(Photo credit: Shmuel Thaler, Associated Press)
Twenty-six year-old Alix Tichelman, accused last month of injecting a Google executive with heroin and watching as he overdosed, pleaded not guilty to all charges at her arraignment.
Tichelman was silent in court, with two exceptions. She answered “Not guilty” to each charge, and, when asked by the judge if she waived her right to a speedy trial, said “Yes, sir.”
She faces felony charges of manslaughter, transporting drugs, destroying evidence, prostitution, and causing great bodily injury while administering heroin.
There is at least one potentially damning piece of evidence working against her. Authorities have discovered that, in the months since the overdose and cover-up, Tichelman did research online to determine how to defend herself, legally, after giving a fatan dose of heroin.
Tichelman in December of 2012.
The executive, fifty-one year-old Forrest Hayes, overdosed on his yacht, the Escape, on November 23. Surveillance footage shows Tichelman sipping from a glass of wine while Hayes convulsed in the living room of the yacht, then drawing curtains and closing doors to keep outside eyes away.
Defense attorney Larry Biggman argued that Tichelman had no malicious intentions. Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, he said:
There was no intent to harm Mr. Hayes. He was a lucrative source of income. [Tichelman] had a motive to continue the relationship….This case is extremely sad. Five kids are without a father, but to blame Alix is simply wrong. I think she’s a wounded bird. She’s not demonic.
According to police, the two had an “ongoing relationship,” including having met on the yacht before.
They met initially through the website SeekingArrangement.com, which promises to help “sugar daddies” meet “sugar babies.” The site has been redesigned and toned down since Tichelman’s arrest; its owners deny any connection between their services and prostitution.
Before police arrested her in an undercover sting on July 4, Tichelman boasted of having found “over 200” clients on the site.
Tichelman was ordered to return to court for trial beginning on October 20th. If she is convicted on all charges, she faces a maximum prison sentence of fifteen years.
Between now and then, Tichelman will reside in Santa Cruz County Jail, with bail set at $1.5 million.
