My sister was drugged, raped and murdered by an evil Hollywood wannabe who ought to have already been behind bars
Convicted double murderer David Pearce is the essence of ‘evil’ – and must spend the rest of his life behind bars, insists the grieving family of one of the victims who have questioned why he wasn’t already locked up.
Raven-haired Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, 26, was barely alive when the sinister Hollywood producer and roommate Brandt Osborn callously ditched her outside a Los Angeles hospital on November 13, 2021.
Cabrales-Arzola and a friend, model Christy Chiles, 24, from Alabama, were plied with a fatal cocktail drugs by Pearce at his Beverly Hills home after meeting at a warehouse party a few hours earlier.
The Mexican native – described as a ‘big dreamer’ – was revived by hospital staff but a lack of oxygen had left her brain dead. Her mother and sister rushed to her bedside from abroad where she remained in a coma for nearly two weeks.
On February 4, an LA jury found Pearce guilty of killing the two women as well as a series of brutal sex abuses and rapes on seven Jane Does he targeted between 2007 and 2021 later came forward to share their horrific experiences.
During the trial, it was revealed that Pearce told a friend ‘dead girls can’t talk’ which prosecutors said indicated he wanted the girls to perish so they couldn’t report him to police.
But the jury failed to reach a verdict on whether Osborn, who pled not guilty, should be convicted on two counts of being an accessory after the fact.
It had heard how Pearce, 43, and Osborn, 45, waited 11 hours before they dumped the women’s lifeless bodies outside two different hospitals and fled. As doctors tried in vain to resuscitate the women, the two men ate a meal at El Pollo Loco.
Cabrales-Arzola’s sister, Fernanda Cabrales-Arzola, 28, told DailyMail.com Pearce should have been behind bars ‘years ago’ and says the family is still looking for justice.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the LAPD presented rape allegations against Pearce at least three times between 2007 and 2020, each with twisted similarities to his murder case.
‘The criminal justice system failed. First, the women who came forward, then those who followed, and ultimately, my sister and Christy,’ she told DailyMail.com.
Hilda – described as a ‘big dreamer’ – in 2019 holding a colorful bouquet presented to her during her college graduation
Hilda relaxing with Tomas, her beloved Weimaraner
‘They paid the highest possible price for a failure that never should have happened. Had the system acted when it should have, he never would have crossed paths with them.
‘It’s painful to read that he had been arrested and yet the prosecution repeatedly chose not to press charges,’ she said in reference to the LA Times report.
‘Those were critical opportunities to stop him and protect all the future victims. Coming forward in cases like these takes immense courage, and even when three women spoke up, it still wasn’t enough.’
She is, however, relieved that Pearce is finally behind bars for his role in her sister’s gruesome death.
‘We are relieved that it’s finally acknowledged what we’ve known for all these years that what happened was no accident.’
‘They were murdered and that we’ve known from day one.
‘We’re finally happy that that came true and the jury saw that as well and now Pearce will be in jail forever.’
Pearce is facing a possible 128 years to life in state prison. Sentencing was scheduled for March 13 but was postponed until June 30 after he fired his trial attorney, Jeff Voll, and hired new attorney Ronda Dixon.
However, the family was shocked when the jury was hung on a verdict for Osborn.
The two women had passed out and were barely conscious but the NCIS actor – just like Pearce – failed to call 911 and waited hours to take them to hospital.
Chiles was dumped off at hospital two hours before her desperately ailing friend was eventually left at another hospital two miles away.
‘For us it’s not justice at all because he could have helped her,’ Cabrales-Arzola’s mother, Hilda Marcela Arzola-Plascencia, 51, told DailyMail.com of Osborn.
Fernanda (far left), Hilda’s brother Raymond, 20, Hilda, her sister Ashley, 18 and their mother during Hilda’s college graduation celebration in 2019
Hilda (left), and Fernanda, a student currently living in Germany, while on vacation in Kapadokya, Turkey
HIlda’s mother (left), her sister Ashley, and Hilda (right), while she was in studying in Korea during an study abroad exchange semester
‘Those two hours that he took, they were vital for my daughter’s life because when she arrived at the hospital they resuscitated her which means she was still fighting for life.
‘That’s why we think it’s not justice. If he (Osborn) had done things in a different way it would have meant the difference between life and death.’
Arzola-Plascencia said prosecutors didn’t really discuss Pearce’s background before the trial.
‘Later on they said there were some cases before where women had complained about him,’ she told DailyMail.com.
Fernanda, a student currently living in Germany, added, ‘We are definitely not happy about Osborn.’
