Christy and Hilda's Last Dance | Full Episode

foreign [Music] people think of Los Angeles they think of the glitz the glamor the starter but there's a dark side to Los Angeles my name is Barry Telus and I'm a retired homicide detective from the Los Angeles Police Department this is a dangerous dangerous town there are predators con man people who pretend to be someone they're not and those are the people who prey on the innocent Christy Giles and Hilda Marcella cabrales were two young women in their 20s there were new friends and then together they're sort of getting to know each other and enjoy LA and everything it has to offer I'm Mary full geniti and I'm a former prosecutor and defense attorney Hilda Marcella cabrales just moved from Mexico and she's loving Los Angeles she was looking for the American dream I guess I was Marcella's best friend I think it was a dream for her to be there and being able to do what she loved being an architect and interior designer Aloha my wife Christy was a model she was going out for shoots all the time and she traveled the world doing that and having amazing experiences she was the most fun and interesting person I'd ever met she didn't live inside society's box definitely not she was a very free spirit they're two gorgeous girls who are not only pursuing their careers but also wanting to have fun at the same time and they do what a lot of kids do in their 20s they go out and they party Christy's plan for the evening was to go out with some friends and have a fun night I went to go see one of their favorite DJs at this event in East L.A seems like a weird place to have a party well it's a warehouse and we have warehouse parties all over Los Angeles and they just have music drugs alcohol and people and this is a target Rich environment for victims of predators they met a man who passed himself off as a big shot Hollywood producer and that just clearly wasn't the case and it was just dumb luck that they met him he doesn't care about other people the longer and longer I didn't hear back asking her if she's okay the more worried I got we were just waiting for some news any news at that point like I'm in role panic once they left that party that was the last time their loved ones ever heard from them again [Music] foreign [Music] Placencia a doctor in Durango Mexico was used to handling medical emergencies but nothing prepared her for the call she got about her eldest daughter and namesake [Music] Hilda Marcella cabrales I received the phone call in the middle of the night saying that she was so ill she was very bad she was intubated the 26 year old architect was fighting for her life in the ICU at Kaiser Permanente Hospital in Los Angeles [Music] you are a doctor what was going on in your mind at the time what happened what what happened to her why is she that bad [Music] another mother in Corner Alabama was also getting shattering news Dusty Giles daughter Christy was in the ER at a completely different Los Angeles Hospital the Southern California medical center I was just told I'm very sorry to inform you miss Charles but she was dropped off at our Hospital on the outside kind of like a bag of garbage and she didn't make it [Music] and I said what do you mean she didn't make it they said it is now a police matter I hung up and I fell apart Christy who had just turned 24 was dead of a drug overdose but when detectives heard how she was dropped off they immediately suspected Foul Play Hospital staff told investigators a black Prius without license plates pulled up here to the ER entrance two men told the staff they found the woman quote passed out on the curb somewhere nearby and we're trying to be Good Samaritans by bringing her to the hospital they left without giving their names or phone numbers it was appalling to me Barry Tellis a former Los Angeles Police Department homicide detective and CBS News consultant says nothing about that story made sense nobody just dropped somebody off and said hey by the way we're driving down the street we found this girl passed out on the sidewalk it was an unfathomable ending to a life bursting with exuberance when Christy came into her room she she was like a tornado [Music] her personality was big it was loud you just couldn't help but love her for it her big sister Misty Weldon says life for Christy was one big adventure there was nothing in the world that she was afraid to do Christy went skydiving yeah how was that huh Christy rode camels in Morocco we rode donkeys around the Grand Canyon when not out adventuring Christy was traveling the world as a high fashion model for wilhemina the one-time Soccer Star traded in her cleats for a pair of heels at the age of 15. she ultimately made La her home Kirsty Giles I live in Venice California and I am an artist at 21 her life took a dramatic turn I got a text message from her that said I did something don't tell Mom I thought oh no what has she done and I got a text message that said I got married and I thought to who to a South african-born artist photographer and special effects editor 17 years her senior named Jan silier they met through friends at an art gallery in La I understand that before all this you were not the marrying type um don't know why you heard that but it's true once I was with her you know it was different Jan planned to pop the question just seven months after meeting at The Burning Man Arts Festival in the Nevada desert but in the moment they figured why wait instead we just decided to elope we just got married right there Christie's Mom and Dad Leslie never expected to hear their daughter's name in the same sentence as elope and burning man needless to say it did not go over well Chris I can't believe you've done this your dad didn't even get to walk you down the aisle and she goes oh no no no no no we got married but we are full on having a wedding in Alabama the newlyweds came to Alabama