# Solved Cold Cases With Absolutely Disturbing Twists | 158

An episode of [Lazy Chill True Crime](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1815534472), 9 Jan 2026, 24 min.

Audio: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO4943925228.mp3

Don't forget to follow and turn on all notifications. Also don't forget to drop a rating as well. Love you all. Join me for ep 158 of the true crime pod. 👇 Youtube links: Lazy Chill True Crime Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8dVJtzeHcJgd_Z0bHrJTHQ Lazy Chill History Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillHistory Lazy Chill Zone Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@LazyChillZone 👇 Support My Work: 🛍️ Merch: https://lazy-chill-zone-shop.fourthwall.com ❤️ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lazychillzone 👇Social Media Links: https://www.instagram.com/lazychillzone/ 👇 Podcast links: ⚡History Video Podcast on Spotify⚡: https://open.spotify.com/show/7km5pLWpYWEj1mrPpEfRUr?si=0FHYnZf-Qs2FY1GyLevfig ⚡True Crime Podcast on Spotify⚡: https://open.spotify.com/show/0klIz08pAr7wR4we0Ia4sk?si=68qZxCeAQkysXzMZrHE0Iw 🍏 True Crime Podcast on Apple 🍎: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lazy-chill-true-crime/id1815534472 true crime, cold cases, unsolved mysteries, missing persons, murder investigation, forensic evidence, serial killers, crime scene analysis, dark history, criminal psychology, real life horror, police investigations, DNA breakthroughs, forensic genealogy, crime documentaries, criminal profiling, mysterious disappearances, solved cases, justice system, law enforcement stories, cold case files, creepy mysteries, true crime storytelling, crime reconstruction, chilling cases, investigative reporting, modern forensics, victim advocacy, unidentified remains, crime scene forensics, disturbing cases, true crime analysis, hidden clues, infamous crimes, real crime stories

## Transcript

[0:00] Hey everyone, it's Jimmy here with a quick reminder to hit the
[0:02] like and subscribe buttons in the notification bell.
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[0:16] In the pre dawn darkness of November 13th, 2021, a black
[0:22] Toyota Prius with no license plates quietly rolled up to a
[0:25] Los Angeles emergency room. Masked men dumped a young
[0:29] woman's limp body at the entrance and speed off without a
[0:32] word. Hours later, another unconscious
[0:36] woman was left at a different hospital under eerily similar
[0:40] circumstances. These two friends, Christie
[0:44] Giles and Hilda Marcella Cabrales Arzola, had set out for
[0:48] a fun girls night out, but their evening ended in unimaginable
[0:52] tragedy. Christie and Hilda were vibrant
[0:56] young women chasing big dreams in Los Angeles.
[1:00] Christie, 24, was a fashion model originally from Alabama,
[1:05] known by loved ones for her free spirited, adventurous
[1:08] personality. Hilda, 26, was an architect and
[1:13] interior designer from Mexico who had moved to LA earlier in
[1:17] 2021 to advance her career. The two became fast friends
[1:22] after Hilda's relocation to Southern California, bonding
[1:25] over their shared ambitions. With Christie's husband out of
[1:31] town visiting family, the friends planned a much needed
[1:34] girls night out on Friday, November 12th, 2021.
[1:39] They began the evening at the trendy Soho House in West
[1:42] Hollywood and later headed to an all night warehouse party in
[1:45] East LA around 1:00 AM. The pair were excited to see one
[1:50] of their favorite DJs perform. Video from that night shows
[1:54] Christie and Hilda dancing together in the VIP section,
[1:58] having a carefree good time amid the crowd and music.
[2:02] Upbeat and sociable, the pair easily mingled with other
[2:05] partygoers. Sometime before dawn, they
[2:08] crossed paths with a group of three men who would dramatically
[2:11] alter the course of their night. Among these men was 40 year old
[2:16] David Pierce, an aspiring Hollywood producer, accompanied
[2:20] by his roommate Brant Osborne and a friend, Michael Ansbach.
