Santa Ana : Murder Suspect Tries to Slash Own Throat

A man awaiting trial on murder charges tried to slash his own throat, his attorney revealed Friday.

Ronald P. Kreber said he was meeting with Teofilo Medina Jr. Monday in a holding cell next to a courtroom when his client began complaining about pretrial publicity.

Medina, 43, then pulled out a razor blade he had hidden in a matchbook, Kreber said, and passed it across his throat, inflicting only a superficial wound.

Medina was treated for minor cuts and returned to court, where he was undergoing a hearing on whether he is competent to stand trial.

Medina is charged with the murders of four service station attendants during a 1984 Southern California crime spree. Paroled from prison in Arizona, where he served seven years for rape and kidnaping, Medina is the suspect in the deaths of three Orange County men and a Corona resident, who were murdered during service station and convenience store robberies between Oct. 18 and Nov. 5, 1984.