Gruesome New Evidence Rocks D4vd Murder Case | David Anthony Burke, Celeste Rivas Hernandez

[00:00:00]Hey everyone, I'm Ashley Banfield and this is Drop Deadad Serious. And if you have been waiting for an update in the David Case, D4VD, the singer, you know, who had a Tesla with a dead body in it, a girlfriend, allegedly underage girlfriend. Uh, well, boy, do we have one for you because there was a preliminary hearing in California today.

[00:00:22]I didn't expect all these details to come out, but damn, there was just so much gross. Like, it was like a horror movie in a courtroom with real family members present and a real defendant in an orange jumpsuit shackled. So, not a good day for David. Yeah, not going to lie. I don't know if he's feeling confident, but you're about to hear something that indicates he's very confident. Don't ask. But wait for it.

[00:00:53]Um, Lauren Conlin is a reporter for LA magazine and she's going to join me in a hot minute because she was in the courtroom all day and she saw everything. This was basically the day that prosecutors finally started laying out the murder case against I called him David D4VD, but his real name is David Anthony Burke. Um, and if day one is any indication, this is going to be one of the most disturbing court cases that I have covered in a long time. I mean, like I said, it's the stuff of the movie Saw.

[00:01:29]It is just unbelievable what some people can do to others.

[00:01:35]Allegedly, David to his former underage girlfriend. And by the way, if this just happens to be the first time you're hearing about this case, or you've been following the case, but it's been a bit. Yeah, it's been a minute and you need to kind of be reminded of what the heck went on. I have an entire playlist. You're welcome. And it is in the link in the description below. So, um, hit that. You'll be all up to speed.

[00:02:02]And then today's episode's going to make a lot more sense. And so basically the prosecutors are saying this is a first-degree murder that David murdered a 14-year-old girl named Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Um he came into court wearing an orange jumpsuit, you know, the jail jumpsuits. He had black rimmed glasses and he had that favorite jewelry of prisoners shackles. He smiled and he nodded to his attorneys before taking his seat at the front of the courtroom.

[00:02:31]His lawyers got to work right away asking the judge, "Let's get these restraints off him. You know, this makes him look like an animal." They always say that. U the judge actually refused to take the shackles off completely, but did say in the end uh the handcuffs can come off.

[00:02:49]And instead, David remained chained to the chair, like the shackles at the belly got shackled to the chair. So, ain't no dignity in that.

[00:03:00]And then the testimony got underway and uh brace yourself if you got a weak stomach. Um if you're triggered, this is not the episode for you. It's so sad.

[00:03:11]It's just it's unimaginably gross, but it's also really sad. The prosecutor actually, you know, through witnesses outlined what happened in that trunk to that girl. And the first witness was Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy who knocked on David's door back in February of 2024 while Celeste was still just a missing young teen girl. Uh his testimony painted a picture that was like surreal. [snorts] David answers the door and he's wearing a bonnet. Don't ask. That's what he said. A bonnet.

[00:03:47]Okay. And he was really casual while he answered the door to the police. He was eating and he did not stop eating.

[00:03:57]Reportedly the whole time they were there he just kept on eating. Weird.

[00:04:02]Disrespectful. Also weird, right? Also weird. He offered them a beer. He offered working police officers a beer.

[00:04:13]Uh maybe it's um maybe it was him being nervous because he's underage and he's trying to say, "I've got I've got beer. I've got alcohol in the fridge." But dude, oh, read the room. And also, not your problem. Alcohol in the fridge. Really not your problem. The bigger problem is why they were there. Uh, and he told the police, he insisted that Celeste isn't here. She's not here. Said he'd only ever seen her once, [laughter] claiming that she told him she was 18.

[00:04:46]And said that uh, I sure hope you find her.

[00:04:51]So yeah, so much about that, right? I only I've only seen her once. Well, the evidence that you're about to hear uh suggests otherwise, like a lot otherwise. And also some of the other evidence that we've heard about in this case suggests that there was a lot of visiting going on and not just visiting, like intimate visiting. So you didn't just see her once. Uh you allegedly had an a relationship with an underage girl and you're being charged with like lewd and lascivious acts on a minor. So, the courtroom ended up taking a super duper dark turn though when uh the homicide detective Joshua Buyers got up on the stand and one by one the prosecutors began displaying the photos.

[00:05:36]Not everybody expected that this was going to happen today and there wasn't a ton of warning. So all these reporters, all these folks in the gallery, uh David and his attorneys and then the prosecutors who've seen them before and the judge and um all the press and the family of Celeste all suddenly have massive monitors of some of the most despicable crime scene imagery that one can have in a case. All these pictures were recovered after Celeste's remains were found inside the frunk, that front trunk of David's uh black Tesla. So, while the photos are up there on the big monitors, the detective is sort of the scribe, right? He is being asked by the prosecutor to walk everybody through what the hell is up there on the screen.

[00:06:32]and he described garbage bags that contained dismembered body parts. And when I say body parts, I'll be specific.

[00:06:41]Severed arms, severed legs, that was in one bag. A head and a torso were in another. Um, the animal activity was awful. Uh, maggots clearly visible. decomposition so advanced that he testified Celeste's face was no longer recognizable because of what investigators um basically described as her face had fallen off. At one point the prosecutors displayed Celeste's severed finger.

