SIMI VALLEY : Trial Scheduled in Razor Blade Attacks
An Aug. 30 trial date was set Wednesday for a Ventura man accused of stalking young women at Simi Valley shopping centers and wedging industrial razor blades into the seats of their cars.
The trial date was set at the Superior Court arraignment of Gary Jean Muntifering, 53, who pleaded not guilty to 14 counts each of attempted mayhem and assault with a deadly weapon.
Muntifering is charged with attacks on 14 women between June 8 and 11 at various stores. According to evidence presented at a preliminary hearing earlier this month, the razor blades were placed on the front seats of the women’s unlocked cars while they were shopping.
Many of the women suffered cuts to their legs and buttocks when they sat on the razors after returning to their cars. None of the women saw who put the blades in their automobiles.
Muntifering was arrested by Burbank police after two women in that city complained they sat on blades in their cars after shopping at a grocery store. Burbank police set up surveillance in the grocery parking lot and arrested Muntifering when they saw him looking into several cars, according to testimony at the preliminary hearing.
Police found 53 razor blades in Muntifering’s pickup truck following his arrest, Burbank detectives said.
Muntifering remains in the Ventura County Jail with bail set at $250,000.
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