Fraser Bohm Accident: Murder Charges, Defense, and Trial Rulings

The Fraser Bohm accident refers to the October 17, 2023 crash on the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, California, in which Bohm, then 22, drove his BMW into parked cars and killed four Pepperdine University seniors standing on the shoulder. Prosecutors say he was traveling 104 mph in a 45-mph zone. He is charged with four counts of murder and four counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, has pleaded not guilty, and remains free on $4 million bail. A judge refused to dismiss the murder charges in November 2025, and trial is tentatively targeted for September 2026.

What Happened on the Pacific Coast Highway

The collision occurred on the PCH between Las Flores Canyon and Carbon Canyon roads, about four miles east of the Pepperdine campus on a stretch locally known as Dead Man’s Curve. Data from the BMW’s event data recorder showed the car accelerated from 93 mph to 104 mph in the two and a half seconds before the first of three impacts.¹ The BMW struck several parked vehicles, and those vehicles struck the four students, who were pronounced dead at the scene.² Bohm was uninjured.

Investigators determined Bohm was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Toxicology results confirmed as much, and his defense attorney said he passed a field sobriety test.³ In body camera footage played in court, Bohm admitted to “going fast” but called the event “such a blur” and said he did not know how fast he was going.⁴

The Four Students Killed

The four women killed were all Pepperdine seniors in the Class of 2024 and members of the Alpha Phi sorority: Niamh Rolston, 20, a business administration major; Peyton Stewart, 21, an international business major; Asha Weir, 21, an English writing and rhetoric major; and Deslyn Williams, 21, a pre-med biology major.⁵ All four received posthumous degrees.

The Charges and Why Prosecutors Filed Murder

On October 25, 2023, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed four counts of murder and four counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence under case number LA100189.⁶ Then-District Attorney George Gascón said the murder charges reflected “the speed, the reckless disregard for the safety of others.”² If convicted on all counts, Bohm faces the possibility of multiple life sentences.

The murder counts rest on a theory of implied malice under California law. To prove implied malice, prosecutors must show that the defendant’s actions carried a high probability of causing death and that the defendant was aware of that danger and consciously disregarded it. The California Supreme Court clarified the framework in People v. Reyes (2023), holding that the act must involve more than a remote or merely possible risk of death.⁷

Prosecutors argue that driving roughly 100 mph on a road lined with homes, garages, and regular traffic satisfies the objective prong. For the subjective prong, they point to Bohm’s statement to investigators that he knew the PCH “like the back of his hand,” and to data from the vehicle’s traction control system showing it alerted Bohm that the car was losing control, after which he continued accelerating for another four seconds before impact.⁸

Bohm was initially arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and released hours later pending further investigation. Bail was set at $8 million and reduced to $4 million at his arraignment on October 25, 2023. He posted bond and was released on October 27. A later defense motion to reduce bail to $2 million was denied by Judge Thomas Rubinson in September 2025; the defense said the Bohm family had exhausted retirement accounts and sold their home to maintain the bond.⁹

Bohm’s Defense

Bohm is represented by Alan Jackson and Jacqueline Sparagna of Werksman Jackson & Quinn LLP, having previously been represented by Michael Kraut. The defense has advanced three main lines of argument.

The first is road rage. The defense contends Bohm was fleeing an aggressive driver when the crash occurred, and that another motorist clipped Bohm’s BMW, causing him to swerve into the parked cars. In a videotaped interview, Bohm described an “aggressive” driver in a white car who swerved into his lane and struck his driver’s-side mirror.¹ Prosecutors presented testimony from the driver of a white Honda Civic who denied any contact with the BMW, and photographs of the Civic showed no visible damage.

The second is a challenge to the speed evidence. Kraut argued early on that witness testimony and vehicle data indicated a maximum speed of 70 mph, not 104, and questioned the reliability of the event data recorder, suggesting the car may have been airborne after leaving the roadway.¹⁰

The third is that the charges themselves are excessive. Jackson has said that similar incidents are “routinely — nearly always — filed as vehicular manslaughter cases,” and that charging murder “invites troubling questions about who truly drove it.” The defense has emphasized that Bohm has no criminal history and no prior traffic infractions.¹¹

The Victor Calandra Dispute

A central figure in the case is Victor Calandra, a Malibu resident who was driving on the PCH that night. Calandra testified at the preliminary hearing that he saw the BMW driving erratically and swerving between lanes. He said that when both vehicles stopped at a light at Las Flores Canyon, he rolled down his window and told Bohm, “Hey, you need to be careful. You’re going to hurt yourself.” He also testified he saw Bohm holding a cellphone between his legs and moving his thumbs as if texting, and that when the light turned green, the BMW accelerated rapidly.⁴

