A California prostitute charged with killing a Google executive with an overdose of heroin aboard his yacht pleaded guilty yesterday to involuntary manslaughter and administering drugs. A Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge sentenced Alix Tichelman to six years in prison, bringing a sudden and unexpected conclusion to a tawdry case that garnered national attention. Tichelman injected Forrest Timothy Hayes with heroin in November 2013, then left without seeking help when he passed out on the yacht, authorities say. Police say surveillance video at Santa Cruz Harbor showed Tichelman gather her belongings, casually step over Hayes' body, finish a glass of wine, and lower a blind before leaving the yacht the night before the body was discovered.
Defense attorney Larry Biggam says Tichelman, 28, was relieved to have the court proceedings behind her. She's expected to serve three years and will be credited the year already served in jail. "It was an accidental overdose between two consenting adults," Biggam says. After Tichelman was charged in California, police in Georgia took another look at the 2013 overdose death of Tichelman's former boyfriend Dean Riopelle, 53, the owner of a popular Atlanta music venue. Authorities say a panicked Tichelman called police, saying her boyfriend had overdosed on something and wouldn't respond. Tichelman has not been charged in that death. An autopsy report listed Riopelle's death as an accidental overdose of heroin, oxycodone, and alcohol. (More Alix Tichelman stories.)
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