Theobald “Theo” Lengyel, formerly of Mr. Bungle, has been found guilty of the first-degree murder of his girlfriend, Alice “Alyx” Kamakaokalani Herrmann, Associated Press reports. Having been named a person of interest when she went missing in December of 2023, Lenyel was arrested in January, and a jury found him guilty on Friday (10/11). Prosecutors played them a three-hour audio recording of the crime in progress, KRON 4 reports, where Herrmann can be heard begging for her life and gasping for breath. The recording wasn’t found on her phone until September 22, weeks after the trial began, District Attorney’s Office Inspector Steven Ryan testified.
Lenygel had pleaded not guilty to the murder. He’d previously had a restraining order filed against him by Herrmann in 2017, and KRCR reported that he and Hermann “had been involved in a domestic violence case.” He’s set to be sentenced in November, and faces life in prison.
Lengyel left Mr. Bungle, which he was a founding member of, in 1996 due to “creative differences.” In a 2005 interview, bassist Trevor Dunn said, “We unanimously decided to go on without him because he wasn’t growing with the rest of the band and we were running out of things for him to do. He got pissed off and I haven’t heard from him since. He didn’t play any keyboards on the first record. I think he solely played alto saximaphone.”