Man accused in fatal frying pan attack indicted

By Cara McCoy

Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2010 | 11:40 a.m.

A British motivational speaker accused of killing a Las Vegas woman in a frying pan attack before putting her severed body into a trash can filled with bleach has been indicted on a murder charge in connection with her death.

The man is also charged in a separate case of attempted murder in which he allegedly solicited a transsexual male for sex on Craigslist, then tried to run the person over with the dead woman’s vehicle.

Michael Lane, 37, is facing a charge of murder with a deadly weapon and robbery with a deadly weapon in connection with the death of Ginger Candela, 44, whose body was found by missing persons detectives Nov. 30 in the garage of her home in the 3100 block of Westfield Street after being indicted last week by a Clark County grand jury.

Lane is also facing a charge of attempted murder with a deadly weapon and battery with a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm in connection with the alleged attack on the transsexual Nov. 24 near Sunrise Hospital.

Lane is set to be arraigned on the charges in district court Thursday and is expected to plead not guilty. Preliminary hearings in both matters were scheduled for Monday but the hearings were vacated because of the grand jury indictments.

Candela died from strangulation, with blunt head trauma as a significant contributing factor, the Clark County Coroner’s Office said.

Her body was found cut in half and stuffed into a trash can filled with bleach, according to a police report. Authorities said they believe she died about two weeks before she was found.

Lane told police the two were meditating in her bedroom when he decided to kill her, which he did by strangling her with an electric cord after striking her with a frying pan, according to the arrest report.

He was arrested Dec. 3 in Ventura, Calif. The vehicle used in the alleged attack was registered to Candela, with whom Lane had been living. Her maroon SUV was reportedly at the motel where Lane was arrested and he had checked in using one of her credit cards, police said.

Police say Lane, a British citizen, has been involved with spiritual healing and motivational speaking. He might have befriended women and possibly defrauded them without their knowledge, authorities said.

Anyone with information about Lane, who police say also goes by the names “Chae Saville” and “Michael Bodhi,” is asked to contact authorities.

Raised in London, Lane is known to have spent time in Las Vegas, San Diego and Portland, Ore.

He might have lived in the Philippines at some point, and police believe he might still have a daughter who lives there, authorities have said.

He is being held in the Clark County Detention Center.