A California judge ruled Monday that charges against a man accused of killing four Pepperdine University students will not be dropped.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Fraser Michael Bohm, 24, has been charged with four counts of murder in the 2023 deaths of Alpha Phi Sorority sisters, Niamh Rolston, 20; Peyton Stewart, 21; Asha Weir, 21; and Deslyn Williams, 21.
According to ABC 7, at Monday morning’s court hearing, Judge Thomas Rubinson rejected the defense’s request to drop charges, despite his defense team claiming he was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol when the fatal crash occurred.
The defense also argued that there was not enough evidence to constitute murder charges and that Bohm was being chased by a road-rage driver when the crash happened.
FOX 11 Los Angeles reports that Bohm allegedly swerved and crashed into three parked vehicles along Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, on October 17, 2023, while allegedly driving his BMW over 100 mph in a 45 mph zone.
The crash caused parked vehicles to strike the four victims, who were walking along the shoulder of the highway after exiting their own vehicle.
“Speed cannot be treated as malice, according to California law. And the prosecution must have proof of implied malice for a murder charge and the prosecution does not have that,” Bohm’s attorney, Alan Jackson, argued.
The prosecution argued that “the defendant clearly drove in a reckless and dangerous manner.”
“Here, the defendant drove 59 miles per hour over the speed limit on what is essentially a residential street,” Deputy District Attorney Nathan Bartos wrote.
“There is no excuse which can justify the danger he posed at those speeds, certainly not trying to flee possible road rage, a contention for which there was no evidence, nor did the defendant ever mention it to deputies.”
The judge agreed.
“There is no doubt that this man (Bohm) was driving extremely fast on PCH…close to, even above 100mph,” Rubinson said.
“There is no evidence of a road rage incident before the crash. The defendant knew how dangerous it was to drive at 100mph…that his actions had a high degree of probability of causing death.”
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Shortly after the crash, attorneys for the victims’ parents, who filed a lawsuit against the state, said there wasn’t protection in place for the crash site, notoriously known as “dead man’s curve.”
The attorneys said that the state has known about the dangers of the curve for decades.
The site is not the same location as the famous 1963 song, “Dead Man’s Curve” by Jan and Dean, which focused on a curve off Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles.
Bohm remains free on a $4 million bond.
Weir, Williams, Stewart, and Rolston were seniors at Pepperdine University. All four received their degrees posthumously.
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[[Feature Photo via Pepperdine University]
