The California woman who was convicted of murdering her lover by stabbing him 108 times during a “cannabis-induced psychosis” received a slap on the wrist Tuesday.
As reported by the Ventura County Star, 33-year-old Bryn Spejcher was given two years of probation and 100 hours of community service after being found guilty of killing her new boyfriend Chad O’Melia.
Ventura County Superior Court Judge David Worley decided that Spejcher “had no control over her actions” when she went into a psychotic episode and repeatedly stabbed O’Melia, 26, in his Thousand Oaks condominium on May 28, 2018.
Experts for both the prosecution and defense concluded that Spejcher’s marijuana bong hit triggered the woman’s fatal psychotic episode.
“From that point forward, she had no control over her actions,” Worley told the site.
Spejcher and O’Melia had been dating for several weeks before she brutally murdered the 26-year-old accountant.
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELAfter Spejcher killed O’Melia, police discovered the woman drenched in blood, uncontrollably screaming next to her boyfriend’s body while still holding the knife.
When the police tried to take the knife away from her, she stuck it in her neck.
The outlet says Spejcher, who turned 33 on Thursday, also stabbed her dog during the fit.
O’Melia was pronounced dead on the scene.
A source in December said that Spejcher’s lawyers said their client, who had never used marijuana before, became high at the time of the murder after O’Melia made her take another bong hit because the first one didn’t get her high enough.
She had an immediate reaction to the second blow and had to rush to the bathroom before committing the murder.
California law says that someone is responsible for their actions when they are drunk or high, unless they are impaired involuntarily.
Okay, so how did her lawyer prove it was involuntary?
The jury decided in less than four hours that Spejcher was guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
When Spejcher was sentenced on Tuesday, she cried in court as she told the victim’s father, Sean O’Melia, she was sorry.
“My actions have ripped your family apart,” she claimed, according to the outlet. “I’m broken and aching inside. It hurts me that you’ll never see Chad again.”
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During the sentence hearing, Spejcher’s father cast her in a different light than the prosecution, who described her as a party girl who only wanted to get high the night she murdered O’Melia.
“She has worked her whole life helping others,” said Mike Spejcher, who also mentioned his daughter’s hearing problem and profession as a licensed audiologist prior to the assassination.
Sean, Chad O’Melia’s father, accused Worley of bias and stated that the judge’s finding set a dangerous precedent.
“He just gave everyone in the state of California who smokes marijuana a license to kill someone,” the bereaved father explained.
“There is no winner in this tragedy,” said Brendan O’Melia, the victim’s uncle. “There can be, however, accountability.”
Bob Schwartz, Spejcher’s lawyer, said Worley’s decision against his client was the “right and courageous thing.”
#CannabisInducedMurder #VenturaCourtControversy #JusticeInQuestion
