Man Charged with Attempted Murder at Ty Warner’s Montecito Mansion Deemed Competent to Stand Trial

There were no F-bombs or any middle-finger salutes pouring forth from Russell Maxwell Phay this Monday morning like there had been the last time Phay showed up in the Santa Barbara courtroom of Judge Steven Foley. At 6’3″ and 240 pounds, the 42-year-old Phay — described by members of his immediate family as a violent schizophrenic — can cut a bristly and disquieting figure. But early this Monday morning, Phay sat quietly and calmly as both his own defense attorney and the representative for the District Attorney’s Office stated they thought Phay is competent to assist in his own defense. 

This consensus was arrived at based on the conclusions arrived at by two psychological experts — one for the defense and for the prosecution experts. The contents of the two reports remain confidential. At issue is whether the defendant can understand the nature of the criminal proceedings against him and can assist his attorney in a rational manner.

Phay is facing multiple counts of attempted murder and kidnapping after having allegedly broken into the Montecito estate of Beanie Babies mogul Ty Warner on May 21 and “kicking, stomping, and dragging” Linda Malek-Aslanian, a former employee of Warner’s and now an insurance investment advisor, so violently on Warner’s front lawn that Phay put her into a lengthy coma. The status of Malek-Aslanian’s health or whether she emerged from her coma remains unknown. 

Warner was present on his property at the time, but it remains uncertain what interaction — if any — he had with Phay in the moment.

According to initial reports of the incident, Phay — a military veteran with a history of violent encounters and time spent behind bars — wandered onto Warner’s expansive oceanfront property, claiming that it was his and ordering all of Warner’s retinue to go away. The attack triggered a large-scale response by multiple law enforcement agencies who showed up with a helicopter, a BearCat, dogs, and many sworn officers. At the time, law enforcement thought a hostage situation was underway.  

In response, Phay barricaded himself in an upstairs bathroom and was arrested with the help of police dogs when he jumped to the ground below. No information has been presented suggesting that Phay had any particular bone to pick with the famously reclusive Warner — a billionaire who owns such marquis properties as the Four Seasons Biltmore, the Montecito Club, the Coral Casino, and San Ysidro Ranch — or if he knew it was Warner’s property he had claimed as his own. 

Phay showed up in court Monday wearing jailhouse scrubs with chains wrapped around his waist and his hands handcuffed together in front of him in the posture of a football fullback about to receive a hand-off for a run up the gut. After attorneys representing both sides agreed he was competent to stand trial, Judge Foley set August 25 as the date when he would determine when the actual trial will start. The trial would be, he said and all sides agreed, sometime in September. 

Not discussed in Judge Foley’s courtroom was a significant wrinkle in the prosecution’s case against Phay. Added to the charges were several new ones involving another beating Phay allegedly inflicted earlier the same day he is accused of breaking onto Warner’s property. This one involved a woman living on Arroyo Quemada Lane — well to the north of Goleta — who confronted Phay while he was taking a drink from a nearby watering hose. According to amended court papers, “The defendant assaulted Victim #2 and personally inflicted significant injuries.”