Local News

Judge rejects motion to dismiss murder charges against man accused of killing 4 Pepperdine students in tragic Malibu crash

By Chelsea Hylton
Updated on: November 10, 2025 / 5:53 PM PST / CBS LA

A Los Angeles County Superior judge rejected a defense motion to dismiss murder charges against Fraser Michael Bohm, who is accused of killing four Pepperdine University students during a crash on TPacific Coast Highway in 2023.

At a hearing on Monday morning, Bohm's attorneys argued that there was insufficient evidence to support the murder charges. After the hearing, Alan Jackson, one of Bohm's attorneys, said they were disappointed with LA County Superior Court Judge Thomas Rubinson's ruling and plan to take the necessary steps to have an appellate court review the court's order. … "This is not a murder case; it's never been a murder case," Jackson said. "It was wildly overcharged from the very beginning."

Bohm is currently charged with four counts of murder and vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence for the Oct. 17, 2023, crash that killed four sorority sisters. According to prosecutors, Bohm was allegedly speeding along PCH in Malibu when he slammed into several parked cars along the shoulder of the roadway. The impact allegedly caused the cars to crash into the students as they stood on the side of the road.

Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir, and Deslyn Williams were all seniors at the university at the time of the crash. They were pronounced dead at the scene. Since the students were months away from graduation, the university awarded the students their degrees posthumously.


A photo of the four Pepperdine Inivrsity students who were killed during the crash.
CBS LA

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