A founding member of a 1980s experimental band was arrested and charged with the murder of his missing girlfriend Tuesday after cops found human remains in nearby woods.
Theobald “Theo” Lengyel — who played the sax, clarinet and keyboards for Mr. Bungle — had previously been considered a person of interest after refusing to cooperate with cops in the disappearance of Alice “Alyx” Kamakaokalani Herrmann, 61.
Cops said it became clear early in the investigation that “foul play was involved” in Herrmann’s disappearance case, which kicked off Dec. 12 despite the last time she was seen alive being 10 days earlier.
“The investigation led investigators to recover human remains in a wooded area within Tilden Regional Park in Berkeley,” the Capitola Police Department said in a statement. “The identification of the human remains is pending DNA confirmation from the Contra County Coroner’s Office.”
Police did not say how or where Herrmann was killed.
Investigators had their eyes on Lengyel — who also goes by the name “Mylo Stone” — since Herrmann’s family reported her missing.
He allegedly spent the days following her disappearance driving the more than 600 miles between his home in El Cerrito, California to Portland, Oregon.
While he was gone, cops found Herrmann’s car parked in front of his home, located just five miles north of Berkeley.
Police did not disclose a possible motive for the alleged murder.
Lengyel was booked into the Santa Cruz County Jail on first-degree murder charges without bail, records show.
He was also hit with felony burglary and auto theft charges.
Lengyel is best known for playing in the Bay Area rock band Mr. Bungle, which was founded by singer Mike Patton, guitarist Trey Spruance and bassist Trevor Dunn when they were high school students in 1985.
Although the band still plays today, Lengyl left in the mid-1990s on bad terms.
“We unanimously decided to go on without him because he wasn’t growing with the rest of the band and we were running out of things for him to do,” Dunn reportedly said in 2005.
“He got pissed off and I haven’t heard from him since,” he added.
