Mass stabbing suspect in court as his privileged background is revealed and his ties to murder case uncovered

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A Martha’s Vineyard man accused of going on a stabbing spree at a movie theater and a McDonald’s in Massachusetts over the weekend is also a suspect in a homicide investigation in Deep River, Connecticut.

Jared Ravizza, 26,  of Chilmark, Massachusetts, on Martha’s Vineyard, was wearing a green jail jumpsuit when he appeared in the Plymouth courtroom on Tuesday where he was arraigned on charges of assault with intent to murder and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Ravizza’s defense attorney requested a competency evaluation for his client. He is expected to appear in a Quincy courtroom later on Tuesday for charges in the movie theater stabbings, including indecent exposure.

Prosecutors say Ravizza’s rampage began around 6pm on Saturday when he allegedly walked into the AMC Braintree 10 without paying and stabbed several girls “without saying anything and without any warning,” before fleeing the scene, the Braintree Police Department said in a news release.

The four girls, ages nine to 17, suffered non-life-threatening injuries and were taken to local hospitals.

Ravizza’s rampage continued about an hour later, and 27 miles south of the theater, where his black Porsche was captured on surveillance footage leaving a McDonald’s after another stabbing, according to the district attorney’s office.

Prosecutors say Ravizza “briefly stepped out of the vehicle and publicly urinated” outside the McDonald’s.

He then got into an argument with a 28-year-old male employee which led to him lunging at the man and stabbing him with a large knife before parking the car and going inside where he stabbed the 21-year-old female employee.

Both McDonald’s employees were rushed to the hospital where they were listed in stable condition as of Tuesday, prosecutors said.

Ravizza, who fled the area after the stabbing, was arrested after leading police on a chase in his Porsche that ended in a fiery crash on Cape Cod.

Shortly after Ravizza’s initial appearance in court, Connecticut State Police said they were investigating the same Jared Ravizza in the death of a West Hartford man, Bruce Feldman, whose body was found at a home in Deep River on Saturday.

Police said they received a report from someone on Merriwold Lane that an individual - later identified as Ravizza - had thrown a shovel through their front door. They recognized the person as a man who had stayed at a home nearby on Maritone Lane.

When police responded to the house, they found the body of 70-year-old Bruce Feldman.

Police found items belonging to Ravizza at the Maritone Lane home, and his appearance was consistent with witnesses’ descriptions.

Neighbors told local news outlet WTNH that Bruce had been staying with Ravizza at the Deep River  home and was known to walk around with his pet poodle, sometimes sitting on the neighbors’ porches without permission.

Police were initially called for the “disturbance,” and when Ravizza found out, he “picked up a shovel, went down to their house and threw it at their window,” neighbor Charlie Brashears said.

“This is like the weirdest stuff we’ve been around,” Brashears. added. “This is like 1970s Scorsese Taxi Driver stuff.”

Neighbors told the New York Post they believed Bruce’s poodle had also been found dead inside the home, though authorities have not yet confirmed it.

This investigation in Deep River is active and ongoing, police said.

Ravizza reportedly moved to the neighborhood after he was arrested on Martha’s Vineyard in April for allegedly attacking his father, according to court records.

Ravizza’s father, Jason Ravizza, a psychologist, reportedly told officers at the time that his son “had just had a mental break and attacked him” inside his home, according to the police report.

He was charged with assault and battery on a family or household member, and vandalism, according to the report that also noted that Ravizza had been “frothing” at the mouth as he spoke of “nonsensical” things, including a string of conspiracy theories.

Ravizza, a self-described artist, with an array of selfies on his Instagram, has been known for his signature long blond hair, a penchant for wearing aviator sunglasses, and frequent claims that he was a model in Los Angeles, the Martha’s Vineyard Times reported.

He has also claimed in 2021 to be running a charitable organization called Ravizza Global Initiative.

“We spend a lot of time on the Vineyard, in Massachusetts, and I just want people to know the accessibility to me … I also hope this story will inspire someone to start an initiative of their own,” he told theMartha’s Vineyard Times.

“For us, it’s not like a program. I look at it as a movement and lifestyle … It’s a lifelong connection, lifelong relationship, being there, being a mentor.”

Several locals told the outlet that Ravizza had developed a reputation on the island for bizarre and hostile interactions in public settings – and that he was quick to anger and often seemed unhinged.