Woman is guilty of boy’s fatal stabbing

A Mission Viejo woman was convicted Tuesday of the attempted murder of her boyfriend, a well-regarded Los Angeles chef, and the slaying of his teenage son, clearing the way for the sanity phase of her trial.

Tamara Bohler, 47, could face life in prison without the possibility of parole in the July 4, 2003, stabbing attacks of Alex Weber, 13, and his father, Jean-Marc.

Bohler showed little reaction to the verdicts, reached by the jury in less than three hours. This was her second trial. Her first, nearly a year ago, was declared a mistrial after she changed her not-guilty plea to not guilty by reason of insanity.

The jury was ordered to return Thursday for the sanity phase.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Mike Murray and Public Defender Shelly Aronson declined to comment on the verdicts, saying it would be inappropriate to do so between the guilt and sanity stages.

During opening statements, Aronson said there was no doubt that Bohler committed the crimes but urged the jury to consider that she suffered from paranoia, mental illness, stress, alcoholism, anxiety and other problems partially fueled by her “dysfunctional relationship” with Weber.

The stabbings followed more than three years of on-again, off-again dating between Bohler and the French-born Weber, who has worked as executive chef at the California Club, a private social establishment in downtown Los Angeles, and Hotel Le Meridien (now Fairmont) in Newport Beach, among others.

Weber, the first witness to take the stand during the 2 1/2-week trial, testified about the night he awoke from a deep sleep at his Mission Viejo condominium to a “strange sensation in my throat.” He stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom. “Blood was spraying like a hose on the mirror,” he told the court.

While Weber ran to get help from a neighbor, Bohler grabbed another kitchen knife and fatally stabbed Alex.

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christine.hanley@latimes.com