High-Priced Prostitute Arrested in Heroin Overdose of Google Exec from Dearborn

By Deb Belt and Beth Dalbey

A high-priced Atlanta prostitute who allegedly gave a Google executive originally from Dearborn a lethal dose of heroin before leaving him to die on his yacht has been arrested in a sting operation.

Alix Catherine Tichelman, 26, was arrested July 4 on suspicion of second-degree murder, destruction of evidence, and transporting and providing narcotics in the Nov. 26 death of Forrest Timothy Hayes, 51.

Authorities say Tichelman injected Hayes with heroin and he overdosed while the two partied on his yacht in a Santa Cruz, CA, harbor, but she reportedly did nothing to help him. Instead, they say, she drank a glass of wine, collected evidence, and left the boat. Hayes was found dead the next morning by the boat's captain.

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"She was so callous, in gathering her things she was literally stepping over the body, and at one point stepped over the body to grab a glass of wine. In the process of this, all the while, the victim’s dying at her feet. She showed no regard for the victim," Steve Clark with the Santa Cruz Police Department told KXTV.

Hayes, who was described in his obituary as “above all a loving husband and father,” worked in the auto industry early in his career before moving to Santa Cruz, where he lived for many years,  the Santa Cruz Sentinel reports. Before joining Google, he worked for technology giants Sun Microsystems, and Apple.

At the time of his death, he was working for Google’s X division on the semi-secret “moonshot” projects, Forbes reports. On an online memorial page, which was removed in the days after Tichelman’s arrest Friday, coworkers described Hayes as “totally selfless” and the kind of leader who could “put himself in others’ shoes,” Forbes said.

“He was a relationship person and valued that far more than any legal or business transaction,” one coworker wrote. “He was a warm guy with a big heart and found immense joy in making others happy.”

“You showed us how to be better engineers and a better team. It is wonderful to reflect on all the advice and direction you shared in our short time on Glass,” a Google X engineer wrote, again according to the Forbes report. “Your impact and focus was tremendous, but your touch for inspiring those around you is what made you an incredible leader.”

Hayes’  family wrote that he “passed away unexpectedly” in an obituary published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel.

“More than anything else he enjoyed spending time with his family at home and on his boat," according to the obituary. "His brilliant mind, contagious smile and warm embrace will be missed and cherished in memories by his friends and family."

He was married for 17 years and had five children.

Tichelman’s Facebook page says she is a graduate of Henry W. Grady High School in Midtown, GA, and studied journalism at Georgia State University.

During interviews with investigators, Tichelman boasted about having more than 200 client relationships, KXTV reports.

She had most recently been living with her parents in Folsom, CA.