Former Mr. Bungle saxophonist and keyboardist Theobald “Theo” Brooks Lengyel was found guilty of first-degree murder on Friday, October 11, 2024. The 55-year-old musician now faces life in prison after being found guilty of the murder of his girlfriend, Alice “Alyx” Kamakaokalani Herrmann, 61, in her Capitola, California, home.
A crime that shook the musical community
According to CBS San Francisco, the Santa Cruz County Court jury deliberated for a day before reaching its verdict. The trial, which lasted six weeks, included the release of a terrifying audio recording, allegedly captured on the victim’s phone, in which Herrmann can be heard begging for his life as Lengyel strangled him.
Herrmann was last seen on December 3, 2023, triggering a disappearance investigation. His remains were eventually found in Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley, and Lengyel was arrested on January 2, 2024.
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Background and musical career marked by rupture
Before this drama, Lengyel was known for his role as a founding member of Mr. Bungle, where he played saxophone, clarinet and keyboards. He contributed to the early years of the group, notably on their demo The Raging Wrath Of The Easter Bunny, as well as on their first two albums released under a major label, Mr. Bungle (1991) et Flying Disc (1995).
However, his relationship with the group deteriorated over the years. In a 2005 Q&A session, Mr. Bungle bassist Trevor Dunn revealed that Lengyel left the band on bad terms: “We unanimously decided to continue without him, because he wasn’t progressing with the rest of the group and we were running out of things for him to do. He got angry and I haven’t heard from him since.”
A shocking verdict and a tragic ending
The guilty verdict, rendered after only a day of deliberations, followed the late discovery of a disturbing recording, found on a third-party application on the victim’s phone. This crucial evidence was admitted at trial at the end of September, several weeks after proceedings began.
Lengyel’s past already included incidents of domestic violence. According to court documents, his previous marriage ended in divorce in 2017, accompanied by a restraining order following a domestic violence incident.
Lengyel will be officially sentenced next month, where he could receive a life sentence for this horrific crime that shocked the music scene and Mr. Bungle fans.