and Christy and her mom found the perfect wedding dress to wear at a later date [Music] back in L.A Christy started studying interior design which led to a new friendship with Hilda Marcella Hilda Was An Architect from Mexico who had just moved to LA to start her dream job in interior design do you remember when she said she wanted to go to Los Angeles and how did you feel when she told you that I feel very happy for her both very sad for me because we are very close Luis cabrales checked in with his daughter every day she was in L.A message uh uh dollar I miss you I'll miss you too father never told me daddy always tell me father no one was surprised that the summa [ __ ] laude graduate of the prestigious University in Monterrey Mexico was thriving in L.A Fernanda cantasani and Alan bettencorp who call her Marcella or Marseille were two of her closest friends in Monterey she always gave her 100 in everything she did in her friendships with her family with her job with herself too she had already lived in South Korea and traveled the world how many countries in all 22 countries 22 countries for such a young girl she was very determined she also knew how to have a good time dance she loved to dress up every single person that met her including her dog a Weimaraner named Tomas she left him with Alan when she moved to LA but planned to call for him when she got her bearings that call would never come just four months after moving to La Hilda was in a coma her life in the balance her frantic parents and sister Fernanda racing to her side and I thought when we are there things will change she will she will wake up [Music] [Music] this Hilda Marcella the vibrant young architect Who Loved Laughing With Friends traveling the world with her sister oh you're in the balloon here yeah we are inside the balloon and playing with her dog Tomas looked nothing like the Hilda Marcella her family saw when they arrived at the hospital in Los Angeles my heart broke in thousands of pieces because I saw somebody hey baby and conscience I'm fighting for her life I said is this real Am I Dreaming I took her hand and I said Mom's here with you you're not alone I was very shocked very impressed I never expected looking at her like this like Christy Hilda had suffered a drug overdose toxicology reports would later reveal that she had cocaine MDMA or ecstasy and elevated levels of fentanyl in her system but her friends and family were sure that this early to bed early to rise health conscious young woman would never have willingly taken such a toxic cocktail of drugs when you heard overdose you immediately thought drugged yeah drugged I was sure someone did this to her when you were told that the cause of death was an overdose did that add up to you absolutely not definitely not something that she would have done to herself ever that's just not a Christie's autopsy showed she had cocaine Fentanyl and GHB known as the date rape drug in her system in the hours and days after Christie's death yawn was determined to get the truth I wanted to get to the bottom of what exactly what happened that night Jan began putting the puzzle pieces together starting on the evening of Friday November 12 2021 the night of the warehouse party he made a timeline based on what he knew about Christie's plans conversations with Christy's friends and the digital Trail she left behind Yan who had gone to San Francisco to visit his dad says Christy spent the early evening doing what she loved most she was enjoying a lovely sunset she took out a cat for a walk on the beach sand Panther oh [Music] those were the last pictures she sent me of herself and she said I wish you were here and I will forever wish that I was there too Christy Hilda and a friend who does not want to be identified had planned a girls night out they kicked it off at the Soho House in West Hollywood then moved on to a warehouse party after midnight where these photos were taken this cell phone video posted on social media shows Hilda and Christy dancing in the VIP section in an area which is more protected and safer to be in by then Jan had gone to bed when he woke up the next morning it was now Saturday November 13th he saw that Christy had texted him if I texted her back and sort of didn't hear anything from her at first he just assumed she was sleeping in but after a few hours with no word he noticed something strange they shared locations on their phones I saw that she was at a location that I didn't recognize her phone was located at 8641 West Olympic Boulevard so a little orange flag at the back of your head I still hadn't heard back from her and I saw her location had suddenly moved to hospital I called the hospital they told me that she was in the emergency room and at that point like I'm in raw panic Jan raced to the airport to catch a flight back to LA I call her parents to let them know that something terrible had happened and that she's in the emergency room and then her mom called the emergency room and called me back probably five minutes later letting me know that Christie passed away in less than 24 hours your world was turned upside down shattered Yan went straight to the hospital Christy and Hilda's friend who had been at the warehouse party with them but left early was already here she had been desperately trying to get in touch with Hilda but could not reach her they were about to find out why she got a call from a different hospital like two hours later saying that Hilda was just checked in then and then like obviously all our alarm balls are going off in our heads when both girls are dropped off at two different hospitals two hours apart like something terrible happened that night [Music] and Jan believed whatever happened took place at that mysterious address on Olympic Boulevard he put it on Instagram asking for help yep blast out this address and very quickly you get responses yeah what