A Nevada man accused of attacking and seriously injuring a woman at a Montecito mansion in May will be held to answer in court to the allegations of attempted murder, assault, kidnapping, residential burglary and other crimes.

Russell Maxwell Phay, 43, faced a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, where Santa Barbara County Superior Court Judge Stephen Foley ruled that he would face all charges filed by the District Attorney’s Office.

Phay, who is from Henderson, Nevada, has been accused of breaking into the home of Ty Warner, a hotelier and Beanie Babies mogul, and violently attacking Linda Malek-Aslanian before being arrested at the scene. 

The court was shown videos of a suspect, believed to be Phay, violently kicking and stomping on Malek-Aslanian before dragging her across pavement toward a pond across from the front door of the home. 

Detective Matthew Maxwell testified that he listened to a law enforcement interview with Phay the evening of May 21 when Phay told investigators he was communicating with famous singer Katy Perry through a “head link,” and that he was her husband. 

Phay believed Perry was telling him to go to the residence at 1000 Channel Drive, believing it was her home and no one was supposed to be in the house.

Phay allegedly told law enforcement he believed Malek-Aslanian was Perry’s mother and had been molesting Perry for years, and he also believed Warner and Mark Swallow were somehow involved in the abuse. 

Swallow was an employee and friend of Warner’s who was visiting on the day of the attack, according to law enforcement testimony. 

Maxwell testified that he interviewed Warner about the incident, who said he was in the kitchen with Swallow when he heard a “blood-curdling scream” from Malek-Aslanian. 

At the time, Malek-Aslanian was Warner’s employee and girlfriend who had been living at the home since November 2024, according to testimony from Maxwell. 

When the men went to see what happened, they saw Malek-Aslanian in a fetal position on the floor and Phay standing near her, asking if the home belonged to Perry and saying he was her husband.

Phay allegedly chased Warner through the house before Warner managed to get to his garage and flee the property in his Mercedes to the nearby Four Seasons Resort The Biltmore, where he had an employee call 9-1-1, according to Maxwell. 

Malek-Aslanian was found slightly in the pond, with her head and arm above the water, and appeared to be badly injured, according to court testimony.

Prosecutor Kevin Weichbrod presented photos of the hallway where Warner found Phay near Malek-Aslanian, which showed a bloody towel, and photos of the outside of the house with bloody skid marks leading to the pond. 

When law enforcement arrived on the scene, Phay allegedly barricaded himself in a bathroom before escaping out a window. He was eventually Tased by law enforcement and taken into custody. 

While apprehended, Phay allegedly told law enforcement he was married to Perry and he thought someone was in the house raping her, according to law enforcement testimony.

Phay is also facing charges on suspicion of assaulting a woman named Elaine Jensen. The charges stem from an incident earlier on May 21, before the break-in, when a woman was found badly beaten near Arroyo Quemado along the Gaviota Coast around 11 a.m.

Phay allegedly admitted to law enforcement that he assaulted Jensen, telling them Jensen told him he couldn’t drink water out of her hose, so he attacked her for infringing on his basic right to water, according to testimony from Maxwell. 

Video footage allegedly showed Phay in the area around the time of the attack. California Highway Patrol officials allegedly picked up Phay along Highway 101 the morning of May 21 and drove him to Gaviota State Beach, which is 6 to 7 miles from Arroyo Quemado, between 7:45 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., according to testimony from Chad Hunt, criminal investigator for the District Attorney’s Office. 

Jensen was reportedly found injured by a MarBorg driver after he picked up a trash bin in the area. 

Photos were shown in court of Jensen in the hospital, showing her to be beaten and her right eye swollen. 

When interviewed by law enforcement, Phay indicated that he thought he killed both women and was “relieved” to learn Malek-Aslanian was in the hospital, but he couldn’t believe Jensen was alive.

He allegedly told law enforcement that he saw Jensen’s “soul leave her body,” and if she was alive, “she would be a zombie,” according to Maxwell.

Phay was ruled competent to stand trial in June.

Phay remains in jail custody and is scheduled to return to court on Feb. 2 for an arraignment hearing.