Bryn Spejcher appeals conviction regardless of receiving no jail time
A California woman who stabbed a man she had briefly dated over 100 times while in a drug-induced dissociative state is appealing her conviction, despite receiving no prison sentence.
Bryn Spejcher, 32, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in December 2023 for the killing of 26-year-old Chad O’Melia. She was sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service the following month.
In court, Spejcher did not dispute accusations that she stabbed O’Melia 108 times with multiple knives while high on cannabis.
Prosecutors originally charged her with second-degree murder, but that charge was reduced when Spejcher was determined to have been ‘acutely psychotic’ during the spate of violence.
Despite spending no time behind bars, DailyMail.com can reveal that Spejcher’s attorneys have filed a notice of appeal in her case, arguing that the her intoxication was ‘involuntary’ and the result of O’Melia’s ‘fraud and trickery’.
If they are successful in appealing the guilty verdict, the 32-year-old’s considerably light sentence could be lowered even further.
Attorneys for 32-year-old Bryn Spejcher have filed a notice of appeal in her case, which saw her convicted of involuntary manslaughter in December 2023
Spejcher was sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service after fatally stabbing Chad O’Melia, 26, while high on cannabis
Spejcher did not dispute attacking O’Melia, but claimed she was ‘coerced’ into smoking the weed that made her hear voices urging her to kill him
Spejcher attacked O’Melia in his Thousand Oaks apartment after taking a few hits from his bong in May 2018 and suffering a psychotic episode.
‘She thought she was dead,’ a prosecutor explained during the trial. ‘She had an out-of-body experience.
‘She could see her own dead body, and she could hear voices, emergency room doctors doing CPR, her family, other voices, unknown voices, telling her that to bring herself back to life, she would have to kill Chad O’Melia.’
Spejcher retrieved three kitchen knives and stabbed the 26-year-old down his body, puncturing his heart, lungs and vital arteries in his neck.
Despite characterizing herself as a ‘dog lover,’ Spejcher then stabbed her dog and repeatedly plunged an eight-inch bread knife into her own face and neck while crouching near O’Melia’s body.
She only stopped once police arrived and struck her with a baton.
While both the defense and the prosecution agreed that the violence was the result of intoxication, the prosecution depicted Spejcher as a partier who was looking to get high, while her defense argued that she was forced into taking the drug.
Under California law, a person is seen as responsible for their actions while impaired unless their intoxication was involuntary.
Spejcher stabbed the 26-year-old 108 times in the heart, lungs and neck before turning the knife on her dog and herself
The prosecution depicted her as a partier who was looking to get high – but Spejcher alleged she felt ‘intimidated’ by O’Melia and ‘feared the consequences’ of declining to use his bong
O’Melia’s father, Sean, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the California woman in 2020, but that was put on hold until the trial concluded
Spejcher told DailyMail.com that their relationship ‘didn’t have a label,’ despite being characterized in the press as boyfriend and girlfriend
Speaking out for the first time since her sentencing, Spejcher told DailyMail.com that O’Melia had ‘pressured’ her into smoking cannabis.
‘I felt intimidated by him,’ the 34-year-old claimed. ‘If something felt personal to him, even if it really wasn’t, he’d have this short fuse.’
In fact, Spejcher said, his ‘temper outbursts and uncontrollable emotions’ were so extreme that she ‘feared the consequences’ of declining to use his bong on the night of his death.
She explained how O’Melia ‘prepared’ weed in the device before alleging coercing her to inhale it.
‘He said, “Hurry up. Inhale now… Do it really fast, go go go,”‘ she recalled.
‘Yes, I physically inhaled it. So, we’re both accountable.’
During the trial, Spejcher claimed to have never previously experienced a ‘high’.
When she took a few puffs and told O’Melia she didn’t feel anything, he allegedly said, ‘Oh, well let’s make this really intense for you.’
An expert witness said the violent fit suggested that the marijuana she smoked was far stronger than other strains, but O’Melia’s father, Sean, disagreed.
He asserted that Spejcher had not been coerced – rather, she knew what she was doing and ‘viciously and prematurely ended’ his son’s life.
Sean O’Melia filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Spejcher in 2020, which was put on hold until the criminal proceedings wrapped.
When the pair met at a dog park in early 2018, Spejcher claimed they ‘got along great’.
She had recently moved to the area for a new role in the audiology department at the University of California, Los Angeles.
‘We just laughed about all kinds of stuff and we’re both sarcastic. I have brothers and a lot of male friends, so I know how to talk and hang with a guy,’ she explained.
Spejcher also disputed characterizations of their relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend.
‘It didn’t have a label,’ she said, conceding their connection was initially romantic.
The California woman insisted that she had used cannabis ‘less than 10 times’ in her life, while O’Melia was a daily user.
In court documents reviewed by DailyMail.com, O’Melia’s roommate, Vinicius De Oliveira, testified, ‘If Chad was home, he was high.’
De Oliveira also recalled how, two months before his death, O’Melia had persuaded him to get high for the first time – using the same bong he offered Spejcher.
The weed made him feel as if he was ‘dying, ‘ De Oliveira said, adding, ‘My heart beating really fast. The wall and faces were kind of moving.’
He allegedly begged O’Melia and another friend to take him to a hospital, but they simply laughed.
