The bizarre saga of missing teen Mariam Makhniashvili’s troubled family took another twist Thursday when her father was charged with attempted murder after a couple was stabbed in the city’s east end.

Vakhtang Makhniashvili allegedly confronted the pair who in the spring had bailed him out of jail after he was charged in another stabbing.

It’s unclear what led to Thursday’s altercation in which David Langer suffered non-life-threatening abdominal wounds and his wife, Delores, was stabbed in the arm. Makhniashvili then drove to 55 Division and turned himself in.

The incident comes just days after his son ran away for less than a day.

“I haven’t had a chance to speak with my client because he is under a lot of stress,” said Makhniashvili’s lawyer, Calvin Barry.

The family’s woes began in the politically unstable Republic of Georgia, which they left in 2003, leaving their children, Mariam and George, to be raised by relatives as they eked out a living in California. Trouble followed them there, when Vakhtang was charged, and acquitted, of lewd conduct in front of a daycare centre.

In June 2009, the family reunited in Toronto, which was supposed to mark a new beginning. But that September, just six weeks shy of her 18th birthday, Mariam vanished outside Forest Hill Collegiate, sparking an unprecedented investigation. She has not been found.

Since then, the family has carried on in the glare of public attention. Earlier this week, they again made headlines when George, 17, ran away from home for one night. His disappearance prompted his parents to phone the police and media, fearful he had been abducted.

The spotlight is expected to intensify Friday when Makhniashvili, 50, appears in court on charges of stabbing the couple. He faces one charge each of attempted murder, aggravated assault and failure to comply with a recognizance.

Just before noon Thursday, police were called to a home on Greenwood Ave., near Queen St. E.

A police source confirmed the victims were private investigator David Langer, 54, and his wife Delores, 51. Although they had never met Makhniashvili, the Langers posted a $50,000 bail after he allegedly stabbed a neighbour in May.

When Makhniashvili became suspicious about their motives, the couple pulled their bail and his wife, Lela Tabidze, became his surety. It’s not known if he has had contact with the Langers since.

In the Thursday incident, Victor Su, co-owner of Chino Locos, was making burritos when he heard a woman shouting.

“It was just screaming,” said Su, who ran outside and saw a woman standing in the doorway of a neighbouring house, wearing a bloodied blue bathrobe and throwing objects at a man. The man retreated and “seemed really calm,” noted Su, who called police.

When officers arrived, the front steps were splattered with blood and items such as old newspapers, water bottles and flyers were strewn about on the grass.

Ron Baird, who lives nearby, arrived minutes later and saw the couple at the door.

“She was covered in blood and he was wearing no shirt, just pants. (Paramedics) were bandaging him up,” Baird said. “She looked pretty weak. She wasn’t distraught. She was quiet. . . . Neither one said anything.”

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Baird also spotted a bloodied “big knife,” with a 12- to 15-centimetre blade, on the ground.

Tabidze declined to comment on her husband’s arrest.

In earlier interviews, the couple spoke of leaving their children in Georgia when they moved to the United States in 2003.

In a letter to a colleague, Makhniashvili wrote of the hardship his family experienced in Tbilisi, where they lived through harsh winters with no heat on his $30-per-month salary. Makhniashvili, who worked as a philosophy lecturer, said he carried a knife with him, and occasionally took it in hand, because of frequent random violence in the troubled state.

In California, he and his wife lived apart. Tabidze, a former journalist, did odd jobs. Makhniashvili was a visiting scholar at a local college.

In November 2008, Makhniashvili was arrested after complaints about a man rubbing his crotch in front of a daycare. He was later acquitted.

The couple moved to Toronto in May 2009 and were joined by their children the following month. They had not been together as a family in six years.

All was apparently going well until Mariam vanished without a trace on Sept. 14. She had no friends, no boyfriend and no money. Her parents suspect she was abducted but police have turned up few leads.

Eight months later, Makhniashvili was arrested for allegedly stabbing his neighbour after arguing over excessive noise. The dispute occurred around the same time human remains were found in a park, causing a flurry of media calls to the family’s residence, which distressed Makhniashvili.

Since then, he has spent most of his time in the one-bedroom apartment he shares with his wife and son. Bail conditions prevented him from leaving home without his wife.

With files from Daniela Germano and Allison Cross