‘Dead girls don’t talk': Chilling alleged words of Hollywood producer accused of fatally drugging model

The court in California heard that David Pearce allegedly lured model Christy Giles, aged 24, and Hilda Marcela Cabrales Arzola, age 26, into his apartment, gave them fentanyl-laced cocaine, drugged their drinks, then refused to call for help when they overdosed, and watched them die.

California prosecutors alleged that he told a witness that “dead girls don’t talk” before dumping their bodies outside Los Angeles hospitals, as reported by the New York Post.

In closing arguments on Wednesday (January 29), a state attorney said that 42-year-old Pearce allegedly “didn’t care” if Giles and Arzola lived or died. “He didn’t care if they lived or died at all. In fact, defendant Pearce wanted them to die,” prosecutor Catherine Ann Mariano told the jury.

Pearce has also been charged with counts of rape against seven victims who came forward after his arrest. Mariano went on to describe Pearce as a calculating serial rapist who lured women by posing as a big Hollywood star and promising to help them break into the entertainment business.

Pearce met his victims, who were not identified in court, at parties or on dating apps, served them drugged drinks and then forced himself on them, Mariano said.

Pearce first met Giles and Arzola in 2021 at a warehouse rave party in LA. He and a wingman, Michael Ansbach, brought the girls back to Pearce’s apartment.

Ansbach told the court that, once there, Pearce allegedly made all three guests to snort his cocaine, served wine to the women and gave Ansbach a foul-tasting cocktail that made him feel dizzy, pass out and become violently ill when he woke up.

The women also passed out but never woke up, he said. When he then begged Pearce to call 911, he supposedly told him “dead girls don’t talk”.

After Ansbach left, Pearce and his roommate Brandt Osborn, who is being charged with accessory, allegedly put the women’s bodies into his car, drove them to two different hospitals and dumped them on the curbs before driving away.

A toxicology test found fentanyl and the date rape drug GHB in Giles’ body. Prosecutors said the fentanyl was what killed her and Arzola, and that Pearce knew his cocaine had been laced with it.

Pearce, who took the stand against the advice of his attorneys, claimed he had no idea they were in danger until it was too late. He said people would frequently party at his house and often used it as a “crash pad” at a previous testimony, as reported by the LA Times.

He alleged that when the women passed out he helped them into a guest room bedroom and then went to sleep in his own room. When the women had been unconscious for 12 hours, he said he gave them CPR and then claimed drove them to hospitals because he thought it would be faster than calling an ambulance.

Mariano, however, told the jury not to buy it. “The defendant is a guy that gets off in power and control. Exerting power and control over vulnerable women,” she said.

Since Pearce’s arrest, other women have come forward and claimed Pearce drugged and raped them.

In addition to two murder counts, Pearce is being charged with sexual assaults against seven victims over a 13-year period. Closing arguments continue today (Thursday January 30).