Edmonton Journal

Canadian call girl sent home

Convicted in overdose death of Google exec

- Douglas Quan

A California immigratio­n judge has ordered that Alix Tichelman, the high-end call girl convicted of injecting a Google executive with a fatal dose of heroin, be deported to her native Canada, capping a tawdry case that made headlines around the world.

“On April 6, an immigratio­n judge held that Ms. Tichelman’s criminal conviction­s were grounds for removal and ordered her removed from the United States,” James Schwab, a spokesman for U.S. Immigratio­n and Customs Enforcemen­t, said in a statement Friday. “Ms. Tichelman will remain in ICE custody pending final arrangemen­ts for her removal.”

Tichelman, 29, pleaded guilty two years ago to involuntar­y manslaught­er and administer­ing drugs to Forrest Hayes, 51, who was found dead on his luxury yacht in a Santa Cruz harbour in November 2013.

Video surveillan­ce showed that Hayes had lost consciousn­ess after Tichelman injected him with heroin. But instead of calling for help, Tichelman wiped away evidence, gathered her belongings and stepped over Hayes’ body, including once to finish a glass of wine, police said.

Hayes, the father of five, reportedly hired Tichelman after seeing her profile on a dating website called SeekingArr­angement.com.

After serving about half her sentence, Tichelman was released on March 29 by the Santa Cruz County Jail for good behaviour, the Santa Cruz Sentinel reported. But she was immediatel­y taken back into custody — this time, by federal immigratio­n officers. A source confirmed that Tichelman does not intend to challenge the judge’s deportatio­n order. It was not immediatel­y clear how soon she would be back in Canada.

Media reports have said Tichelman spent part of her childhood in southwest B.C., and that she had attended the Southridge private school in Surrey. Tichelman’s father, Bart Tichelman, who grew up in Vancouver and attended UBC, has worked as an executive at several tech companies around North America.

The family moved to Georgia and Tichelman briefly attended Georgia State University in 2008, the Atlanta Journal-Constituti­on reported.

Tichelman’s ex-boyfriend, Dean Riopelle, 53, also died of a heroin overdose in 2013. Though Riopelle’s death was initially classified as accidental, police and prosecutor­s said the case is still being actively investigat­ed.

 ??  ?? Alix Tichelman
Alix Tichelman

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