Hollywood producer David Brian Pearce was found guilty on Tuesday of two counts of first-degree murder in the drug overdose related deaths of a Los Angeles-area model and her friend. Pearce was also convicted of sexually assaulting seven other women.
A jury in Los Angeles deliberated over two days over the murders of 24-year-old model Christy Giles and her 26-year-old friend Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola. The girls met Pearce at an East Los Angeles warehouse party and went back to his home where he proceeded to drug them. Both girls overdosed on fentanyl and were taken to separate hospitals about two hours apart on the night on Nov. 13, 2021.
The producer was also found guilty of three counts of forcible rape, two counts of sexual penetration by use of force and one count each of rape of an unconscious person and sodomy by use of force. All of the charges were for crimes against seven different women and took place between 2007 and 2020. Pearce’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 13. He is facing life in prison.
Brandt Osborn, an aspiring actor, was also charged with being an accessory to murder. The jury was unable to reach a verdict for Osborn. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter declared a mistrial on the accessory chargers after jurors said they had reached an impassable deadlock. A hearing date is scheduled to see if prosecutors will seek a retrial.
Giles was found dead outside Southern California Hospital in Culver City. She died from a drug overdose after a mixture of cocaine, fentanyl, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid and ketamine were all found in her system. According to the police report, Giles was dropped at the hospital by masked men in a car that had no license plate. Cabrales-Arzola died of multiple organ failure after cocaine, methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy) and other undetermined drugs were found in her system. She was left at Kaiser Permanente West Los Angeles Hospital. She remained on life support for 11 days until her parents took her off of life support. Their deaths were classified as homicides by the Los Angeles County Department Medical Examiner.
According to ABC7’s report of the trial, in her closing argument Deputy District Attorney Catherine Mariano insisted that Pearce “knew the dangers of fentanyl” but gave the drug, along with GHB, to the women in an effort to “sexually assault them.”
Pearce’s attorney, Jeff Voll, denied the claim, saying that the defendant never gave the girls drugs. In his testimony, he also said he “didn’t personally see” them consume any drugs at his residence. He and Osborn allegedly waited over two hours to take the women to a hospital. Pearce claimed the women had passed out and “assumed they just needed to sleep it off” and that it was not an uncommon state to see people in at his home.
Mariano closed her argument by emphasizing DNA evidence. She said there was clearly no reason for Pearce’s DNA to be found on both women, including under Cabrales-Arozola’s fingernails, if they had not been drugged and assaulted. “This is no accident, no mistake,” Mariano said.
Of the conviction, newly elected D.A. Nathan Hochman said in a statement, “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. I thank the trial team, Deputy District Attorneys Catherine Mariano and Seth Carmack, for their tireless pursuit of justice and determination to give a voice to the women who bravely came forward to report the crimes committed against them. 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 worked as a producer and club promoter. Though he appeared in photos at industry events, whether he had any legitimate film or TV credits could not be immediately determined. Osborn, who worked as an aspiring actor, was taken into custody on the set of “NCIS: Los Angeles” in Hollywood in December. He was not part of the regular cast and had reportedly been working as a background actor. Giles was a model and aspiring actress while Cabrales-Arzola worked as an architect and interior designer.
