Cops: Ivy Leaguer on LSD Attempted a Horrible Crime

James Shirvell, 26, allegedly tried killing a woman he lives with
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 6, 2019 5:14 PM CST
Police: Ivy Leaguer on LSD Tried Killing a Woman
James Shirvell.   (YouTube)

An Ivy League graduate has been arrested for allegedly trying to murder a woman while they were trying out LSD, NBC Bay Area reports. James Shirvell, 26, was collared just after midnight Sunday in San Franciso and hit with charges including attempted murder, domestic violence, and assault with a deadly weapon other than a gun. NBC Bay Area's Mark Matthews later tweeted that Shirvell, a Stanford University admissions official, "was tripping on acid when he stabbed the woman who lives with him in the head, neck and back" and "is in an observation cell at SF county jail." A Stanford spokesman later released a statement saying Shirvell was on leave and "will not be performing any admissions work," per Palo Alto Online.

San Francisco police say Shirvell and the woman had a relationship, but confidentiality laws around domestic violence kept them from saying more. According to his LinkedIn page, Shirvell "helped create the first liberal arts college in Singapore" during his two years at Yale, where he was also interviewed over the phone by media during a 2013 gunman-lockdown that later appeared to be a hoax. He became a Stanford admission counselor in 2016 and assistant director of admissions in June 2018. Now he's being held on $1 million bail and could face life in prison with possible parole if convicted of first-degree attempted murder; up to nine years if convicted of second-degree without premeditation; and possibly several more years on lesser charges, per the Stanford Daily. (More attempted murder stories.)

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