The experimental rock band, Mr Bungle, was formed in California in the 1980s when some of the members were still in high school. The band went on to be signed by a record company, and they released several critically acclaimed albums and grew a cult following.
But now they have a killer as part of their history.
Over the years, the Mr Bungle line-up changed with new musicians, but there were three consistent members. One of those was Theobald Lengyel, aka Mylo Stone, who had been a founding member in 1985 and stayed for 11 years. Lengyel was primarily a saxophone player, but also played clarinet and keyboards, and featured on the first two albums before leaving, citing “artistic differences”.
After leaving the band, Lengyel worked in software engineering and continued his music on the side. After a divorce from his first wife, he met his girlfriend Alice Herrmann, 61, who was known as Alyx, and they started dating in 2017.
Alyx lived near Santa Cruz in California and was also working in the tech sector.
She was a musician with a PhD in neuroscience and had a grown-up daughter. Alyx was a very active member of the local canoe group. Whenever she got the chance, she was outdoors, especially on the ocean where she would compete in canoe races.
Over the six years the couple were dating, Alyx had many friends and was a big part of the community, but she kept a lot of things to herself. She didn’t tell anyone that Lengyel had a temper, and an alcohol addiction. Over the years, he’d grown resentful of his job, and had lashed out at the women in his life, including his ex-wife and sister. They’d later testify that he would have violent outbursts when he didn’t get his own way.
Gentle soul Alyx was considering retiring and moving to Hawaii to care for her elderly father. She dreamed of canoeing on the waters and spending more time with her two brothers. Lengyel wasn’t part of this plan. Alyx was growing tired of the abuse behind closed doors.
On the morning of Sunday 3 December 2023, Alyx was out on the local harbour canoeing with her racing club. The next day she worked from home, but on 5 December, she didn’t turn up for work and her colleagues contacted her family. Alyx was due to fly to Hawaii to visit her dad on 12 December, but she missed the flight. Her frantic loved ones reported Alyx missing.
Police found her personal belongings, including her phone and her Apple watch, at her home. Surveillance footage showed that Lengyel had been at the house on 4 December after stopping at a local off-licence on the way. Despite him sending her messages after he’d left, there was no sign that Alyx had responded or left her home. Her Apple watch stopped registering a heartbeat on 4 December at 11.44pm.
Lengyel was named as a person of interest, but he refused to cooperate. He’d been seen driving a car registered to Alyx on 5 December, and when the vehicle was found parked at his home, it had traces of her blood inside. By then, Lengyel had gone to visit his brother – after sending him a message saying, “Brace yourself, it’s worse than you think.” Lengyel had even shaved his head and beard, seemingly changing his appearance. His brother noted a bite mark on his arm.
On 1 January, the community was heartbroken when Alyx’s body was found partially buried in Tilden Regional Park in the Berkeley Hills. She had been strangled.
Tragically, parts of her body and organs were missing due to scavenging animals. Lengyel was finally arrested and charged with her murder.
At the trial in August 2024, the prosecution said that Alyx was killed by her boyfriend on 4 December 2023, in her home during an argument. The defence said it was manslaughter as he was provoked and it wasn’t preplanned. It was impossible to determine the details of the argument.
But then, a month into the six-week trial, there was a bombshell revelation that caused a week-long break. Investigators discovered an audio recording on Alyx’s mobile phone that had been missed. It’s unknown whether it had accidently been recorded or whether Alyx had done it on purpose, but it documented the three hours leading up to her death in harrowing detail.
The recording was played to the jury. It started with Lengyel playing the piano then he got angry at Alyx for not wanting to go out and play pool. She had to go to work the next day and wanted to get some sleep. As he repeatedly asked her and she continued to decline, the row escalated, and he started to threaten her life more than 30 times.
“I could mash your f**king brain,” he said at 9.53pm, then said he’d kill her dog to show what he could do to her. Alyx demanded that he leave, but he could be heard restraining her. “Are you at my mercy right now?” he shouted. “You’re gonna f**king die right now. Are you ready?”
He taunted her by suggesting ways he could kill her. “How do you want to die? Blunt trauma or something else… think you should be choked to death?” Terrified, Alyx pleaded for her life, but Lengyel told her: “It’s too f**king late for that.” At one point he punched her and broke her nose.
Other times he called himself a “genius”.
The jury had to listen as Alyx was choked to death. She was heard gasping for air and begging Lengyel to stop. As Lengyel attacks her, she screams but she was overpowered in the final struggle. He strangled her over five agonising minutes.
As she was dying, Lengyel told her, “You wouldn’t f**king play nice.” She managed to cry, “It’s not my fault.”
The court heard how indifferent Lengyel was to Alyx’s pleads. He’d then sent texts to pretend he thought she was still alive – then stripped her body and buried her.
Lengyel could be heard on the recording saying, “You used to just do what I want.”
The prosecution said that Alyx had refused him, and he wanted the control back. Lengyel, 54, was found guilty of first-degree murder, and he was sentenced to 25 years to life. He will be eligible for parole after 24 years. After finding fame as a musician, Lengyel had found infamy as a killer. His legacy will be the brutal three-hour recording that exposed to the world what he was truly like.