Malibu resident Fraser Bohm, accused of killing four Pepperdine University seniors in the high-speed crash along Pacific Coast Highway in October 2023, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder.
Bohm, now 23, appeared in a Los Angeles County courtroom Wednesday alongside his newly hired attorney, Alan Jackson — a high-profile defense lawyer who earlier this year secured an acquittal for Massachusetts woman Karen Read in a widely publicized murder trial.
Prosecutors allege Bohm was traveling more than 100 mph in a 45-mph zone when he lost control of his BMW on Oct. 17, 2023, striking and killing sorority sisters Niamh Rolston, Peyton Stewart, Asha Weir and Deslyn Williams. The young women were pronounced dead at the scene. Bohm was uninjured.
The crash occurred along a dangerous stretch of PCH known locally as “Dead Man’s Curve,” an area notorious for high-speed collisions.
Bohm’s defense is expected to argue he was fleeing a road rage incident at the time of the crash, though investigators have not confirmed that claim. Speaking to reporters outside court, Jackson said he intends to challenge the prosecution’s case and will seek to have Bohm’s $4 million bail reduced.
Bohm was briefly arrested after the crash and released within hours. He was later taken into custody and formally charged. He also faces possible civil litigation from the victims’ families.
Bohm is scheduled to return to court Sept. 5.