Fraser Bohm Malibu crash driver charged with murder of 4 Pepperdine University female students after losing control of his BMW while speeding along Pacific Coast Highway. Had initially been charged with gross vehicular manslaughter. Appears in court and pleads not guilty.
The driver accused of killing four Pepperdine University students in a violent crash in Malibu, California last week has been rearrested after investigators gathered more evidence to present to the district attorney’s office, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department (LASD) announced Tuesday.
Fraser Michael Bohm, 22, was taken into custody Tuesday and is facing four counts of murder in the deaths of Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams.
The four young women were killed Oct. 17 when Bohm lost control of his BMW while speeding on a notoriously dangerous stretch of the iconic Pacific Coast Highway, known as ‘Dead Man’s Curve.’
Initially charged with gross vehicular manslaughter
He smashed into several parked cars which in turn ricocheted into the four female pedestrians walking nearby, killing them. Two other females were also struck but survived.
Rolston, Stewart, Weir and Williams — all seniors from the same sorority — were declared dead at the scene.
Bohm, who stepped out of the vehicle unharmed, was tackled by witnesses.
He was originally arrested after the crash and charged with gross vehicular manslaughter.
However, he was released ‘to allow detectives time to gather the evidence needed to secure the strongest criminal filing and conviction,’ the sheriff’s department stated Tuesday.
The evidence included a toxicology report, speed analysis, and execution of search warrants, police said.
Law enforcement presented the case to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office on Monday and charges were subsequently filed.
During a Wednesday court appearance, Bohm pleaded not guilty to the murder charges, and claimed he was trying to evade someone aggressively chasing him, which led him to lose control of his 2016 BMW.
Malibu driver lived flashy life as victims were set to graduate in spring
Bohm, who has no previous criminal record, had his bail lowered from $8 million to $4 million in the hearing.
He is scheduled to appear in court on Oct. 25.
Little was known about Bohm save that he lived with his parents at their multi-million dollar Malibu home and had been a baseball star during highschool. Images the suspect previously shared on Instagram showed him living a lavish lifestyle in Los Angeles.
A memorial service was held for the victims over the weekend, in which devastated friends and family members opened up about their grief and fondly looked back at the young women’s lives, nbc4 reported.
‘Peyton, Asha, Niamh and Desilyn were our best friends. They were everything,’ said Aubrey Lewis, a Pepperdine student. Recalling her friendship with Desilyn, she said, ‘Making others smile made her smile” and “She was joy, everyone’s best hype woman.’
University officials announced that Rolston, Stewart, Weir and Williams would receive their college degrees posthumously.
They were set to graduate in the spring.
