Yacht, Google Executive, Prostitute, Heroin Overdose

If you’re looking for a catchy news item, the four elements listed above make a pretty good start, which is why the arrest of 26-year old Alix Tichelman of Folsom, characterized as a "high-priced call girl," is making news in print and digits all over the world.

According to Santa Cruz Police, surveillance video from the Santa Cruz-berthed 50-ft yacht Escape show that last November Tichelman, who is originally from Georgia, injected 51-year-old Google executive Timothy Hayes with what proved to be an overdose of heroin. It would seem that act was consensual, but Tichelman casually sipping wine as opposed to getting help for Hayes when he obviously began to overdose was not.

Santa Cruz Police had difficulty solving the case for two reasons. First, Tichelman did a good job of covering her tracks, and second, Escape’s captain reportedly had not come forward with the surveillance videos because of the lurid nature of the case. Once police got the video and were able to identify Tichelman, they were able to lure her to back to Santa Cruz with the promise of a lucrative Fourth of July gig at a high-end hotel. She is being held on $1.5 million bail and was to be arraigned today.

Hayes, who lived in Santa Cruz for years, had worked for tech giants Sun Microsystems and Apple before joining Google. He is survived by a wife of 17 years and five kids. Despite the circumstances of his passing, an obituary provided by his family described him "above all as a loving husband and father," "who more than anything enjoyed spending time with his family at home and on his boat."