A California-based escort has been charged with the alleged murder of Google executive Forrest Hayes.
Alix Tichelman, a high-priced "outcall prostitute", has been booked on several charges, which include second-degree murder, drug possession and destruction of evidence. Tichelman has more than 200 clients who pay the high-end escort big money for her services.
She was arrested on July 4 after agreeing to meet an undercover police officer posing as a potential client who offered her $1000 in exchange for sexual services. Per authorities, Tichelman met potential clients via a website called "Seeking Arrangement" which claims to fix "sugar daddies" and "sugar babies."
Tichelman, 26, has been accused of injecting Hayes with a lethal dose of heroin. 51-year old Hayes was found dead aboard his luxury yacht on November 23, 2013 in Santa Cruz. The police believe Tichelman committed the crime in a different state. Hayes, however, had hired the services of Tichelman earlier and the November 23 meeting which ended in tragedy "was a mutually consensual encounter including the introduction of the heroin."
A surveillance video that has recently been uncovered shows a woman - believed to be Tichelman - injecting heroin into Fayes. Per, Santa Crux Deputy Chief Steve Clark, she did not call authorities for help even when it seemed clear something had gone awry.
Days prior to her arrest, Atlanta resident Tichelman wrote a post pertaining to her killing sprees on Facebook. On June 28, per ABC News, the escort wrote that it was "really nice to talk with someone about killing sprees and murdering people in cold blood...and they love it too,"
"No judgement. Yay!" wrote Tichelman on her Facebook page. "F--- all of the positivity bulls---." Take a look around you. Life is hard and then you die."
The Facebook page has since been pulled down from the social networking site.
If Tichelman is indeed responsible for Hayes' death, he may not have been her first victim per the police. Santa Cruz police has disclosed that it is working with an agency in another state on a similar case. Here too the victim was left suffering and died, whereas Tichelman supposedly left without asking for aid.
"There's a pattern of behavior here where she doesn't seek help when someone is in trouble," says Clark.
A handcuffed Tichelman appeared in court on July 9 sporting a red jumpsuit for manslaughter and drug charges. She was appointed a public defender and did not enter a plea. The arraignment has been continued to July 16 and Tichelman's bail is $1.5 million.
