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'SO PAINFUL'
Christy Giles’ husband reveals heartbreak of first Christmas without her as suspect in model’s death appears in court
MODEL Christy Giles’ husband has revealed they would have spent Christmas together in his native South Africa had she not been dumped dead outside a hospital by masked men.
Speaking after main suspect David Pearce appeared in court on Thursday, heartbroken Jan Cilliers exclusively told The Sun that he and Christy were going to travel together over the holidays so she could meet his family.
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Wannabe movie producer and club promotor Pearce, 39, was arrested last week in connection with the deaths of Christy and her interior designer friend Hilda Marcela Cabrales Arzola.
, Pearce was charged with sexually assaulting four other women.
He will now spend Christmas in jail on $3.4million bail after his arraignment was pushed forward to January 12.
The news comes as:
- Dad of model's friend wants three suspects hit with MURDER charges
- Inside apartment where model and friend spent their final hours
- Suspects spotted leaving apartment where victims were last seen
- Hilda Marcela’s family demands justice as grieving dad speaks out
- Christy Giles’ friend Hilda Cabrales is declared brain dead
- Director and two actors arrested over deaths of model
Deputy District Attorney Catherine Mariano told reporters outside court following the hearing that he has still not been charged in the Christy and Hilda case but the investigation is still ongoing.
Christy, 24, was left dead outside a Culver City hospital on November 13, while Hilda, 26, was abandoned outside another West LA hospital two hours later and passed away two weeks later after she was declared brain dead.
The women are suspected to have died from drug overdoses, with Hilda’s toxicology report allegedly finding heroin in her system.
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They were on a night out when they left a warehouse party in East LA with three men to go to an afterparty in the Hollywood Hills - but never made it there.
Their last known location was the apartment that Pearce rented in Beverly Hills.
Contacted by The Sun following Thursday’s hearing, Christy’s grieving husband poignantly told how his holiday plans with her had been turned upside down by her death.
Visual effects artist Jan, 41, said: “We had booked a trip to go to South Africa together over Christmas.
“She was going come and meet my family for the first time.
“We were going to spend time with them in Pretoria, then go to Cape Town and on to a safari.
“She was going to see the country that I grew up in but she never got to meet my family.
“It’s particularly painful that we haven’t been able to make the trip that we envisioned.”
Pearce currently faces two counts of forcible rape, one count of raping an unconscious or asleep person and one count of sexual penetration by a foreign object.
The incidents are alleged to have taken place in LA between 2010 and October 2020.
HUSBAND'S GRIEF
Two other men who were arrested on suspicion of being accessories to manslaughter in the Christy and Hilda case - Brandt Osborn, 42, and Michael Ansbach, 47 - were released last week after making $100,000 bail.
Asked if he is worried that Pearce and the two other men have still not been charged in connection with Christy and Hilda’s deaths, Jan said: “I'm glad that Pearce is still locked up and hopefully by January 12 they can add the extra charges against him and the other two guys.
“I want them to take as long as they need in order to put the charges forward.
“If they rush things and the charges don’t stick, then I’d be disappointed.”
Pearce declined to enter a plea to the sex assault charges when he appeared for five minutes in a face mask and a blue prison jumpsuit at the Criminal Justice Centre in downtown LA.
Judge Victoria Wilson told him: “You have a right to enter a plea today. You understand you are giving up that right?”
The suspect replied “Yes” and is now expected to retain private counsel and liaise with his new lawyer ahead of the January 12 hearing.
'ONGOING INVESTIGATION'
Asked about Christy and Hilda’s case, prosecutor Catherine Mariano said: “That’s currently an ongoing investigation.
“So I can't say too much about that, but that investigation is absolutely still ongoing.”
Mariano also said that there may be other victims who could be added to the case.
She said: “We have a good faith belief there may be other victims, but based on the ongoing investigation of this case, I can't comment as to whether there are in fact additional victims at this point.”
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