[2:26] Unbeknownst to the women, Pierce was not the industry big shot he
[2:29] claimed to be, but rather a dangerous predator hiding behind
[2:33] a Hollywood facade. As the warehouse party wound
[2:39] down, Christie and Hilda agreed to join the men for an after
[2:42] party at Pierce's apartment on W Olympic Blvd. in Beverly Hills.
[2:47] Just before 5:00 AM on November 13th, they arrived at Pearce and
[2:52] Osborne's residence. Almost immediately, something
[2:56] felt off. Within 20 minutes of arriving,
[3:01] Christie texted Hilda. Let's go.
[3:04] Signaling her unease, Hilda replied that she was calling an
[3:08] Uber, which would arrive in 10 minutes.
[3:11] It appears the women sense trouble and intended to leave in
[3:14] a hurry. However, that Uber came and went
[3:18] without picking anyone up. Doorbell camera footage later
[3:22] confirmed the rideshare driver left after no one met them
[3:25] outside. For reasons that remain unclear,
[3:29] Christy and Hilda never made it out of the apartment when they
[3:31] planned to. Their frantic text exchange
[3:35] would be the last communication between the two, and it hinted
[3:38] at the danger they were about to face.
[3:42] Over the next several hours inside Pierce's apartment, the
[3:46] once festive mood from the club turned into a nightmare.
[3:50] At some point, both women became unresponsive after ingesting a
[3:55] toxic cocktail of substances. Later toxicology reports showed
[4:00] Christie had a deadly combination of cocaine,
[4:02] fentanyl, ketamine and GHB in her system.
[4:07] Hilda had also tested positive for cocaine, ecstasy and other
[4:12] undetermined substances, leading to multiple organ failure.
[4:18] Pierce's acquaintance Michael Ansbach, who was present that
[4:22] morning, alleged that Pierce had handed them alcoholic drinks
[4:25] spiked with substances. Even though both women had
[4:29] reportedly consumed some party drugs earlier in the night,
[4:32] investigators believe it was the additional substances that ended
[4:36] their lives. In other words, what should have
[4:39] been a fun after party turned fatal, allegedly due to Pierce
[4:45] providing A lethal mix of narcotics.
[4:48] What's especially chilling is that Pierce didn't call 911 when
[4:52] the women passed out. Instead, prosecutors say, he and
[4:56] Osborne waited hours as the victims lay dying rather than
[5:01] risk the authorities finding out what happened.
[5:06] At around 5:00 PM on November 13th, Pierce and Osborne loaded
[5:11] Christie's lifeless body into Pierce's Prius and drove her to
[5:14] a hospital in Culver City. Surveillance cameras and
[5:18] witnesses noted the car's license plates had been removed
[5:22] and the two men wore masks as they carried Christie to the ER
[5:25] entrance. They told hospital staff they
[5:28] were just good Samaritans who had found her unconscious on a
[5:32] curb nearby. Before anyone could ask further
[5:35] questions, the pair fled, leaving Christie behind.
[5:39] She was soon pronounced dead on arrival and staff immediately
[5:43] alerted police due to the suspicious circumstances.
[5:48] About two hours later, the same masked duo dumped Hilda at a
[5:52] different hospital in West Los Angeles, then again vanished.
[5:57] Hilda was barely clinging to life, Her body was cold and she
[6:01] was suffering severe organ failure from the overdose.
[6:05] Doctors managed to resuscitate her and put her on life support.
[6:09] Tragically, Hilda would never regain consciousness.
[6:13] She died 11 days later after being declared brain dead just
[6:18] one day shy of her 27th birthday.
[6:22] The manner in which the women were abandoned made it
[6:24] immediately clear to law enforcement that this was no
[6:27] ordinary overdose case. Later in court, a jaw-dropping
[6:32] piece of testimony revealed Pierce's callous mindset during
[6:36] those crucial hours. Michael Anspach, now a
[6:39] cooperating witness, recounted that when the women lay
[6:42] overdosing, Pierce made a truly disturbing statement.
