| For Immediate Release Case # 13CF0340 13CF1025
March 17, 2014 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718
Farrah Emami
|
HUSBAND TO FACE TRIAL FOR 2004 SPECIAL CIRCUMSTANCES CONSPIRACY-MURDER BY SOLICITING MURDER OF WIFE
SANTA ANA – A husband will face a jury trial tomorrow for the 2004 solicitation-murder of his wife. Magdi Faiz Girgis, 61, Westminster, is charged with one felony count of special circumstances murder, one felony count of conspiracy to commit murder, and one felony count of false imprisonment by violence, and sentencing enhancements for murder for financial gain and murder to prevent testimony. If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of life in state prison without the possibility. Opening statements are scheduled to begin tomorrow morning, Tuesday, March 18, 2014, in Department C-41, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
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 preliminary hearing June 20, 2014, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-57, Central Justice Center.
Prior to the murder, Magdi Girgis is accused of having 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 is accused of moving out of the couple’s Westminster home.
Magdi Girgis, then a respiratory therapist, is accused of planning 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 is accused of soliciting 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.
In the early morning hours of Sept. 29, 2004, Bridget and the other suspects are accused of entering Ariet Girgis’ home on Plum Street.