[00:07:17]Remember the one uh it's well known now.

[00:07:20]It said sh on it. That was a tattoo.

[00:07:24]Another photograph showed blue plastic fragments that were embedded into her remains. And that's important because the the evidence shows that prosecutors uh believe that there's a a blue inflatable pool that David allegedly used to dismember uh Celeste with chainsaws and that the chainsaws, you know, scarred the the blue pool. you know, the chainsaw went down and would hit the plastic, maybe going through the body and getting right into the plastic, and then that plastic would get churned up into the body as well. These are all from court filings. You may have seen some of it before, but today the images, the first time people actually saw what they were referring to with those blue plastic shards.

[00:08:12]So, as the images continued one by one, um Celeste's family just lost it. broke down in tears. Um, it was so bad that the judge ultimately had to call a recess for them, understandably.

[00:08:27]But David, David just kept staring fixated on the images. Didn't look away.

[00:08:37]Didn't look down. Didn't feel grossed out or uncomfortable or sad. Right?

[00:08:42]allegedly your former girlfriends up there stared at these images, didn't break from them, and it gave some of the reporters in the room, you know, the heebie-jebies, his behavior. But when the testimony resumed after that break, um, Detective Buyers walked the courtroom through what the investigators say happened after Celeste's death. He testified that David's Tesla was parked just a couple of blocks away from David's Hollywood Hills home um on July 29th. That's the same day that records showed the vehicle was actually disconnected from an iPhone that David had nicknamed Tranquilizer. That phone, by the way, has never been found. So, that's interesting. Why? Well, you know, most of us know where our iPhones are when we have them and then we don't have them. But nope, nobody could find that one. And the investigators also found navigation searches to Santa Barbara and to the Santa Enz Valley. They also found a Ross Dress for Less receipt that was dated the very same day. And they later executed a search warrant at David's home where they found computers and phones and airline reservations allegedly purchased for both David and Celeste. Oops, that's not good. and also an unopened Amazon package that was sent under an alias that investigators say belonged to David. Inside that package, detectives testified um they they had a description for what was effectively a burn cage and they called it a miniature cremation device.

[00:10:18]Right? Some people call it a burn box.

[00:10:20]Some people call it a burn cage. But this detective called it a miniature crematorium effectively.

[00:10:28]Prosecution wrapped up the day with testimony from David's manager, former business manager and maybe not so former. You'll hear in a minute. And that fella estimated that David generated more than $10 million in gross earnings between 2023 and 2025. Not bad.

[00:10:48]Also, some would say motive, right?

[00:10:52]Could be motive because there's been evidence that's been discussed up until now suggesting that Celeste was gonna blow the whistle and tell police, uh, David's been dating me, an underage girl, and Celeste was mad because David was apparently dating others. And Celeste had thought that maybe they would be exclusive, and she wasn't exclusive. Uh, I don't know if anybody was exclusive with David. He had so many girls, but you might consider the fact that he had an upcoming tour and if he's making that kind of money and then you have this little problem on the side, somebody who is about to go to the police and you're about to be charged potentially with a crime and there goes your tour and there maybe goes your career.

[00:11:42]Because look, crime's great for people in the music business if they're rappers. He's not a rapper. He's sort of R&B, but uh crimes against children, no, ask. Kelly, not good.

[00:11:56]So, yeah, you could you could say that this could be something that a jury might consider motive.

[00:12:02]You're making a lot of money and this girl is threatening to end it all unless you end it all or end her all.

[00:12:11]So outside court, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hawkman, who was in the courtroom, the DA was in there. He said that prosecutors expect this uh this prelim this preliminary hearing should be about 3 to 5 days and called today's testimony just the beginning. I like to say tip of the iceberg, but yeah, I guess like hold on to your chair because [snorts] today was bad. And if this was just the beginning, I can't imagine how much worse it could get. But by the time they're finished, uh Nathan Hoffman, the DA, says that they're going to ask the judge to hold David to answer on charges including first-degree murder with special circumstances, lewd acts with a 13-year-old, and mutilation of human remains. Uh none of those charges uh particularly street credible, right? Not really. Really bad.

[00:13:07]And also there seems to be a lot of evidence for the the LWD acts part because there were photos that the police allegedly obtained showing David and Celeste in some very sexy positions, shall we say. So that's that's bad for your case.

[00:13:31]If you're charged with that charge, that's bad for your case. And that whole blue plastic shards in the body parts, you know, from the kiddie pool, that would definitely back up a mutilation of a corpse. The first degree murder part. That's where they really got to be clever and they've got to get to uh his intent and then prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it was him who did it. So, there was so much more inside that courtroom um that we could than we could fit into a recap.

[00:14:03]I was so lucky to get a yes when I reached out to somebody who watched every single minute of today's testimony unfold firsthand in that courtroom.

[00:14:14]Lauren Conlin is a Los Angeles magazine reporter. She's also really good at true crime and she was kind enough to join me a little earlier to talk about the day in court. Lauren, thank you so much for being on Drop Deadad Serious. Uh you've had a day.