[6:47] He turned to Osborne and remarked in chilling terms that
[6:50] once the girls were dead, they couldn't talk to the police.
[6:54] In Pierce's words, quote, dead girls don't talk.
[6:59] This alleged statement encapsulates the horrifying
[7:01] logic behind the delay. Pierce was more concerned with
[7:05] self preservation than saving Christie or Hilda's lives.
[7:09] It also explains why he waited until 1 victim was already dead
[7:14] and the other at death's door before seeking medical help.
[7:19] With two young women mysteriously dumped and one
[7:21] already deceased, the Los Angeles Police Department
[7:25] launched an urgent investigation.
[7:28] Digital evidence soon proved invaluable in unraveling what
[7:31] happened. Christie's husband, Jan Siliers,
[7:35] had been tracking her phone location that morning while he
[7:37] was out of town. He noticed Christie's phone had
[7:41] moved to an unfamiliar address on Olympic Blvd. the location of
[7:45] Pierce's apartment, and later saw it ping at a hospital.
[7:49] Alarmed, Jan called the hospital and learned the devastating news
[7:53] that Christie had died in the ER.
[7:56] When he then discovered that Hilda had also been admitted to
[7:59] a different hospital in critical condition, his worst fears were
[8:03] confirmed. Jan quickly posted the strange
[8:06] Olympic Blvd. address on social media, asking if anyone knew who
[8:10] lived there. Almost immediately, responses
[8:14] poured in warning that a man named David Pierce resided at
[8:18] that location and that he had a very unsavory reputation.
[8:24] This online tip gave the first solid lead, pointing to Pierce's
[8:28] involvement. Meanwhile, detectives followed
[8:32] the clues Christie and Hilda left behind.
[8:35] Using the phone GPS data, LAPD officers rushed to Pierce's
[8:39] residence and spotted a black Prius matching the description
[8:43] of the getaway car that had dropped off the victims.
[8:47] Photographs and videos from the warehouse party earlier that
[8:50] night further placed Pierce at the scene with the two women.
[8:54] Investigators even recovered text messages from the women's
[8:57] phones, including the 5:30 AM exchange about leaving, which
[9:02] corroborated the timeline. In essence, Christie and Hilda's
[9:06] own digital footprints help solve their case.
[9:09] From location pings to text logs and party photos, each
[9:13] breadcrumb LED police closer to the truth.
[9:18] Within a month, on December 16th, 2021, LAPD, aided by an
[9:24] FBI fugitive task force, arrested David Pierce along with
[9:28] Brant Osborne and Michael Ansbach.
[9:31] Pierce was initially charged with manslaughter, while Osborne
[9:34] and Ansbach were held as accessories, accused of helping
[9:38] him dump the bodies. Notably, Osborne was
[9:42] dramatically taken into custody on a Hollywood film set where he
[9:45] was working as a background actor.
[9:47] If that's not evidence enough, these guys very much weren't the
[9:51] big shots they like to claim to be in their attempts to lure
[9:55] women. As investigators dug into
[9:59] Pierce's background, a dark pattern emerged, revealing that
[10:04] this sick puppy had been a long standing predator.
[10:08] Pierce had long presented himself as a suave freelance
[10:12] entertainment planner or producer in Hollywood circles.
[10:16] In reality, prosecutors say he had been drugging and assaulting
[10:20] women across Los Angeles for nearly two decades.
[10:24] There's obviously a dark joke to be made there about the nature
[10:27] of some Hollywood producers, but I'll let you guys make it in the
[10:30] comments. Many of these alleged assaults
[10:35] followed a similar script to Christie and Hilda's case.
[10:38] Pierce would meet women in social settings, invite them to
[10:41] continue the party at his place, then secretly dose them with
[10:45] powerful drugs to render them defenseless.
