Man charged in strangling death of a Lancaster repairwoman
A man accused of strangling a repairwoman in his Lancaster home pleaded not guilty Friday to murder, officials said.
Williams Franklin Hughes III, 30, is charged in the death of Lyndi Fisher, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. He is being held on $2.5-million bail.
Hughes was arrested July 15, a day after deputies found Fisher dead inside his home in the 43200 block of Doverwood Court, authorities said.
The district attorney’s office said Fisher, 36, was sent to Hughes’ home on July 14 to do repair work on an appliance. She had completed similar repairs on an appliance at his home a month before the July visit.
When she arrived, prosecutors allege, Hughes strangled her.
Soon after, deputies were called to his home.
When they arrived, Hughes told them he had stepped out of his home while Fisher worked on the appliance, according to a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s statement.
Hughes told deputies he later returned and noticed Fisher was lying unconscious on the floor, authorities said.
But evidence at the scene connected Hughes to her death, the Sheriff’s Department said. Hughes also gave “conflicting statements,” deputies said.
The job was Fisher’s last service call of the day, according to her employer, Arrow Appliance.
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