SM reader Meenbeen tipped us off to a horrific crime story, earlier today:
Shelley Malil, an actor who played one of Steve Carell’s co-workers in The 40-Year-Old Virgin, has been arrested for investigation of attempted murder after his former girlfriend was critically injured when she was stabbed more than 20 times, authorities said Tuesday. [People]
Malil’s family, friends and lawyer persuaded the actor, who has also appeared on Scrubs, NYPD Blue, ER, Seinfeld and The West Wing to turn himself in.
Shelley Malil, 43, remained in custody on $2 million bail after he was taken into custody late Monday as he left a train in Oceanside, California, the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said. His arraignment is scheduled for Wednesday…
Deputies found the victim Sunday night while responding to reports of screams for help and breaking glass in San Marcos, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) east of Oceanside. [fox]
According to both of the stories quoted above, Shelley Malil and the victim, 35-year old Kendra Beebe, had broken up recently, though TMZ states that neighbors thought they were still in a relationship; it’s difficult to nail down a time line of events, since some eye-witnesses saw the two going to the gym together the morning of the stabbing. A few articles also mention that Malil and Beebe took her children to the beach, the same weekend this occurred.
NBC 7 news reported (via video, so no quote) that Beebe’s two young children were at home, asleep, at the time of the attack, which occurred when Malil encountered Beebe in her backyard with a man with whom she was on a date. Sepia Mutiny: we dredge TMZ so you don’t have to…
According to Wikipedia, Malil was born in Kerala and came to the U.S. when he was ten years old, in 1974. WaPo has the quainter version of his backstory:
Shelley began pursuing his dream of entertaining people on the high school stage, where his leading turns often earned awards in district competitions in Texas, where his family settled after emigrating to the U.S. in 1974. As a child, he had dreams of becoming a comedic actor like Bob Hope, whom he first saw on a neighbor’s TV set, the only one in the fishing village on the southern tip of India. [WaPo]
That’s the background information for an online chat Malil did, in 2001, after gaining fame for playing “Chad” in the popular “What are YOU doing?” commercials for Budweiser (for which he won a Clio). It’s disconcerting to read the transcript now, and to find myself nodding in agreement with some of his responses…I keep self-reprimanding, “DUDE! You’re concurring with a savage, almost-murderer!!”
Here’s a YouTube clip of the award-winning ad, below:
Malil faces charges of attempted murder, mayhem and burglary. Beebe survived because a quick-thinking neighbor confronted her ex-boyfriend, and stopped the attack; investigators say that his actions saved the woman’s life.
…Charleton Lee, said he heard the commotion and came outside and found the two near the front door. He then said Malil eventually left the scene, and Lee put pressure on the woman’s wounds to slow the bleeding, as they waited for deputies and paramedics to arrive.
“Her chin was almost entirely cut off. She had a huge gash in her arm that looked like a really deep wound that was bleeding profusely,” Lee said. “She asked me to hold her and I could feel a lot of gashes in her back as well.”
The victim is in critical condition at Palomar Hospital, NBC 7/39 reported, but investigators believe she will survive her injuries. [NBC]
Thank goodness for neighbors like Mr. Lee (who, in the NBC video, modestly shrugged off the “hero”-label, saying he hoped it was what anyone would do).
Something tells me he’s not going to get away with 150 days in the big house.
Thank goodness the neighbor was brave enough to confront him and stop the attack.
Crime stats in India are not relevant. Keep it on topic, please.
So, what was Shelley Malil’s beverage of choice before his activity? Bud or Bud Light?
Sounds like the old Indian-man-cant-take-exGF’s-new-guy charade.
All the goris reading this will keep away from browns for a while.
Happy recovery Kendra.
2 · Shalu said
The neighbor deserves the highest civilian honor that maybe awarded for such actions.
a very sad story.
this is off topic but i was wondering about the jon anand case and if any resolution had taken place.
