Mundy to Stand Trial in Fountain Valley Flight Attendant’s Slaying

Leonard Owen Mundy, accused of killing a 46-year-old Fountain Valley woman in what authorities believe was a contract hit gone wrong, will stand trial for the crime.

Following a three-day preliminary hearing this week, Municipal Judge Brett London ordered that Mundy be held on a murder charge with the special circumstances of lying in wait and murder for financial gain. A conviction could result in the death penalty.

Jane Carver, a flight attendant, was shot in the face a block from her home while returning from a morning jog at Mile Square Regional Park in Fountain Valley on June 10, 1995.

Prosecutors allege that Mundy was carrying out a contract killing on behalf of a Huntington Beach finance company to which he owed money. They allege that Mundy shot Carver in a case of mistaken identity.

“We feel very confident that the evidence is more than sufficient,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Tanizaki, who is prosecuting the case.

But Mundy’s attorney, Marvin G. Stapleton, said Thursday that the wrong man is going to trial.

“I don’t think he’s the guy who did it,” Stapleton said.

Mundy will be arraigned in Orange County Superior Court on Dec. 30. Tanizaki said Thursday that his office has not yet decided whether it will seek the death penalty in the case.