The defense characterizes Calandra differently, alleging he was the aggressive driver Bohm was trying to escape and claiming he has an “anger problem.” Calandra’s attorney, Robert Helfend, has called the road-rage allegation “false” and described the defense’s efforts to access his client’s phone as a “fishing expedition.” After the November 2025 hearing, Judge Rubinson ordered Calandra to make his smartphone available to a defense expert for extraction of GPS data from the night of the crash and communications with law enforcement, media, victims’ families, and other witnesses, with the data sent directly to the court and only material “strictly relevant to this case” released to the defense.¹²

Key Rulings and Where the Case Stands

On April 30, 2025, Superior Court Judge Diego H. Edber ruled after a preliminary hearing that sufficient evidence existed for Bohm to stand trial on all eight counts.¹ Bohm pleaded not guilty on August 6, 2025.¹³

On November 10, 2025, Judge Rubinson denied the defense’s motion to dismiss the murder charges. He ruled that driving approximately 100 mph on the PCH carries a “high probability of death” and that Bohm, given his familiarity with the road, should have been aware of the danger posed by Dead Man’s Curve. In the judge’s words: “The defendant knew how dangerous it was to drive at 100 mph, and his actions had a high degree of probability of causing death.”¹⁴ The defense has stated its intention to seek appellate review of the ruling.²

As of the May 19, 2026 hearing, no formal trial date has been set, but Judge Rubinson expressed a desire to begin trial in September 2026, and Jackson indicated he was “thinking the same.” Both sides are exchanging expert reports. The next pretrial hearing is scheduled for July 1, 2026, at the Van Nuys Courthouse. Bohm remains free on $4 million bail.¹⁵

Civil Lawsuits

The families of Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams, along with Carlos Solloa, who was injured in the crash, filed a wrongful death lawsuit that does not name Bohm as a defendant. It targets the State of California, the City of Malibu, and the California Department of Transportation, alleging that government entities failed to address the known dangers of the stretch of PCH where the crash occurred.¹⁶ The families of Niamh Rolston and Peyton Stewart have reportedly filed separate lawsuits.

PCH Safety Changes After the Crash

The crash prompted safety changes on a 21-mile Malibu corridor where 170 deaths and serious injuries were recorded between 2011 and 2023, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis.¹⁷ The state allocated $4.2 million for safety upgrades, added three CHP officers dedicated to speed enforcement, and raised speeding fines.¹⁸ A Malibu Taskforce involving the CHP and the Sheriff’s Department issued roughly 7,000 citations, more than 4,300 of them for speeding.

Senate Bill 1297, authored by State Senator Ben Allen and signed by Governor Gavin Newsom on September 27, 2024, authorizes automated speed cameras at five locations along the PCH in Malibu.¹⁹ By the second anniversary of the crash in October 2025, the CHP reported a 12 percent reduction in injuries on the PCH over the prior two years, and the Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department reported that traffic collisions in Malibu had dropped by nearly 51 percent between 2024 and 2025, with zero fatal crashes on the highway that year.²⁰

1
ABC7. Driver Fraser Michael Bohm Ordered To Stand Trial for PCH Crash
2
CBS News. Pepperdine University Students Crash Malibu Murder Trial
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Los Angeles Times. Driver Speeding 104 MPH in Malibu Crash That Killed Pepperdine Students
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Pepperdine Graphic. Fraser Bohm Ordered To Stand Trial for Oct. 2023 PCH Crash
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Pepperdine University. Student Memorial
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Los Angeles County District Attorney. Man Charged in Fatal Crash That Killed Four Pepperdine University Students in Malibu
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Stanford Law – Supreme Court of California. People v. Reyes
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Pepperdine Graphic. Judge Denies Motion To Dismiss Murder Charges for Fraser Bohm
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Court TV. Judge Denies Request To Reduce $4M Bail for Fraser Michael Bohm
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ABC7. Malibu Crash Pepperdine Students Court Updates Fraser Bohm
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KTLA. Driver in Violent Crash That Killed 4 Pepperdine Students Pleads Not Guilty
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The Acorn. PCH Case Takes a Turn
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Court TV. Fraser Michael Bohm
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ABC7. Los Angeles Judge Denies Request To Dismiss Murder Charges in PCH Crash
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Pepperdine Graphic. Talk of September Trial Date After Fraser Michael Bohm Appears at Another Pre-Trial Hearing
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Law & Crime. Parents of Sorority Sisters Killed While Walking Along Dead Man’s Curve Are Now Suing California
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Los Angeles Times. Malibu’s 21-Mile Stretch of PCH Is Seeing Improvements
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ABC7. PCH Malibu Pacific Coast Highway Safety Improvements
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NBC Los Angeles. Newsom Signs Speed Camera Bill for PCH Malibu
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Pepperdine Graphic. Press Conference Honors ‘Our Four Girls’ Second Anniversary and Reports on PCH Safety Improvements