Call girl pleads to manslaughter in Google exec’s death

Alix Tichelman, left, with her attorney Athena Reis during her arraignment by Judge Timothy Volkman, in Santa Cruz Co. Superior court on Wednesday July 16, 2014, in Santa Cruz, Calif. Alix Tichelman, left, with her attorney Athena Reis during her arraignment by Judge Timothy Volkman, in Santa Cruz Co. Superior court on Wednesday July 16, 2014, in Santa Cruz, Calif. Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Photo: Michael Macor, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 25 Caption Close Call girl pleads to manslaughter in Google exec’s death 1 / 25 Back to Gallery

A call girl but not a calculating killer, Alix Tichelman panicked and ran after she injected a Google executive with a fatal dose of heroin during a 2013 rendezvous on his Santa Cruz yacht, her lawyer said Tuesday after his client pleaded guilty in the sensational case.

Tichelman was sentenced in Santa Cruz Superior Court to six years in County Jail after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and administering illicit drugs. Her attorney, Larry Biggam, said the outcome was fitting in a case that was “oversold and overhyped by police.”

But prosecutors said Tichelman had been properly charged — and ultimately convicted — in a serious case. “There’s no way you can defend against her conduct,” said Assistant District Attorney Rafael Vazquez. “We felt very confident. We got our conviction.”

The 27-year-old high-priced escort, who connected with clients through the Internet, grabbed national attention when she was nabbed in the death of 51-year-old Forrest Hayes, a prominent Google executive, husband and father of five.

The episode began on the evening of Nov. 23, 2013, when she and Hayes met on his yacht in the Santa Cruz harbor.

The two had connected on Seeking Arrangement, a “sugar daddy” website that purports to connect well-off men with cash-strapped women. But Tichelman used the site to operate “as a high-priced outcall prostitute” and “boasted of over 200 client relationships,” police said.

At some point in the evening, Tichelman rigged Hayes up with the deadly dose of heroin, but instead of calling police when he fell unconscious, authorities said, she tiptoed over his comatose body, downed a final swig of wine, drew the boat’s blinds and slipped away.

Hayes, a native of Dearborn, Mich., had a lengthy career at Bay Area tech companies, including Sun Microsystems, Apple and ultimately Google.

At first, when police found his body in the yacht, they didn’t suspect foul play. But investigators soon discovered a newly installed security system with cameras in the boat that captured the night in vivid detail.

That’s when Santa Cruz police set up a trap. In July, investigators posed as a potential client and offered Tichelman $1,000 for sex, luring her back to the Santa Cruz area, where they arrested her, officials said.

Tichelman was booked and later charged with manslaughter, not murder, suggesting prosecutors never believed they could prove she intended to kill Hayes.

On Monday night, Biggam said he met with Vazquez to discuss a plea bargain in the case. Vazquez, though, said in an interview that he never offered a deal and that Tichelman had “pleaded as charged.”

“I’m not surprised because bottom line, this case was filed responsibly,” Vazquez said. “We knew what the evidence allowed us to prove. The video speaks for itself.”

Biggam said his client’s plea matches what he believes a jury would have found if the case had gone to trial, and added that it “provides closure for (Tichelman), her family, and the Hayes family.”

“This plea reflects what it was,” Biggam said. “It was an accidental overdose between two consenting adults, coupled with panic and failure to call 911.”

His client, he said, is now “clean and sober and reconnected with her family. This time has been good for her.”

Tichelman was given five years for administering drugs and one year for involuntary manslaughter. She will serve her time in County Jail, where she has already spent nearly a year.

Hayes’ death spurred authorities in Georgia to reopen an investigation into the September 2013 death of Tichelman’s former boyfriend — 53-year-old rocker Dean Riopelle — who died of a similar overdose while she was in his home.

Authorities, though, have not sought charges in that case, which remains under investigation, a spokeswoman for the Fulton County district attorney’s office said Tuesday.

After Riopelle’s death, Tichelman moved in with her parents in Folsom, where she started working as a call girl, eventually leading her to Hayes.