Justice in the Golden State was a long time coming and ultimately lenient for a woman who stabbed a man she was dating to death with several knives while in a marijuana-induced state of acute psychosis.
Bryn Spejcher, 32, was sentenced by a judge on Tuesday to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service for killing Chad O’Melia, 26, at his Thousand Oaks condo in the Conejo Valley, roughly 40 miles northwest of Los Angeles, at around 1 a.m. on Memorial Day 2018. That night, she also stabbed her dog, Arya, and tried to take her own life, but she was interrupted by the arrival of law enforcement.
There was no plea deal struck in the case. And, while, the defendant admitted her factual responsibility for O’Melia’s brutal death — he was stabbed 108 times on the night in question — she pleaded not guilty to the lone charge of involuntary manslaughter before being found guilty late last year. Spejcher faced up to four years in prison, which she could still serve if found to have violated the terms of her probation.
Ventura County Senior Deputy District Attorney Audry Nafziger prosecuted the case and complained about the sentence.
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