are those responses that there's somebody that lives at this location that is a very unsavory person that there's a lot of stuff out on the internet about him his name was David Pierce Hilda and Christy were believed to have met him for the first time at the warehouse party David Pierce flew under the radar for a long time but his past was about to catch up with him as he faces serious charges says former prosecutor Mary fulginiti so at best a con man at worst by Criminal a sexual predator a drug dealer a murderer a murderer foreign [Music] uncovered clues in the deaths of his wife Christy and her friend Hilda at 48hours.com [Music] as Hilda Marcella lay in a hospital bed fighting for her life in LA Dusty and Leslie Giles were preparing to bury their daughter Christy in Alabama half her ashes would go to yawn to scatter in the places they loved Dusty placed the rest in an urn inside a butterfly box and gently wrapped it in the wedding dress she never had the chance to wear it was important because I know how happy she was when she found it she swirled like a princess literally in it within hours of Christie's death detectives on the case were following Clues from Christy herself her pinging phone had led them straight to the apartment of this man David Pierce 8641 West Olympic Boulevard please drive over there oh my God there's the car boom there's the car same car Telus says police believed it was the same black Prius with no license plates that dropped Christie off at the hospital and it's like okay I think we have our man they retraced the movements of the women that night which would become the basis of a police affidavit when they combed through those pictures from the party at the warehouse there was David pierce with Hilda partying it up in the VIP section it sounds like VIP access gave David Pierce instant credibility absolutely it's all part of the manipulation he must be a good guy he's in the VIP section it was likely all part of a plan to meet women a plan that included drugs says the retired detective based on the witness's statements and the police investigation David Pierce comes with a bag of cocaine an ounce estimated and David Pierce came here to share it with whoever he could meet according to Telus cocaine is a hot ticket at these parties at least on that night even for Hilda and Christy the police recovered this text exchange between the two women starting at 4 21 am while still at the warehouse party do you want Coke asks Hilda yes replies Christy he'll detects it back I'm in the kitchen let's do a line according to the police affidavit a witness observed peers provide what looked like cocaine to Giles and cabrales who consumed it police say half an hour later this surveillance video obtained by 48 Hours shows Hilda and Christy leaving with David Pierce and two other men his roommate Brandt Osborne and their friend photographer Michael ansbach they all get into Osborne's car at 5 11 A.M according to the police affidavit surveillance video which has not been released because of the ongoing investigation shows Osborne's car arriving here in front of the apartment according to the affidavit several people got out of the vehicle and headed to the entrance of the residence 19 minutes later at 5 30 a.m Christie sends from inside Pierce's Apartment A wide-eyed emoji text to Hilda saying let's go Hilda replies I'll call an Uber 10 minutes away 13 minutes later according to the affidavit a car believed to be the Uber pulls up after waiting five minutes it drives away without Christy and without Hilda how did you process that I mean it's just confirming my worst fears again that they were there at that place against their will they didn't want to be there they wanted to leave foreign a former Federal prosecutor and defense attorney and CBS News consultant has reviewed the police affidavit and court documents she says this text is an important piece of evidence something or someone stopped them in their tracks because they never got out and they never left no one knows exactly what went on inside that apartment for the next 13 hours but according to the affidavit a neighbor heard someone in pain and moaning on and off during the hours of 10 30 a.m to 4 P.M for reasons not known the neighbor did not call police she's clearly in a distressed state that everyone seems to just be ignoring and when I say everyone not just Pierce or Osborne but there's a third individual that appears to have been at that apartment at least for part or all of the night and that's Michael Ann's book whatever happened inside the apartment was hidden from public view not so outside the apartment another key piece of evidence images captured on security cameras but the cameras are in the adjacent building right next door pointing right in this direction although Telus has not seen the video the police affidavit describes it in detail at 4 19 in the afternoon 11 hours after they'd arrived at the apartment Pierce and Osborne are caught on camera carrying Christy Down The Back Stairs it shows Pierce exit the door the back door looks in both directions making sure the coast is clear making sure there's not going to be any witnesses that sees me carrying this body to my car both men get into the Prius according to the affidavit the men are captured on security cameras trying to disguise themselves you see them putting on a hat a mask and a hoodie and then they drive away and they drive to a hospital Southern California medical center shortly after according to police ansbach leaves the residence carrying bags of unknown items Pearson Osborne returned to the apartment to get Hilda they carry her partially clad body out to the Prius and again they leave they don't go to the same hospital they go to different hospital Kaiser Permanente why not bring them at the same time to the same Hospital who knows they're trying to conceal their actions they're trying