Shelley Malil Attempted Murder Trial: Actor Charged with Stabbing Ex With a Butcher Knife
VISTA, Calif. (CBS/AP) Shelley Malil was either a jealous ex-boyfriend who went to his ex-girlfriend's house looking for revenge, or a lovelorn suitor who went to his ex's house looking to win her back only to be attacked by the competition - depending on who's talking.
In opening statements Monday, Malil's defense attorney told jurors that his client was taken by surprise when, on Aug. 10 2008, he showed up at the home of his ex-girlfriend, Kendra Beebe, to find her having dinner with another man. There was a fight over a knife and then Malil tried to leave, according to defense attorney Matthew Roberts.
That's when Roberts says the male friend attacked Malil with a garden hoe, and then and only then did Malil act in self defense - and that act of self defense resulted in both Beebe and her dinner companion getting stabbed with a butcher knife.
The prosecutor, as expected, tells a different version of the events that led up to Beebe and her dinner companion getting attacked with her own cutlery.
Deputy District Attorney Keith Watanabe says that Malil went over to the Beebe's house that day driven by jealousy and got even more angry when he found her in the backyard drinking wine with another man.
Watanabe countered the defense's claim of self-defense by saying that the male friend of Beebe took the knife from Malil, threw it over a fence and ran to call 911. Malil then grabbed a butcher knife from the kitchen and stabbed Beebe, chasing her through the house until she collapsed on the front porch, Watanabe said.
Beebe, a single mother of two, suffered a collapsed lung and survived. She had met Malil through an online dating website but broke off their relationship because she was concerned about his possessive behavior and alcohol use, Watanabe said.
"This is nothing more than a violent, premeditated attack on a woman who pissed off Shelley Malil," Watanabe told the jury.
Malil appeared in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" with Steve Carell, and has also appeared in "The Office" and "Scrubs."