mental illness and she is it's indicative
Brittney Sherman:and obvious that she is someone who needed help a long, long time ago.
Brittney Sherman:And we will see that there was someone who really tried in earnest to get her help.
Brittney Sherman:And.
Brittney Sherman:Did everything right, but the system kind of just spit her back out.
Brittney Sherman:She is someone that she struggled because she genuinely was extremely intelligent.
Brittney Sherman:That's where the genius comes from, but very manipulative and, uh, dealt with a
Brittney Sherman:lot of, uh, contradicting mental health conditions that caused her to be quite.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah, she was very persuasive.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Um, it's set.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So really the center of the story is about, is really Marjorie deal Armstrong.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Apparently she was the mastermind behind the whole thing and what's unknown.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I mean, She was doing this for money because at one point I think
Sonia Meza-Leon:she hired a Hitman to kill her dad.
Sonia Meza-Leon:She was pissed off at him because he was giving away her inheritance.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And so she retaliated by trying to hire another one of these cast of yokels.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Uh, Ken Barnes, her fishing, um, was my note.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And he's like, yeah, sure.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I'll kill your dad.
Sonia Meza-Leon:You know, he was said he was just bullshitting and she wasn't.
Sonia Meza-Leon:He was like, of course I'm not.
Sonia Meza-Leon:But, uh, she was really,
Brittney Sherman:he was really serious is, uh, he, he was like a.
Brittney Sherman:No local Erie, Pennsylvania.
Brittney Sherman:Drug dealer, like he was known around town in the seedy areas, uh, as being
Brittney Sherman:like the go to guy to get your fix.
Brittney Sherman:And he was a major, major addict himself.
Brittney Sherman:And at one point they'd go to his.
Brittney Sherman:And it is straight out of hoarders, like a, with all of the worst part
Brittney Sherman:of hoarders that you can imagine, not just the stuff, but the Fil,
Brittney Sherman:the grime, the rodents, the bugs.
Brittney Sherman:And it was, eh, it was just awful.
Brittney Sherman:And God bless anyone who trusted the drugs that they got from this.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Well, that's, what's weird about it because I don't know, maybe
Sonia Meza-Leon:it's the condition or whatever condition is, but you know, that hoarder condition,
Sonia Meza-Leon:bill Rothstein had the same thing.
Sonia Meza-Leon:He and showed them around his house.
Sonia Meza-Leon:He had lived in the house for 55 years.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Like he probably didn't even see like the floor in someone's our
Sonia Meza-Leon:house for 50 something years.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I mean, it was, and this is bill Rossi was a very intelligent man again.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Some of these people are anyway, are very intelligent, very manipulative, um, you
Sonia Meza-Leon:know, manipulated by Margarie apparently.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And, um, at some point, you know, in this documentary Dr.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Series, his best friend is interviewed and he was like, I don't even know that.
Sonia Meza-Leon:But what's weird about bill rusty, you know, because what we find is that, like
Sonia Meza-Leon:you said, there's all this documentation, there is exhaustive letters, um,
Sonia Meza-Leon:to the bank teller about the heist.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Like who's going to S so I don't, there are a lot of things that
Sonia Meza-Leon:are confusing about this to me.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Um, I don't understand, I get it, that they were sending
Sonia Meza-Leon:somebody on a wild goose chase.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So when they write this giant letter to the bank, Are they
Sonia Meza-Leon:expecting them to read it and it's would take time for them to know.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I thought that too.
Sonia Meza-Leon:What's their point like who this is.
Sonia Meza-Leon:You're like, you know, you're making a stand or whatever, but to who, like,
Sonia Meza-Leon:what do you think the bank teller is going to give a shit, you know, about
Sonia Meza-Leon:your, why you're compelled to exactly.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And it's weird.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And then the here's what I also have a problem with.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So the whole shenanigans with, you know, the game, the scavenger hunt,
Sonia Meza-Leon:the police did a test and it was a very, very simple test to do.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And the test.
Sonia Meza-Leon:How long would it take to go from point a through the points, the listed on the
Sonia Meza-Leon:scavenger hunt to get to the end result.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And it was time that was more time than they had put on the timer on the bomb.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So Brian Wells would have never know.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So if these people are robbing a bank, so here's where I'm like Marjorie deal,
Sonia Meza-Leon:Armstrong KUKA Rue, for sure, because.
