Ex-rocker who secretly recorded his girlfriend's murder is convicted

Left to right: Alice “Alyx” Herrmann, Theobald “Theo” Lengyel (Photos by El Cerrito PD) and Lengyel’s arrest (Capitola Police Department).

A 55-year-old former saxophonist for the eclectic rock band Mr. Bungle could spend the rest of his life behind bars for killing his girlfriend late last year and dumping her remains in a California state park.

Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Nancy de la Pena on Thursday ordered Theobald Lengyel to serve a 25-year-to-life sentence in a state correctional facility for the 2023 killing of 61-year-old Alice “Alyx” Herrmann , according to documents reviewed by Law&Crime.

During Thursday's court hearing, Lengyel addressed the court and apologized for his actions. According to a report from Lookout Santa Cruz, Herrmann's death was “like a cloud with no silver lining.”

“I can’t say anything that would make a difference, I’m sorry,” he reportedly added. “There is no way to compensate for the light it would have shone in the future.”

The verdict came a little more than a month after a jury found Lengyel guilty of first-degree murder for strangling Herrmann before burying her body in Berkeley Park. Although Lengyel did not deny killing Herrmann, he pleaded not guilty and argued that his actions did not constitute intentional homicide.

The key evidence that helped convince the jury otherwise was an hour-long recording that Herrmann made on his phone only after the trial began.

As Law&Crime previously reported, Herrmann, a graduate of the California Institute of Technology with a doctorate in neuroscience, was remembered as a “rock star, rocket scientist, brain surgeon, martial arts master and financial wizard,” Lengyel reported drinking at her home in Capitola, California, screaming, ” I could break your damn brain,” when she refused to go out to play pool with him after 9 p.m. on December 4, 2023.

When Herrmann explains that Lengyel's drinking always causes them to fight, he responded by blaming her.

“When we argue, it's actually because you're drinking. I drink all the time, all day, every day. And we only argue when you drink,” he is heard saying.

The defendant then threatens to kill the couple's dog to “demonstrate” how he could kill Herrmann.

“You will die immediately. Are you ready?” Lengyel asked. “Okay. How do you want to die? Blunt trauma or something else… do you think you should be suffocated? How about this?”

Herrmann was heard gasping more than 50 times, pleading for her life, telling Lengyel to “stop,” and even trying to convince Lengyel to think about his children: “You want your children to be the children of a murderer ? Come on, stop it.”

Lengyel replied that it was “too late” for that.

The recording took more than three hours. It is unclear whether Herrmann intended the recording or whether it was an accident.

The victim was last seen alive on December 3, 2023, while participating in a canoe club event. An investigation began nine days later when she missed a flight to Hawaii and her family reported her missing.

Lengyel was originally a person of interest in the case, but became a murder suspect after Herrmann's body was found in a wooded area in Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley in January. The Capitola Police Department said it “became clear that a crime was involved,” adding that the keyboardist, saxophonist and clarinet player were “uncooperative.”

Lengyel's alcohol consumption was the subject of testimony at the start of the trial. One of Hermann's friends, Aida Gray, decided to come forward and testify after reading news articles about the trial and thought people should know about the “crazy question” Lengyel once asked her years ago.

Gray reportedly said, “One night Mylo asked me to help kill someone.” Lengyel was also known as “Mylo Stone.”

According to the witness, in 2019, she, her husband Lengyel and Herrmann were all hanging out at Gray's home drinking wine when the defendant “suddenly asked to look at my clothes” in her walk-in closet. Gray reportedly said she agreed because the dresses were stylish and she didn't mind flaunting them. What then supposedly happened “out of the blue” in the closet stayed with her.

Gray reportedly testified that Lengyel “suddenly asked me if I could help him kill someone,” calling it “a crazy question” but apparently not joking.

“He looked me in the eyes. He was intense,” Gray said. The witness reportedly recalled her husband saying, “What the hell is his problem?” after she returned to the living room and told him what was said. The meeting ended on the spot, the witness added.

Matt Naham contributed to this report.

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