Mr. Bungle former member Theobald ‘Theo’ Lengyel has been found guilty of first degree murder of his girlfriend Alice ‘Alyx’ Herrmann.
The 54-year-old – who was a saxophonist in the experimental rock band formed in 1985 – was arrested in January when investigators found Herrmann’s body in a park in Berkeley, California, after she was reported missing in December.
The trial, which began in August, was decided on Friday October 11 after prosecutors played an audio recording allegedly from Herrmann’s phone which heard her begging for her life as Lengyel strangled her to death, according to CBS News.
Herrmann was a keen and beloved member of paddling and canoe racing nonprofit Outrigger Santa Cruz, which she enjoyed multiple times a week.
‘She’s always loved being outdoors and environmental causes,’ her brother Eric previously said.
A friend remembered: ‘She attended Pomona College at 16 years old, got a BS from from Caltech (in an era when there were very few women), had a PhD in neuroscience, was a professor at University of Lausanne, had a black belt in tae kwon do, spoke multiple languages, [and] was a lifelong musician, pescatarian, and soft-spoken lover of life.’
Herrmann was also ‘an adventurous athlete even at 61’ and had ‘a strong connection to the sea, to her daughter, and to the many friends who loved her.’
The eldest of three siblings, Herrmann came from a close-knit family with two younger brothers, Conrad and Eric.
Lengyel is facing life in prison and will be sentenced in November. He pleaded not guilty for murdering Herrmann in her home on December 4, 2023.
The audio recording – which investigators said they did not discover until September 22, weeks into the trial – was reportedly a three hour-long tape, which was played in full in court.
San Francisco local outlet Kron4 reported that when a break was called mid-recording one juror wiped away tears from her face.
The recording begins at 8.56pm when Lengyel can be heard playing the piano, the outlet reports.
Fifteen minutes later, they began arguing as Lengyel insisted she accompany him out to play pool, but she said no because she had work in Berkeley the following morning.
She urged him to go without her, but he grew frustrated, and threatened to ‘mash [her] f***ing brain in’ at 9.53pm.
Herrmann can then be heard telling him that alcohol makes them fight, to which he replied: ‘When we fight it’s actually because you are drinking. I’m always drinking, all day, every day. And the only time we fight is when you drink.’
She then poured a bottle of liquor into the toilet and flushed, according to the outlet.
At 10.08pm, Lengyel threatened to kill the couple’s dog Trav to ‘demonstrate’ how he could kill her.
She ordered him to leave the house, before Lengyel began shouting at her and at 10.39pm he became physically violent, as struggles could be distinguished from the audio.
Lengyel pinned her down, asking: ‘Are you at my mercy right now?’
According to the publication, prosecutors wrote in court documents: ‘From 10.40pm to the time of her death at 11.33pm, defendant has Ms. Herrmann under some form of physical restraint. Defendant is either sitting on top of Ms. Herrmann or restraining her arms. Ms. Herrmann attempts to struggle out.’
He threatened that she was ‘gonna f***ing die right now’ and asked how he should do it, before she warned him his kids will have a murderer for a father.
To that he said it was ‘too f***ing late for that’ and she went on to scream and tell him to stop a total of 53 times.
Prosecutors wrote in court documents: ‘The recording appears to end when the defendant realises the phone is recording and stops the application at 12.11am on December 5, 2023.’
After the audio file was uncovered, the District Attorney’s Office requested the judge enhance the murder charge to include torture, the outcome of which is yet to be decided.
Inspector Steven Ryan said he found Google Maps searches on Lengyel’s phone leading to the exact location of the body, and as an expert in digital forensics he was able to get into the suspect’s phone.
‘It can take a few seconds, or literally years if it’s an alphanumeric code. We were lucky, 101691, six digits. It took us under three days to crack that,’ he said.
Herrmann was a Hawaiian native and California Institute of Technology graduate, working at Moody’s finance firm after starting her career at Silicon Valley tech startups.
CalTech wrote in tribute: ‘Alyx drew meaning and community from other interests: Bass guitar, Chess, Go, Fencing, Taekwondo … and Outrigger canoe paddling. Alyx was a rock star, a rocket scientist, a brain surgeon, a martial arts master, and a finance wizard.’
Herrmann earned a PhD in computational neuroscience and published papers on neuron signal response.
She spent time living in France and Switzerland, and according to CalTech, planned on retiring to Hawaii.
Lengyel left Mr Bungle in 1996 after playing saxophone, clarinet and keyboards on several recordings, including the band’s self-titled 1991 debut album and Disco Volante in 1995.
He was not part of the band’s reunion tours, which began in 2020.
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