Sonia Meza-Leon:You know, if she's trying to kill her dad because of the money.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Right.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And she many times will say in this next two years, I'm rich.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Why would I need to do that?
Sonia Meza-Leon:You know, she lies a lot.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I mean, she can fix herself a lot.
Sonia Meza-Leon:First.
Sonia Meza-Leon:She says that she didn't kill her boyfriend.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And then later on, she absolutely admits to it because they were
Sonia Meza-Leon:arguing about another woman.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And, but when you listen to both, you know, the, both of the
Sonia Meza-Leon:interviews, it sounds exactly the same mean she's a great writer.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I would have never thought she's, I mean, she's adamant, you know, I
Sonia Meza-Leon:mean she's, and she's crazy too, but she's adamant that she didn't do.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And then she's like, yeah, I did it, you know, and she was, she was proud of it.
Sonia Meza-Leon:The part that's weird about the bill Rossi thing is again, a very intelligent man.
Sonia Meza-Leon:It sounds to me like it's fairly, we're fairly confident that bill
Sonia Meza-Leon:wrote the scavenger hunt letters and also the letter to the bank teller,
Sonia Meza-Leon:um, you know, sort of this manifesto.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Right.
Sonia Meza-Leon:But, um, if Marjorie's the one who masterminded this for money, if anybody
Sonia Meza-Leon:masterminded it for me, And they didn't give this guy enough time to
Sonia Meza-Leon:fulfill it before they blew him up.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I'm
Brittney Sherman:not sure.
Brittney Sherman:Yeah.
Brittney Sherman:I don't really know what the point was.
Brittney Sherman:Either.
Brittney Sherman:The scavenger hunt starts with a Wells.
Brittney Sherman:You delivering a pizza per se, we're going to assume that because
Brittney Sherman:that's ultimately, I think what is kinda sorta decided happen.
Brittney Sherman:Uh, and then to, to Marjorie Armstrong, he is confronted by four people,
Brittney Sherman:Marjorie bill, and then two other guys.
Brittney Sherman:Um, the one we just talked about, uh, Ken burns, Ken Barnes, and
Brittney Sherman:then one other guy who was he?
Brittney Sherman:A convicted sex offender who was living with a bill, but so
Brittney Sherman:essentially he just went along for the ride because he was living there.
Brittney Sherman:Um, essentially.
Sonia Meza-Leon:But that's, what's weird about it.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Like why like, are they going to split it out?
Brittney Sherman:Yeah.
Brittney Sherman:Well, that's what I mean, but so essentially, so Wells leaves, he
Brittney Sherman:goes to the bank, then they follow him and they have stakeout points.
Brittney Sherman:So I'm wondering if they had no intention of him finishing the scavenger hunt
Brittney Sherman:and they were essentially just going to corner him, take the money and then let.
Brittney Sherman:Die with the bomb,
Sonia Meza-Leon:but why go to the trouble of writing out the scavenger hunt?
Sonia Meza-Leon:And I think they found the pieces that the scavenger hunt was
Sonia Meza-Leon:supposed to lead them to as well.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Didn't they did.
Brittney Sherman:Yeah, that's true.
Brittney Sherman:I agree.
Brittney Sherman:But Wheeler, but you're so you're dealing with mentally unstable
Brittney Sherman:people, particularly Marjorie, because, so not just James Rodin.
Brittney Sherman:Did she kill.
Brittney Sherman:She had two previous boyfriends that wound up dead one.
Brittney Sherman:She went to trial for his murder and was ultimately found not guilty, but
Brittney Sherman:her defense attorney in that trial tried and tried and tried to get her
Brittney Sherman:committed to a mental facility because as a psychiatric facility, Because he knew
Brittney Sherman:she was not right and she needed help.
Brittney Sherman:And I think she spent like 10 days in a psychiatric facility, but ultimately
Brittney Sherman:was determined not to be severe enough.
Brittney Sherman:So it was spit back out into society.
Brittney Sherman:And he's interviewed later on in the series towards the end
Brittney Sherman:and essentially says, I knew.
