Case in crash that killed 4 Pepperdine students to move forward after judge denies motion to drop murder charges

The man accused of causing a crash that killed four Pepperdine University students will go to trial for murder after a judge rejected a motion to dismiss his murder charges on Monday.

During a hearing in Van Nuys, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Thomas Rubinson declined the motion set forth by the defense attorneys of Fraser Bohm, who was charged with four counts of murder and four counts of gross vehicular homicide in connection with the Oct. 17, 2023, crash.

Bohm was arrested after investigators determined that he'd lost control of his vehicle on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu around 8:30 p.m., and subsequently crashed into at least three parked cars. Those cars then struck four women.

Niamh Rolston, 20, Peyton Stewart, 21, Asha Weir, 21, and Deslyn Williams, 21, all seniors at Pepperdine's Seaver College of Liberal Arts and belonging to the same sorority, were pronounced dead at the scene, according to the sheriff's department.

The prosecution in the case argues that Bohm was traveling 104 miles per hour at the time of the initial collision, more than double the speed limit on that stretch of road.

Bohm is set to stand trial on Sept. 8.