Disgraced Hollywood producer sentenced to 146 years behind bars for fatally drugging model and sexual assault

A disgraced Hollywood producer is facing the rest of his life in prison after he was convicted for murder and sexual assault.

David Pearce has been sentenced to 146 years to life in prison for seven sexual assaults and the drug-induced murders of two models.

The star was found guilty of plying a model and aspiring actress Christy Giles, 24, and her friend, Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, 26, with a lethal concoction of drugs at his Beverly Hills home after meeting the pair at a warehouse party hours earlier in East Los Angeles on November 13, 2021.

The court heard Christy and Hilda suffered fatal overdoses with fentanyl and gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB) in their systems.

The prosecution argued they had been sexually assaulted, citing DNA found on the two women, particularly beneath Cabrales-Arzola's fingernails.

Within 35 minutes of arriving at Pearce's home, Hilda called for a rideshare service to leave the location, but neither women would leave for another 11 hours.

The producer faces the rest of his life behind bars (Bryan Steffy/WireImage)

Pearce dropped the victims off at different Los Angeles hospitals in cars without licence plates. Police reported the men who dropped them off were wearing masks.

Christy was already dead when she was dumped, while Hilda was rushed into emergency treatment and was revived after the ordeal.

However, the young woman suffered brain damage and remained in a coma for 11 days until she died on November 24, just one day short of her 27th birthday.

The trial heard how Pearce had told a friend that 'dead girls can't talk,' which prosecutors successfully argued showed he had wanted his victims to die.

The disgraced LA movie producer stated that he came across the two women unconscious in his apartment at around 5am, testifying that his home was often used as a 'crash pad' and 'party house.'

"I know it’s horrible, but at least on a weekly basis friends were passing out at my house," he added, before claiming to have administered CPR on the women before taking them to hospitals.

Following his arrest in December 2021, seven other victims came forward to accuse Pearce of sexual assault and rape between 2007 and 2021.

The producer testified that his home was often used as a 'party house' (Gabe Ginsberg/WireImage)

The 42-year-old was found guilty of murdering the two women in February this year, which Judge Eleanor Hunter set at a maximum sentence of 25 years to life for each on Wednesday (October 29).

She also handed Pearce additional sentences for the sex abuse crimes against the anonymous seven victims, which included three counts of rape, two counts of sexual penetration by use of force, one count of sodomy by use of force and one count of rape of an unconscious woman.

Hunter told him he will now die in prison with his sentence running until 2171.

She said: "You’re the worst kind of criminal, Mr Pearce...You’re charming, you’re smart, you’re a manipulator, and you’re extremely goal-driven.

"You fit the role … Not once have I seen a genuine issuance of some sort of remorse. No sense of compassion for Hilda and Christy or anyone else."

During the trial, Pearce's defense attorneys tried to suggest the women might have 'accidentally ingested' the drug after mistaking it for cocaine.

He also denied sexually assaulting the pair as well as all other counts.

A jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict against Pearce's co-defendant Brandt Walter Osborn, 45, who faced two counts of accessory to murder after the fact.

Judge Hunter subsequently declared a mistrial and announced a new trial for Osborn next month.

“This sentence delivers long-awaited justice for Ms. Cabrales-Arzola, Ms. Giles, and the courageous sexual assault victims who came forward and testified,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan J. Hochman said.

“Not only were the victims sexually assaulted, but the lives of Ms. Cabrales-Arzola and Ms. Giles were stolen in one of the most devasting ways — a fentanyl-induced sexual assault by Pearce."

If you've been affected by any of the issues in this article, you can contact The National Sexual Assault Hotline on 800.656.HOPE (4673), available 24/7. Or you can chat online via online.rainn.org