Brittney Sherman:20 years ago, or whenever it was when I defended her, this woman was
Brittney Sherman:violent and dangerous and had a mental health condition and needed help,
Brittney Sherman:but they just didn't believe me.
Brittney Sherman:And didn't find her severe enough.
Brittney Sherman:And now look where we're at.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I think that happens a lot.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I mean, yeah, we
Brittney Sherman:hear about that frequently way more often than not.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yep.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So, I mean, that's, that's pretty much the, the short of it.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I mean, there are a lot of meanderings in the docu-series there's a lot of
Sonia Meza-Leon:video of her yelling and talking.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Trying to compel somebody to do something for, I don't even know sometimes
Brittney Sherman:what the, and that's the, that's kinda the,
Brittney Sherman:the, the thing about this year is that it's, it's worth a watch.
Brittney Sherman:But when you said, like, it's one of our favorites, I can't say it's one of my
Brittney Sherman:favorites because it's, it's compelling.
Brittney Sherman:It's interesting.
Brittney Sherman:The first episode is really interesting in it's all about the bombing.
Brittney Sherman:And then it ends on this huge cliffhanger of bill Rothstein calling
Brittney Sherman:the police like, whoa, what does this have anything to do with it?
Brittney Sherman:And then episode two is all about Marjorie, even though I fell asleep.
Brittney Sherman:Second viewing of it.
Brittney Sherman:It's all about her and like her previous mysterious boyfriend deaths and the one
Brittney Sherman:that, uh, she killed, possibly killed, uh, because she wanted him to, uh, murder her
Brittney Sherman:father so she could get his inheritance, even though he wrote her out of his will.
Brittney Sherman:Uh, and then episode three and four is kind of just.
Brittney Sherman:Marjorie, just kind of ranting and raving and other people that she
Brittney Sherman:shared cells with and other people that these other guys shared prison
Brittney Sherman:cells with being interviewed and saying, yeah, this is what they said.
Brittney Sherman:And these are the letters we wrote, but it doesn't really
Brittney Sherman:introduce any new information.
Brittney Sherman:Uh, no, it doesn't.
Brittney Sherman:It.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I mean, but I mean, for the, for the first time
Sonia Meza-Leon:I watched it, I really like it.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So I would say, take Alyssa, take a, listen, take a look.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I mean, do you want to share what the outcome is or,
Brittney Sherman:well, yeah, because I think honestly the, I don't want
Brittney Sherman:to negate the last two episodes.
Brittney Sherman:There's only, it's only four episodes, so it's a pretty quick watch.
Brittney Sherman:Um, but the.
Brittney Sherman:The most compelling part of the fourth episode is trying to
Brittney Sherman:identify whether or not Wells is what was party to the initial plot.
Brittney Sherman:And I think officially criminally, he was neither, even though he was
Brittney Sherman:dead, he was neither posthumously.
Brittney Sherman:Accused nor acquitted of being involved.
Brittney Sherman:There wasn't enough evidence one way or the other.
Brittney Sherman:Uh, and his family is very vocal in court, just yelling at the, the judge when he
Brittney Sherman:suggests that he may have been involved.
Brittney Sherman:And so.
Brittney Sherman:Yeah.
Brittney Sherman:On one hand, just before the show wraps, it seems pretty conclusive
Brittney Sherman:that he was not party to the crime.
Brittney Sherman:He showed up to deliver a pizza as part of his job.
Brittney Sherman:And he was conned into essentially, he was, he was
Brittney Sherman:forced into wearing this bomb and.
Brittney Sherman:Going on this scavenger hunt, uh, earlier they talk about how he was involved in
Brittney Sherman:the planning that seem to be negated.
Brittney Sherman:However, one of the very last things that they talk about in this
Brittney Sherman:series is there's a woman who is an eerie PA prostitute, who was a.
Brittney Sherman:Frequent welds was a frequent client of hers.
Brittney Sherman:Uh, and they became actually like really good friends.
Brittney Sherman:Like they genuinely hung out and she would get groceries for his elderly parents.
