Fired Attorney Charged in Ex-Boss’ Home Invasion and Stabbing

iStock/Thinkstock(FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va.) — A woman who was reportedly fired from her law firm and her husband are charged with attacking an executive of the firm and his wife in their home.

Alecia and Andrew Schmuhl, who are both lawyers, have been charged with malicious wounding and abduction by force or intimidation after an attack in a home in northern Virginia on Sunday, according to Fairfax County Police.

Officers responded to a home invasion and robbery call just before 10 p.m. and found the married 61-year-old homeowners, whose names have not been released publicly, “suffering from apparent stab wounds to the upper body,” police said in a statement.

Police determined that the male homeowner, who is listed as the managing shareholder at an Arlington law firm on the company’s website, answered the front door and the male assailant “made his way into the home and assaulted the male homeowner,” the police release states.

The victim’s wife heard the disturbance and went towards the front door, only to be attacked by the same assailant, police said. One of the two victims was able to set off a home security alarm which prompted the assailant to flee.

When police arrived, the victims gave officers a description of their attacker which included enough information about the getaway car that helped police find the vehicle “a short time later.” Inside the car was Andrew Schmuhl, 31, and Alecia Schmuhl, 30, and both were arrested, police said.

Both suspects are charged with two counts each of malicious wounding and abduction by force or intimidation, but Alecia Schmuhl also faces a charge of obstruction of justice without force and a felony count of eluding or disregarding police. They are being held without bond after appearing in Fairfax County General District Court on Wednesday.

Alecia Schmuhl was dismissed from the firm of Bean Kinney & Korman late last week, according to ABC News affiliate WJLA.

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According to their LinkedIn profiles, the two suspects both have law degrees from the same university and had worked as lawyers in northern Virginia since graduation.

The investigation is still under way, but police said they believe it was not a random act. Because the police have not formally released the names or conditions of the victims, ABC News has chosen to withhold their names, but the law firm Bean Kinney & Korman released a statement.

“We are very affected by the event and very concerned for everyone involved and hope that there is full recovery for our partner and his wife,” David Canfield, a spokesperson for Bean Kinney & Korman, told ABC News.

The violence of the attack stunned the victims’ neighbor Dave Tivel, who told ABC News, “It’s a pretty quiet neighborhood” where the only crime they experience is when “somebody will leave a bicycle out in front by the street and some yard guys will grab it.”

Tivel said that the victims lived in the area for more than a decade and he regularly saw the husband go on daily walks around the neighborhood for exercise.

“I just can’t believe that a couple of lawyers — you’d think they’d have more sense than to do something like that,” Tivel said of the attackers.