The judge overseeing the case against accused quadruple murderer Fraser Bohm warned Thursday that spectators could be removed from his courtroom after learning of heated confrontations between supporters of the victims and the defendant’s family.
“It’s not OK to be acting in a way that belongs in a junior high school yard—I want it to stop,” Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Thomas Rubinson said during the hearing in Van Nuys. He said he had become aware of “inappropriate” encounters between the two groups, including “threats, four-letter words…and intimidation.”
Rubinson said the hostile exchanges had taken place in courthouse hallways, elevators and routes leading to parking garages.
Bohm, 24, is accused of killing four Pepperdine University sorority sisters when his BMW crashed into them along Malibu’s Pacific Coast Highway in October 2023. His supporters have regularly occupied one side of the courtroom, while relatives and friends of the women have filled the other.
The judge threatened to bar anyone involved in the confrontations from attending proceedings. “There must be a degree of decorum,” Rubinson said. “If you are involved in doing this, cut it out. I’m not going to tolerate it.”
Bohm—who was 22 when the crash occurred—appeared at Thursday’s hearing in a light gray checkered suit with a blue shirt and tie.
He arrived alongside his divorced parents, Christopher and Brooke, 57. His mother reportedly purchased the BMW involved in the collision as a gift for her son’s 18th birthday.
Bohm has pleaded not guilty to four counts of second-degree murder and four counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. The crash killed Pepperdine students Niamh Rolston, 20, Asha Weir, 21, Peyton Stewart, 21, and Deslyn Williams, 21.
Fraser Bohm arrived at Van Nuys court Thursday for the latest hearing in his quadruple murder case
The 23-year-old was accompanied by relatives, including his divorced parents, Christopher and Brooke, as well as his sister
The four women died after Bohm lost control of the BMW and struck vehicles stopped in a parking lane on Pacific Coast Highway, next to the area where they were walking.
The posted speed limit was 45 mph. Prosecutors filed the quadruple-murder charges after recovering the vehicle’s “black box,” which indicated that Bohm accelerated from 93 mph to 104 mph in the two and a half seconds before impact.
During Thursday’s hearing, Rubinson granted a request by Bohm’s defense team to prevent prosecutors from introducing three statistical studies at trial. The studies concluded that pedestrians have virtually no chance of surviving a collision at 100 mph.
Defense lawyers argued that the studies were “irrelevant, confusing, and too complicated” for jurors to consider in Bohm’s trial.
Rubinson agreed, telling the court: “I’m not going to permit these statistics. There is evidence of some relevance but the risk of confusing the jury is very high.”
Last month, the judge rejected Bohm’s effort to keep jurors from hearing his answers to police questions about his speed, possible alcohol or drug use, and whether he was texting or speaking on his phone before the fatal crash.
Defense attorney Jacqueline Sparagna argued that Bohm had been held at the scene for several hours while deputies questioning him were “confrontational and accusatory.” She also said he was told he would be arrested if he refused to cooperate.
Sparagna maintained that the questioning amounted to a “custodial interrogation” because Bohm was treated as a “suspect” and was not read his Miranda rights until roughly six hours after the crash. She argued that the deputies’ questions were “intended to elicit an incriminating response.”
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The crash claimed the lives of four Pepperdine University students, including sorority sisters and close friends Deslyn Williams (left) and Niamh Rolston
Peyton Stewart (left) and Asha Weir belonged to Pepperdine University’s Alpha Phi chapter and were pronounced dead at the scene alongside their two friends
In denying the defense motions, Judge Rubinson referred to the ‘extraordinary circumstances’ of the horrific accident and deputies called to the scene were ‘entitled’ to ask Bohm how fast he was driving and other questions.
‘He was detained – but he was not in custody for purposes of Miranda,’ he said.
‘He was not arrested. He was never handcuffed at the scene.’
While he conceded that Bohm may have later been diagnosed as having a concussion, the judge rejected defense arguments that he was concussed when answering police questions immediately after the crash.
‘He was able to understand what was being asked,’ he said. ‘He knew where he was. He knew where he came from and where he was going.’
Bohm’s jury trial was originally scheduled to start in September.
But Judge Rubinson postponed it till December 1 after lead defense attorney, Alan Jackson, argued that he needed more time to counter prosecutors’ shocking ‘new theory’ that Bohm had a ‘giant canister of nitrous oxide’ – better known as laughing gas – in his lap just before the crash.
Jackson complained that the LA DA’s announcement ‘on the eve of trial’ that the 10-12 pound canister of laughing gas, with nozzle, found inside the BMW would be central to the prosecution’s case, ‘implied’ that Bohm was inhaling the gas at the time of the crash.
The judge on Thursday threatened to ban courtroom spectators after tensions reportedly boiled over between Bohm’s supporters and the families and friends of the victims
Footage obtained by KTLA from the night of the crash show the mangled remains of his red BMW which he received as an 18th birthday present as part of his wealthy parents’ divorce settlement
The four young women were struck and killed along the Pacific Coast Highway in an area known locally as ‘Dead Man’s Curve’ on October 17, 2023
But, Deputy District Attorney Nathan Bartos assured the court that he did not intend to argue that Bohm actually inhaled the laughing gas – which can produce a short, euphoric high when inhaled – only that he ‘possessed’ the canister ‘and that possession distracted his driving.’
The grieving parents of the four victims are all pursuing wrongful death civil lawsuits against Bohm and are also suing the State of California, LA County, the City of Malibu and the California Coastal Commission, claiming dangerous road design on PCH and lack of safety standards.
All four victims had been seniors at Pepperdine’s Seaver College of Liberal Arts, where they were members of the Alpha Phi Sorority.
They were due to graduate with the class of 2024 and later were awarded their Pepperdine degrees posthumously.
