An Alix Tichelman supporter holds a sign outside the courthouse Monday, referring to the Google executive who died from a heroin overdose in the company of Tichelman. Dan Coyro -- Santa Cruz Sentinel. Supporters of Alix Tichelman display signs to courthouse visitors Monday morning prior to Tichelman's appearance in court.
Alix Tichelman, the 'Harbor Hooker' accused of manslaughter in the heroin death of her client, Google executive Forrest Hayes, leaves court Monday morning in front of her parents seated in the front row. Alix Tichelman, the 'Harbor Hooker' accused of manslaughter in the heroin death of her client and Google executive Forrest Hayes, enters the courtroom Monday spotting her parents seated in the front row.
Tichelman, 27, is accused of felony manslaughter, drug and prostitution charges in the November heroin overdose of Hayes on his yacht in the Santa Cruz Small Craft Harbor. She faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted and remains in Santa Cruz County Jail as the court case progresses, authorities said. Monday, defense attorneys received more Santa Cruz police reports and other evidence from prosecutors in court.
Tichelman and Mr. Hayes expected nothing more than pleasure from their consensual and mutual drug use. Hayes loses consciousness, and Tichelman gathers her belongings and leaves the boat minutes later without seeking medical help, police said. Hayes, 51 and a father of five, was found dead on the yacht the next day. Detectives tracked Tichelman from her appearance in the video to a website called SeekingArrangement. She was arrested at an Aptos hotel in July after police lured her back to Santa Cruz County through the same website.
During her interrogation, Tichelman bragged about the dozens of men she met for paid encounters, police said. But I think a Santa Cruz jury would be an appropriate jury for this kind of thing. Prosecutor Rafael Vazquez has declined to discuss the case outside court, saying that he will present his case in court. A preliminary hearing will decide whether there is enough evidence to hold Tichelman for a trial.
