Driver charged with murder of 4 Pepperdine students was fleeing road rage driver, attorney says

MALIBU, Calif. - Twenty-two-year-old Fraser Bohm has pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder and four counts of gross vehicular manslaughter for allegedly hitting and killing four sorority sisters on PCH in Malibu last week.

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón claims that Bohm lost control of his BMW before hitting several cars, killing the four Pepperdine University seniors on the night of Oct. 17. 

Gascón said that Bohm was traveling at "speeds of 104 miles an hour in a 45 mile an hour zone on PCH when he lost control" killing 20-year-old Niamh Rolston, 21-year-old Peyton Stewart, 21-year-old Asha Weir, and 21-year-old Deslyn Williams.

Though Bohm pleaded not guilty, Deputy District Attorney Nathan Bartos said at Bohm's arraignment Wednesday, "You can't navigate at 104 miles per hour so when you choose to drive at that speed in what's essentially a residential area, it's not an accident, it's an inevitability."

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 

• 4 Pepperdine students killed in Malibu crash honored with posthumous degrees by the university
• Driver in Malibu PCH crash that left 4 Pepperdine students dead was going 104 in 45 mph zone
• Pepperdine releases names of 4 women killed in Malibu PCH crash

Bohm's defense attorney Michael Kraut however claimed that another driver was involved that night, in what he described as a road rage incident.

"It started at Duke's (and then) this person chased him and tried to push him off the side of the road and when he accelerated to get away from him and that's when the accident occurred," Kraut said.

Kraut said his office has unsuccessfully tried multiple times to reach out to detectives to say he has evidence to provide.

When asked whether Bohm was texting the night of the crash, Kraut said, "he actually said he doesn't know if he was texting. He knows he was texting at Duke's at the stop light, which is okay, to text at a stop light." Kraut said that's when the alleged other driver was yelling at Bohm and "bullying him and this person, according to a distant family member has a history of exceptionally or erratic behavior, when he doesn't like someone else's driving.

Bohm's bail was originally set at $8 million. During Wednesday's arraignment, the judge reduced that to $4 million.