The journey to healing for the family of Alice "Alix" Herrmann is far from over.
Although a California jury was quick to convict her rocker boyfriend, Theo Lengyel, of her first-degree murder, Alice's younger brother, Eric Herrmann, is now trying to channel his pain into peace.
"Our family is deeply saddened at our beloved sister's murder," Eric told the Lawyer Herald in an interview Friday. "Nothing can make up for her loss and the particularly cruel circumstances."
Alice, 61, was strangled to death by Lengyel – the 55-year-old former saxophonist for experimental rock band Mr. Bungle – at her Capitola, California home in December 2023, according to investigators.
Loved ones reported her missing after she failed to make it to a family get-together in Hawaii that same month, and her body was found January buried in a shallow grave in a Bay Area park.
But even in her most vulnerable, final moments, Alice – an accomplished scientist and avid outdoorswoman – was astute. In a move that perhaps helped solidify Lengyel's guilty verdict, the mom of one made the swift decision to record the audio of the last hours of her life on her cell phone.
The shocking and emotionally-driven, three-hour-long clip played for the jury captured the violent, physical tussle between Lengyel and Alice, up until she took her final breath.
"We are satisfied by the verdict, and it was inevitable given the recording that my sister wisely made," said Eric. "We are beyond shocked by what he did to her on Dec 4. It is unimaginable and unforgivable."
Growing up, Eric and Alice were three years apart, and like any doting big sister, she took Eric under her wing until she left for college.
"She taught me how to play guitar when I was 14, and the first 24 digits of pi when I was about 10," he recalled of their colorful childhood. "At one point she gave me a jacket that she had hand-embroidered, and I wore it for a few years."
As time passed and the siblings grew older, their attention understandably shifted to their careers and kids. Still, they managed to keep in touch and see each other to mark special family occasions and celebrate the holidays. But Alice kept quiet about how her longtime romance with Lengyel turned tumultuous, and Eric said there were no red flags to indicate his sister's would-be killer was capable of murder.
"I thought we were reasonably close, certainly we are very similar in many ways, but we didn't share many details about our relationships over the years," Eric admitted. "There are a lot of things about her that I only found out recently."
But he knew his sister was looking forward to retirement and had plans to settle down in Hawaii to take care of their dad – without Lengyel in the picture.
"I believe she had decided she would move there by herself. That is particularly heartbreaking because... abusers become violent when you try to leave them," said Eric. "That's what happened here."
Lengyel will learn his fate at his Nov. 7 sentencing hearing, where he faces up to life in prison.
Originally published in Lawyer Herald
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