[00:14:31]It's been a day. It's been It's been pretty tough. I wasn't expecting to see the the graphic images that we saw, Ashley. And I gotta say, this was within the first hour of of being in court. So, it was right off the bat. I just I wasn't expecting it. And for me, I mean, it was hard. I kept looking over at Celeste's family. I couldn't help it.

[00:14:54]I kept looking at her father for for whatever reason, and it was just so heartbreaking. Um, so incredibly heartbreaking.

[00:15:02]>> Well, listen, we read the details, but you're actually sitting there. So, best you can tell me what you saw.

[00:15:09]>> Yeah. I mean, so when the images were on the screen, I'll I'll just respectfully sort of detail them point blank, but we saw a garbage bag first closed and then next to it they had opened the garbage bag and we saw her her arms and her legs and they described just sort of a a liquid wetness around them uh from the decomposition process, insects, I mean blood. And Ashley, one of the most chilling things about this is I can't really stomach this, but I'm I'm trying to and and I'm trying to take notes and I'm looking away. Same with some of the other reporters. But David, I mean, I was a little confused because he was just staring staring at the screen like he was watching a movie. Did not flinch. Did not flinch. Made me sick to my stomach. How he just didn't look away. Not once. I mean, you see defendants in court, you see them react sometimes. You see them uh you know, you you just sometimes you even see them shake their head like I didn't do I mean none of that. Nothing. Just staring. And I I that was one of the the worst moments for me in court. Not for me.

[00:16:26]It's not about me, but just in general.

[00:16:28]Um and then we saw other photos of of um the torso and her head, which were very tough to make out. I did not realize that I was looking at a torso and a head at first. Um, her hands, we saw fingers that were removed. I mean, it it was Ashley. I It was so awful. It was so awful. And I I just again, I cannot believe her family endured that. I think as a parent, I I may would have had to leave, but then again, I you know, I don't know. But that's kind of how the morning started. Weren't they given um a heads up by the judge to look down that they were at least the family had some warning that these terrible images were coming?

[00:17:11]>> So, I've heard other people say they got a warning. I did not hear any warning from the judge. What I did hear was that the prosecutor told them and told their lawyer about this ahead of time and said, "We're going to be showing these images, so you know, if you want to leave, leave." Now, one of the other reporters caught Beth Silverman. I again, I didn't see this firsthand, but they caught Beth Beth Silverman kind of turn around and give them a glance like, "We're about to do this." Um, but I It's funny. I was just like, I'm shocked that there was no warning issued even just to the gallery like if if anyone is because generally, you know, not everybody can handle that. So, but but nothing. Was there this moment that I've read about um give me your perspective on this that one of the prosecutors actually had to ask the detective on the stand uh when one of these graphic photos was on the monitor, what are we looking at? And the detective like will you take it from there?

[00:18:12]>> Yeah. No, that's what I I I believe that was about the torso and the head because it was it was very confusing. I I think I saw a mass of of black hair. That's what I took from it. But it was so so severely decomposed and it was half wrapped up. And and again, for many of us, it it was just very difficult to to stomach this. And for David, it it just felt very natural for him to be staring and not not even making any type of reaction.

[00:18:49]>> I'm trying to think through that. I always try to give the benefit of the doubt. Imagine, okay, so what if he's innocent? What would an innocent person do? And I I keep thinking, this isn't just some stranger who's dismembered and rotting in these images. It's his former girlfriend. Well, I'll have to say allegedly because these are charges now that he had lecivious conduct with a minor, but he's appeared on video with her. There's all sorts of messaging that this was an actual relationship. So, this isn't a stranger. This is someone he presumably liked quite a bit. One of the more disturbing aspects of um what came out in court today came in in an unusual way. Uh, and it was body cam video um from the police when they were looking for Celeste. You know, she was just a missing person by that point and they are asking David all sorts of questions about do you know her? And of course, he's misdirecting like crazy and I'll get to that in a second, but he had a picture of her on his phone. Describe that.

[00:19:56]Yes, we saw a still of the photo that he showed the police and I was so disturbed, Ashley, because this little girl was in sixth grade in this photo and she looked like a young sixth grader to me. She looked about 10 years old.

[00:20:14]She had this cute little Batman zip-up hoodie on and this f this picture is is on the phone of an 18-year-old 19-year-old man at the time and you're just like what? Like why is this acceptable? Why is this I I it was very disturbing. Very disturbing. really it really speaks to the I mean the the really gross part of the case but but still like a lesser of the horrifying murder is just that there was a a child that you know was apparently having a sexual relationship allegedly with with this young man and there is a charge you know luden lascivious acts with a minor so that seems like pretty good evidence there for that particular charge.

[00:20:59]>> Yes. I mean, David did say over and oh, she said she was 18, but apparently or she told me that apparently people are saying she's 13. And I'm just like, well, yeah. I mean, I I I don't know if you're looking at this photo thinking this was last year, two years ago, if you see recent photos of her, it just didn't really make a lot of sense to me.

[00:21:22]And again, I thought he was offering up too much information voluntarily. I mean, why would you keep even if even if the photo was her when she looked younger and and you started seeing her when she looked older, why would you keep the younger photo on your phone?

