A disgraced Hollywood producer and former child actor told a court he performed CPR on two women before they died after a wild night fueled by alcohol and drugs.
David Pearce is charged with the horrific deaths of Christy Giles, 24, a model and aspiring actress, and Mexican-born architect Hilda Cabrales-Arzola, 26, whose bodies were dumped at two separate Los Angeles area hospitals by Pearce and a roommate on November 14, 2021.
Both women had been drugged with a fatal cocktail of fentanyl, ketamine, cocaine, heroine, MDMA and the rape drug GHB.
In Tuesday’s testimony on the ninth floor of Los Angeles Superior Court, his second day on the stand, Pearce, 43, recounted trying to revive both women.
The two friends drank red wine and did cocaine at Pearce’s Beverly Hills home with his friend, Michael Ansbach, he told the court, after returning from a rave at 5am.
Pearce said he witnessed Ansbach do coke 20 times over the course of the previous afternoon and evening but never personally witnessed the women do drugs.
Pearce’s roommate, actor Brandt Osborn, was with the group at the rave but went to bed when they arrived home. Pearce said he left the women alone with Ansbach, 50, while he cleaned up a mess left by his dog in the bathroom.
He testified that the dog, left alone for 12 hours with just a bowl of water, had ‘destroyed’ the bathroom. He then busied himself cleaning up the mess, washing the dog and taking it for a short walk.
David Pearce, 43, told a court he performed CPR on two women before they died after a wild night fueled by alcohol and drugs
Christy Giles, 24, and Hilda Marcela Cabrales Arzola, 26, died in November 2021 after being dumped at separate hospitals by masked men
He said he was on his own for 35 minutes dealing with the pet and had heard Ansbach offer the women ‘an expensive pinot noir.’ When he finished with the dog he returned and saw them passed out and snoring.
The time was 6.30am, said Pearce, who remembered ‘the sun was coming up.’ He said he recalled seeing three empty wine bottles and ‘powder on a glass table’ and that the ‘powder was everywhere.’
‘It seemed they drank too much and passed out,’ Pearce told the court. He said he didn’t see the women do ketamine or any other drugs.
He said he was ‘concerned’ about Giles and tried waking her up ‘two or three times.’ He then picked her up and put her into bed in a spare bedroom with a bottle of water and a trash can next to the bed in case she threw up.
Next he carried Cabrales-Arzola onto his bed, again with a bottle of water and a bin. Pearce said he went to bed at 7am and slept next to her on the right side of the bed.
Earlier in the court case, prosecutors said Pearce’s DNA was found under her clothing, on her breasts, and genitalia. DNA was also found under her fingernails.
Peace testified he had only touched Cabrales-Arzola when he was picking her up.
Later in the afternoon, Pearce became more concerned about Giles and began performing CPR. ‘I started to do chest compressions and CPR. She was showing signs of breath and life,’ he said.
Pearce said he witnessed Ansbach do coke 20 times over the course of the previous afternoon and evening but never personally witnessed the women do drugs
While both Giles (left) and Cabrales (right) were found with heroin in their systems, their family and friends insist the women never would have willingly taken the drug
‘Her breathing improved. She was responding to the chest compressions and mouth to mouth resuscitation in a positive way.
‘I was hoping that she was going to respond positively and snap out of whatever she was in.’ Pearce did not call 911.
Pearce attempted to lift Giles but she relieved herself all over him, testified Osborn. ‘He said “I can’t go like this” and so he had a shower for three minutes and changed his clothes.’
Pearce and Osborn then took Giles to an area hospital, wearing masks, before fleeing.
En route from the hospital to home, the duo called Ansbach – who had slept on a sofa that evening – to ask how Cabrales-Arzola was doing and were told she was ‘fine,’ said Pearce.
But once back they noticed that she had worsened and again Pearce performed CPR. ‘I did anything I could,’ said Pearce, who said he performed ‘chest compressions.’ Again, he failed to call emergency services.
Pearce said he carried Cabrales-Arzola onto his bed, again with a bottle of water and a bin. He claimed he went to bed at 7am and slept next to her on the right side of the bed.
He then put Cabrales-Arzola in the Prius and drove her to Ceda-Sinai Medical Center at 6am but when he was not able to take her in the rear entrance the two drove to another hospital in Culver City where they left her with staff before quickly leaving.
Pearce said he had assumed the girls would just need to ‘sleep off’ the previous evening. He told the court he regularly had drug and alcohol-fueled parties at his home but denied giving the two women drugs.
‘Friends were passing out a my house all the time,’ said Pearce. ‘I preferred it rather than them drinking and driving and passing out somewhere else.’
He said guests treated his home at 8641 Olympic Boulevard as a ‘drug den’ and that people would party there ‘for days.’
In addition to the murder charges, the disgraced former film producer had been previously charged with several counts of sexual assault against a total of seven victims spanning a 13-year period between 2005 and 2021.
Photographer Michael Ansbach, 50, left, who was at the apartment with Pearce alleges how he gave him and the two women alcoholic drinks and cocaine laced with fentanyl. Brandt Osborn, 43, right, was charged with two counts of accessory after the fact.He has been released on $40,000 bond
In 2014, prosecutors originally declined to pursue sexual assault charges against him, but after the deaths, several women came forward with stories.
Pearce told the court that the Jane Does 1 to 7 making accusations against him had exaggerated their stories.
He denied sexually assaulting any of the women and claimed they had all lied. “They wanted to create a narrative,’ he said.
He denied raping Jane Doe 2 and that he had never met her. ‘I never physically met her so I don’t know how I could rape someone I never met,’ he said.
He said Jane Doe 6 ‘lied’ when she said he anally raped her and that the alleged assault was made up because Pearce didn’t help her find a job.
And the other accusers, known by just their first names – Marie, Sarah, Jackie, Carrie and Susannah – were also ‘wrong.’
‘All of them are wrong accept for you?’ Asked prosecutor Seth Carmack.
‘Yes,’ said Pearce. ‘Their information was inaccurate.’
He also denied impersonating a medical doctor to ask for a complimentary flight on United Airlines and a suite at the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas.
He said the emails – on his own email account – were actually written by his father, a cosmetic dentist, who died in August last year, and one of his patients.
He also said he had dressed up a doctor for Halloween didn’t present to be practicing physician.
Pearce said his father had access to his email account and had the account password, ‘Dave123.’
He also denied trying to flee the country and escape to Ukraine after the women’s deaths. He claimed he was actually planning to make a documentary of the country’s conflict with Russia. ‘I was thinking of doing what Sean Penn did and going over there and documenting it,’ he said.
Osborn, 45, has pleaded not guilty to helping Pearce dump the girls’ bodies.
On Tuesday, h said when they reached Cedars-Sinai with Giles that Pearce ‘freaked out’ and they chose to go to another hospital.
‘Finally he said “get in the f**king car.” I didn’t know what to do and I got in the car and drove to the hospital in Culver City,’ said Osborn, who began sobbing during his testimony.
Osborn said he was ‘dumbfounded’ to discover Pearce had removed the license plates from the Prius because he didn’t want to be traced.
‘I said you’re an idiot, they can trace us through your iPhone,’ said Osborn, who added, ‘You’re just digging this deeper!
The trial continues.
