"Archfiend of the Century"

Prosecutors say Elsa D. Newman, 52, became so desperate after losing the custody fight that she plotted with a close friend, State Department employee Margery Lemb Landry, to kill her husband, Arlen J. Slobodow.

While Newman was out of town at a wedding, Landry broke into Slobodow's home in Bethesda early Jan. 7, 2002, while Slobodow was sleeping in a bed with his 5-year-old son, and shot Slobodow in the leg.

Landry escaped in the subsequent struggle, but Slobodow was able to tear off the ski mask covering her face and called police. He survived the attack.

After pleading guilty in September 2002, Landry was sentenced to 20 years in prison. In a previous trial, Newman was convicted and also sentenced to 20 years in prison. But the Maryland Court of Appeals ordered a retrial in December, on the grounds that the trial court improperly compelled testimony by Stephen Friedman, who at one point served as Newman's divorce attorney.

They are still trying to prove that Newman and Landry planned the attempted killing together, after accusing Slobodow of abusing his two sons. Police found no evidence to support the abuse charges.

"Elsa Newman wanted Arlen Slobodow to die," Montgomery County Deputy State's Attorney Katherine S. Winfree said. "She couldn't bear to lose custody of her children."

Winfree introduced a witness, Sandra Ashley, who was a legal assistant to Friedman. Ashley testified that Newman met her at a Ruth's Chris Steak House in Bethesda before the attack and described the plan Newman and Landry had made to kill Slobodow.

As the lawyers argued, Newman took notes on a canary-colored legal pad. During a short recess, Newman walked over to one of her attorneys and asked a question. The lawyer warned her, in a friendly manner, that she would lose her attorney-client privilege because a reporter was standing nearby.

"What haven't I lost?" she replied. "I'm the archfiend of the century."

SOURCE: Washington Post, September 28, 2005.