[10:49] Between 2007 and 2020, at least seven other women claimed Pierce
[10:54] did horrific things to them in such a manner.
[10:58] In April 2022, the LA County Medical Examiner officially
[11:02] ruled the deaths of Giles and Cabrales Arzola as homicides
[11:06] caused by multiple drug intoxication.
[11:10] Pierce's legal troubles mounted. In addition to charges for the
[11:14] two deaths, he was later indicted by a grand jury and hit
[11:18] with multiple counts of attacks on other women.
[11:21] The web of accusations painted Pierce as a serial predator who
[11:25] had operated under the radar, leveraging the party scene and
[11:29] promises of Hollywood connections to prey on victims.
[11:33] Brandt Osborne, his 45 year old roommate, was charged as an
[11:38] accessory after the fact, accused of helping Pierce cover
[11:42] up the deadly overdose incident. Michael Ansbach, initially
[11:47] arrested as an accessory as well, was not ultimately
[11:50] charged. Instead, he agreed to testify
[11:54] for the prosecution. Ansbach's cooperation, including
[11:59] recounting Pierce's infamous Dead Girls Don't Talk comment,
[12:03] proved to be a critical piece of evidence during the trial.
[12:09] The case finally came to trial in early 2025, drawing
[12:13] widespread attention as a disturbing intersection of
[12:16] Hollywood, nightlife, and crime. Prosecutors argued that David
[12:20] Pierce had intentionally given Christie and Hilda a deadly
[12:24] concoction of substances so he could commit evil acts against
[12:28] them. The defense, on the other hand,
[12:31] contended that the women had voluntarily taken drugs at the
[12:34] rave and simply overdosed by accident.
[12:38] They even pointed to a piece of jewelry.
[12:40] Christie wore a Locket containing a tiny spoon that
[12:44] tested positive for fentanyl, suggesting the victims had their
[12:48] own supply. But this claim rang hollow in
[12:51] the face of overwhelming evidence of Pierce's predatory
[12:54] behavior, as well as the testimony from Ansbach.
[13:00] In February 2025, a Los Angeles jury found David Pierce guilty
[13:05] on all counts. He was also convicted of
[13:08] multiple assaults related to the seven other women who testified
[13:11] against him. Pierce showed little emotion as
[13:15] the verdict was read. While the victims families wept
[13:18] in relief, Brant Osborne, tried alongside Pierce, avoided
[13:23] conviction for now. The jury was unable to reach a
[13:27] verdict on the accessory charges against him.
[13:30] This resulted in a mistrial and leaving prosecutors to consider
[13:35] a retrial for Osborne's role. Funny enough, the court later
[13:40] heard how Pierce had frantically googled non extradition
[13:43] countries after the women overdosed and was caught with
[13:46] $30,000 cash and a passport in his car.
[13:50] In October 2025, David Pierce was sentenced to 146 years to
[13:56] life in state prison, ensuring that this 43 year old will spend
[14:00] the rest of his life behind bars.
[14:06] Hey everyone, it's Jimmy here with a quick reminder to share
[14:09] this video with your friends and family.
[14:12] Also, YouTube thinks you'll enjoy one of the videos on your
[14:15] screen right now, so check them out.
[14:22] In the early hours of August 13th, 2018, a seemingly devoted
[14:26] father in Frederick Co committed an unthinkable crime that would
[14:31] soon shock the entire nation. Christopher Watts strangled his
[14:35] pregnant wife Shannon and smothered their two young
[14:38] daughters, Bella and Celeste, inside their home, then hid
[14:42] their bodies at a remote oil work site.
[14:46] At first, Chris maintained a facade of innocence, giving
[14:50] emotional TV interviews in which he pleaded for the safe return
[14:55] of his missing family. Within two days, however, his
[14:59] story collapsed. Confronted by investigators,
[15:03] Chris confessed to the sick acts, revealing A shocking
[15:06] betrayal. By all appearances, the Watts
[15:11] family lived an idyllic life. Chris and Shannon married in
[15:15] 2012 and moved into a spacious home in Frederick, Co.
