A Hollywood producer accused of killing a model and her friend who overdosed on drugs received additional sexual assault charges in unrelated cases — and there could be more victims, Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon said.
During a press conference on Tuesday, Gascon officially announced that David Pierce has been charged in the deaths of model Christy Giles and her friend Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, whose bodies were dumped at two separate hospitals on November 13, 2021.
Pearce, 37, was initially arrested the following month and charged with allegedly raping and sexually assaulting four women.
Gascon said Tuesday that investigators have found enough evidence to link Pierce to both the deaths of Giles and Cabrales-Arzola, as well as the rape and sexual assault of three additional victims.
“We knew this was going to be a lengthy investigation and we started with the allegations we knew we could prove,” Gascon said at the press conference. “Most were related to drug use and administration.
David Pierce was charged in the deaths of model Christy Giles and her friend Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola. WireImage/Chris Weeks
“The LAPD did a lot of work here, as did our prosecution team, because we knew these were murders and we wanted to prove that, and that’s why the pending charges were upheld,” Gascon said.
In addition to the two murder charges, Pierce also faces multiple felonies in connection with separate incidents involving seven women that allegedly occurred between August 2010 and November 2021.
Those charges include three counts of forcible rape, two counts of sexual penetration by foreign object, one count of sodomy and one count of sexual penetration by force.
He also faces two counts of selling/offering to sell a controlled substance to Giles and Cabrales-Arzola. Pierce could face a maximum sentence of 120 years if convicted of the charges, Gascon said.
Jacob Glucksman, Pierce’s defense attorney, told The Post on Tuesday that his client was being held based on inadequate information.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon said the Los Angeles Police Department did a lot of work to confirm the allegations of the brutal murder. MediaPunch / BACKGRID
“All of the charges, including the new charges, are based on extremely weak evidence,” Glucksman said. “The prosecution is prosecuting under the premise that ‘where there’s smoke, there’s fire.’ The problem is they haven’t located any fire yet.
Pierce’s boyfriend, actor Brand Osborne, 42, was also charged with two counts of being an accessory after the fact.
Osborne, a Staten Island native and Hollywood junkie, was initially arrested Dec. 15 but was released two days later after prosecutors dismissed his arrest warrant, according to Los Angeles County sheriff’s records.
On Tuesday, Gascon said a warrant had been issued for Osborne’s arrest.
Michael Ansbach was released on $100,000 bail. Facebook/Mike Ansbach
LAPD investigators said Pierce and Osborne, along with a third person, cameraman Michael Ansbach, met Giles and Cabrales-Arzola at an after-hours warehouse party in Los Angeles on Nov. 13 and continued their night at Pierce’s apartment on Olympic Boulevard.
Los Angeles police officials said two masked men driving a Toyota Prius without license plates dumped Giles’ lifeless body at a Culver City hospital. Shortly thereafter, the men dropped off Cabrales-Arzola at Kaiser Permanente in West Los Angeles
Cabrales-Arzola died on November 24 – five days before her 27th birthday – after being declared brain dead, her family said.
A photo of Cabrales-Arzola sandwiched between Ansbach and Pierce, taken at the warehouse party, also surfaced shortly after the men were arrested.
Actors Alexandra Creteau and David Murrieta Jr., who worked with Osborne, told The Post that Osborne disclosed during filming in November that he had partied with women and later helped dispose of their bodies.
“He told me how they had been partying, two girls came back to their place and the girls had a bunch of drugs,” Murrieta said.
Defense attorney David Glucksman addresses the court for David Pierce’s release hearing in Los Angeles Superior Court. David Buchan/New York Post
Murrietta added that Osborn told him he had left his apartment to get a COVID-19 test for a publicity photoshoot, and when he returned, his roommate informed him that Giles was dead.
“He checked her pulse, freaked out, decided not to call 911, and they decided what to do with the body,” Murrieta said.
According to the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner’s Coroner, Giles died from a mixture of cocaine, fentanyl, gamma-hydroxybutyric acid and ketamine, while Cabrales-Arzola died from multiple organ failure due to cocaine, ecstasy and other drugs in her system.
The medical examiner ruled the manner of death of both women a homicide.
Giles’ husband, Ian Cilliers, told The Post on Tuesday that he was very relieved that the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office had filed charges against Pierce and Osborne.
“There can never be true justice for the deaths of Christy and Marcela,” Cilliers said. “Nothing will bring them back and their deaths will affect the rest of our lives. The best we can hope for now is for the full truth to come out and for them to be put away for the maximum amount of time so they can no longer hurt anyone else.
Pierce remains jailed in lieu of $3.4 million bail. He is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on July 11.
Ansbach, 47, was released Dec. 16 on $100,000 bond. Prosecutors have not yet filed charges against him.
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