SAN MARCOS: Judge boosts bail to $10M for actor accused of stabbing woman

By DAN SIMMONS - Staff writer | Wednesday, August 13, 2008 10:51 PM PDT ∞

VISTA ---- An actor accused in Sunday's multiple stabbing in San Marcos stood without emotion in blue prison clothes Wednesday as a Superior Court judge announced the suspect's bail had been increased to $10 million.

Shelley Malil, a supporting actor in the movie "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted murder. He will have a preliminary hearing Sept. 5.

In a courtroom packed with reporters and about 15 of the victim's friends and family members, Judge Marshall Hockett said he set bail at $10 million because there were actually two victims in the case ---- 35-year-old Kendra Beebe and a man who was visiting her at the time of attack.

The judge also noted the gravity of the crime and the seriousness of Beebe's injuries. She remains hospitalized in critical condition at Palomar Medical Center in Escondido, but is expected to survive, said Deputy District Attorney Steven Carver.

Still unanswered after the hearing were central questions: Why did a man known to millions as a likable comedic actor allegedly turn into a knife-wielding slasher willing to jeopardize his career to punish his ex-girlfriend? Was he drunk or under the influence of other drugs? Was he suicidal? Was he in some way provoked?

Sheriff's officials and Carver declined to answer specific questions about the case because is still being investigated.

Malil, 43, looked tired, his hands cuffed in front of his waist and his black hair, crowned with gray, slightly disheveled. He did not speak.

Hockett more than doubled the bail asked for by Carver, who had requested bail be set at $4 million. Malil's lawyer, Sean Leslie, had asked that bail remain at the $2 million set after Malil's arrest Monday night.

In arguing for the higher bail, Carver cited the "prolonged attack."

The prosecutor said that Malil became enraged upon finding Beebe, his ex-girlfriend, having dinner with the other man.

Carver said Malil came up behind Beebe on the back patio and immediately started stabbing her ---- as her two young children slept upstairs ---- before being restrained and disarmed by the unnamed man. The man, who hasn't been identified by authorities, later fled across the street to a neighbor's house.

Malil grabbed another knife and continued chasing Beebe into and around her house, stabbing her repeatedly as she screamed for help and gushed blood, Carver said.

A neighbor who Carver described as a "hero," Chuck Lee, intervened and persuaded Malil to drop the knife.

"He didn't stop because he wanted to stop," Carver said outside court. "He stopped only because he was interrupted."

Of the more than 20 stab wounds to Beebe, Carver said at least three were life-threatening: puncture wounds to both lungs and a wound to the throat that narrowly missed an artery.

According to her Facebook page, Beebe is a single mother of two who works as an insurance broker in Carlsbad.

Her children, ages 2 and 4, have been with their father, also a San Marcos resident, since Sunday night, neighbor Eve Salony said.

Beebe has lived for about three years in her house in the community of Old Creek Ranch, which is full of $700,000 stucco homes with palm trees and birds of paradise decorating the yards.

In addition to attempted murder, Malil faces sentence-enhancing allegations that the attack caused great bodily injury to the victim and that he used a knife.

If convicted of attempted murder and the other allegations, he faces seven years to life in prison.

Malil and Beebe had been in a "dating relationship" that had recently ended, Carver said.

A neighbor said her friend had seen Malil and Beebe together earlier on the day of the attack at an LA Fitness in San Marcos.

It's not clear how Malil ended up at her house when the attack began or the nature of her relationship with the other man.

Carver cited a previous hit-and-run charge against Malil in Los Angeles County in 2005 and his ties to India, his birth country, to argue that he is a flight risk.

Leslie said he wasn't aware of the hit-and-run charge against his client, but would research it.

He noted that Malil turned himself in to authorities Monday night, which he called "a strong statement that (he's) not going to flee."

Court records showed that there was no prior history of violence between Beebe and Malil, at least none that drew police attention.

However, court records show that Beebe was charged in January with assault and battery in a verbal outburst against a man in Carlsbad who formerly worked with her and an office manager.

Beebe pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor, on April 10, court records show.

A restraining order was issued against Beebe by the victim on Jan. 7 by Judge Martin Staven.

In requesting a restraining order, the man explained that Beebe shouted obscenities at him and the office manager and spat in his face.

Beebe's family declined comment through her lawyer, Jesse Mallinger. Her mother was there, as were numerous other family members. Her Facebook page said she's from Olympia, Wash., and graduated from San Diego State University in 1997 with a degree in psychology.

Malil starred in a 2001 Super Bowl commercial for Budweiser beer.

He played a co-worker, Haziz, to comedian Steve Carell's title character in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and has appeared in dozens of TV shows, including "NYPD Blue" and "Scrubs."

He's a native of India and a Hollywood veteran whose motto for living comes from Indian peace activist Mahatma Gandhi, according to his Web site: "Almost everything we do in life is of no importance, but it is of the utmost importance that we do it."

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