Michael Ansbach said he had been smoking cocaine with David Pearce for several hours, but he knew something was wrong with the last one he took.

After a day of shooting material for a documentary Pierce was making, the two went to a nightclub in Koreatown and then to a warehouse orgy in East Los Angeles, where Ansbach said they met two young women - Christie · Giles and Hilda Marcela Cabrales Arzola.

The two women later died of drug overdoses, and Pierce is currently on trial charged with murder, with prosecutors saying he committed several rapes between 2007 and 2021.

Ansbach testified Friday that Pierce generously handed out coke to the women and the group eventually returned to Pierce's Olympic Boulevard apartment.

Ansbach testified that at some point, Pierce gave him a vodka drink that tasted "terrible" and made him "immediately dizzy." Then, he said, Pierce pulled out a batch of Coke that he thought was "the good stuff," according to Ansbach. He said he tried a new supply with Giles and Arzola, but immediately, his nostrils burned and he experienced severe pain.

Ansbach said he asked Pierce what he had just hummed. In response, Ansbach said Pierce started laughing and looked like "the devil was incarnate right in front of me."

Several hours passed. Ansbach said he lost count of how many times he vomited. He noticed that neither woman moved and that Giles "looked dead." Ansbach said he begged Pierce to take the women to a hospital but was refused.

"'Dead girls can't talk,'" Pierce said, according to Ansbach's testimony Friday. "Those words echoed in my nightmares and unsettled me."

Pierce has pleaded not guilty and his defense attorneys have argued there is no evidence he supplied the drugs that caused the woman's death.

Ansbach, who was initially arrested on suspicion of killing two women after they were dumped outside a hospital that night in November 2021, later became a key prosecution witness and the only person in the indictment who prosecutors say killed Giles. and people who survived Azola's drug.

Pierce faces two counts of murder in the woman's death and seven counts of rape. Prosecutors had previously declined to bring sexual assault charges against Pierce in 2014, but after Giles and Arzola's deaths made headlines, several women came forward with accusations dating back to 2005.

Prosecutors said during opening arguments last week that Pierce described himself as a well-connected Hollywood actor to lure women back to his apartment. In some cases, the women claimed they became ill or felt "paralyzed" after Pierce served them drinks and woke up to find Pierce sexually assaulting them.

Brandt Osborn, Pierce's roommate in the apartment where Giles and Arzola overdosed, was also tried on two counts of accessory after the fact. Prosecutors said Osborne helped Pierce transport the dying woman and destroy evidence at the residence.

Ansbach said he lost track of time as he became increasingly ill in the apartment, but insisted he urged Pierce to take the women to the hospital.

"I felt so weak... like it took over me... like a sedative," Ansbach said of his reaction to the drink Pierce gave him. A toxicology screen found gamma-hydroxybutyrate (a date rape drug commonly known as GHB) in Giles' system.

After checking Giles' pulse - Ansbach said he couldn't feel anything - he became concerned that Pierce wouldn't do anything to help the women.

Ansbach said Pierce "really only cares about himself," and mentioned he was worried about going to jail because of his past criminal record.

"I have precedent that this couldn't happen to me," Pierce said, according to Ansbach.

The women were eventually taken to a medical facility nearly 12 hours later in a car that had no license plates, and Ansbach said he saw Pierce take the plates off, court records show.

Pierce and Osborne deny any wrongdoing, and their attorneys are quick to point out that Ansbach's account of events in the apartment changed significantly after his arrest in December 2021.

Prosecutors did not offer Ansbach immunity in exchange for his testimony. Months after he was arrested along with Pierce and Osborne, he provided a statement through his attorney accusing others.

Ansbach has never been charged with a crime, and it's unclear if the Los Angeles Police Department has ever filed charges against him. The district attorney's office has not responded to inquiries about the case, including requests for public records outlining reasons why charges may have been denied.

Under cross-examination, Ansbach admitted that in his first interview with Los Angeles police, he said he had never seen the women take drugs, nor did he paint a portrait of Pierce close to the one he described Friday.

Ansbach said he did not have a lawyer at the time and was upset after being taken away by what he called a "SWAT team."

"I was scared," Ansbach said. "I've never been in this situation before and I don't know what to do."

"So you lied?" Wall asked.

"Yes," Ansbach finally said.