Aug 18, 2008 7:37 pm US/Pacific
Husband Of Slain Wife Enters Plea In Other Case
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
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James Fayed, who is the main suspect in his wife's death, Monday pleaded not guilty to a federal charge of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
CBS
The estranged husband of a woman stabbed to death in a Century City parking garage pleaded not guilty Monday in Los Angeles to a federal charge of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Charles Eick ordered James Michael Fayed, 45, back to court on Sept. 15 for a status conference.
The trial is set to begin Sept. 30.
Deemed a flight risk, Fayed is being held without bail at the Metropolitan Detention Center.
Fayed's 44-year-old wife, Pamela, was killed July 28.
Fayed has not been charged in connection with the slaying, but prosecutors said in court documents that he is "the primary suspect" in her killing.
According to court documents filed by federal prosecutors, Pamela Fayed's criminal defense attorney notified prosecutors about a month before her slaying that she wanted to cooperate in a criminal probe into the businesses she owned with her estranged husband.
Prosecutors allege that the killer's getaway car had been rented with James Fayed's credit card, which police later found in his wallet.
Fayed was arrested Aug. 1 on a federal charge of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
James Fayed's attorney, Mark Werksman, has argued there was no evidence that his client's wife was cooperating with the government or, if she was, that his client knew about it.
Werksman also accused the government of presenting its case with hearsay and unsubstantiated allegations and said the real focus was the lone federal charge of operating an unlicensed money business.
In court papers, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Aveis wrote that James Fayed was likely to have been ordered to pay about $1 million in spousal support, attorney fees and court sanctions at a hearing set for July 29, the day after his wife was killed.
According to Aveis, Pamela Fayed told a close friend that her husband told her, "I could have you killed and my hands would be clean."
Pamela, the co-owner of the Camarillo-based Goldfinger Coin and Bullion Sales and an associated Internet firm, E-Bullion, was murdered about 6:35 p.m. July 28.
Witnesses said the woman was repeatedly stabbed by a slender man in his 20s who fled in an SUV as she screamed for help.
The business itself has been named as a defendant in the case.
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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