| For Immediate Release Case # 13CF0340 & 13CF1025
June 30, 2014 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718Farrah Emami Spokesperson Office: 714-347-8405 Cell: 714-323-4486
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HUSBAND SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON WITHOUT PAROLE FOR 2004 SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES CONSPIRACY-MURDER BY SOLICITING MURDER OF WIFE
SANTA ANA – A husband was sentenced Friday to life in state prison without the possibility of parole for the 2004 solicitation-murder of his wife. Magdi Faiz Girgis, 62, Westminster, was found guilty by a jury April 17, 2014, of one felony count of special circumstances murder, one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder, and sentencing enhancements for murder for financial gain and murder to prevent testimony were found true.
Co-defendant Anthony Edward Bridget, 40, is charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder, one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder, one felony count of aggravated assault, one felony count of false imprisonment by violence, and sentencing enhancements for murder for financial gain, murder by lying in wait, and murder during the commission of a burglary. If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole. Bridget is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing July 18, 2014, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-57, Central Justice Center.
Prior to the murder, Magdi Girgis had a pending domestic violence case against him related to assaulting his wife, 55-year-old Ariet Girgis. A restraining order was issued, Ariet Girgis intended to divorce the defendant, and Magdi Girgis moved out of the couple’s Westminster home.
Magdi Girgis, then a respiratory therapist, planned to murder the victim because he wanted to avoid the cost of a divorce and did not want to lose his medical license by receiving a felony conviction. As a result, Magdi Girgis solicited at least one person to murder his wife.
A few days prior to Sept. 29, 2004, Ariet Girgis testified in a preliminary hearing in the domestic violence case.
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