[15:20] They had two young daughters, Bella and Celeste, and Shannon
[15:25] was 15 weeks pregnant with a son to be named Nico.
[15:29] Chris worked as an operator in the oil industry while Shannon
[15:33] held a job at a Children's Hospital, and together they were
[15:36] building a life for their growing family.
[15:40] Shannon frequently shared cheerful Facebook posts about
[15:43] her love for Chris and their girls, calling him her rock and
[15:47] praising him as a great dad. Friends saw Shannon as a doting
[15:52] mother and noted how happy she seemed in her online updates.
[15:57] No one who knew them suspected anything was wrong beneath the
[15:59] happy surface. Behind closed doors, however,
[16:03] the Wattses had troubles. They had weathered some
[16:06] financial struggles. This included a bankruptcy
[16:10] filing in 2015 due to over $70,000 in consumer debt.
[16:15] But nothing outwardly indicated serious conflict in the
[16:18] marriage. On Monday, August 13th, 2018,
[16:24] Shannon returned home from a late work trip, and by that
[16:27] afternoon she and the girls had seemingly vanished.
[16:31] When Shannon missed a scheduled prenatal appointment and failed
[16:34] to answer her phone, her friend Nicole Atkinson became
[16:37] concerned. Nicole went to the Watts house
[16:40] around midday but found it empty, with no sign of Shannon
[16:44] or the children. Alarmed, she notified Chris and
[16:49] called police. Officers arrived for a welfare
[16:53] check and noted disturbing clues.
[16:55] Shannon's car was in the garage, with the children's car seat
[16:58] still strapped inside. Inside the house, they found
[17:02] Shannon's purse, phone and keys, as well as medication for the
[17:07] girls, all items she would normally have taken with her.
[17:11] Even her wedding ring had been left on a bedside table.
[17:15] It looked as if Shannon and the kids had simply vanished into
[17:18] thin air, leaving everything behind.
[17:23] As the frantic search got underway, Chris Watts insisted
[17:26] he had no idea what happened. He told police he last saw
[17:30] Shannon at about 5:15 AM when he left for work and that they were
[17:34] gone when he got home. With his family missing, Chris
[17:38] appeared on local TV on August 14th, tearfully begging for
[17:43] their safe return. As he spoke to reporters,
[17:46] Investigators, including the FBI and Colorado Bureau of
[17:50] Investigation, were on the scene with sniffer dogs scouring the
[17:55] area for any trace of Shannon and the girls.
[17:59] To many who watched, however, something felt off, and it
[18:02] turned out their Spidey senses were right.
[18:06] Chris's affect was oddly flat and calm as he spoke about his
[18:10] wife and daughters, which struck investigators and neighbors as
[18:14] unusual under the circumstances. While Chris played the part of
[18:19] the worried husband in public, police were already eyeing him
[18:22] with suspicion. On August 15th, 2018, two days
[18:29] after Shannon and the girls went missing, Chris Watts's story
[18:33] unravelled completely. And here we really have to be
[18:36] grateful that criminals are often very stupid people.
[18:40] He agreed to take a polygraph test and failed it.
[18:44] Confronted with the lie detector results, Chris suddenly
[18:48] confessed. But initially, he spun A
[18:50] shocking tale to explain his actions.
[18:53] He claimed he strangled Shannon in a rage only after she had
[18:56] smothered the children during an argument.
[18:59] Unsurprisingly, investigators didn't buy this account.
[19:03] There was 0 evidence that Shannon had harmed the little
[19:06] ones, and by then police knew Chris had been cheating on his
[19:10] wife. But more on his motives in a
[19:12] moment. Faced with the mounting
[19:16] contradictions, Chris eventually told authorities the full truth
[19:19] and admitted he alone was responsible for the sick acts.
