ARLINGTON, Va. -- The fiancee of a government lawyer has called off their engagement after being stabbed by a flower deliveryman who turned out to be her beau's ex-girlfriend wearing a wig and a mustache.
Police investigators allege Mary Prevost, 24, a jilted lover, donned the elaborate disguise last week and slashed Cheryle Wallis, 28, in the stomach and hand with a 7-inch kitchen knife when she answered her door.
She was not seriously injured.
Wallis' fiance, Robert Hogue, 26, jumped out of a shower and chased the attacker naked through a snowstorm, only to find it was his old girlfriend.
On Monday, the fire department also charged Prevost with setting a December fire at Hogue's home, which he shared with Wallis.
The couple planned a June wedding, but 'the arson put my life in a wreck and the attempted murder ruined it because Cheryle left me,' Hogue told The Journal newspapers in an interview published Wednesday.
'She said she couldn't spend her life looking over her shoulder and I can't blame her,' the young layer said, recovering from a cold he said he caught running through the snow dripping wet.
After the attack, the woman had said she might break off the engagement, fearing Prevost, a graduate student and journalist, might stalk the couple when she is released from custody.
The suspect is undergoing psychiatric tests at the Arlington County detention center outside Washington, D.C., and faces attempted murder charges in the slashing.
The fire department says someone wearing a disguise similar to Prevost's attire on the night of the attack was also seen on the night of the fire.
Prevost broke up with Hogue two years ago. He said has been pestered by bizarre telephone calls since last summer.