| For Immediate Release Case # 13CF1025 April 18, 2013 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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INMATE TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR 2004 MURDEROF WOMAN AFTER BEING SOLICITED BY VICTIM’S HUSBAND
*Additional arrests are imminent and a $55,000 reward is offered in this case
WESTMINSTER – An inmate will be arraigned tomorrow for the 2004 solicitation-murder of a former respiratory therapist’s wife. Anthony Edward Bridget, 39, 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 and murder by lying in wait. If convicted, he faces a minimum sentence of life in state prison without the possibility of parole and is eligible for the death penalty.
Bridget is currently being held at Correctional Training Facility in Soledad, CA, on an unrelated conviction. The inmate is expected to be transported today, April 18, 2013, to Orange County. Bridget is scheduled for arraignment tomorrow, Friday, April 19, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-57, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Case #13CF0340
Co-defendant Magdi Girgis, 60, 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 of parole and is eligible for the death penalty. Girgis is being held without bail and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing, May 31, 2013, at 8:30 a.m. in Department C-55.
Westminster Police Department (WPD) investigated this case. Senior Deputy District Attorney Sonia Balleste of the Orange County District Attorney’s (OCDA) Homicide Unit is prosecuting both cases.
Case Background
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 Bridget and other individuals to murder his wife.