Ex-member of rock band Mr Bungle strangled girlfriend to death as she recorded killing on her phone

Following the discovery of an audio recording the victim made on her phone while she struggled for her life, California prosecutors found Mr. Bungle, a founding member of the experimental rock band, guilty Friday of first-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend.

According to KSBW-TV, a Santa Cruz jury deliberated for a day before convicting Theobald “Theo” Lengyel of first-degree murder in connection with the death of his girlfriend Alice “Alyx” Kamakaokalani Herrmann inside her Capitola home on the evening of December 4, 2023. Lengyel is scheduled for sentencing in November and faces a life sentence. Investigators discovered Lengyel’s remains in a forested section of Berkeley’s Tilden Regional Park in January, leading to his arrest.

When Herrmann failed to appear at a family get-together in Hawaii the previous month, she was reported missing. According to KRON-TV, on October 1, prosecutors aired a recording from Herrmann’s phone in which she begged for her life while her lover choked her to death. It’s unclear if Herrmann, 61, recorded the audio on purpose or accidentally through the app. Inspector Steven Ryan of the District Attorney’s Office stated that the terrifying audio tape was not found by investigators until September 22, 2024, one month after the start of Lengyel’s murder trial. Lengyel begins the tape by playing the piano before becoming irate at Herrmann for refusing to take her out to play billiards. She has to work in Berkeley, but Herrmann keeps saying she doesn’t want to go.