Husband charged with murder in Century City stabbing
Authorities say James Fayed paid his ranch manager $25,000 to help arrange his wife's death. The manager also faces prosecution and a third man is still being sought.
Prosecutors in the L.A. County district attorney's office today charged a Ventura County businessman and one of his employees in an alleged murder-for-hire plot that authorities say culminated in the highly publicized stabbing death of Pamela Fayed in the parking garage of a Century City high-rise in July.
James Fayed is charged with capital murder for allegedly paying the manager of his Moorpark ranch $25,000 to help arrange the slaying of his estranged wife, with whom he was engaged in bitter divorce proceedings, authorities said.
Neither Fayed nor the manager, Jose Luis Moya, are believed to have actually wielded the knife in the attack and investigators are searching for a third man, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the case.
A criminal complaint filed today in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleges that Fayed and Moya were lying in wait and committed the murder for financial gain, which could prompt prosecutors to seek the death penalty.
Fayed's attorney, Mark Werksman, said his client denies having anything to do with his wife's slaying.
"It's one thing for the district attorney to spin theories in a criminal complaint," Werksman said. "But it's quite another to prove a case in court. We look forward to challenging this evidence in court where we will seek vindication for Mr. Fayed."
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