A California woman who was convicted of stabbing her boyfriend 108 times was let go of by a judge. The court ruled that she was in a “cannabis-induced psychosis” and “had no control over her actions” when she stabbed her boyfriend, US media reported.
Bryn Spejcher, 32, stabbed Chad O’Melia during a drug-induced psychotic episode in 2018 and was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. On Tuesday, she was sentenced to two years of probation and was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service.
According to the report, Superior Court Judge David Worley ruled that Bryn Spejcher “had no control over her actions” when she entered into a psychotic episode and stabbed Chad O’Melia.
According to prosecutors, the stabbing took place overnight between May 27 and 28 in 2018 at Chad O’Melia’s apartment in Thousand Oaks. Prosecutors said Spejcher fatally stabbed O’Melia, an accountant approximately 108 times after the couple had smoked marijuana together. She also repeatedly stabbed herself.
“Spejcher had an adverse reaction to the marijuana and suffered from what experts call Cannabis-Induced Psychotic Disorder,” according to the statement, reported CBS News. “During that psychotic episode, Spejcher stabbed O’Melia multiple times killing him.”
The couple had been seeing each other for a few weeks before Bryn brutally murdered the 26-year-old accountant. After she killed him, law enforcement found O’Melia lying in a pool of blood with Spejcher “still gripping the knife in her hands.”
She then plunged the knife into her throat when police attempted to disarm her. O’Melia was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics who responded to the call.
In the courtroom, Spejcher’s lawyers had argued that their client–who was an inexperienced pot smoker – became “involuntarily intoxicated” at the time of killing after O’Melia had pressed her to take another bong hit after not getting high off the first hit.
“He just gave everyone in the state of California who smokes marijuana a license to kill someone,” Sean O’Melia said, the victim’s father.
However, Spejcher’s lawyer, Bob Schwartz, said he was pleased with the ruling. “Judge Worley did the right and courageous thing,” Schwartz said.
