Theobald Lengyel, a former musician with the experimental band Mr. Bungle, was sentenced to 25 years to life for the first-degree murder of his girlfriend, Alyx Hermann. A chilling three-hour phone recording made by Alyx revealed the horrifying details of her final moments, exposing Lengyel's violent threats and the brutal attack that led to her death. The recording, discovered during Lengyel's trial, provided irrefutable evidence against him, dismantling his defense of an accidental manslaughter.
A rock star who brutally murdered his girlfriend was exposed after a bombshell three-hour phone recording was revealed at his trial. Theobald Lengyel, who found fame as a saxophone player for the experimental US rock band Mr Bungle in the 1980s, gained infamy decades later as the killer of Alyx Hermann. Lengyel, 54, was jailed for 25 years to life for the first-degree murder of Alyx, 61, in early December 2023 at their home in California.
In an astonishing twist at Lengyel’s six-week trial last summer, a recording taken by Alyx on her phone was discovered which recounted in detail the 61-year-old’s horrific final moments. And the argument from Lengyel’s defence that the incident was an argument gone wrong and a case of unplanned manslaughter was blown apart. Alyx went missing between the morning of Sunday, December 3, 2023, when she was seen in the local harbour canoeing, and December 5 when she didn’t show up for work. She had been due to visit her dad in Hawaii on December 12 but missed the flight, leading her loved ones to report Alyx missing. Cops discovered personal belongings like her phone and Apple watch at her home near Santa Cruz, with CCTV footage showing Lengyel had been at the house on December 4 after stopping off at a local off-licence on the way home. The musician had a long-standing drinking problem. Harrowingly, Alyx’s Apple watch stopped registering a heartbeat on December 4 at 11.44pm. Cops named Lengyel as a person of interest in the case but he refused to cooperate with investigators. Later, a car registered to Alyx he’d been seen driving on December 5 was found parked at his home with traces of her blood inside. Lengyel, bizarrely, had shaved off his hair and beard by this time and gone to stay with his brother, who discovered a bite mark on his arm. Alyx’s body was found partially buried on January 1 in Tilden Regional Park in the Berkeley Hills and it was determined she had been strangled. Body parts and organs were missing as a result of scavenging animals, with Lengyel finally charged with her murder by police and put on trial last August. Midway through his trial, the recording was sensationally found causing a week-long pause in proceedings. It was never clear whether Alyx had made the recording on purpose or by accident. It was played to the jury and began with Lengyel playing the piano - then getting angry at Alyx for not wanting to go out with him and play pool. It escalated into a row and he threatened her life more than 30 times, shouting remarks like, “I could mash your f**king brain,” and “You’re gonna f**king die right now. Are you ready?” Lengyel then taunted her asking how she wanted to die, saying: “Blunt trauma or something else… think you should be choked to death?” Alyx begged for her life but he replied: “It’s too f**king late for that.” At one stage, Lengyel punched Alyx and broke her nose. Then the jury was forced to listen as Alyx could be heard gasping for air and pleading with Lengyel to stop as she choked him to death, over a horrific five minutes. During the final ordeal, Lengyel said: “You wouldn’t f**king play nice.” Alyx could be heard saying: “It’s not my fault.” After he had killed Alyx, Lengyel then sent texts to her phone to suggest he still thought she was alive. He stripped her body and buried her. On the recording, Lengyel could be heard saying: “You used to just do what I want.” He was sentenced to 25 years to life and won’t be eligible for parole for 24 years. His band Mr Bungle was formed in California in the 80s when the founding members were still in high school. They would go on to garner a cult following after getting a record deal then releasing a series of critically acclaimed albums. Lengyel primarily played saxophone but also clarinet and keyboard. He left after the first two albums over “artistic differences”. He moved into software engineering and met Alyx, whose real name was Alice Herrmann, in 2017 following a divorce from his first wife. Alyx also worked in the tech sector and was a musician as well, and also a keen canoeist with one adult daughter. Over their six years together, she discovered Lengyel had a temper, a problem with alcohol and a tendency to lash out violently at women in his life, including his ex-wife and his sister. They later testified against him. Alyx was described as a gentle soul who wanted to move to Hawaii to look after her father and see more of her brothers, while spending more time on the water in her canoe
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