Man Accused of Driving 104 MPH in Fatal Malibu Crash
Fraser Michael Bohm, 23, was held to answer on four counts of murder and four counts of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, a judge ruled Wednesday following a preliminary hearing in Los Angeles County Superior Court in Van Nuys. Bohm is scheduled to be arraigned on July 1.
Prosecutors allege that on the night of October 17, 2023, Bohm was driving at speeds up to 104 mph on a notoriously dangerous curve along PCH—between Las Flores Canyon and Carbon Canyon Roads, a section colloquially known as “Dead Man’s Curve”—when he lost control of his vehicle and struck four pedestrians.
The victims, all seniors at Pepperdine University’s Seaver College of Liberal Arts, were identified as Niamh Rolston, 20; Peyton Stewart, 21; Asha Weir, 21; and Deslyn Williams, 21. All four were members of the Alpha Phi sorority and were posthumously awarded their degrees.
Bohm, who was 20 years old at the time of the crash, allegedly veered into the parked vehicles on the shoulder of the highway where the women had been standing. During the investigation, Bohm reportedly told authorities that he had swerved after another vehicle struck his driver’s side mirror, forcing him off course.
However, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Arens said following the crash that investigators found “no evidence” to support Bohm’s claim that the incident stemmed from a road-rage encounter involving another vehicle.
If convicted on all counts, Bohm could face multiple life sentences.
The parents of four Pepperdine University students who were struck and killed along Pacific Coast Highway last year have filed lawsuits alleging multiple government agencies failed to address known safety hazards on the roadway.
In separate complaints filed in Santa Monica Superior Court, the families are suing the State of California, Caltrans, the California Coastal Commission, Los Angeles County, and the City of Malibu, claiming all are collectively responsible for maintaining an unsafe stretch of Pacific Coast Highway.
