Not Guilty Plea in Student’s Slaying
A 24-year-old Oxnard gang member pleaded not guilty Thursday in the slaying of high school student Nichole Hendrix in 1998.
Michael Bridgeford, who served time in state prison for assault with a deadly weapon, entered his plea in Ventura County Superior Court. He was one of six people indicted by the Ventura County Grand Jury in the slaying. If convicted, Bridgeford could face the death penalty.
Hendrix, 17, disappeared after calling her mother from a Ventura motel on the night of Oct. 15, 1998. Her remains were found six months later in the Ventura County back country.
Prosecutors say Bridgeford held Hendrix down in the motel as one of his fellow white power gang members, David Ziesmer, stabbed her to death.
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