Brittney Sherman:Um, and then she became pregnant right around the time that he died
Brittney Sherman:and she thinks he's the father, but he, uh, Again, what the heck's
Brittney Sherman:the drug dealers name again?
Brittney Sherman:I'm so terrible with this.
Brittney Sherman:His name's Ken barns.
Brittney Sherman:Here's how
Sonia Meza-Leon:they sort of, I understood.
Sonia Meza-Leon:They knew each other.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Jessica, so-and-so the prostitute.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Was getting drugs from Ken Barnes.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So she would essentially come in Ken and I, if I'm not mistaken, Brian Wells
Sonia Meza-Leon:lived or hung out with Ken Barnes too.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So she would hook up with Brian Wells.
Sonia Meza-Leon:They would have sex upstairs.
Sonia Meza-Leon:She would take that money and go downstairs to Ken Barnes and get
Sonia Meza-Leon:drugs, and then she would do them.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So what I understood happened was that at some point, Marjorie
Sonia Meza-Leon:and maybe bill who knows.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Came over to Ken Barnes house and said, we need some idiot to, you know,
Sonia Meza-Leon:sort of be the person who's going to go to the bank for us at the time
Sonia Meza-Leon:Jessica was there and she heard her.
Sonia Meza-Leon:It appears that Jessica May have been the person that suggested
Sonia Meza-Leon:Brian Wells, which he says
Brittney Sherman:great regret
Sonia Meza-Leon:for.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So when Brian Wells came up with, so they essentially ordered a pizza and
Sonia Meza-Leon:they, then they took the pizza guy and kind of held them hostage and threw
Sonia Meza-Leon:a bomb on him and made him go do it.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I think they were familiar with each other.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Brian Wells obviously knew Ken Barnes, Ken Barnes was warned was there.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So there was some familiarity when you drove up with a pizza,
Sonia Meza-Leon:which by the way, it was like really close to bill Rossi towels.
Sonia Meza-Leon:He had to have seen Ken Barnes.
Sonia Meza-Leon:He knew him.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Right.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So he's got to feel some comfort.
Brittney Sherman:I mean, I think this was a, it was like a pretty small town
Brittney Sherman:in, especially like this neighborhood.
Brittney Sherman:It was like the type of neighborhood where everyone knows each other.
Brittney Sherman:So I don't think any of these guys were stranger.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah, exactly.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So I think when Brian walked up with the pizza, if I, I understood
Sonia Meza-Leon:they had a slice of pizza and then they kind of ambushed him.
Sonia Meza-Leon:But I think that they told them all along.
Sonia Meza-Leon:It wasn't real because if they would, he would add any inclination
Sonia Meza-Leon:that that bomb was going to go off.
Sonia Meza-Leon:His, his actions would have been very different,
Brittney Sherman:I would think so, but they did see or
Sonia Meza-Leon:drive to the police.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So if I, if I, I would never get in a car with, uh, something that, that may
Sonia Meza-Leon:or may not be a bomb and drive and go do what they said, I would try that.
Brittney Sherman:But I think they did say that he did have a certain level of
Brittney Sherman:cognitive impairment and may not have, he may have known, but may not have wanted
Brittney Sherman:to question them and may have believed that if he just went along with their
Brittney Sherman:plan, everything would have been okay.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah, no, for sure.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And I'm not sure when, I mean it, did they give him the paperwork
Sonia Meza-Leon:and say here's the scavenger hunt and was the first stop the bank.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And that's what.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Oh, so maybe it was just a game all along.
Sonia Meza-Leon:It's just really strange.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Cause he's on guys.
Sonia Meza-Leon:He's on video, man.
Sonia Meza-Leon:He's like, they're looking straight in you in camera saying, you know, guys,
Sonia Meza-Leon:guys, I think something's happening here.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And it's like, and then all that.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I mean, he, I really felt like he never his face.
Sonia Meza-Leon:He never had until the very second where that thing blew up, he really
Sonia Meza-Leon:had any idea it was going to blow up.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah,
Brittney Sherman:I agree.
Brittney Sherman:I think he knew that.
Brittney Sherman:I think towards the end, he knew this was a real bomb, but I don't know if
Brittney Sherman:he knew that it was like imminent.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Alrighty.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Well, Scarlett is, that was a pretty short little episode.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I have a couple of shout outs I want to do so, uh, maybe we'll keep going.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Okay.
