Alix Catherine Tichelman - The Sugar Daddy Murderess

In 1982, Catherine Evelyn Smith (born 25 April 1947) served fifteen months in the California State prison system for injecting John Belushi with a fatal dose of heroin and cocaine. Did she commit a crime? Belushi and Smith were injecting each other with the drug, but Belushi's dose caused his death, while Smith's dose didn't. Smith was accused of murder for injecting Belushi with the drug that he wanted. Did Smith know the concentration of drug she was giving Belushi? Wasn't Belushi being as reckless with his own life as she was with hers? It is an old case, and the debate continues. We  have a new Catherine on the scene, and her name is Alix Catherine Tichelman.

 
2014, a 26 year old woman, Alix Catherine Tichelman is accused of injecting her 51 year old

sugar daddy, Forrest Haze, with heroin, causing his death. They were drinking and injecting each other, the injection caused his death, while Tichelman's injection did not cause her death. 

Security footage from the yacht shows the victim suffering medical complications and going unconscious. Rather than providing first aid or calling 911, Tichelman gathered her belongings, including the heroin and left. To my understanding, in the United States only certain people have a duty to act (police officers, fire fighters, teachers). If any person is hurt or needs help - nobody has a duty to help. 

I am not saying that is what I would do. In fact, I would help someone who needs help. If you do not want to get involved, then call anonymously for help. That being said, most society do not have a duty to help. We have a duty not to harm someone, in this case, she was giving this man what he wanted and what they did together as a couple. There was nothing she did that he didn't want.

"It showed our suspect, it showed our victim, it showed her injecting him with heroin, showed her absolute callousness, after the fact, as he starts to have medical complications.  There was no effort to call 911," police said. I call bullshit. How was she to know this man was having an overdose and wasn't just sleeping? She was under the influence as well - both alcohol and drugs. People under the influence are not going to be as perceptive as sober people. If this woman was completely sober and clean, and understood that an overdose was happening - then you call her callous. The fact is, people are picking on her because she is a woman, she is attractive, and she had a sugar daddy relationship with this man. Makes for sensational reporting. 

According to police, the video also shows Tichelman stepping over the victim’s body several times as she is gathering her belongings.  At one point, she steps over the body to finish a glass of wine. Eventually she is shown leaving the boat, stopping to lower a blind to  so that the light would not wake him up in the morning. 

What reason would she have had to intentionally kill this man? They had a relationship, even if we disapprove of the nature of their relationship, the fact is - they were involved with each other. He provided for her. The fact that she was allegedly a commercial sex worker, or had a sugar-daddy relationship with this man is irrelevant. These two are adults and can have what ever kind of relationship they want. The potency of heroin changes from one batch to another, there is no way this woman could have known that this particular batch would have been too strong or too weak. If she is used to weaker heroin - how much of a risk was she taking? How much reasonable risk could she foresee without really knowing the chemistry of this particular batch of drugs?  

Why would she kill a man financially providing for her? It makes no sense. 

She did have an ex boyfriend who died of a drug overdose. He was a drug addict, and he died. That is irrelevant to the death of the Google executive. I do not see any evidence that this woman had any intention to kill anybody. If someone wants to be shot-up, and wants their drug using friend to do it - they are rolling the dice. This man's choices lead to his own demise, she did not force him to do anything he did not want - he has responsibility in his own death.

When people are injecting themselves and each other with drugs, I do not think any one person should be charged with murder when an accidental death occurs. These adults know that overdose is a real possibility, especially with a drug like heroin. Belushi wanted to be injected, the Google executive wanted to be injected, these women wanted to be injected.