Entertainment
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.
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.
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Winston Cho