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Theobald “Theo” Lengyel, a founding member of the experimental rock band Mr Bungle, has been convicted of the first-degree murder of his girlfriend, Alice “Alyx” Kamakaokalani Herrmann.

The rocker’s fate was sealed after prosecutors found an audio recording of Herrmann fighting for her life while Lengyel strangled her.

Lengyel now faces life in prison and is set to be sentenced in November.

The 55-year-old was arrested in January after Herrmann’s body was discovered in a forested section of a park in Berkeley, California. She had been reported missing the previous month after failing to show up for a family event in Hawaii, and police had pointed at Lengyel as a person of interest.

The audio clip, which was only discovered in September this year, was entered as evidence by prosecutors and proved to be his undoing. Authorities still do not know whether Herrmann switched on the app, or whether it began recording by itself, but the contents of the audio clip were indeed damning.The recording starts with Lengyel – also known as Mylo Stone – playing piano before growing angry at Ms Herrmann because she doesn’t want to go out to play pool. Ms Herrmann repeatedly says she does not want to go because she has to work in Berkeley the next day.

Several minutes into the argument, Lengyel can be heard threatening his girlfriend, screaming, “I could mash your f***ing brain.”

According to prosecutors, the verbal dispute turned into a physical confrontation. Ms Herrmann could then be heard crying for her life and struggling for air.

Mr Bungle was formed in 1985 by high school friends including guitarist Trey Spruance, bassist Trevor Dunn and vocalist Mike Patton, who went on to perform with Faith No More. Lengyel left Mr Bungle in 1996 after playing saxophone, clarinet and keyboards on several recordings, including the band’s self-titled 1991 debut album and Disco Volante in 1995.

[source:sky]