TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A stripper charged in the slaying of a wealthy businessman told police she helped rob him of the estimated $1 million in jewelry he had with him when he was last seen alive, court documents indicate.
There is no indication in the search warrant papers that Brandi L. Hungerford admitted participating in Rick Chance's slaying.
But in the papers filed in Pierce County Superior Court, Hungerford is quoted as saying she and her boyfriend, Robert Lemke, robbed Chance, founder of Empire Auto Glass, on Aug. 8 at a hotel in Tempe, Ariz.
A hotel maid found Chance shot to death the next morning.
Hungerford, 25, and Lemke, 24, are in the Pierce County jail.
Hungerford pleaded not guilty Monday to a fugitive count and retained her right to an extradition hearing. She faces murder, robbery and conspiracy charges in Arizona. Lemke is held on earlier warrants unrelated to the Arizona slaying.
The search warrant produced several items that may be connected with the case. Officers found two expensive watches, an empty Rolex box and a fur hat stuffed with $20,000 in cash.
Chance, 44, was known across five states as the TV pitchman for Empire Glass.