Burr Ridge Lawyer Tabbed as Witness in Shocking Torture-Slash-Shoot Case

A Burr Ridge lawyer was tabbed as a possible witness for the trial of a Virginia couple charged with ambushing and brutally torturing another husband and wife.

Robert Prince of the law firm Chatt & Prince was ordered to appear in Will County court April 15 to give any reason why he should not be subpoenaed for the trial of Andrew Schmuhl and his wife Alecia. The Schmuhls are to be tried in Fairfax County, Virginia.

The Schmuhls allegedly carried out a vicious and shocking attack on a McLean, Virginia, couple in November 2014. According to prior court testimony, Andrew Schmuhl knocked on the door of Leo Fisher and Susan Duncan and claimed he was a police officer, then burst inside and stunned Fisher with a Taser, bound him with plastic handcuffs and slit his throat.

Andrew Schmuhl stabbed Duncan and shot her in the head, but the bullet only grazed her scalp.

Prosecutors believe that Alecia Schmuhl was communicating with her husband by cell phone from a car outside the house during the crime.

After several hours, Duncan was able to set off a panic alarm. Police arrived on the scene and after a short car chase they were able to apprehend the Schmuhls. Andrew Schmuhl was wearing a diaper and nothing else.

The Schmuhls are both attorneys. Fisher has reportedly testified that Alecia Schmuhl had worked for his law firm but was fired shortly before the attack.

Prince confirmed that he was the subject of a petition to secure his attendance as a witness but declined to discuss what he was expected to testify about.

“I’m not going to talk much about this,” Prince said. “I just know there’s a trial set in May.”

Fairfax attorney Brad Haywood, who represents Andrew Schmuhl, also declined to discuss the matter. Calls to the Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office were referred to prosecutor Casey Lingan. Lingan failed to return calls for comment.

According to the biography on his firm’s website, Prince graduated from the Valparaiso University School of Law in 2009. The Linkedin Pages for both Andrew and Alecia Schmuhl say they also graduated from Valparaiso’s law school in 2009.