Bond is denied for lawyer accused in assault of managing partner; possible defense is aired
Alecia Schmuhl (Fairfax County Police)
A judge in Fairfax County, Virginia, denied bond on Monday for a lawyer accused in a stabbing attack on a law firm managing partner and his wife.
More details of a possible defense emerged during the hearing as the lawyer for Alecia Schmuhl, 30, of Springfield, Virginia, argued she wasn’t violent and was manipulated by her husband, Andrew Schmuhl, 31, who is also charged in the Nov. 9 attack. WUSA9 and the Washington Post have reports.
Prosecutor Casey Lingan had argued against bond for Alecia Schmuhl, saying she remained a threat to the Arlington law firm that fired her, Bean, Kinney & Korman.
The Schmuhls are charged with malicious wounding and abduction by force in the alleged attack on the firm’s managing partner, Leo Fisher, and his wife, Susan Duncan, at their McLean, Virginia home. Alecia Schmuhl’s lawyer has previously maintained she waited outside during the attack and wasn’t aware of her husband’s plans.
Lingan said Schmuhl drove the getaway car after Duncan was able to activate an alarm, reaching speeds of 90 to 100 miles an hour and trying to run a police car off the road.
Prosecutors previously said Fisher and Duncan were held in a “torture session” in which Andrew Schmuhl allegedly used zip ties to restrain them, stabbed them, and fired a gun at Duncan when she moved from the bathroom where she was being held. Andrew Schmuhl also is accused of forcing Fisher to log onto his computer to get personal information about other lawyers at the law firm.
After Alecia Schmuhl was fired from a previous job, Lingan said, she became angry and told people that her boss “better be careful because my husband is ex-military and knows people.”
A lawyer for Alecia Schmuhl, Mark Petrovich disagreed with Lingan’s characterization, according to the Washington Post. He said allegations about Alecia Schmuhl’s words after the previous dismissal were a “second- or third-hand” account.
“There has never been any inclination or tendency toward violence in Ms. Schmuhl,” Petrovich said. He said Andrew Schmuhl manipulated Alecia Schmuhl, who suffered from depression and anxiety.
The Schmuhls both attended Valparaiso University Law School. Andrew Schmuhl is a former judge advocate in the Army who has been out of work since he suffered a back injury in the service.
Fisher and Duncan were hospitalized in serious condition but are expected to survive.
