It was a typical Saturday night in Los Angeles. On Nov. 13, three girlfriends, including Christy Giles and Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola, linked up to attend a lit warehouse party taking place East of Downtown L.A. As the hours escaped the evening and the party winded down, partygoers did what many tend to do when they don’t want the fun to end — they took the party back to someone’s home.
While Christy, a 24-year-old aspiring model, and Hilda, a 26-year-old aspiring interior designer, decided to prolong the night, the third friend opted to call it an early one and go back home. That third friend is alive to tell the story today, but Christy and Hilda would not be as fortunate.
The two young women were found lying in front of different hospitals less than 12 hours later. Christy was pronounced dead at the scene upon discovery, while an unconscious Hilda suffered brain damage. Authorities investigating the incident retrieved surveillance showing three masked men dressed in all-black dumping Christy at the Southern California Hospital in Culver City, an area located West of Downtown Los Angeles, from an unmarked vehicle.
Staff at Kaiser Permanente hospital in West L.A. found Hilda a mere two hours after Christy was discovered. The same vehicle and two masked men were captured on surveillance. Hilda would stay on life support for 15 days before the family took her off — just one day away from her 27th birthday.
Christy’s husband, Jan Cilliers, shared locations and iCloud data with his wife on their phones, and was able to determine her last text was to Hilda.
Cilliers said, “I’ve got all the messages that she exchanged with anybody else that night and she was texting Marcela [Hilda], the girl she was with, at 5:30 saying let’s get out of here with the wide eye emoji.”
The last text between the two women showed Christy telling her friend that they should leave the apartment. Hilda said she would get an Uber. The women never left the apartment, however.
Days later, Brandt Osborn, a 42-year-old lesser known actor, was working a commercial shoot when he revealed to two actors, David Murrietta Jr. and Alexandra Creteau, that he was involved in dumping a woman’s body after partying too hard. According to Murrietta, Osborn told him that the two women came to his West Hollywood residence with a “bunch of drugs.”
He briefly left to take a Covid test and by the time he came back one of his roommates was panicking, saying that Christy was dead. They avoided calling 911 because they didn’t want to “get in trouble” and instead, chose to drop the body off in front of a hospital. When the three men returned to the home, they found Hilda with a faint pulse and decided to dump her body in front of another hospital, hoping that the two women would not be linked together.
Not only did authorities make the connection, but Osborn was arrested while doing background work on the show NCIS:LA on the infamous cross-corner of Hollywood and Vine, a focal point of the city most frequented by tourists and TV and film productions.
Osborn was charged with accessory to manslaughter and has a $100,000 bail. His buddies, actor David Pearce, 37, who was last seen with Christy, and TV industry cameraman Michael Ansbach, 47, were both arrested. Pearce faces manslaughter charges and is currently being held on $1 million bail. Ansbach is being charged with accessory to manslaughter and is on a $100,000 bail.
A former roommate of Pearce, Steven Bauer, an actor who has been in the productions Better Call Saul and Scarface, said he recalls an incident nearly 12 years ago where a woman accused Pearce of raping her at a 2008 party. After the crying woman let everyone know that she was raped on a ride home from the party, Bauer got into a confrontation with Pearce that led to him moving out of the West Hollywood apartment he shared with Pearce. Bauer would end up coming forward to authorities to help with the current case involving Christy and Hilda.
The toxicology reports for Christy and Hilda revealed that they had heroin in her system, pointing to a possible overdose. However, family members believe foul play was involved and the women may have been drugged by the men.
Christy and Hilda’s devastating story has incited a number of other women who have claimed they too were drugged, but survived. Women (and men) take caution. Here are a few tips to protect yourself:
Never go to parties and clubs alone.
With fentanyl on the streets lacing drugs, such as cocaine, marijuana, and heroin, don’t ever experiment with party drugs, especially those given to you by strangers you just met.
Avoid setting your drink down. Once you set the drink down, it’s no longer yours.
Don’t let others make your drink at a house party to avoid mickeys and date rape drugs.
Carry self-defense utilities in your cute purse or man bag, such as pocket knives, pepper spray or Wasabi for the eyes or mouth.
The old folks used to say, “Nothing good happens after 12 AM,” so if you must socialize in the wee hours, socialize with people you trust and know well.
Always let your loved ones know your moves. Text, email, leave a note. Remember that movie 127 Hours. If the main character would have just told somebody where he was going and the trail he would be taking, then perhaps people would have found him faster.
Never trust a person that brags about having industry credentials and makes promises to help you with your career…most likely, they have no power. Otherwise, the person wouldn’t need to name drop and present an entire douche bag resume just to make you like them.
Lastly, learn from the mistakes of others.
Condolences to the families and friends that are suffering from the tragic loss of Christy and Hilda.
