Malibu man to stand trial for murder in high-speed crash that left 4 Pepperdine students dead

A 23-year-old Malibu, California, man was ordered by a judge this week to stand trial on murder and vehicular manslaughter charges after a crash a year and a half ago that left four Pepperdine students dead. 

Fraser Bohm was allegedly driving between 93 and 104 mph in a 45 mph zone when he crashed on Pacific Coast Highway Oct. 17, 2023, prosecutors said, basing that on his BMW’s “black box,” according to FOX 11. 

Niamh Rolston, 20, Peyton Stewart, 21, Asha Weir, 21, and Deslyn Williams, 21, who were all sorority sisters, were killed in the crash. 

It happened at around 8:30 p.m. when Bohm was allegedly speeding on a section of the Pacific Coast Highway known as “Dead Man’s Curve” and hit three parked cars. 

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Witnesses provided conflicting accounts of Bohm’s driving before the crash, the station reported. 

Bohm’s lawyer, Michael Kraut of Kraut Law Group, told Fox News Digital he worked as a prosecutor for 15 years and never saw a case go to trial like this “in which the person was convicted of murder, and I was in a homicide unit.”

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“It’s a very low standard to make it through the preliminary hearing to bind you for trial,” he added. “It’s not the highest standard, which is beyond a reasonable doubt, at trial.”

Kraut said one of the witnesses admitted to chasing Bohm in a road rage incident he says contributed to the crash. 

He added that witnesses corroborated his client’s claim that he was going “70 miles an hour, not 104,” before the crash, “and every fact that he gave was corroborated.”

Kraut added, “There was somebody who had their lights shining directly into his eyes, and he had to move over, and that was shown on a video where somebody pulled into the center median.” 

The lawyer added a “woman who was in front of him saw those lights, and she moved over part of the lane and honked at him, and that startled him and that moved him in. And that’s when the crash happened.”

“This is a horrible, horrible case for everybody — the victims, families,” he said. “It’s a horrific event. And my client’s family and my client feel distraught over what happened. But the issue is holding my client responsible for the level of crime, if any, that he committed, not just going to the top for murder.” 

Superior Court Judge Diego H. Edber scheduled Bohm’s arraignment for July 1. 

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Los Angeles County DA’s office for comment.