Woman Freed in Stabbing Faces New Charge

A woman acquitted in July of trying to kill a Palos Verdes Estates woman was charged with attempted murder Wednesday for allegedly attacking the woman’s father with a knife.

Patricia Louise Shelter, 27, of Moreno Valley pleaded not guilty in South Bay Municipal Court and faces a preliminary hearing Oct. 11. Last week, Shelter, 27, pleaded not guilty to one charge of assault with a deadly weapon stemming from the same incident at the home of Jack Ruzicka.

Judge Thomas Allen Jr. increased Shelter’s bail from $5,000 to $250,000. Deputy Dist. Atty. Sandra Buttitta had requested that Shelter, who is in custody, be denied bail.

Buttitta said she decided to file the attempted murder charge and to ask that bail be denied after speaking to Ruzicka this week.

“We think this woman is definitely a threat, if not to the general public, then at least to the Ruzicka family,” Buttitta said in an interview.

Neither Shelter’s attorney nor her family could be reached for comment.

Shelter was arrested Sept. 9 at Ruzicka’s home after she allegedly attempted to stab him when he opened the front door. Ruzicka managed to shut the door and lock it, and both he and his wife fled from the house, authorities said. Police later found Shelter inside the house and took her into custody.

In July, a jury found Shelter not guilty of attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon after she allegedly stabbed Ruzicka’s daughter, Heather, in the thigh outside the family’s house. At the trial, Shelter’s family testified that she was elsewhere when the alleged attack occurred.

Jack Ruzicka said his daughter and Shelter briefly lived together after meeting while they were Girl Scout camp counselors. However, he said, his daughter moved out after Shelter made sexual advances toward her. Throughout 1989, his daughter received threatening phone calls and letters from Shelter, he said.