Latest news with #ChristyGiles
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Yahoo
Man Who Claimed to Be Hollywood Producer Found Guilty of Murder, Rape in Overdose Deaths
A serial rapist who lured women into his orbit by lying that he was a Hollywood producer has been convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Christy Giles and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola. A Los Angeles jury, after two days of deliberating, sided with prosecutors on all charges, which included the sexual assaults of seven other victims from 2007 to 2021. The two deceased women met David Pearce at a warehouse party in East Los Angeles before he fatally drugged them at his Beverly Hills apartment. Giles was deceased when she was dropped off at the hospital, while Cabrales-Arzola died eleven days later. An investigation initiated after their deaths discovered that Pearce had raped several women across more than a decade. More from The Hollywood Reporter Whoopi Goldberg Slams Fox News Critics Angry Over Beyoncé's Best Country Album Grammy Win 'Deva' Review: Rosshan Andrrews Remakes His Own 'Mumbai Police,' With Lackluster Results Billie Eilish Sends Care Package to L.A. Wildfire Victim at the Request of Meghan Markle Pearce is scheduled to be sentenced on March 13. He faces 148 years to life in prison. In a statement, newly-installed L.A. district attorney Nathan Hochman stressed that his office will 'prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those who illegally supply fentanyl and destroy lives, especially those who commit sexual assaults.' He added, 'Today, a serial rapist was held accountable for the deaths of Christy Giles and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, both of whom tragically died as a result of fentanyl poisoning, and the victimization of seven other women across Los Angeles,' while celebrating the women who 'bravely came forward to report the crimes committed against them.' The jury was unable to reach a verdict on charges of accessory after the fact, which relate to knowledge of a crime, against aspiring actor Brandt Walter Osborn. The court declared a mistrial. It remains unknown whether prosecutors will pursue a retrial. Giles and Cabrales-Arzola died from an overdose of fentanyl and date rape drug GHB. They arranged for a rideshare service to pick them up from Pearce's apartment within an hour of arriving but didn't leave the residence until 11 hours later when they were dropped off at two separate hospitals. Seven women testified of sex crimes committed by Pearce, who described himself as an as an 'entertainment professional,' though it doesn't appear he has any production credits. Best of The Hollywood Reporter Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2025: Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar & SZA, Sabrina Carpenter and More Hollywood's Highest-Profile Harris Endorsements: Taylor Swift, George Clooney, Bruce Springsteen and More Most Anticipated Concert Tours of 2024: Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, Olivia Rodrigo and More
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Yahoo
Secret Serial Rapist: Beverly Hills Producer Convicted for Killing Two Individuals
Self-described Hollywood producer and Beverly Hills party boy David Pearce was convicted on charges he drugged two women he met at a party with fatal doses of fentanyl at his Beverly Hills home before dumping their lifeless bodies at two separate westside hospitals in November 2021, a case that also exposed him as a "serial rapist," Los Angeles County prosecutors 39, was convicted by a Los Angeles jury Tuesday on two counts of first-degree murder in the fentanyl overdose deaths of model and Instagram influencer Christy Giles, 24, who was pronounced dead shortly after she was dumped, unconscious, outside the emergency room at Southern California Hospital in Culver City, and her friend interior designer and architect Hilda Marcela Cabrales Arzola, 26, who was left outside Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Hospital. Arzola clung to life in a coma for two weeks before she was taken off life deaths of the two women were classified as homicides by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner, with toxicology reports finding multiple drugs present in both victims' systems, according to court filings. Pearce was also convicted of rape and other sexual assaults against seven different women between 2007 and 2021, said. The charges he was convicted of include one count of sodomy by use of force; one count of rape of an unconscious woman; and one count of sexual penetration by foreign object in the sexual assaults of seven different victims, prosecutors say. "Today, a serial rapist was held accountable for the deaths of Christy Giles and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, both of whom tragically died as a result of fentanyl poisoning, and the victimization of seven other women across Los Angeles,' said Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman. 'The office will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law those who illegally supply fentanyl and destroy lives, especially those who commit sexual assaults.'Pearce's roommate Brandt Osborn was arrested by LAPD investigators who stormed the set of NCIS at Hollywood and Vine in December 2021. A third man, "Dancing with the Stars" camera operator Mike Ansbach, 47, were also charged with accessory to manslaughter charges. Prosecutors say the trio met the women at a warehouse party in East Los Angeles on Nov. 13, and left to go to Pearce's Beverly Hills apartment. "While at the apartment, Pearce provided Giles, Cabrales-Arzola, and Ansbach gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) and fentanyl, causing Giles and Cabrales-Arzola to fatally overdose," prosecutors say. Hours later, the men, clad entirely in black with bandanas pulled over their faces, prosecutors say, are allegedly the same men who drove Pearce's black Toyota Prius with no license plates to two separate hospitals where they abandoned the victims. When the case made national headlines, other women contacted the victims' families to say that they had also been drugged and raped. "Pearce committed numerous drug-facilitated sexual assaults against multiple women," Hochman said. "Seven victims testified at trial to Pearce's sexual depravity and violent tendencies."The jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on both counts of accessory after the fact in the charges against Osborn. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter declared a mistrial on those charges after jurors said they were hopelessly deadlocked and set a hearing for March to determine if prosecutors will retry his case. Ansbach became a key prosecution witness in the case and was not brought to trial. Pearce is scheduled to be sentenced March 13 in Dept. 109 of the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center. Pearce faces 148 years to life in state prison. He will be required to register as a sex offender for life.
