‘The beginning of the battle’: Husband and mother of dead model Christy Giles speak out amid arrests
Family say they ‘will not rest’ until three men are brought to trial as LAPD warn of similar incidents
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The husband and mother of dead model Christy Giles have spoken out following the arrests of three men related to her death, and that of a friend, Hilda Marcela Cabrales-Arzola.
Jan Cielliers, Ms Giles’ husband, announced the arrests on Wednesday, with Los Angeles County authorities confirming to The Independent that three arrests were made by the Los Angeles Police Department.
The men, aged between 37 and 47, were arrested in connection with the deaths of Ms Giles and her friend Ms Cabrales-Arzola, who went missing after a night out last month, and face charges of manslaughter and accessory to manslaughter.
Ms Giles’ family and friends say the women were found “lifeless” outside two Los Angeles hospitals, after a night out with friends. Both women died following the incident.
“I sighed a sigh of relief,” Mr Cielliers said of the announcement of three arrests. “But I also understand that this is just the beginning of the battle. There’s going to be a lot of stuff to get through in order to get these guys in prison”.
He said on Wednesday that David Pearce, 37, had been arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department and charged with manslaughter.
Two other men, 42-year-old Brandt Osborn, and 47-year-old Michael Ansbach, were charged with accessory to manslaughter, as the New York Post reported.
All three men were being held on bail on Thursday, according to the report, with Mr Osborn and Mr Ansbach on a $100,000 bail, and Mr Pearce on a $1m bail. The arrests were announced by the Los Angels Police Department.
Mr Cielliers added in his interview with with People that he believed there were other victims and that he wanted to stop “these guys from doing anything else to any other woman,” and that he had “to be strong” for Ms Giles, his wife.
Los Angeles police made similar comments on Thursday, warning that “the LAPD is concerned that there could be other victims in our community who could have been drugged by one or more of these men.” However this remains uncofirmed.
Ms Giles’ family meanwhile released a statement saying they were “very pleased” following the arrests, and said “We will NOT rest until these men face a jury of their peers and are found guilty. Then and only then will justice be found for Christy and Marcela.” Mr Cielliers made similar comments.
Family of Ms Giles and Ms Cabrales-Arzola said last month that a group of masked men dumped the two women’s bodies outside two different Los Angeles hospitals, with heroin found in the latter’s body.
That was despite the friends not being known to take drugs willingly.
An autopsy on Ms Giles’s body, according to Eyewitness News, has not been released.
It remains unclear if the three men had a lawyer.