A San Jose man faces charges that he kidnapped and violently attacked at least two women with a knife in one night. 26-year-old Edwin Muncada is accused of picking up women who were engaged in prostitution, and then assaulting them before they could escape. Showing no fear of being caught after the horrific events, police arrested him while he was still driving in the area, covered in his victims’ blood.
Muncada was charged with two counts of attempted murder, two counts of attempted kidnapping, and two counts of assault with intent to rape. If convicted, he faces life in prison. He is expected to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m. at the Hall of Justice in San Jose on August 5 in Dept 34.
“We are thankful for the lightning quick reaction of the San Jose police to this rampage,” prosecutor Carlos Vega said. “This arrest may very well have prevented further bloodshed.” Without these women being able to trust police officers, the suspect may have continued to hurt others. Vega said, “Law enforcement is looking for unidentified victims in this case.”
Muncada’s assaults occurred in the area around Alma Road and Monterey Highway in San Jose.
It was after midnight on Saturday, July 25, when the suspect Muncada picked up a female prostitute who had agreed to accept money for sex. After she entered the passenger side of his car, he held a knife against her throat. He then wrapped her head with duct tape, and tried to quickly drive away. But the victim leaped from the moving vehicle, believing that the driver would kill her if she did not escape. Once she was free, she was able to flag down a police sergeant to report what had just happened.
Soon after the first victim had escaped, Muncada picked up his second victim. She entered the vehicle after he had agreed to pay for sex. This time he began to punch, bite and stab the female victim. She violently struggled with the defendant, and was also able to escape from his car.
An Uber driver who watched the women jump from the car helped the victim call police for help. Around the same time another witness saw a woman who’d apparently been stabbed by the same suspect in the general area of the first attack. Police are trying to contact this third victim, who has not yet been identified. At 2 a.m., police were successfully able to pull over the suspect near where he had attacked his victims.
During the initial search of the suspect’s vehicle, police found blood, a package of steel kitchen knives, one of the victim’s hair weaves, duct tape with blood on it, and a black mask.
Anyone with information about unreported attacks by this defendant can contact detective Brandon Scholten at (408) 277-4102.
