Grudge Cited in Razor Blade Attacks : Crime: Gary Jean Muntifering pleads guilty to assault. Prosecutor says his anger at a woman may have been motive.

By DWAYNE BRAY

Aug. 21, 1993 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

A Ventura man accused of stalking young women at Simi Valley shopping centers and wedging industrial razor blades into the seats of their cars had a grudge against his ex-girlfriend’s 25-year-old daughter, a prosecutor said Friday.

In the first hint at Gary Jean Muntifering’s possible motive for the razor blade attacks on 14 women, Deputy Dist. Atty. Stacy Ratner said the daughter of Muntifering’s former girlfriend had to get a restraining order to keep him away from her two years ago.

Muntifering, who pleaded guilty Friday to five counts of assault with a deadly weapon, was ordered to undergo psychological testing before being sentenced Oct. 8 in the courtroom of Ventura County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Storch.

“That was part of his motivation. He had some anger at this girl,” said Ratner, referring to the ex-girlfriend’s daughter.

Ratner, speaking outside the courtroom after the guilty pleas were accepted, said Muntifering, 53, blamed the daughter for his breakup with her mother.

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 had set up surveillance in the grocery parking lot and arrested Muntifering when he was spotted looking into several cars.

“When they arrested him in Burbank, he had the restraining order in his truck,” Ratner said. She also said the victims ranged in age from 18 to 34.

On June 24, 1992, the daughter of Muntifering’s ex-girlfriend filed a complaint in Ventura County Superior Court as part of the process for obtaining the temporary restraining order.

In it, she said Muntifering had been stalking her for three years and had threatened to attack her and kill her boyfriend. At one point, she stated:

“He told my sister that he want (sic) to catch me in my car, attack and strike me and cut my hair.”

According to her complaint, Muntifering once came to the house she shared with her mother.

“He waited for my mom to go to work,” she said. “ . . . When he came into the house, he went to the front of my door and hit it so hard he put a hole in the wall.” She apparently was not injured in the incident.

In court, Muntifering, who had been charged with 14 counts each of attempted mayhem and assault with a deadly weapon, answered guilty as Storch read each of the five charges on which a plea had been arranged.

Muntifering appeared frail in his blue jailhouse uniform. Deputy Public Defender Doug Daily said after the hearing that his client suffers from emphysema, a respiratory illness.

Storch ordered Muntifering’s psychological evaluation to be done by Dr. Andrew McCashin of Ventura.

“We’ve talked about the psychological report and about the fact that he has to be open and honest with the examiner,” said Daily, adding that Muntifering had not told him why he attacked the women.

“He feels very badly about it,” Daily said.

Still, Ratner said Muntifering belongs in prison.

“The public has to feel safe,” she said. “There were a lot of mothers, especially in Simi Valley, who were thinking they would be next.”

Until being ordered to stay away from the daughter, Muntifering apparently had never been in trouble with the law and had a long, stable work history, Daily said.

But he lost his job shortly before his breakup with his girlfriend, Daily said. “Then his whole life just came unraveled,” he said.

Among other things, said Daily, Muntifering was a partner in a Thousand Oaks beauty parlor, and he also purchased a boat and tried to be a commercial fisherman, which did not work out.

“He would get sea sickness,” Daily explained.

Daily, who said prison is not the appropriate place for Muntifering, believes the emphysema caused him to lose self-esteem and may have led to the razor attacks on the victims.

“I think his physical condition was part of it,” Muntifering’s attorney said. “He has a real hard time breathing, and I think that may have affected other things in his life as well.”