Sonia Meza-Leon:All right.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I want to do a couple shout outs to some new friends that I've made recently.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I want to give a shout out to music city 9 1 1.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Brandon Hall is the host and he has a periodic co-host as well.
Sonia Meza-Leon:He is a nine 11 dispatcher in Nashville, Tennessee.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And I would just love to sort of tell you guys to take a listen.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I, so he's a real nine 11 operator.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So the stories that he had, obviously perplexing and really
Sonia Meza-Leon:entertaining in my opinion.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And he's just a real nice guy.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And his voice is really, really lovely.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So highly suggest those guys give them a shout out and we have a promo
Sonia Meza-Leon:for them at the end of our episode.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So you guys can take a listen, get a little familiar with them.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And then I also want to give a shout out to my group.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Katelyn Dowdy.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Now she doesn't know she's mine, but I tell her right now, um, I, she does a
Sonia Meza-Leon:YouTube series called a mortician and.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I'm not sure if I counted corpse as part of asking mortician or it's a
Sonia Meza-Leon:separate sort of, you know, thinks she does, but she's a mortician.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I think she lives in LA and she's got her own funeral home with a partner.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And, um, I find her to be really, really, really fascinating.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And I know it sounds really gruesome, but there are questions that I have a.
Sonia Meza-Leon:That stuff that I've always wanted to ask and her YouTube videos are so informative
Sonia Meza-Leon:and she's got a huge following, but, um, I really, I really find her interesting,
Sonia Meza-Leon:like the other day I will readily admit I watched a video that she did about how
Sonia Meza-Leon:they keep your mouth shut when you're, um, you know, being prepared for reviewing.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And, um, it was, I know that's really gruesome and crazy,
Sonia Meza-Leon:but it was really interesting.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So I am,
Brittney Sherman:I'm not going to tell you, you have to watch it.
Brittney Sherman:I can't.
Brittney Sherman:That was the proper answer.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Yeah.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Just watch it, please watch it.
Sonia Meza-Leon:But she's really awesome.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I'm hoping Brittany, since she's in LA and we're in LA, that we could at some
Sonia Meza-Leon:point do a little interview and meet each other because yeah, she's really cool.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And I love her observations and she's just really informative.
Sonia Meza-Leon:So yeah, you Caitlyn Dowdy and iconic corpse and ask mortician, check her out.
Brittney Sherman:All right.
Brittney Sherman:It's Carlitos as always.
Brittney Sherman:Thanks for checking this out.
Brittney Sherman:Um, I think you're going to be hearing some more promos from us in the future.
Brittney Sherman:We are really enjoying, connecting with other independent podcasters
Brittney Sherman:and supporting one another.
Brittney Sherman:So if you have suggestions or are interested in being promoted on Scarlet
Brittney Sherman:TCP and would like to do a promo swap, we would love to hear from you, uh, hit
Brittney Sherman:us up on social media, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and listen to us on every
Brittney Sherman:platform where podcasts are available.
Brittney Sherman:Sonya, anything else?
Sonia Meza-Leon:No, this has been very enjoyable.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Hi, you guys, our audience, I have to give them credit.
Sonia Meza-Leon:They I've been hearing some wonderful things from people lately,
Sonia Meza-Leon:so we really appreciate all your support, so, uh, keep killing it.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Scarlet owes.
Brittney Sherman:All right.
Brittney Sherman:Thank you.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Hey, y'all I'm Brandon Hall.
Sonia Meza-Leon:I'm one of the hosts of music city, nine 11, a podcast about the good,
Sonia Meza-Leon:the bad, and the dark side of nine 11.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Dispatching me and my co-hosts are 9 1 1 dispatchers.
Sonia Meza-Leon:With over 60 years of experience, join us as we play 9 1 1 calls and discuss.
Sonia Meza-Leon:Oh, did I mention that we get dark nine 11?
Sonia Meza-Leon:What's your emergency?
Sonia Meza-Leon:you can find us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram at music city nominal one.
Sonia Meza-Leon:And we're downloadable on every podcast platform.