Commonwealth v. Townsell

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Eagen,

On January 20, 1971, Michael Townsell was convicted by a jury of aggravated robbery and of murder *251in the first degree. Post-trial motions were denied, and a sentence of life imprisonment was imposed on the murder conviction as the jury’s verdict directed. An additional twenty years of probation was ordered on the robbery conviction. This one appeal followed.1

The factual background, as disclosed by the record, is this:

On the afternoon of January 14, 1970, at approximately 2:30 p.m., the appellant Townsell and Gregory Thomas attempted to steal from Otto Burkhard, the…