Alix Catherine Tichelman Case: A Tale of Heroin, Monkeys and Prostitution
A highly-payed call girl from Georgia is now linked to two overdose deaths of former lovers.
Alix Catherine Tichelman is charged with manslaughter in connection to the November 2013 death of Google executive Forrest Hayes. According to police in Santa Cruz, surveillance video shows Tichelman watching Hayes die of a heroin overdose on the deck of his 50-foot yacht.
“Never does she call 911 or call out to others in nearby boats for help. She never tries to administer any aid to him,” said Santa Cruz Deputy Police Chief Steve Clark. “She is more concerned about getting herself out and concealing evidence than helping Mr. Hayes.”
On Thursday, police in Georgia revealed that Alix Catherine Tichelman’s former boyfriend died under similar circumstances.
Dean Riopelle, 53, died after a supposed heart attack in September 2013. An autopsy report shows that he overdosed on a combination of oxycodone, heroin, and alcohol. At the time, Riopelle and Alix Catherine Tichelman were living together and had been dating for two and half years.
Locally, Riopelle was known as the “Monkey Man” because of his affinity for primates. His Milton property included a large animal reserve, with enclosures for monkeys.
In the weeks before Riopelle’s death, police reports suggest the couple’s relationship was strained. According to the local paper in Milton, Georgia, “Tichelman was arrested by Fulton County on charges of battery and false reporting of a Crime. Riopelle accused her of attacking and biting him”.
On her Facebook page, Tichelman describes herself as an aspiring model, boxer, and poet. A post from January 2013, provides no hint of the trouble to come for the 26-year-old from the Atlanta-area:
“Life is great. [I] am seriously blessed as a motherf***er. [A] great boyfriend, nice house, monkeys, loving family…doesn’t get any better than this [I] don’t think.”
In light of the murder case in California, police in Milton, Georgia are reopening the investigation into Riopelle’s death. A local police captain, Shawn McCarty, told The Associated Press, “Both subjects in these cases died of heroin overdoses so there’s just several factors we want to look at to make sure that we didn’t miss anything”.
In Santa Cruz, the investigation into Forrest Hayes’ death continues. Police said Tichelman and Hayes connected through the website Seeking Arrangements, a website “for sugar daddies and sugar babies seeking mutually beneficial relationships and arrangements”. Police said Tichelman was a high-paid prostitutes and had many clients in Silicon Valley.
According to the Santa Cruz Sentinel, Tichelman was arrested on July 4 during a prostitution sting. She is being held on suspicion of second-degree murder, destruction of evidence, and transporting and providing narcotics. Tichelman is being held on $1.5 million bail.
She has not yet been charged in connection to her former boyfriend, Dean Riopelle.
