Jury finds Theobald Lengyel guilty of murdering Alice Herrmann

A Santa Cruz County jury found Theobald Lengyel guilty Thursday of murder in the first degree in the death of his girlfriend, Capitola resident Alice “Alix” Herrmann, in December 2023.

Following the conclusion of the weekslong murder trial Wednesday, the jury delivered a verdict late Thursday afternoon. Lengyel had pleaded not guilty. 

During the trial, Santa Cruz County assistant district attorneys Conor McCormick and Emily Wang depicted Lengyel as someone with a pattern of exhibiting violent behavior, using testimony from Lengyel’s ex-wife, members of his family and other witnesses. First-degree murder has a higher burden of proof threshold than second-degree murder, which is considered to be in the heat of passion and not premeditated. 

In the trial, defense attorney Annrae Angel did not dispute that Lengyel killed Herrmann, but rejected the argument that Lengyel had long planned the murder. Instead, she argued that he was provoked by Herrmann. 

An El Cerrito resident, Lengyel, 55, was a member of the alternative rock band Mr. Bungle, founded in 1985 in Eureka. He played in the band until 1996, shortly after graduating from Cornell University in 1995 with a physics degree. He then worked in financial technology for AXA Rosenberg and Barclays. 

Lengyel met Herrmann through work just as he was finalizing a divorce in 2017. Herrmann, who was 61 when she died, had a Ph.D. in neuroscience and was a member of a local canoeing group. She was known for her love of the outdoors. 

The couple lived between their two homes in Capitola and El Cerrito, just north of Berkeley. They were still dating at the time of Herrmann’s killing in December 2023.

Herrmann’s brother and his wife, as well as members of the canoeing club attended the reading of the verdict Thursday afternoon. As Judge Nancy de la Peña read the jury’s verdict, friends and family cried.

After the jury was dismissed from the courtroom, friends and family hugged outside of the courtroom in the hallway.

Herrmann’s brother, Eric Herrmann, who lives in Mill Valley, described his older sister as a very kind, multi-talented and accomplished person. He recalled how as children who both enjoyed learning math, she taught him to memorize the first 24 digits of pi.

“I was very proud of [learning] that, but then I found out that she had memorized like 40 digits of pi,” he said, laughing. “And I was like, she’s so much better than me.”

He said hearing the verdict brought a range of feelings.

“It’s been a very long, difficult road, filled with emotion, ups and downs and I’m still a little shaky with emotion,” he said. “And I’m not sure yet how I feel. I think it’s a mixture of different things. It’s a mixture of relief that it’s over, or at least this phase is over.”

Eric Herrmann said, considering the evidence, he’s not sure how he would have responded if the jury didn’t deliver a guilty verdict. He added that he’s grateful for the work of the police and the district attorneys for getting the verdict.

“This is not justice, but this is the closest thing that I can have, and that she can have,” he said.

Members of the canoeing club Outrigger Santa Cruz wore their club’s black sweaters with the letters “OSC” on them. A coach from OSC, Sabine Dukes, said she remembers Herrmann as strong, quiet and resilient, and said Herrmann was like a butterfly.

“We use that butterfly metaphor so often for her, because there’s sort of this like airiness, but then it’s also this very resilient person,” said Dukes.

Dukes said she’s happy about the verdict, but is still struggling with all that happened.

“It’s just such a horrible act to begin with that the verdict, and the justice doesn’t even come close to helping because it’s just so overwhelmingly awful what happened,” she said. “How could you hurt a butterfly?”

Sentencing for Lengyel is scheduled for Nov. 7 at 1:30 p.m.

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