[00:21:36]It's just >> creepy.

[00:21:38]>> Yeah, exactly.

[00:21:39]>> And the misdirection part, the misdirection part is important because as I understood it today, um, and it gets a bit complicated as to what he said to the questions he was being asked about, do you know her? When was the last time you saw her, how well do you know her? Um and and he was really obiscating. H how did he characterize it to the police?

[00:22:01]>> Well, he he basically said that he had not physically seen her since November, and this was this was February of 2024.

[00:22:11]So, he said he hadn't seen her physically since 2023, November. He said he spoke to her maybe a week or so ago or or or something along those lines, but it was very much like, well, I guess I kind of know her, but but not that well, but oh, but I do have this photo of her. He said they met on Instagram, Facebook, Discord, you know, online basically, but was absolutely making light of it again while he's chewing food, while he's saying, "Oh, there's alcohol or beer in my fridge. I just want to be honest with you." just trying really hard.

[00:22:44]>> Seemed like he was uh behaving in an unusual way and also trying to be just a little too casual about all of it.

[00:22:53]>> Bingo. Mhm.

[00:22:54]>> There's a lot of evidence to show that he was completely lying about his the nature of his relationship and when he last saw her and when he communicated with her and when she'd been at his house. Like all of that stuff exists.

[00:23:08]>> Oh yeah. And when you when you kind of play that footage back, I think you realize how diabolical it really is because it comes so naturally to him to just kind of lie like that right off the cuff just to, you know, volunteer this information that nobody asked about yet.

[00:23:26]Um, but he he did it very very easily, which is really alarming. And then later when they executed a warrant, they got his computer, I think it was on his computer, they found airline tickets that show uh he and Celeste traveling together to couple places, right? Like it it is not a casual relationship.

[00:23:47]They're I think they went to >> Well, I can tell you they went they went to from LA to Texas and LA to London and he's from Texas. So I was thinking, well, did they go to his family's home?

[00:24:01]Did she meet his family? I mean, what did they know about this this relationship, this this grooming that he was doing? I mean, it's so so bizarre to me that nobody stepped in sooner if they saw this young girl and they knew how old she was. So, I think that's what's also going to come out in the next couple of days. Who knew, if anyone, her age? Did anybody ask her age? Did you know? I mean it's it's it is really bizarre to think about nobody's stepping in here.

[00:24:34]>> Were there were there people who were complicit in this? But but I find more uh interesting an absolute proof how well you knew her traveling with her internationally and international travel. You know, I still don't understand how that happened because if you're a minor, you can't just travel.

[00:24:55]You have to have your parents' permission. And here's this grown man with an underage girl crossing a border.

[00:25:02]Like it just screams of sex trafficking.

[00:25:04]That's not a charge here, but it How did that happen?

[00:25:08]>> That's a real I didn't even think about that. I mean, I feel like there might have been some forging of signatures or if another adult I mean, who knows? Who knows? We might find out. But man, I did not even think of that.

[00:25:21]>> It was pretty alarming. And again, it just shows you're lying. You didn't just meet this girl and and didn't see her recently, you're traveling around the world with her. This episode is brought to you by Wild Grain. If you really love good fresh baked bread, but you don't have time to hunt down the bakery, uh this is honestly one of the easiest food subscriptions I've tried. Wild Grain sends baked from frozen sourdough breads and pastries and even fresh pasta right to your door. Everything is made with simple ingredients that you can actually pronounce. So, it tastes incredible and it's easier on your tummy. And the best part is that you just pop it in the oven. No thawing, no prep. And in about 25 minutes, your entire kitchen smells like a bakery. And uh don't just take my word for it. They have over 40,000 five-star reviews. And they've been voted the best food subscription box by USA Today for 3 years in a row. For a limited time, Wild Grain is offering my listeners $30 off your first box, plus free croissants for life when you go to wildgrain.com/banfield to start your subscription today. That's $30 off your first box and free croissants for life at wildgrain.com/banfield or use the promo code banfield at checkout. Links in the description. And they also um found airline tickets in David's home during the search warrant.

[00:26:50]And the airline tickets mattered because they had Celeste's name on them, significantly proving that they were traveling together.

[00:26:59]>> Yes. They they found these on a a tower computer is what the detective referred to it as. And they were United Airline tickets. There were two separate trips.

[00:27:09]one uh California to Texas, his hometown, so or home state. So, you know, one could speculate or assume that she knew his parents. And then second was uh to London. So, you know, we we read about these trips in the pre-trial briefing, but again, it was another thing to see this um in court in in addition to just the the prosecution just laying out all of this evidence uh at at the same time.

[00:27:41]And and it was it was it was a lot, you know, it was a lot.

[00:27:45]>> It was a lot. And all they needed to establish was probable cause in this hearing, but it's a couple days long and so so detailed. I'm almost wondering if they're trying to scare the hell out of him into taking a plea deal. Like this is just a preliminary and look what we've got on you.

[00:28:01]>> Well, can I tell you that one of the more shocking things that we heard today and and when I say shocking, it's a different kind of shocking, I guess.