Yahoo
27-01-2025
- Yahoo
LA producer accused of killing model and architect says he's not a ‘monster' as court hears disturbing evidence
A Hollywood producer accused in the 2021 overdose deaths of a model and an architect claimed the women were 'still breathing' when he dropped their bodies off at area hospitals, and insisted he is not a 'f**king monster' as disturbing evidence continues to play out in court. Pearce, 43, who has pleaded not guilty to killing Christy Giles, 24, and her friend Hilda Cabrales-Arzola, 26, two women he partied with on November 13, 2021, appeared in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on Friday for day 13 of his double murder trial. A jury heard a recording of a police interview in which Pearce told detectives at the time that he was only trying to help. 'I didn't think they were dead,' Pearce told the LAPD detective. 'I thought they were breathing, that's why I brought them to the hospital. I'm not some f**king monster.' Prosecutors say Pearce and his actor friend Brandt Osborn, partied with the women and gave them a fatal cocktail of drugs – which included cocaine, fentanyl, ketamine, heroin, MDMA, and the date rape drug GBH – before dumping their bodies outside two separate LA hospitals. Giles was pronounced dead at the scene. Cabrales-Arzola was put on life support and suffered from multiple organ failure. She was taken off life support the day before her 27th birthday. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner determined their deaths to be drug-induced homicides. In the police interview played for the court, Pearce denied giving drugs to the two women he had met hours earlier at a party before bringing them back to his apartment. The two women had visited an art exhibit at Soho House in West Hollywood before going to a warehouse party in East Los Angeles where they met Pearce and his friends. Pearce claimed that he didn't even have any drugs at his apartment and that he wasn't into 'buying drugs and doing drugs,' adding 'I come from a good family. My parents raised me well.' 'I feel horrible that two girls died,' he went on to say in the interview. 'They were active drug users and I didn't give them any drugs. I knew they were at a rave. I was told that there was a very bad batch of fentanyl going around in the USC area. I don't do that stuff. It's scary. It's f**king scary.' Detective Jonathan Vander Lee told the court on Friday that at the time of the recorded interview, it had not been disclosed that fentanyl was a factor in the women's deaths. He added that police were not even aware that fentanyl was a factor in their deaths until the following April. Lee testified that when Pearce's Prius was searched, detectives found his passport and a bag with $30,250 in cash. He said they also found 'trophies' belonging to Pearce from 'Granite Cock Films,' a porn company, and a face mask similar to one prosecutors say was worn by Pearce when he dumped the bodies, Daily Mail reported. The detective's testimony comes after the court saw security camera footage of Pearce carrying the women's bodies out of his apartment on the night of November 14, 2021. Pearce first dumped Giles at Southern California Hospital in Culver City and when he returned to his apartment, he saw that Cabrales-Arzola was 'progressively getting worse' but that 'she was breathing and making noise so she wasn't dead.' He then drove her limp body to Kaiser Permanente hospital in West LA and told the detective, 'Hilda was alive at the hospital.' The detective informed him she was in fact dead, but that doctors revived her and she remained in ICU until she died weeks later. Pearce was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and then charged in July 2022 with two counts of murder and two counts in the sale, transport and furnishing of a controlled substance. Brandt Osborn, who was also captured on surveillance camera footage leaving the warehouse rave with both women, was also arrested in the case. He was charged with two counts of accessory after the fact. Another friend, Michael Ansbach, 50, alleges Pearce gave him and the two women alcoholic drinks and cocaine laced with fentanyl, according to prosecutors. He was initially accused of being an accessory to manslaughter but was not charged in the case. Prosecutor Catherine Ann Mariano said that while the women had consumed alcohol and drugs before going to Pearce's apartment, she alleged that the drugs Pearce gave them were what 'ultimately killed them.' Pearce, who continues to claim he is innocent of any wrongdoing, is also facing seven rape charges for sexual assaults in unrelated cases that allegedly happened between 2005 and 2021. He is accused of two counts of forcible rape and one count each of rape of an unconscious or asleep person and sexual penetration by a foreign object, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
The Independent