I can just imagine the other inmates forcing Shelly to reenact the commercial. Should be loads of fun in the big house.
This story is all over the news, this guy was barely famous. I guess it’s true: if it bleeds, it leads.
Paranoid much? I heard OJ Simpson killed his wife. Does that mean all women will now avoid black dudes, football players and rich guys?
Do jail-rape references ever get old? I think not.
Could be Off topic! but the ‘quainter version of Malil’s backstory’ of “As a child, he had dreams of becoming a comedic actor like Bob Hope, whom he first saw on a neighbor’s TV set, the only one in the fishing village on the southern tip of India”, can’t be true (if the place referenced is Kerala, his place of birth) – there was no TV in Kerala during the 70’s.
7 · sk said
Not sure, but you can always email the tip line with stuff like this. 🙂 I haven’t seen anything about him submitted recently (after a cursory search of my inbox).
go f**k a goat!
Why did he stab her? He could have just whined to Paula like he always does.
“Sounds like the old Indian-man-cant-take-exGF’s-new-guy charade. All the goris reading this will keep away from browns for a while. Happy recovery Kendra.”
?? That seems like a bit of a leap to me. As everybody knows, this kind of violence happens all the time, with all racial groups. It’s not a “charade,” it’s reality.
There’s more drama in this story.
9 · SpottieOttieDopaliscious said
How does this sound: All goris reading this will run and grab browns.
14 · LH said
Though I like the sound of what you say, I need evidence. Perhaps I’ve been missing all the news of Caucasian men stabbing their cocky-asian ex-girlfriends.
“Perhaps I’ve been missing all the news of Caucasian men stabbing their cocky-asian ex-girlfriends.”
17 · Amsterdamguy said
That’s because they pour gasoline on them and set them on fire. Still want to make comments about tops of the totem pole and news you all have missed?
Please stop generalizing. Who cares what race a bf or gf was…no one deserves to be stabbed 20 times or burned to death. Domestic violence (and it happens to everyone, regardless of race, gender or sexual preference) is abhorrent. Period.
Anna,
One incident of gasoline death, and it’s already “they”? Nice!
20 · hmmm said
If you (or ‘they’ if that offends you more) had read the comment to which she was responding, you would know that ‘they’ was introduced by Amsterdamguy by using the descriptive term for a whole host of men–Caucasian. And Kendra, as mydogjagat pointed out above, was not cocky but perhaps “stabby” in the past. (though insurance brokers are, as a group, comprised of more type-a personalities than anything else–given the demands of the job.)
19 · A N N A said
Thanks for the link.
Its you and the other guy that turned it towards race/color. The goris running away reference was a generalization alright but it was only half serious. My point: that its Indian men who attach emotionally too much with their partners/ex-partners. And don’t find peace in seeing them with other people. Other kinds of men don’t, not at least the ones I hear talking over here.
I concur on the 20 stabs though. Will you trade in for 19? :p (j/k)
22 · Amsterdamguy said
People from the Netheregions have painful bunions/corns because of their primitive wooden footwear. This distracts them from the pangs of jealousy that turn subcontinentals into green eyed berserkers. People from Benelux can walk in on their SOs inflagrante delicto, discuss their concerns rationally over frites & mayo, divide up the phone bill & other souvenirs of cohabitation and make it to their night time second job at the local live sex show without BP ever going over 120/80.
Another immigrant that is so good for America. Why do we let these people in? Why don’t we just deport and ban him instead of taxpayers havimg to feed and house him for the next 20 years? One more Indiot drag on the U.S. economy.
Look the reason this story is famous is because the man is a celebrity. I don
t think people should put a racial spin on this one. Domestic violence against women is a very serious and of course a celebrity that attempts to kill his girlfriend is going to get major press. My goodness stabbing a woman twenty two times thats so shocking and very scary! I hope this guy gets a serious sentence for attempting to murder the innocent woman!