transcript
Speaker 1:
[00:13] Hey, everyone, welcome back to Crime Weekly News. I'm Derrick Levasseur.
Speaker 2:
[00:17] And I'm Stephanie Harlowe.
Speaker 1:
[00:18] And as you can see from the title of this episode, this is, well, I shouldn't say it's gonna be the ending of this saga, but this is kind of like-
Speaker 2:
[00:25] Been a long time coming.
Speaker 1:
[00:26] Yeah, this is something that we've been anticipating. David D4vd, also real name David Anthony Burke, has finally been charged and arrested for the murder of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. This is something that we've been covering for a while. This is our third Crime Weekly news on this, and it's kind of been a progression, right? We had the beginning, we had the middle. I wouldn't call this the end yet because he's presumed innocent until, you know, something happens at court and he's found guilty of these charges if he's found guilty. But Stephanie, do you want to give us an update on this one because this isn't going to be a long Crime Weekly news, but we felt obligated to cover this again, even though we've already covered extensively.
Speaker 2:
[01:07] We wanted to cover it. We didn't feel obligated necessarily. We wanted to, I know a lot of people are following this case, but if you're not following it the way that we are, we wanted to be the ones to tell you that finally, after all this time and all of this wondering like, why the hell is this guy not being arrested? He's arrested. And we do have some information. So keep in mind, once again, he's being charged with the murder of a 14-year-old girl. This man is 21 years old. And he has been arrested. He's been charged with murder, repeated sexual abuse of a minor, and mutilation of human remains in connection with Celeste's death. And this was according to a criminal complaint made public just this morning as we're filming this. So apparently, according to the district attorney, Nathan Hochman.
Speaker 1:
[02:00] Is that how you say it? Nathan Hochman? I was gonna say Hockman.
Speaker 2:
[02:03] Yeah, I don't know. It's probably Hockman. It may be Hochman. I don't know. CH.
Speaker 1:
[02:07] Yeah, the last names. We get them wrong sometimes.
Speaker 2:
[02:10] It could be Hockman.
Speaker 1:
[02:11] It could also be Hockman. Yeah, you're not wrong.
Speaker 2:
[02:13] I don't listen to videos of things. I just do my research with my eyes reading things. So that's why I always struggle with pronunciations. But you guys know who I mean. Apparently, according to the district's attorney's office, David Anthony Burke had been reportedly sexually abusing 14-year-old Celeste, and then he murdered her and dismembered her body in order to protect his ascendant music career. Which, yeah, that's basically what we've been saying, right? We knew there was a grooming thing happening. There was evidence there that Celeste and David knew each other, that many people who kind of were in David's orbit, and even just fans who were... What is that chat that they're all in? Like a discord, they were in his discord, and they would watch his lives and stuff, that Celeste was involved in David's life, and we believed there was some sort of grooming process happening, and Celeste's family had said she had a boyfriend named David, he wrote a song with her name in it. He, you know, there was stuff there that was pointing to it.
Speaker 1:
[03:18] The writing was definitely on the wall. We were being careful as far as what we said, because again, this is someone who has a lot of money, we're in the public eye, we're forward-facing, and so you gotta worry about lawsuits and all that stuff. But I think we were-
Speaker 2:
[03:33] I think you knew how we felt about it.
Speaker 1:
[03:34] Yeah, if you read between the lines, it wasn't even just the way we felt based on, you know, this is just a vibe, if you will, right?
Speaker 2:
[03:41] Yeah, no.
Speaker 1:
[03:42] The evidence was pointing that direction when you thought about who would have an incentive to see Celeste dead. As far as we knew publicly, the list was very short. There was someone who was in an illegal relationship with her.
Speaker 2:
[03:54] Yeah, and whose car she ended up being found dead in, you know.
Speaker 1:
[03:58] Point in that direction. And I do want to say, I don't have it in front of me right now. Maybe we can look it up or someone could put it in the comments. But there was one of David's accomplices or his friends that were picked up last month. I had said it in that episode that this was the first domino to fall, because whenever there is a hierarchy, a power imbalance, David being at the top there, there are going to be yes men around him. And they may help him try to cover this up or they may know about it and just not come forward with that information.
Speaker 2:
[04:27] Until the heat's on them.
Speaker 1:
[04:28] But once the heat is on them and they realize that they can be charged as if they committed the crime, most of those people are going to crack, because in this hierarchy, there's always people at the bottom who have less involvement but just as much to lose. And most of the time that loyalty will be tested and it will fail. They're going to come forward and they're going to sing like a canary and in order for them to charge him being David, my guess would be that this isn't just conjecture or speculation, they have somebody who's going to testify to this and it may be more evidence that we're aware of or unaware of that's going to connect David to this as well.
Speaker 2:
[05:04] I mean, it looks like they do have a lot more information because the district attorney said that the murder happened last April when Celeste was last seen entering Burke's Hollywood Hills home. And then after that, she wasn't heard from again. So we have right here, somebody saw her entering the home, right? Somebody unequivocally has said, I saw her entering the home last April. And then this is when she was never heard from again. And obviously, we know that David's been linked to Celeste's death for months. And according to the complaint filed Monday, the DA's office said that David killed Celeste on April 23rd, 2025 and then mutilated her corpse about two weeks later in early May.
Speaker 1:
[05:50] Makes perfect sense. And that's details that they've gotten from somebody.