[00:28:11]the finance director uh or the former finance director of Mogul Vision discussed that he still had a relationship with David's mother, Colleen, who was David's money manager.

[00:28:22]Now, I don't know if if the prosecu or I'm sorry, if the defense was trying to say like, you know, David didn't really know how much money he had. It was his mother who dealt with the finances. If if they're trying to say, you know, the motive about the money doesn't exist because he didn't know. Well, they tell us that the former finance director, uh, Benjamin Greger, I believe his name was, he still works with Colleen Burke to this day. And the prosecutor, Beth Silverman, you know, says, "Why? What are you guys working on?" And he says, "We are trying to find David a new entertainment attorney like now." Like right now, Ashley. And so I I'm sitting there like taking notes. I'm like, did I just hear that right? Like this guy's in shackles, has shackles around his waist. He's in jail.

[00:29:14]He could be facing the death penalty, but his family is like, "Oh, when this is over, like we're I mean I it was bananas." Bananas.

[00:29:24]>> Yeah, that does sort of wreak of read the room. Um >> Yeah.

[00:29:29]>> Well, that's what I'm saying. Like, do they not think that this is I guess I'm kind of wondering is there going to be some big defense bombshell here because they think that this is going to all go away somehow. I think that was very very just perplexing, I guess.

[00:29:45]Well, that and also the conversation they had about um and correct me if I'm wrong here, Lauren, but they asked about why David's home was put into his mother's name. And the answer was so stark. It was like they they said the quiet part out loud, >> right? Well, so he said that he admitted to recommending somebody who could do that for Colleen um move the homes or move the titles into her name. And the prosecutor said, "Well, isn't it true that that you suggested this so that David could could avoid any type of, you know, penalties with a a potential wrongful civil civil suit where they they come after your home and your assets." And he kind of was like, "No, no, no." And they were reading a lot of grand jury testimony that would support that. This is why um this is why >> that that they were concerned about a civil case brought by Celeste Rivas Hernandez's family and wanted to protect their assets.

[00:30:49]>> Yes. And I asked the attorney, Patrick Steinfeld, the family attorney, about this after and he said it was just disgusting. They were just shocked. They were shocked to hear this. I mean, obviously in addition to everything else, but um yeah, and her family, by the way, had a translator there as well, which I I thought was um you know, important cuz I was thinking to myself like, are they understanding a lot of this because it was alleged that her her dad didn't speak much much English at all? And that is true.

[00:31:20]>> Wow. Well, God, I mean, just to add another insult to the injury trying to get it secondhand in the courtroom from a translator, there were there was one detail today that I thought was very stark, but super compelling and very damning. And that was that in these terrible photos that everybody was subjected to in the courtroom, there was a detail that was critical to basically making it look very, very much like David had something to do with this, and that was blue bits of plastic in her remains. Remind us why that was really important.

[00:32:02]>> Yes. So, they showed us these blue fragments in in her decomposing remains because David had ordered a blue inflatable pool that was found in in his garage. Um, or I'm sorry, the pool the the order was found on Amazon and um it was alleged that he dismembered her using this pool also because they found linear cuts in in the inflatable pool as well. So, they showed us uh a a closeup of this and again, you read it in the pre-trial brief, you read it in the autopsy report, but it's just not the same as when you are forced to to look at it.

[00:32:45]>> Yeah. I mean, you get the fragments, blue fragments that they say they have forensically matched to this uh scarred up, cut up pool that they found at the home. And one of the charges is, you know, regarding mutilating a a dead body. So that would speak to proving that charge. I mean this cool these, you know, fragments all match and she's in a Tesla in a towyard.

[00:33:11]>> Yeah. Yes. And and look, it's it was crazy to see. I actually took the time to put everything he had ordered in chronological order after her death. And it seemed to me, and I'm I'm speculating here, but it kind of looked like he started to change his mind about what he allegedly was going to do with her body because at first we see a shovel was ordered. Then um you know, it's it's chainsaws and the pool and then we see a burn cage and then we see fire resistant mats. So I'm like, we oh cadaavver bags and heavy duty laundry bags. I mean, it just seemed to me that he did not know what he was doing. He didn't have a plan. He was figuring it out frantically as he kind of went along. Um and and again, just seeing all of this on paper, so to speak, was was pretty damning >> and and very compelling as you as you say that because everybody had the question, who would even if you were going to kill someone, why would you put them in your own trunk and then park it just a stones throw away? like, don't you think that that's going to come back to you? And it does sound like what you're saying makes sense. That wasn't the intention. He just perhaps, if he's guilty of this, couldn't figure out what to do next.

[00:34:33]>> Yeah. And and investigators had also stated that the last known image or or surveillance image of David driving the Tesla was July 29th, 2025. They had images of that. They had footage of that. But what they also had, Ashley, was the fact that his iCloud account was disconnected from the Tesla on that day, July 29th, 2025. They identified the account and and the phone. Um I it was called Tranquilizer, but they never actually found this iPhone, the physical iPhone. It's an iPhone 16 Pro Max. They never found it, but a lot of the um the data that was scraped came from from this phone.

