Michaela Brashaye Rylaarsdam had no idea that an interaction she was recording for content for her OnlyFans site would become evidence in her murder trial. But that’s exactly what happened to the 31-year-old woman after a fetish encounter went wrong. The incident occurred two years ago, but it was only recently that Rylaarsdam was charged with the death of Michael Dale.
According to police, Dale reached out to Rylaarsdam after seeing her ad on a website commonly used for escort or stripper services. Over the course of texts and phone calls, the 55-year-old man shared his unusual requests, including that she wrap him like a mummy in Saran wrap and glue a pair of women’s boots onto his feet.
It seems that’s precisely what she did on the evening of April 17, 2023.
The videos Rylaarsdam recorded during their encounter showed Dale struggling to breathe with duct tape over his mouth, a plastic bag over his head and more cling wrap, then duct tape, around his face and head, according to an affidavit. Additionally, his wrists were bound, his fingers covered in duct tape and his legs were also wrapped in plastic, leaving the man unable to remove any of the coverings himself.
Once Rylaarsdam realized Dale was no longer breathing — about four hours into the encounter — she called 911 and began performing CPR. He was taken to the hospital and later declared brain dead before being removed from life-support. His cause of death was reported to be deprivation of oxygen to the brain.
Yet it took two years for authorities to charge Rylaarsdam with second-degree murder, likely because of the circumstances surrounding the death. Because the incident allegedly occurred between two consenting adults during what appears to be a BDSM encounter (bondage, discipline, dominance, submission, sadism, and masochism), there are differing opinions on how the situation should be handled.
The charge of second-degree murder instead of first-degree murder is because Rylaarsdam did not show an express intent to kill. Instead, the theory is she showed a conscious disregard for human life.
The prosecutor has the burden to prove the charge; that the defendant intentionally committed the act and knew it was dangerous. That even if she didn’t intend to kill Dale, she deliberately acted with conscious disregard for life.
In this case, the prosecutor, Deputy District Attorney David Jarman, seems to think there is enough evidence, explaining: “The evidence showed that he hired her to perform bondage acts and fetish acts. There is no indication that he asked her to obstruct his breathing, asked her to put tape over his mouth, asked her to put a plastic bag over his head.”
Rylaarsdam’s defense attorney, David Cohen, disagrees, saying the evidence will show that she “caused 911 to be called, gave CPR and cooperated with police.”
While he concedes that consent is not necessarily a defense to homicide, it is “certainly a mitigating factor.”
“There is definitely a consensual element — not only something he consented to, something he was actively seeking,” Cohen said.
Indeed, the evidence does show that the victim was seeking this kind of experience. According to an affidavit, Dale paid Rylaarsdam more than $11,000 to “have conversations with him, and to come to his house, tie him up and perform other acts of bondage.”
Ultimately, it will be up to a jury of Rylaarsdam’s peers to determine if this was just a fetish encounter gone wrong or second-degree murder.