MALIBU—Fraser Michael Bohm, 24, has been charged with four counts of murder and four counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence following a high-speed crash that left four Pepperdine students dead in 2023. His attorney, Alan Jackson, filed a defense motion to dismiss the murder charges, which was denied at a pre-trial hearing on Monday, July 27, 2026.
The defense argued that the preliminary hearing in April was flawed. Jackson told the court that implied malice murder requires more than just tragedy and danger and requires proof that the natural and probable consequences of that act, and that act alone, are nearly certain to cause death.
Judge Thomas Rubinson denied the defense’s request. The charges will stand when the case heads to trial on September 8, with pre-trial motions scheduled to be heard on September 2.
The crash occurred on October 17, 2023, a day after Bohm’s 22nd birthday. He allegedly sped around a turn on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu in his BMW, and according to prosecutors, was driving 104 mph in a 45-mph zone when he lost control of the vehicle.
He slammed into a parked red Mazda, careened into another parked car, then either struck a third vehicle or a stone wall. Four students standing alongside the roadway were struck when the parked cars Bohm hit were pushed into them, killing them at the scene.
Among the victims were Niamh Rolston, 20, Peyton Stewart, 21, Asha Weir, 21, and Deslyn Williams, 21, all four Pepperdine Seaver College seniors and Alpha Phi sorority sisters. They were set to graduate in 2024 but instead received their degrees posthumously.
Court documents state that Bohm had no alcohol or drugs in his system at the time of the crash. Bohm’s trail is slated to start on September 8.
By Milan Manesh