27-01-2025
- The Independent
LA producer accused of killing model and architect says he's not a ‘monster' as court hears disturbing evidence
A Hollywood producer accused in the 2021 overdose deaths of a model and an architect claimed the women were 'still breathing' when he dropped their bodies off at area hospitals, and insisted he is not a 'f**king monster' as disturbing evidence continues to play out in court. Pearce, 43, who has pleaded not guilty to killing Christy Giles, 24, and her friend Hilda Cabrales-Arzola, 26, two women he partied with on November 13, 2021, appeared in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom on Friday for day 13 of his double murder trial. A jury heard a recording of a police interview in which Pearce told detectives at the time that he was only trying to help. 'I didn't think they were dead,' Pearce told the LAPD detective. 'I thought they were breathing, that's why I brought them to the hospital. I'm not some f**king monster.' Prosecutors say Pearce and his actor friend Brandt Osborn, partied with the women and gave them a fatal cocktail of drugs – which included cocaine, fentanyl, ketamine, heroin, MDMA, and the date rape drug GBH – before dumping their bodies outside two separate LA hospitals. Giles was pronounced dead at the scene. Cabrales-Arzola was put on life support and suffered from multiple organ failure. She was taken off life support the day before her 27th birthday. The Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner determined their deaths to be drug-induced homicides. In the police interview played for the court, Pearce denied giving drugs to the two women he had met hours earlier at a party before bringing them back to his apartment. The two women had visited an art exhibit at Soho House in West Hollywood before going to a warehouse party in East Los Angeles where they met Pearce and his friends. Pearce claimed that he didn't even have any drugs at his apartment and that he wasn't into 'buying drugs and doing drugs,' adding 'I come from a good family. My parents raised me well.' 'I feel horrible that two girls died,' he went on to say in the interview. 'They were active drug users and I didn't give them any drugs. I knew they were at a rave. I was told that there was a very bad batch of fentanyl going around in the USC area. I don't do that stuff. It's scary. It's f**king scary.' Detective Jonathan Vander Lee told the court on Friday that at the time of the recorded interview, it had not been disclosed that fentanyl was a factor in the women's deaths. He added that police were not even aware that fentanyl was a factor in their deaths until the following April. Lee testified that when Pearce's Prius was searched, detectives found his passport and a bag with $30,250 in cash. He said they also found 'trophies' belonging to Pearce from 'Granite Cock Films,' a porn company, and a face mask similar to one prosecutors say was worn by Pearce when he dumped the bodies, Daily Mail reported. The detective's testimony comes after the court saw security camera footage of Pearce carrying the women's bodies out of his apartment on the night of November 14, 2021. Pearce first dumped Giles at Southern California Hospital in Culver City and when he returned to his apartment, he saw that Cabrales-Arzola was 'progressively getting worse' but that 'she was breathing and making noise so she wasn't dead.' He then drove her limp body to Kaiser Permanente hospital in West LA and told the detective, 'Hilda was alive at the hospital.' The detective informed him she was in fact dead, but that doctors revived her and she remained in ICU until she died weeks later. Pearce was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter and then charged in July 2022 with two counts of murder and two counts in the sale, transport and furnishing of a controlled substance. Brandt Osborn, who was also captured on surveillance camera footage leaving the warehouse rave with both women, was also arrested in the case. He was charged with two counts of accessory after the fact. Another friend, Michael Ansbach, 50, alleges Pearce gave him and the two women alcoholic drinks and cocaine laced with fentanyl, according to prosecutors. He was initially accused of being an accessory to manslaughter but was not charged in the case. Prosecutor Catherine Ann Mariano said that while the women had consumed alcohol and drugs before going to Pearce's apartment, she alleged that the drugs Pearce gave them were what 'ultimately killed them.' Pearce, who continues to claim he is innocent of any wrongdoing, is also facing seven rape charges for sexual assaults in unrelated cases that allegedly happened between 2005 and 2021. He is accused of two counts of forcible rape and one count each of rape of an unconscious or asleep person and sexual penetration by a foreign object, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.
