A FORMER actor who was convicted of the attempted murder of his girlfriend will be released from prison.

The 40-Year-Old Virgin actor Shelley Malil was jailed in 2010 for repeatedly stabbing his girlfriend at her home in San Marcos, Texas.

On Tuesday (local time) Mr Malil, 45, appeared before a parole board at the Chuckawalla Valley State Prison in California, where it was determined that he will be released.

The parole board revisited a previous ruling made earlier this year that Mr Malil should be granted parole in part because he had been determined to be a low risk of committing violent acts in the future.

Californian Governor Jerry Brown disagreed with the initial decision to grant Mr Malil parole.

He wrote a letter arguing that there had been a lack of explanation for why Mr Malil’s “rage escalated so far out of control, and resulted in such a prolonged horror,” according to the LA Times.
Mr Malil’s victim, Californian woman Kendra Beebe, suffered 23 deep puncture wounds during the attack in August 2008.

Ms Beebe suffered a sliced chin, two collapsed lungs and lost about half the blood in her body in the attack, her lawyer said during initial court proceedings.

Mr Malil was sentenced to life in prison for the attack — he was found guilty of premeditated attempted murder and assault with a deadly weapon.

Before the attack Mr Malil was best known for his comedic acting, most notably as Haziz in Judd Apatow’s The 40-Year-Old Virgin. He played a store clerk who worked alongside star Steve Carell.