to keep the police at Bay and they don't want to hit the radar and they do the same thing they drop the body they tell the same story and then they take off without leaving their name their phone number or anything to identify themselves with and Hilda what is her State at this point Hilda was still alive they got her to the hospital and she was declared what we call brain dead how did you process that when you heard that news the worst days of my life [Music] after almost two weeks on life support it was time for Hilda Marcella's family to say goodbye although what were your final moments with your daughter they were so hard you know and I just was asking God to not let her suffer more [Music] I remember telling her that you can leave and just thanking her for being my sister Maybe when I was away I will see you again and I gave you a big hug a kiss the family decided to donate Hilda Marcella's organs her mom remembers the medical staff lining the Halls as the family accompanying Hilda to the or the medical team was clapping to honor her to say thank you for giving life to others Hilda Marcela cabrales was pronounced dead one day before her 27th birthday [Music] back in Monterrey Mexico her friends gathered to remember her all dressed in white at her favorite Park we broke her favorite thing to drink and her favorite cake at first we were crying but at some point we put her favorite music on then we just started dancing and we were laughing and hugging and it was beautiful I felt like she was there three weeks after Hilda's death a break in the case police have arrested three men in connection with the deaths of a model and her friend last month David Pierce 39 Brandt Osborne 42 and Mike glonsbach 47 were arrested in connection to Hilda and Christie's deaths but not officially charged Osborne on the left and ansbach were eventually released but not Pierce he was held on four unrelated sexual assault charges new tonight A Beverly Hills man has been charged with resulting 4 women when this case hit the media more victims showed up I know that guy he did this to me the prosecution is alleging in cases dating back to 2010 that pierce lured four different Jane does to his apartment and gave all but one a special drink causing them to get dizzy or black out the allegations include forcible rape sexual penetration with a foreign object having sex with someone who's unconscious Erica Bergman who also goes by Erica Poe is not one of the Jane does but she says she was so traumatized by Pierce she tried to warn other women about him on a Blog called the dirty as far back as 2013. she discovered she had a lot of company there's a lot of commonalities in our stories Erica says she met Pierce at a low point in her life she was getting a divorce and money was tight initially she says she was taken in by him he would talk a lot about celebrities that he knew and introduce himself as a producer for Paramount Pictures so he was really larger than life kind of personality but she says it didn't take long for her to realize that pierce who often introduced himself as Dave from Paramount Pictures lied he never worked at the movie studio David Pierce is a very bad person Erica believes that one night he drugged her she slept till 4 pm the next day and woke up feeling strange and groggy and Dave is bouncing around the room kind of laughing and Giddy and he started to tell me how while I was passed out he had assaulted me while I was sleeping sexually assaulted me and the things that he had done to me and it was incredibly degrading Erica says she wanted to leave but felt trapped she says he threatened to send compromising pictures to her estranged husband whom she was battling in divorce court she reluctantly stayed but says the violence only got worse he slammed my head onto the the marble floor and the sound in my ears was like an egg cracking and I can't get that sound out of my ears Erica says she was too scared to press charges but soon left for good then it all came rushing back when she heard about Christy and Hilda my first gut instinct was that this was not an accident that he had his name all over it in May of 2022 the prosecution added three more counts of sexual assault against David Pierce we've added three additional sexual assault charges with three additional victims and there was more 40-year-old David Pierce has been charged with murder in connection with the women's deaths after a seven-month investigation the D.A had enough evidence to indict David Pierce on two counts of murder claiming David Pierce gave Christie and Hilda lethal amounts of fentanyl a deadly synthetic opioid drug dealers often mix with other drugs unbeknownst to the user it took months before David Pierce was charged with murder what was your reaction I mean definitely a relief but also very sad the police did not find any fentanyl-lace drugs in Pearson Osborne's apartment just drug paraphernalia but Osborne who has been charged as an accessory to murder after the fact may have unwittingly explained why according to the police affidavit Osborne told co-workers if cops had found the drugs hidden underneath the cache inside the car they would have been in big trouble not finding fentanyl Ace drugs creates a big challenge for the prosecution says fulginiti they're going to have to prove that David Pierce gave the girls these drugs and he knew at the time that it could harm them and he did so with conscious disregard so they're going to have to prove that David Pierce intended to kill these young women and that's not an easy threshold to overcome especially in light of witness statements that the women were doing drugs willingly cocaine at the warehouse and earlier in the evening as well friends told police Christian Hilda both had taken cocaine and ketamine a popular club drug how does this work and the defense's favor because fentanyl is the problem in this country