Ex-Patient Given Life Term for Ambushing Therapist and Family

A woman who ambushed and wounded her former psychologist and two members of his family was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday after probation officials said she continues to be dangerous.

Kimberly Anne Gracyalny, 30, of Los Angeles, must spend a minimum of 12 years in prison under the life sentence handed down by Superior Court Judge David Horowitz, and pay the victims $10,000.

Gracyalny had pleaded guilty last month to attacking therapist David Fox and his family as they returned to their Fairfax-area home in December. Fox, his wife, Deborah, and their daughter, then 6, were wounded. Three other children escaped injury as Gracyalny chased them while firing the gun.

In late 1982 and early 1983, Fox, a specialist in neuropsychology, had treated Gracyalny for an undisclosed ailment.

Police said Fox treated Gracyalny periodically for about a year and, since 1983, the woman was a constant source of harassment to the psychologist. Besides harassing telephone calls and trespassing violations, Gracyalny also took flash photographs through Fox’s windows, slashed his automobile tires, gutted one of his cars and painted over windows and screens at the Fox home.

In legal papers seeking a restraining order, Fox wrote that Gracyalny “admits to ‘stalking’ (Fox) over a 2 1/2- to 3-year period.”

According to court records in 1986 and 1987, Gracyalny was ordered to stay away from Fox and his family, but violated the orders and was jailed for harassing the family.

According to her probation report, Gracyalny denied the harassment and blamed Fox for costing her her job as a secretary at a savings and loan firm and for having her sent to jail.

Gracyalny “is an emotionally and socially unstable individual” the probation report said, adding that she felt remorse for the shooting, but “seems to feel justified by her behavior on the other hand, because of her perception of wrongdoing on the part of Dr. Fox.”

“The trauma, terror, injuries and other emotional stresses suffered by the victims is immeasurable and the defendant’s real and ongoing danger to them has been graphically demonstrated. . ,” the report said.

“My wife has five bullet holes in her leg,” Fox told Horowitz on Tuesday.

His 7-year-old daughter has a bullet lodged in her leg that cannot be removed, and he has suffered nerve damage to one hand, the psychologist added.

“The situation that my family and I have endured has gone beyond that of vandalism and harassment. It can only be compared to being held hostage in your own home.”

Speaking for the children, Abraham Fox, 11, asked that Gracyalny receive the maximum sentence, saying, “We will never forget the last five years. We have been afraid to play in our own yard due to the presence of Miss Gracyalny. We have also been afraid to walk to our schools and synagogue.”

“It was the sentence she expected under the circumstances,” Gracyalny’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Leon Hitch, said.

Prosecution officials had said earlier that when Gracyalny is eligible for parole the state Board of Prison Terms could parole her to a state mental hospital, rather than freeing her.