GUILTY CA - Chad O’Melia, 26, fatally stabbed by Bryn Spejcher due to Marijuana, Thousand Oaks, 18 May 2018

[PastTense]

The coroner who performed the autopsy on Thousand Oaks homicide victim Chad O’Melia testified Tuesday that the 26-year-old was stabbed 108 times by multiple knives, with wounds from his head to his knee...

Jenkins testified Tuesday that [Bryn] Spejcher told police she’d gone to visit O’Melia, whom she’d met about a month earlier and had started a romantic relationship with, between 10 and 10:30 p.m. May 27 after spending the day with friends in Santa Barbara, where she had consumed a small amount of alcohol. At some point during the visit, Jenkins testified, O’Melia went outside to smoke marijuana and Spejcher said she’d like to try it as well... Her physical reaction to the second hit was not good, according to Jenkins’ testimony...

Spejcher told the interviewing officer she became angry because she was high but O’Melia was not. She went on to describe what she called a vision in which she believed she was dead and it was O’Melia’s fault because he gave her the marijuana, Jenkins said. At some point, she began stabbing O’Melia, Jenkins testified... She told the interviewing officer she believed her vision to be real and she had to hurt O’Melia to bring herself back to life, he said.

Police: Accused killer told cops that bong hits led to violent episode | Thousand Oaks Acorn

Weird. She is an audiologist. Anyone see any record of previous crimes?

 

[calo44]

I had never heard of this case until your post. She looks like she had the whole world in front of her - graduated medical school, working at a children’s hospital, hearing impaired herself trying to help others with the same impairment. Seems like she got hold of some bad drugs and went crazy stabbing her boyfriend, herself and her dog. I wonder what was in that second bong hit that made her lose it?

 

[kirkassoc]

This shows a close up of the perpetrator.

Thousand Oaks woman arrested on suspicion of stabbing, killing boyfriend

Sightseeing trips while on vacation "after" murder.

Social media posts show suspected killer sightseeing | Thousand Oaks Acorn
The Bad Doctor Database


According to her toxicology report she had nothing in her system except THC:

Blood tests on Spejcher revealed the presence of marijuana only, said Scott Colley, a forensic scientist with the sheriff ’s crime lab. An examination of the burned plant material remaining in the bong and the five grams of marijuana collected from O’Melia’s apartment revealed no drugs beyond THC, the psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, another sheriff’s department forensic scientist testified.

Evil? Killed her friend (stabbed in the back as well as face, etc., her dog and slashed herself. Definitely not a woman who deserves, under any circumstances, to have a license to work with people or animals, MOO. Could she be schitzophrenic?

It will be interesting to see how this turns out.

 

[PastTense]

The drug which comes to mind is PCP (Angel Dust)--although I haven't heard about it for some time. But you would think that would show up in the lab tests.

Phencyclidine, also known as angel dust among other names, is a drug used for its mind-altering effects. PCP may cause hallucinations, distorted perceptions of sounds, and violent behavior. As a recreational drug, it is typically smoked, but may be taken by mouth, snorted, or injected.

Phencyclidine - Wikipedia
..

 

[Catmommy]

This sounds like a psychotic break. Hard to believe that marijuana alone caused this. Perhaps she has mental health issues which haven't been diagnosed or shared? This, of course, is my meandering opinion only.

 

[kirkassoc]

This sounds like a psychotic break. Hard to believe that marijuana alone caused this. Perhaps she has mental health issues which haven't been diagnosed or shared? This, of course, is my meandering opinion only.

Your meanderings make more sense than this absolutely unbelievable crime. Girlfriend from h*ll. I'd hate to be sitting in her office knowing what she is capable of.

 

[PastTense]

If she had major mental health problems or a violent temper you would think it would have shown up previously. Has anyone found anything to support this?

 

[Catmommy]

HIPPA laws would it that impossible to know unless she'd made the news before.

 

[PastTense]

Contrary to the image of potheads as peaceful stoners, “cannabis-dependent psychotic patients were four times as likely to be violent,” according to a study cited by Alex Berenson in his magnificent new book, “Tell Your Children: The Truth About Marijuana, Mental Illness and Violence.” “No other factor was nearly as important. Alcohol use, which was common among the patients, made no difference.”

So where are all the marijuana-induced murders?... Just last week in Ventura County, California, a preliminary hearing was held in the case of Bryn Spejcher, an employed, well-educated 28-year-old with no criminal record or history of mental illness. She stands accused of stabbing her boyfriend to death — after smoking pot for the first time.

These are the real 'high crimes'

 

[blankenship]

Not purely due to cannabis, surely. I think the threadline misleads maybe?

 

[JerseyGirl]

Charged with murder in the 2018 death of 26-year-old Chad O’Melia, former UCLA Health Thousand Oaks audiologist Bryn Spejcher is no longer represented by a public defender.

