Bail set at $1.5M in slaying of tourists

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MAYS LANDING, N.J., May 23 (UPI) -- Bail was set at $1.5 million Tuesday for a Philadelphia woman charged with the fatal stabbing of two Canadian visitors to Atlantic City, N.J.

Antoinette Pelzer, 44, who was arrested Monday, acted strangely during the hearing, The Press of Atlantic City reported. She laughed when Superior Court Judge Michael Donio asked her if she had the money to hire a lawyer.

Atlantic County Prosecutor Ted Housel said the officer who arrested Pelzer witnessed the attack and grabbed the suspect within 13 seconds. The victims died a short time later at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center, a half block away from the scene.

The two women, both from Scarborough, Ontario, were identified in court only as Sally and Jane Doe. Donio sealed their names for 72 hours because Housel said their families had not been notified yet.

One was 80 and the other 47.

Pelzer allegedly lunged at the two women with a butcher knife and knocked one of them down. When the woman on the ground refused to allow Pelzer to take her purse, she was allegedly stabbed several times more.