THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, July 12, 1994 TAG: 9407120309
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JUNE ARNEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
A judge on Monday set bail for the student accused of stabbing his calculus teacher, despite a plea from the Old Dominion University instructor that he feared for his and his family's safety.
General District substitute Judge Terry D. Huffman set bail for Shaheen Malkamy, 21, at $75,000. The judge also ordered him to surrender his passport, and to stay away from the ODU campus, the instructor, Carl Panetta, and Panetta's family. Malkamy also must undergo psychiatric counseling.
Malkamy was being held in the Norfolk jail late Monday and had not posted bail. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 10.
Campus police added patrols after hearing that bail had been set. They declined to elaborate on the increased security.
But some students remained uneasy.
John Junek, 20, a classmate of Malkamy, said he was ``shocked'' that bail was set.
``He's an obvious menace to society that they're letting walk the streets,'' Junek said.
On Monday morning, Malkamy waved to his cousin and uncle as he walked into the courtroom, where he answered the judge's questions in a barely audible voice. He is charged with malicious wounding for the attack in class Wednesday when he allegedly leaped from his front-row seat and stabbed Panetta, 28. Malkamy has been dismissed from the university.
In court Monday, the prosecutor showed the judge a letter from Panetta asking that Malkamy be held without bail. But the judge said he thought he should allow bail.
Norfolk attorney Robin Winn, representing Malkamy, cited a malicious wounding case in which
the defendant was granted bail.
``We urge that he be treated like any other defendant to come through this court,'' Winn argued. ``People come in here who stabbed their sister, killed their mother, raped their girlfriend and they get bond. The commonwealth is trying to politicize this case.''
His client has no criminal record, Winn said.
``It was a random isolated event, however heinous it was,'' Winn said. ``This young man needs psychiatric treatment.''
Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney David Dayton asked that Malkamy be held without bond, saying his relatives could not control his actions.
``His ties to this community are fairly nonexistent,'' Dayton said. ``I don't believe at this point that we have an extradition treaty with Iran. Here is a brutal assault in the middle of a college classroom for absolutely no discernable reason that we can fathom.''
Dayton then asked that if bail was set, it be at least $250,000.
``This is an Iranian national 30 minutes from an international airport,'' Dayton said. ``This man constitutes a great danger to everyone out there.''
Panetta returned to the classroom Monday for his first class since the stabbing. He was unable to raise his left hand to write on the chalkboard and used an overhead projector instead, students said. Panetta, who is left-handed, was stabbed in the left shoulder.
Because some of the students did not want to stay in the classroom where the wounding occurred, college officials assigned a new room.
On Monday, Malkamy's alleged attack remained a mystery to his classmates and others.
Malkamy, who speaks with a heavy accent, was often seen stretching or jogging outside his apartment, said students who lived nearby.
One of Malkamy's three roommates, Tatsuro Izumoto, 19, at ODU to study English, described Malkamy as polite and nervous. He said he was always cleaning and had a passion for soccer.
In Malkamy's room at the Powhatan Apartments, a Newsweek magazine with a soccer cover-story lay on his desk next to a neat stack of dictionaries and other books. Photographs decorated the walls, along with handwritten notes in English and a flowing foreign script.
On his college application, Malkamy said he was a citizen of both the United States and Iran. Authorities said he was born in Dayton, Ohio, moved to Iran when he was about 3 and came to the Norfolk area about six months ago.
``I don't think too many people knew a lot about him,'' said engineering student Jason Mussenden, 20. ``He didn't talk to anyone. He just kind of stayed to himself. I said `Hi' once, and he kind of blew me off.''
Students have tried to figure out what would motivate someone to pull out a knife and stab an instructor, but they have few answers.
``They haven't had a test yet, so I can't see a reason why,'' Mussenden said. ``But calculus is the kind of thing that can make you snap.''
KEYWORDS: ASSAULT STABBING ARREST by CNB