and people are dying from fentanyl that they take recreationally because they believe that they're only taking cocaine if you're the defense that's the point you want to continue to drive home it's how do you hold these two men responsible for an epidemic that's really plaguing the entire country I mean it will be an easy says Josh Ritter the former Los Angeles assistant D.A is advising on on legal issues and is now a practicing defense attorney the problems that they're going to have though is how do you get around how those girls were treated afterwards and how do you get around the history that this man has and how do you get around the fact that Christy had the so-called date rape drug GHB in her system there's GHB is the date rape drug something these women would have taken knowingly absolutely not that is a drug that's usually used by sexual predators guys that want to take advantage of women and don't want them to remember or know about it Hilda and Christy were still coherent at 5 30 a.m on Saturday morning when they exchange that text about calling an Uber the text punctuated with a wide-eyed Emoji something happened inside those 10 minutes between them calling the Uber and that we were leaving that incapacitated them according to the timeline in the affidavit Christie remained in that apartment for the next 11 hours Hilda for 13 with one of them according to a neighbor moaning and groaning in pain most of the day these two women could still be alive had David Pierce or Mr Osborne called 9-1-1 three digits on a phone that could have changed everything [Music] oh my God if found guilty of all charges against him David Pierce could face 128 years to life in prison what is David Pierce currently charged with David Pierce is charged with 11 counts seven counts of drugging and sexually assaulting forcibly raping and or sodomizing several women to council murder and two counts of providing a controlled substance that being Fentanyl in a bold decision the state will combine the sexual assault and murder charges in one trial why include sexual assault charges in a murder case if you look at this case in its totality I mean this is David Pierce's Mo he lures women back to his apartment he provides them with a drink and then they start to feel dizzy or they black out and he sexually assaults them while Christy and Hilda's autopsy stated there was no physical or sexual trauma nurses who treated Hilda noted slight bleeding in her vagina and a review of her sexual assault examination found a small abrasion I know this is a difficult conversation do you think Hilda and Christie were potentially raped that night of course I believe that that's the reason why they drug them Josh Ritter believes the testimony of the women who were allegedly drugged and raped by Pierce will help jurors see a dangerous pattern of behavior their testimony is going to be huge one woman perhaps the defense can poke holes and that two women it begins to sound like is this really a coincidence or not but three or four women or more and you realize you're dealing with a with a monster it turns out David Pierce had been on the police radar for years according to the police affidavit he was arrested in 2014 for sexual assault along with an additional rape case but these cases are often difficult to prove and were ultimately rejected by the District Attorney's office something Christie's sister Misty finds unforgivable to know that he had been arrested and had been released is just appalling to me [Music] it's really sad that two beautiful girls had to die in order for him to be in jail right now David Pierce has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him Brandt Osborne who is charged as an accessory to murder after the fact has also pleaded not guilty and is out on bail we caught up with him outside of court do you have any comment I have no comment I'm innocent Pierce's lawyer also had no comment but at the time of the incident Pierce told detectives at the end of the day I didn't do anything wrong I just tried to make the situation you know right so far the prosecution has declined to charge Michael ansbach 48 Hours has learned that he's cooperating with prosecutors and will likely testify against his two friends but until the case goes to trial Dusty and Leslie Giles thanks to a social media campaign will be at every court hearing Never Letting David Pierce forget that Christy was more than just a name on a court docket she was a real person she was a daughter a sister a grant daughter she was her daddy's best friend I miss my daughter well we love you in Mexico Hilda Marcella's friends and family cherished the mementos she left behind a lock of hair it's part of her a diploma so she wasn't just smart she was the top of her class she was the top of the top a dog named Tomas who now lives with a lot the love we have for Marseille it's going to Tomas he reminds us about her so much and he has become my emotional support my emotional Fortress I would be very lost so yeah there is always and will always be a whole and nothing can fill it she loved to live and I think that's the way we can honor her living our lives in the best way Hilda and Christie's families hope the deaths of these young friends will not be in vain [Music] this is a tragedy but maybe this was the way to stop them that's the only Justice we can get foreign [Music] I was startled awake I started screaming a 55 hour reign of terror I didn't Tire up and he was hurting mom and I said please I'll do anything please don't kill me 48 hours Saturday on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus [Music]

Channel: 48 Hours

Views: 3,726,517

Keywords: 48 hours, cbs news, christy giles, hilda marcela cabrales-arzola, los angeles, fentanyl, david pearce, david pearce brandt osborn

Id: mDu-1rB8p-s

Length: 41min 48sec (2508 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 22 2023