[00:35:20]>> They didn't find the phone. They didn't find the spade that was ordered presumably for burying. That would be the guess. They didn't find that burn mat, which I had heard of only today. I heard about the burn cage before, but not the burn mat. That wasn't found. But they did find a receipt for Ross Dress for Less. Not sure why a big, you know, music mogul needs to go to Ross Dress for Less, but it was a receipt for the significant date of the detachment of his phone from the um from the Tesla.

[00:35:57]>> Yep. And they they went to that actual address that they found on the receipt.

[00:36:01]They got that surveillance. They saw him buying something in the store and they're like, "Yeah, he was driving it.

[00:36:06]This this is the guy. This is him. Uh, something also that I found significant or I think that is going to be significant is during the the search on September 17th, which was the day after her body was identified as as being Celeste. They got the search warrant to the the Dhini Place home and they found a light blue iPhone. It's a 15 Pro Max.

[00:36:30]And Detective Buyers, who's the lead detective, said, "You know, this is David's phone because we opened it. We found some selfies. We found some credit cards of his uh maybe a license or an image of a license and that was that for direct. But during cross, Blair Burke showed a search warrant um that detailed this phone, you know, them wanting to get the uh the forensics and and the iCloud account and everything, but it was it was cited with an Abigail Blue email, which is an email or an iCloud that belonged to Celeste. And Detective Buyers was like, "Yeah, we want this info for the iCloud, but we don't we're not matching it to the light blue phone.

[00:37:12]That's that's, you know, you're he basically was like, Blair Burke, you're kind of you're kind of making this up here. This is on the same warrant, but they're not connected." Well, there's a heated exchange and the judge is kind of just like, "Why are we talking about this here?" And Burke alluded to the fact that she believes the contents on this phone that they are going to attribute to David is is incorrect. I take that as that phone has the CSAM material. I take it as the defense is going to say no. No, that was Celeste's phone. She took those P. know, I I have a feeling, and again, I I could be wrong, but there was so much time spent on this light blue phone, and we didn't really get to the bottom of it that I was like, "Okay, there's something more there." Well, we'll table that because clearly this is just a preliminary hearing. We have a couple more days.

[00:38:03]Maybe they'll return to it or maybe it'll come up at trial. But they also said something, and I feel like this is a cliffhanger. I feel like they they just left it and it's unresolved, but you tell me. The detective said that evidence about Santa Barbara and Santa Anz Valley, I hope I'm pronouncing that right. Santa Inz Valley.

[00:38:25]>> Yeah, that's they I mean I'm not from California, but yes, they >> they the detective said it's of particular interest and that it feels like they just kind of left us hanging. that we all know that these trips were made to Santa Barbara, but I was just sort of curious about why the detectives said Santa Barbara and Santa and Valley are of particular interest when they were talking about the mat not being found, the phone not being found, and some of the other evidence. Any idea? Well, I think they had noted there were some Tesla charging stations right by um those specific areas and that was on the way to where David was uh was driving to in Santa Barbara and subsequently where Celeste's passport was found by that CALR worker. So, I I feel like sure, there could be more evidence found in Santa Barbara, maybe, but why wouldn't they put that in the pre-trial brief if they put the passport? I I don't know.

[00:39:27]Again, I could be wrong. I feel like I'm I'm wrong on so much sometimes, Ashley, that I I don't know. I mean, you you could be right, but yeah, who I don't know. It's such a guessing game right now because I can't for the life of me figure out why this guy, if he's guilty of these crimes, would have killed her and immediately driven out Santa Barbara County and then not disposed of her. He he had the ability. I don't think it's too hard to dig. I mean, I think I could do it. I'm a girl. Um, but why was she still in that Tesla trunk when he had made these trips out there? What was the reason for the trips? Have we ever kind of figured that out?

[00:40:09]>> No. I mean, I I always I've sort of compared this in my mind and probably out loud a few times to Scott Peterson going back and forth to the marina. I mean, did he I think maybe, you know, he was disposing of her belongings possibly. Maybe he was burning her belongings there because it was so far away. He forgot about the passport probably. But yeah, o or there was some kind of plan, alleged plan that he was concocting in his head. But you're right, why make all these trips just to keep her in your your own car registered to you before you go on tour?

[00:40:50]>> Parked around the corner. I mean, parked within sniffing distance, >> right? And then towed because you obviously don't have anyone move it for you. You don't move it into your driveway. you obviously like did he just think it was going to go away that it just gets towed and then and then that's that. I I cannot figure that out.

[00:41:09]>> I'll be honest with you. Uh if he did this, I do feel like he might have started to put his head in the sand and just hope as a big celebrity things will just get cleaned up.

[00:41:20]>> Yeah. And there's been a lot of talk about his manager, Robert Morgan Roth, and I was in I thought it was really interesting. So, they identified a a red Tesla in the garage that was registered to him. And the detective said that belongs to David's assistant slash like day-to-day person. Did not really refer to him as a manager. And I was like, assistant? Okay, that's interesting. I haven't heard that before, but if someone's your assistant, generally they're very involved with your life.

[00:41:55]I'm I'm not pointing fingers. I'm wondering if we're just going to learn a little bit more here.