And she said of her sister, ‘Doctors said that of course she had a lot of drugs in her system but she was young and may have recovered.
‘When she arrived at hospital she no longer had a pulse.
‘So Pearce and Osborn waited until she didn’t have a pulse to take her to the hospital because they didn’t want her to speak so they deliberately let her die.
‘That’s why Pearce said “dead girls don’t talk.” We think that he really thought that.
‘Osborn could have done something to help and he chose not to. I don’t think he regrets it at all.’ During the trial prosecutors insisted that Osborn failed to help the women until it was too late.
Giles (left), 24, and Hilda, 26, were found dead outside of two separate hospitals after partying in Los Angeles. The pair had died from drug overdoses, and their bodies were captured on video being dumped by David Pearce and Brandt Osborn
Hilda’s father Luis Cabrales Rivera (left), Hilda and Fernanda celebrating Hilda’s birthday. The cake includes figurines of Hilda and her dog, Tomas
Disgraced wannabe Hollywood producer David Pearce was found guilty of the murder of friends Christy Giles and Hilda Cabrales-Arzola, who were unconscious at his Beverly Hills home after he gave them a fatal cocktail of drugs and later died
At one point during the trial, Osborn appeared to cry as he gave evidence – but Fernanda believes it was merely crocodile tears for show.
‘He was only emotional because he was afraid they would declare him guilty,’ she said. ‘I don’t believe he has any regret. He could have saved them but he didn’t.’
Arzola-Plascencia, a radiologist, added, ‘That’s why I say that those two hours could have made a difference.
‘I really, really know this from the bottom of my heart.’
She had hoped to bring her daughter – even if she was still in a coma – with her back to Mexico but ‘doctors said she was too ill and not responding.’ The family had no choice other than to take Hilda off life support.
The mother and sister were also critical of Pearce’s friend Michael Ansbach, 50, who was the prosecution’s star witness. He was with the group that fateful evening and was violently sick from the drugs given to him by Pearce.
‘We know he wasn’t charged for but there’s video of him leaving while my sister was still (at Pearce’s home).
‘So his story of wanting to call 911 but his phone had no battery….that’s all lies. There’s video of him leaving when my sister was still alive.
‘None of the three of them are good people. For me the three should already be in jail.
‘One of the worst things is that you see that they have no remorse.’
Of Pearce, she added, ‘I think he’s just evil. Monster falls short to describe what sort of person he is.
‘He’s a serial rapist and he’s a murderer. No one can explain these type of people.’
Hilda’s softly-spoken mother struggled to comprehend Pearce’s behavior.
‘How can you define a person that did that kind to those other women, not just to Hilda and Christy?
Pearce, 43 and Ansbach, 50, were arrested on December 15, 2021. Brandt Osborn (pictured in 2022), was arrested the same day while shooting a scene for NCIS. He pled not guilty and the jury could not reach a verdict
Fernanda, left, and Hilda sharing a hot air baloon ride together in Kapadokya, Turkey
Hilda wearing her graduation robes in 2019
‘I don’t know what kind of childhood he had. Why doesn’t he have love for other people?
‘I don’t know what happened in his mind, in his heart, in his soul.
Arzola-Plascencia was speaking with the family pug Molly, 13, by her side. She was chosen as a pet by her tragic daughter years ago.
‘She was always a big dreamer,’ she said. ‘She wasn’t afraid of working hard to make her dreams come true. She was very friendly with people. She loved to be surrounded by friends.
‘I didn’t realize until this happened how close she was with her friends and I really appreciate that.’
She offered up praise for the Jane Does who stepped up share about the abuse they suffered at the hands of Pearce.
‘Thank you to the women who came forward,’ she said. ‘That was helpful and brave. I can’t imagine how hard it was for them. We are really grateful because they were able to set up a precedent and show Pearce’s history.’
The family is currently preparing an impact statement to read out during sentencing. ‘We’re still getting our thoughts together on what to say to someone like him,’ said Fernanda.
Pearce’s mother, Ilene Pearce, 78, previously told DailyMail.com of her son after he was found guilty, ‘He’s not a monster. I still love him.’
During the trial Osborn’s attorney, Michael Artan, questioned the accounts of two key prosecution witnesses, including Ansbach, who was never charged.
He told DailyMail.com of his client, ‘The parties are still in the process of determining whether there will be a retrial, or an alternative to retrial. Hopefully, it will be sorted out by the time of our next court date.
‘As the matter is still pending, I cannot comment further.’
Ansbach’s attorney has been contacted for comment.
