A woman who stabbed her new boyfriend over 100 times while in a “cannabis-induced psychosis” sobbed as she was found guilty of manslaughter.
Bryn Spejcher, 32, openly wept as the jury read its verdict Friday, finding her guilty of killing her partner Chad O’Melia in California in 2018 after less than four hours of deliberations.
She attacked O’Melia after taking two hits of his marijuana “bong” – a smoking device – and went into a violent frenzy in a “psychotic fit” caused by the cannabis, according to an expert witness.
She testified during her trial last month that shortly after two inhalations of the bong, she began hearing voices and stabbed O’Melia before cutting herself in the face and attacking her dog.
Bryn Spejcher, 32, openly wept as the jury read its verdict Friday, finding her guilty of killing her partner Chad O’Melia in California in 2018 after less than four hours of deliberations
The Californian brutally stabbed her new boyfriend Chad O’Melia (pictured) in 2018 after taking two hits from a “bong.” She claimed she quickly went into a frenzy as she suffered from “cannabis-induced psychosis.”
Spejcher’s sentencing typically carries a sentence of about four years in state prison, but she is back in court Monday to face hearings on four “enhancements” to her sentence that could result in a sentence increase.
The hearings will determine charges of use of a deadly weapon and great force, which a judge will decide after she waives her right to a jury trial on the additional charges.
She is released on bail pending those hearings and left the courtroom with her family after Ventura County Judge Anthony Sabo rejected a prosecutor’s request to remand her into custody.
Her trial centered on the influence marijuana may have had on her actions when she stabbed O’Melia, and she was said to have only smoked weed five to 10 times in her life, according to testimony.
On the night of May 27, 2018, she and O’Melia, an accounting student, had asked his girlfriend to come to his apartment, which he shared with two roommates.
After initially watching TV, O’Melia asked her if she wanted to try marijuana with his bong, the court heard last month.
O’Melia was said to be a regular cannabis user – smoking or using a bong most days.
Spejcher, an inexperienced user who claimed to have never experienced a “high” before, took a few hits and told O’Melia that she felt nothing.
He then responded by promising to find her “something more intense,” according to local reports, and filled the bong with smoke before removing his hand and allowing Spejcher to inhale directly.
Prosecutors said she had an “immediate negative reaction” and went to the toilet in a panic, suffered blurred vision and felt like she was dying.
She told investigators that she then heard nightmarish voices in her head telling her to start a fight, which led to Spejcher grabbing three knives from a kitchen counter and hurling them at O’Melia.
“She thought she was dead,” said prosecutor Ms. Nofzinger. “She had an out-of-body experience.
“She could see her own dead body and she could hear voices, emergency doctors performing resuscitation, her family, other voices, unknown voices telling her that she had to kill Chad O’Melia to come back to life.” ‘
Spejcher stabbed O’Malia’s body over 100 times, leaving fatal wounds to his heart, lungs and vital arteries in his neck. She also attacked her dog before slashing her face and neck with a bread knife in a freak episode
O’Melia and Spejcher initially bonded over their shared love of dogs and had only seen each other for several weeks before the attack occurred
Spejcher stabbed him all over his body, leaving fatal wounds to his heart, lungs and vital arteries in his neck.
Although Spejcher described herself as a “dog lover” and held pictures of her dog during the trial, she subsequently stabbed her dog. It is unclear whether the dog survived the attack.
Spejcher also used a 20cm bread knife to stab herself in the horrific episode, ramming the blade into her face and neck while crouching next to O’Melia’s body.
Officers entered the scene and were only able to get her to drop the knife by striking her nine times with his retractable steel baton, the VC Star reports.
Although Spejcher’s defense and the prosecution agreed that the stabbing was the result of marijuana intoxication, the prosecution portrayed her as a partygoer hoping to get high, while her defense argued that she was pressured to take the drug, involuntarily.
Under California law, a person is held responsible for their actions when impaired by drugs or alcohol, unless the intoxication was involuntary.
Spejcher, a self-described “dog lover,” was seen sobbing while holding a picture of the dog she brutally stabbed to death during her trial last month when she allegedly suffered a psychotic episode
The 32-year-old, a former audiologist, was initially charged with second-degree murder, but the charge was reduced to involuntary manslaughter after an expert witness testified that the crimes were the result of “cannabis-induced psychosis.”
While some argued her actions were completely out of character, and one expert claimed it suggested the marijuana she inhaled was far more potent than other forms, O’Melia’s father disagreed.
After Spejcher’s lawyer argued that she did not want to smoke that night but was pressured by O’Melia, his father Sean said she knew what she was doing and had “viciously and prematurely ended” his son’s life.
After her sentencing, Sean O’Melia said he was grateful for the prosecution’s hard work but would not describe the sentence as “fair.”
“I just want my son back, and that’s not going to happen,” he told reporters outside the courtroom on Friday.
“At the end of the day, there are only people here who have suffered losses.” “There is no winning here,” said O’Melia.
“At the same time, I think the loss of our son was the first impression for me and my family, and next thing we had to listen to all the snide comments about someone we had just lost.”
The grieving father filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Spejcher in 2020, which was put on hold pending the outcome of her criminal case.
When police arrived at Chad O’Melia’s apartment in May 2018, they found he had multiple stab wounds and his girlfriend Bryn Spejcher had repeatedly stabbed herself
This case is reminiscent of previous murders in which the defendant was known to have consumed highly potent cannabis.
In 2014, a 50-year-old man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years in prison after shooting his wife in the head at the couple’s home in Denver, Colorado.
Richard Kirk was originally charged with first-degree intentional or premeditated murder, but the charge was dropped after the defense argued that marijuana, which Kirk used for back pain, significantly impaired his judgment.
They had also argued that he suffered “involuntary intoxication” because he did not know he was at high risk of marijuana psychosis due to schizophrenia in his extended family.
In 2018, an Ontario Canadian was sentenced to five years in prison for stabbing and beheading his father in front of friends.
The court heard that Adam Kehl, then 31, was a heavy cannabis user but was unaware the drug could cause psychotic behavior.
He pleaded guilty to a manslaughter charge brought after a psychiatrist said he was suffering from cannabis-induced intoxication.
At the sentencing, he said in a statement: “I accept the consequences.” I understand the fact that my marijuana use was a key factor in what happened. I didn’t realize that using marijuana could do something like this. If I had known that, I would never have started.’