Michaela Rylaarsdam, a 32-year-old mother of three, was first charged with murder after 56-year-old Michael Dale died from asphyxiation.
Dale, who was from Escondido, California, paid Rylaarsdam $11,000 for the encounter when the pair met in April 2023.
But the session ended in tragedy, and police were called to the scene. Officers found Dale with a plastic bag over his head and duct tape over his mouth, face, and head.
Prosecutors told the hearing that Dale had also been covered in the plastic wrap as part of the fetish act.
His cause of death was ruled as asphyxiation. Rylaarsdam was then charged with murder after an autopsy found the bag had been wrapped around Dale’s head for at least eight minutes.
“Mummification” is known as a highly dangerous fetish practice. It also sparked debate when a similar act was shown in the current season of Euphoria.
Detective Chris Zack, of the Escondido Police Department, told the court that messages showed Dale had asked Rylaarsdam to wrap him up. However, he said Dale never mentioned or requested that a bag be placed over his head.
Dale’s roommate of five days also told the court that he heard Dale asking the model to stop.
That detail became one of the more troubling parts of the hearing, as prosecutors argued Dale had not asked for every act that took place during the encounter.
The case then moved toward a plea deal, with Rylaarsdam agreeing to plead guilty to a reduced charge rather than continue facing the original murder count.
“There is no indication that he asked her to obstruct his breathing, asked her to put tape over his mouth, asked her to put a plastic bag over his head.”
Last Wednesday, May 6, Rylaarsdam agreed to plead guilty to the lesser charge as part of a deal with prosecutors, avoiding the original and more serious murder charge.
Her lawyers argued that she was not guilty of murder because she called 911, performed CPR on Dale, and stayed at the scene until police arrived.
According to Marca, the model’s attorney said: “I don’t believe there was any intent to kill or any attempt to cover it up. And she acted appropriately when she realized this was a problem.”
Rylaarsdam is due to be sentenced on June 8.
The plea deal means the case is now expected to move forward under the reduced involuntary manslaughter charge, rather than the murder charge she originally faced.
