Ex-Bay Area rocker found guilty of murdering girlfriend

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KRON) — A Santa Cruz County jury found a former Bay Area rock band member guilty of murdering his girlfriend, Alice “Alyx” Kamakaokalani Herrmann. Deliberations ended on Thursday when jurors convicted Theobald “Mylo” Lengyel of first-degree murder.

Evidence at trial showed Lengyel, 56, of El Cerrito, was a heavy drinker and the troubled couple had frequent verbal arguments. On the night of the murder, Dec. 4, 2023, the couple was arguing inside Herrmann’s Capitola beach house. Herrmann wanted to stay home and go to bed because she had to work in Berkeley the next morning. Lengyel wanted his girlfriend to go out and play pool with him.

District Attorney’s Office Inspector Steven Ryan testified that what started out as a couple’s quarrel turned into a murder after Lengyel pinned Herrmann down and strangled her.

The trial, which began in August, took a dramatic turn when jurors listened to a chilling, three-hour-long audio tape that was recorded by the murder victim’s phone. It’s unclear if Herrmann intentionally recorded her own homicide using the iPhone app, “Just Press Record for iOS,” or if the app inadvertently recorded.

Jurors could not see Herrmann, but they could hear her as she begged her boyfriend to stop and let her live.

“You’re gonna f***ing die right now. Are you ready?” Lengyel’s voice is heard saying on the tape. Ryan said the killer tortured his victim, taunting her for hours in between strangling her.

Herrmann says, “What’s happening to my face? I can’t see.” Herrmann gasps and groans for air when Lengyel says, “Okay. How do you want to die? Blunt trauma or something else … think you should be choked to death?”

Herrmann says, “Stop it. You want your kids to be the kids of a murderer? Come on, stop it.” Lengyel answers, “It’s too f***ing late for that.”

Prosecutors said Herrmann screamed “stop it” 53 times until her voice trailed off and she died.

In the beginning of the tape, Lengyel can be heard playing the piano. Lengyel is a saxophonist and former member of the ’90s rock band Mr. Bungle.

Herrmann’s family reported her missing to police in December after she missed her flight to Hawaii. One of the victim’s friends testified that she immediately suspected “Mylo” was behind the victim’s disappearance.

In January of 2024, police found Herrmann’s body hidden in the wilderness of Berkeley’s Tilden Park .

Inspector Steven Ryan testified that he found Google Maps searches on Lengyel’s phone showing the exact location where the body was found. The Google searches were made on Dec. 8, 2023, Ryan testified.

Several of Herrmann’s ocean canoe club teammates with Santa Cruz Outriggers attended the murder trial. Lengyel will be sentenced by Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Nancy de la Pena on November 7.

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