[19:25] That same day, police arrested Chris Watts for the killing of
[19:28] his wife and children. Early the next morning, acting
[19:32] on information Chris provided, investigators made a grim
[19:36] discovery at an oil field owned by his employer.
[19:40] Shannon's body was recovered from a shallow grave, and the
[19:43] bodies of Bella and Celeste were found submerged in crude oil
[19:48] inside large storage tanks on the site.
[19:53] In the ensuing investigation, more disturbing details of the
[19:56] crime came to light. Chris admitted how he carried
[19:59] out the slayings, and it was even more horrifying than
[20:03] initially imagined. After Shannon returned home and
[20:07] confronted Chris about his affair, reportedly threatening
[20:10] to leave him and take the children, an argument erupted.
[20:14] In a fit of anger, Chris strangled Shannon in their
[20:17] bedroom, killing his 34 year old wife and their unborn son in the
[20:22] process. Determined to cover up his
[20:25] actions, he then wrapped Shannon's body in a sheet and
[20:29] loaded it into the back of his truck.
[20:32] Shockingly, Chris also loaded Bella and Celeste, who were
[20:36] still alive and confused, into the truck.
[20:40] He drove the girls in their mother's body about 45 minutes
[20:44] to a remote oil storage site owned by Anadarko Petroleum
[20:49] where he worked. Once there, the situation turned
[20:52] even more tragic. And I'm not going to give the
[20:55] full details because honestly, reading about this case messed
[20:59] me up. But I will say that Bella, the
[21:02] older sister, attempted to defend Celeste but this sick
[21:07] monster showed no mercy. The lingering question was why
[21:13] Chris Watts committed such a monstrous act and it soon became
[21:16] apparent that his motive was selfish and cold blooded.
[21:20] Chris had been having an affair with a Co worker and he wanted
[21:24] to start a new life with this mistress without his wife and
[21:27] children. In the weeks before the
[21:29] slayings, Shannon had even confided to friends that she
[21:33] suspected Chris was cheating on her.
[21:35] He was growing distant and resentful, and the impending
[21:39] birth of their third child only increased the pressure.
[21:43] The household was also under financial strain, which added to
[21:47] the tension behind closed doors. Later, investigators learned
[21:52] that Chris had planned his crime in advance.
[21:55] And then things somehow got even worse and more heinous.
[21:59] And I can say without a doubt that Chris is one of the sickest
[22:03] puppies I've ever had the misfortune of covering.
[22:08] In letters from prison, he admitted he had given Shannon an
[22:11] opioid drug weeks earlier, hoping to cause her to miscarry
[22:15] their unborn baby so he wouldn't have another child with her.
[22:22] Facing overwhelming evidence, Chris Watts chose to avoid a
[22:25] trial. In November 2018, he pleaded
[22:29] guilty to all charges against him in exchange for prosecutors
[22:33] not seeking the death penalty. Shannon's family was consulted
[22:37] by prosecutors and agreed to the deal, preferring to avoid a
[22:41] lengthy trial and appeals process.
[22:45] At the sentencing hearing, the full horror of Chris's deeds was
[22:49] recounted in court. Shannon's parents and brother
[22:53] gave emotional statements expressing their grief and
[22:56] heartbreak, and the judge then imposed the maximum sentence.
[23:01] Chris Watts received five life sentences without any
[23:04] possibility of parole for the slayings of Shannon, Bella,
[23:08] Celeste, and unborn Nico. For good measure, he also
[23:12] received an additional 84 years for a variety of other offenses
[23:17] he committed. For his own safety, Chris was
[23:20] moved to a prison out of state and remains in a maximum
[23:23] security facility in Wisconsin. Interestingly, this is one of
[23:29] the few cases where a family annihilator type perpetrator
[23:33] doesn't end up removing himself from the world.
[23:36] He now has the rest of his life to consider the consequences of
[23:39] his disgusting and disturbed actions, which in my view, may
[23:42] actually be a fate worse than death.

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