McLEAN, Va. — A bizarre attack involving two lawyer couples could see an unusual defense in court.
Andrew Schmuhl is accused of attacking Leo Fisher and Fisher’s wife Sue Duncan in their McLean home in November 2014, after Schmuhl’s wife was fired from Fisher’s firm.
Schmuhl’s attorneys say they plan to use an involuntary intoxication defense in court — that medication altered Schmuhl’s mental state that night, according to NBC 4.
At a preliminary hearing, Fisher claimed that Schmuhl knocked on his door under the guise of a police officer. He then burst through the door and stunned Fisher with a stun gun, bound him and then slit his throat, according to the testimony.
Prosecutors allege that Schmuhl also stabbed Duncan and shot at her. The bullet grazed her head. Duncan was able to activate an alarm and Schmuhl fled. He was found by police a short time later wearing only a diaper, according to court testimony.
During the entire attack, Schmuhl’s wife Alecia Schmuhl was outside of the home during the incident and was communicating with her husband, prosecutors claim. Alecia Schmuhl has also been charged.
Attorney Peter Greenspun, who is not connected to the Schmuhl case, told NBC 4 that the involuntary intoxication defense is often used in cases where someone was unwittingly slipped a drug.
Greenspun said he thinks the prosecution will likely argue that such a planned out and lengthy attack could not have been committed by someone drugged into intoxication.