[00:42:00]>> Well, I'm curious, too, because they did say that in the next couple days, and by the way, Nathan Hawkman was in the courtroom today. I mean, the DA himself, obviously, he's taking a keen interest in this case, and and he said it's going to take a couple days and there'll be more witnesses. Do we know what witnesses are coming up? And might it be this manager slashcleaner slashfixer slash who knows what uh was done for David? We we don't get any like it's so tough. California is so difficult. We actually went a reporter and I went to the clerk's office to see if we could get some of the exhibits or when they'd be posted. They told us by Wednesday we'd see some of the exhibits, but there's no witness list. We have no idea. Um so it's it's kind of just like we're all just waiting there on the edge of our seats trying to figure out what what's coming next. Um, so you know, and and I also I didn't think that Celeste's family would be in the courtroom because they're potential witnesses, but the judge made an announcement that because of Marcy's law, this allows them to be in the courtroom, as it does David's family if they chose to be there. They were not there. Um, so but but yeah, I'm I'm just wondering who who's going to be next, just like everybody else.

[00:43:16]>> Honestly, that happens more and more.

[00:43:17]family members who are on the witness list still uh are given the the grace to to be able to be in the in the proceedings. Obviously, this is everything to them. Um question about the the uh the dental records. They they were only able to, as I understand, identify Celeste through the dental records, even though they had her head and her torso and her limbs, but there was something that they said about uh her face that was very disturbing.

[00:43:47]Yes. I actually don't even need to look at my notes for that, Ashley, because it stuck out in my brain so much. The detective said he could not make out any facial features because of the skin slippage. That's what he said. The decomposition was so bad that her her skin was was slipping off her face. I forgive me for speaking so bluntly. Um, but what's even more just disheartening about everything is that Jesus Rivas, her father, when the news broke that there was a body found in a Tesla, he called the LAPD and said, "I think this might be my daughter." I mean, what? Like I And his son Yeah. his son apparently translated for him and everything and they just said, "Okay, can you point us to her dentist? we will take it from here. And yeah, >> I can't imagine what that um would have been like for the family to hear skin slippage. It may be a stark, you know, term, but it means she was decomposing and her face was falling off and they couldn't even identify her based on her own face. It it's just so unimaginable for these parents. And I know people have taken pot shots at them for being crappy parents and maybe they were, but nobody deserves a death sentence, you know.

[00:45:11]um among their family for just being asleep at the switch.

[00:45:14]>> Well, and you know when you say that it it I kind of forgot for a minute about that and that just makes me so angry like this world that we live in now where it's like these parents you you know as parents we do the best we can. I I have never spoken to her parents. I I don't know much about her home life other than what I've read but firsthand no I I don't know. And I think that we as parents when we make decisions, we're not expecting our child to come come back in a body bag dismembered. So, of course, if they could go back and do a couple things differently, they would because who expects an outcome like this?

[00:45:55]>> Do you know what I mean? Like, who want I mean, and I've also heard like her mom used to sleep in the bed with her to try to get her to stay home and and you know, it's it's it's tough there.

[00:46:05]There's so much that we don't know that that went on at, you know, at home or or whatever. And I just feel like it's so inappropriate for people to point fingers at her family who is obviously grieving. And and I remember seeing all of that and I'm like, God, you guys shut up. Like, shut. It's not the time. Like, it's not helping, you know?

[00:46:26]>> Pretty judgy. Um, and again, the consequence doesn't fit the action regardless of how you slice it. Um, so there was something else that was said in the courtroom today that just made me sort of shiver. I have heard the uh the term before used to describe a piece of evidence as a burn cage. You know, that that David had allegedly ordered this burn cage to be delivered to his home.

[00:46:50]It was found in the home. It hadn't really been opened or used. Maybe.

[00:46:54]Again, second thought, so it was like a plan C or D or E or whatever it was. But the the request uh of the the to the way they asked the detective on the stand about the burn cage was what is it? And he basically said a mini crerematorium.

[00:47:14]>> Yeah. Yeah.

[00:47:16]>> I mean first of all burn cages aren't crerematoriums. They're not used to be creremator. Did anybody object to that?

[00:47:23]I mean that's just >> Oh >> wow.

[00:47:26]I mean, he said before he said that, he said, you know, it you put things like he said like gardening, you know, you keep it outside. He he he did kind of describe what it was realistically before he said like a mini crematorium type of thing and you were like, "Oh gosh, okay." Um, that's interesting. But what was also interesting is that Blair Burke during the cross-examination, she grilled him and said, "Well, you saw this. You took pictures of it, but you didn't think to log it into evidence.

[00:47:58]And look, I mean, it was unopened. It was it was not used in the box, but no, he he didn't log it into evidence. And I don't know if you remember this, Ashley, but when Steve Fiser, the PI that worked for the homeowner, Yeah. Like he saw this and put it out there and was like, "Look what we freaking found in the house." And everybody was like, "I'm sorry, what?" So to see all of this again coming together in a courtroom finally was wild.

[00:48:26]>> Pretty shocking. I was not aware that they didn't log the burn cage into evidence cuz I'm going to be real here.