At her most recent court date, Sept. 30, the 28-year-old appeared with Robert Schwartz of the Los Angeles-based law firm of Schwartz & Weinrieb.

Her previous attorney, Damon Jenkins, was officially relieved of his duties after defending Spejcher from the time of her June 2018 arraignment through her May 2019 preliminary hearing.

Spejcher hires private counsel | Thousand Oaks Acorn

 

[Catmommy]

This should be interesting.

 

[katydid23]

Not purely due to cannabis, surely. I think the threadline misleads maybe?

Strangely enough, if someone has a tendency towards schizophrenia, smoking pot can trigger it.

There have been many studies related to that.

My brother had an onset of schizophrenia, seemingly out of the blue, when he was about 22.
He smoked a lot of pot. But so did I, and I never became schizophrenic. So I don't know...?


The Schizophrenia Connection
You may have more psychotic episodes and spend more time in the hospital. Researchers also have found that if you carry certain types of specific genes that affect brain chemistry, marijuana use can raise the chance you'll have schizophrenia. One of those genes is called AKT1.
Marijuana and Schizophrenia: Is There a Link? - WebMD

https://www.webmd.com › schizophrenia › schizophrenia-marijuana-link

 

[Catmommy]

Strangely enough, if someone has a tendency towards schizophrenia, smoking pot can trigger it.

There have been many studies related to that.

My brother had an onset of schizophrenia, seemingly out of the blue, when he was about 22.
He smoked a lot of pot. But so did I, and I never became schizophrenic. So I don't know...?


The Schizophrenia Connection
You may have more psychotic episodes and spend more time in the hospital. Researchers also have found that if you carry certain types of specific genes that affect brain chemistry, marijuana use can raise the chance you'll have schizophrenia. One of those genes is called AKT1.
Marijuana and Schizophrenia: Is There a Link? - WebMD

https://www.webmd.com › schizophrenia › schizophrenia-marijuana-link

This is fascinating. Thank you. And please forgive me for asking, I understand if it is too personal and you'd prefer not to answer but is there a history of schizophrenia in your genetic line before your brother?

 

[katydid23]

This is fascinating. Thank you. And please forgive me for asking, I understand if it is too personal and you'd prefer not to answer but is there a history of schizophrenia in your genetic line before your brother?

No, there was no genetic history at all. Which is why we had no idea what was really going on with him, until he was finally, properly , diagnosed with Schizophrenia.

We thought he was using hard drugs and hiding that from us---which turned out to be incorrect.

He lived with Schizophrenia for the rest of his life. Was hospitalised a few times, lived in group homes most of his life and took strong meds until his death in his late 50's.

Although one of his doctors from the mental hospital once asked my mother if she had been ill at any point during her pregnancy with him. And she said she does remember being in the hospital with a respiratory infection, and then later a urinary tract infection, and both times needed medications. He told her there was some research connecting illnesses during pregnancy with later mental health issues in the children.

 

[JerseyGirl]

Court closures further delay progress of murder case | Thousand Oaks Acorn

 

[AliceinBudland]

Hi Everyone! Happy Memorial Day... although for those of us at Casa de Oaks, this is the anniversary of Chad’s Murder. I heard her screams as she stabbed to death my neighbor... I heard the cops ordering her to drop the knife, she responded for them to get the away. She even stabbed her own dog. The sight of them carrying this dog wrapped in a blanket was so sad. How Bryn got her dog back is beyond me. How charges of animal cruelty wasn’t brought on her is also baffling. I don’t believe the marijuana plea, what I heard was a deranged woman mentally off the rails. I can’t find anything current. Is she in jail yet?

 

[MaeganPl#9]

She’s still not in jail yet, unfortunately.
It has been 4 years since she committed murder, yet she has been walking the streets freely. Her trial will begin within the next few months.

 

[Saltgirl]

Apparently the jury trial is set for tomorrow!!! Can anyone verify that is still happening? I cannot seem to find any recent updates.

 

[ifindedout]

Ventura County woman killed man during weed-induced psychosis

A Thousand Oaks woman was convicted of killing a man during an episode of psychosis that was brought on by marijuana, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office. The suspect, …

ktla.com

Spejcher was convicted by a jury of involuntary manslaughter. She was charged with the special allegations of using a deadly weapon, a serious felony, a crime involving great violence, violent conduct that indicates a serious danger to society and being armed with and using a weapon in the commission of the crime.

“This was a hard-fought case where the victim’s family had to wait a long time for justice and I am grateful for the jury’s verdict,” said Audry Nafziger, Ventura County Senior Deputy District Attorney. “We will continue with the presentation of evidence on Monday.”

Spejcher is scheduled to appear in court on Dec. 4 for a hearing on the special allegations and enhancements.