O.C. Woman’s Insanity Plea Forces a Mistrial in Killing of Boyfriend’s Son

A Mission Viejo woman accused of attacking her boyfriend and fatally stabbing his son changed her plea this week to not guilty by reason of insanity, forcing a mistrial.

A hearing to select the mental health experts to examine Tamara Bohler, 46, is set for Friday before Orange County Superior Court Judge James Stotler.

Bohler has been charged with murder and attempted murder in the attacks of Alex Weber, 13, and his father, Jean-Marc Weber, on July 4, 2003.

If convicted, Bohler could face life in prison without parole.

Both the prosecutor and Bohler’s attorney had made opening statements to the jury, and witnesses were expected to begin testifying Monday.

But the trial was abruptly canceled when Bohler changed her plea.

At an earlier hearing, Deputy Public Defender Shelly Aronson told jurors Bohler attacked the Webers, but she urged them to consider her client’s purported schizophrenia and paranoid delusions in deciding whether she intended to kill them.

The stabbings followed more than three years of Bohler’s on-again, off-again relationship with Weber, a well-known chef.

After attacking the Webers in the early-morning hours, Bohler ran away, leaving a three-mile trail of blood.

Weber, who was stabbed in the neck, crawled to the home of a neighbor, who called police. His son was found dead outside his bedroom.