[00:48:34]Ain't no one know how using a burn cage in the Hollywood Hills. Period. End of story. Why did that not stand out as the biggest find in that search warrant? So I my take is that because they already knew that she was dismembered they and they had her body and it was unopened.

[00:48:55]That's why I but now because Blair Burke her defense strategy at least for today was attacking the investigation.

[00:49:06]She also mentioned a cadaabver bag that wasn't logged into evidence um that Celeste's body was in or wasn't tested on the outside. And Buyers had an answer. He just said, you know, the criminologist said that it just it wouldn't have mattered because of the way that her body was decomposing in it, the liquid, whatever. So, they removed the the handles and the zipper, and they logged those into evidence. But Blair Burke was like, "So, you didn't test the outside? You didn't do this? You didn't do that?" And he's like, "No, the criminologist said we we didn't have to." So, you know, when you're putting a a lot of those things together, I think that that's where she's trying to to build her defense, at least so far. She There was some issues with the chainsaws as well. They had tested the chainsaws for blood. They didn't find any blood, so they just didn't test them for DNA or anything else either. And so, she made a big deal about that as well.

[00:50:00]>> Smart. Smart. I mean, look at the AJ case. it was all about the police suck or the police are racist and you know OJ got off despite it being a slam dunk case. So speaking of like the the level of uh evidence and the um the slam dunkness of this I I shouldn't ever say anything slam dunk after OJ, but Nathan Hawkman made a point of saying this is a death penalty eligible case.

[00:50:26]They haven't yet indicated whether they're going to pursue the death penalty, but are there whisper rumors or is there sourcing or any leaks about whether they want to pursue the death penalty here?

[00:50:38]>> I think I I think we're going to we're going to have an idea about that after the preliminary hearing. I I really do.

[00:50:47]So, um there haven't been any leaks. I think they're being very careful about that. But just from from what I've learned and what I've heard from uh I guess I should say local local attorneys who who are familiar with the DA's office and their processes, I think that decision will come after the prelims.

[00:51:08]And I think this could be bad enough to to warrant the death penalty because again we're talking about a child, a 14year-old girl.

[00:51:17]>> One other question about David's um presentation in court. He came in in an orange jumpsuit, right?

[00:51:25]>> Yes.

[00:51:26]>> Shackled, handcuffed, all the rest. But they made a big deal about asking if he could be unshackled or if he could have his handcuffs taken off. And they actually did unccuff him, but then they cuffed his shackle to the to the chair.

[00:51:39]Tell me about that moment. And why do you think that played out like that?

[00:51:42]>> Well, it was be Yeah. before the proceedings started and and Blair Burke had filed a motion I believe on Monday about these shackles and it was brought up at the last hearing and the judge is like we'll we'll cross that bridge when we come to it basically. But she basically cited Blair Burke that David has been very mildmannered. He has not done anything inappropriate the last few hearings. He's innocent until proven guilty. She said something about, you know, shackles just being anim animalistic and and I'm paraphrasing, but something along those lines >> and the judge, >> that's a that's a favorite line now by defense attorneys like that. Uh when they when they petition the court to unshackle their clients, they often say something about it being, you know, oh, this looks like an animal.

[00:52:30]>> Yeah. Yeah. It was something along those lines. I can't recall. I'll have to get the transcript, but it was just like, okay. um you know and and the judge cited a lot of case law and I could tell where she was going and and I was surprised that she's like okay well we're going to keep you shackled at the waist attached to the chair or the table but you can have your hands free to take notes and drink water and and look I I couldn't see the shackled at his waist I saw from about here up I mean the uh the sketch artists I don't think they you know certain angles they they were sketching the whole the whole body here but from where we're sitting, you you really couldn't see his his bottom half.

[00:53:08]Anyway, >> listen, I have kept you long enough and it's been a long long day for you.

[00:53:13]Lauren Conlin, thank you so much for all of this context and color. It's just invaluable.

[00:53:19]>> Of course, thank you so much for having me. I would love to come back for a I don't know, a more uplifting case if there is one. I don't know if there is.

[00:53:27]>> Man, it is a tough beat, not going to lie. Oh, so good to have you though, and please do come back. My great thanks to Lauren Conlin. Man, oh man, that girl's a good reporter. And oh, I feel for her.

[00:53:42]Let me tell you something. It isn't easy sitting in a courtroom when images like that uh flash up on the screen, you think you're just there to, you know, do your job clinical like a doctor with blood. You know, they just get used to it. You don't. You just don't because there's a family sitting right here crying because that's their baby.

[00:54:02]And that stuff is hard to process. The [ __ ] gets real fast. Yeah. And so I feel for Lauren. I feel for the other media that were there. I feel for the family members. I feel for the I feel for the officers of the court. They're real people, too. And they've got to they've got to deal with this. A teenage girl rotting in a trunk with her face melting off. I mean, this is hard to process.

[00:54:28]So, justice for Celeste, you know, justice for Celeste. What that means, whether it means David gets locked away for a long, long time or even gets the death penalty, watch this space. And if you've been watching this space, thank you for watching this space. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching.

[00:54:48]Thank you for subscribing. And remember, truth isn't just serious, it is drop deadad serious.