Speaker 2:
[05:53] Yeah. And I think also probably, you know, evidence. Like, was he on tour at the time? He was home on April 23rd. Then maybe he went on tour. He was gone for a little while. Then he came back and then he did the job of mutilating her body. But it looks like David was actively involved with this. I know this is something we've gone back and forth about. Like, did she die in an accident, like an accidental overdose? And then he had other people do his dirty work. Did he kill her and then have other people do his dirty work? It looks to be that he was hands on in this, according to this evidence. But of course, David Anthony Burke has denied all wrongdoings through his attorneys. He has said he's completely innocent of this. The district attorney, Hockman or Houchman or whatever his name is, he says, in no way, there's no way that you are innocent of this. The defense attorney team, Blair Burke, has said about their client David, quote, let us be clear, the actual evidence in this case will show that David Burke did not murder Celeste Rivas Hernandez and he was not the cause of her death. End of quotes, but the district attorney is saying absolutely not. You're not going to try that. They said there's physical, forensic and digital evidence tying David to the crime.
Speaker 1:
[07:09] As the kids would say, as my daughters would say, I think he's cooked. He's cooked. And by the way, the friend that I was referring to, for anybody who didn't see that last CWN, you can go watch it, but it's Neil Langston. He was arrested on January 22nd, 2026 and he was arrested in Montana. So there's something more here. He was a close confidant of David. I feel like there's information that he probably possessed that has helped them kind of connect a few of the dots. But as far as David's concerned, and he's going to come out and say he's innocent, here's from what you just told us. The victim was last seen going into the house and never left. So it doesn't take a top tier detective to figure out that whatever happened to Celeste happened in that home. And the question is, who did it? That's where detectives have to earn their paycheck and do their job, because there are probably multiple people in that home. Not everybody was more than likely familiar with Celeste. Maybe they were aware of her, but didn't have a relationship with her. This is where investigators, yeah, they knew of her, but this is where they're going to have to tell the story to the jury. And I think with having some of his counterparts involved in this, but coupled with the digital and the forensic information that they're going to have, the evidence, I think it's going to paint a pretty clear picture.
Speaker 2:
[08:25] Yeah, and I have a thought about a potential trial, but I will come back to that in my final thoughts. I also want to mention that the Prosecutor's Office filed a murder charge with special circumstance charges. And this is basically they're alleging David Burke killed Celeste for financial gain and because she was a witness to a crime, which was her own sexual abuse at his hands. Now, people might say, what financial gain? The financial gain was, she might say something to somebody about what he was doing to her, and then his career would be over. So that's the financial gain. It's not like he stood to get money from her, he stood to lose money if she lived. That's right. This also says that the abuse of Celeste started on September 7th, 2023, which was her 13th birthday. And it ended one year later according to the complaint. So September of 2023, the abuse starts, it ends in September of 2024. And then where is she last seen? Or at what time was she last seen at David Burke's house? April of last year, which was 2025, correct? So clearly something was going on where David thought, hey, she's gonna talk or she's gonna say something, or maybe he was just paranoid. And he, I believe, kind of set up a plan to lure her to his house to talk or maybe to reconnect or whatever. And it might be a premeditated kind of thing as well, if you're asking me.
Speaker 1:
[09:58] I'm gonna take it a step further. And I could be completely wrong on this, but I'm reading between the lines as far as the charges. I do wonder if there had been some disconnect and investigators might have already been looking into the fact that there was some form of sexual abuse going on here.
Speaker 2:
[10:15] Because police were not actively investigating the abuse at the time Celeste has appeared.
Speaker 1:
[10:19] That's fine, but they charged them with murder of a witness to an investigation. So I wonder if that murder of a witness is due to the current event. Or if Celeste goes there and says, listen, my mom or family, I don't know. We're gonna find it all out. But there might be more to this story where there may have even been a threat of, hey, they're aware of this. I may go to the police. And that's when David decided like, you can't leave here. This is too much of a risk.
Speaker 2:
[10:45] See, I don't think if she had already gone to the police that he would have killed her because then obviously the pieces are put together.
Speaker 1:
[10:52] I'm not saying her. I'm saying they're aware of it. Like someone might have reported this and she may have been asked about it and said, you know, I don't know anything. But the threat of, hey, listen, they're aware of this. And if I give my side to the story, you're done. Just the threat of that, right? Where she's a potential witness that's gonna be interviewed by law enforcement because I don't know what the charge would be here, like murder of a witness to an investigation.
Speaker 2:
[11:17] Murder of a witness to a crime.
Speaker 1:
[11:18] The Yahoo News article here says Burke has been charged with first degree murder with special circumstances, including lying in wait, murder committed for financial gain and murder of a witness to an investigation. Now that could be wrong. Maybe the wording is a little different, which would matter here. But if that's correct, murder of a witness to an investigation, what is that? We need to know more. This is kind of just coming out now, so it's evolving.
Speaker 2:
[11:44] I wonder if it could be like a private investigator possibly? Is that possible? Either way, she could have gone to him and said, hey, so-and-so asked me about you.
Speaker 1:
[11:54] Yeah.
Speaker 2:
[11:54] And seems like they know something. And then he's thinking, okay, this is not contained any longer. Because there was some time that passed between the end of the abuse and when Celeste was, I believe, lured over to David's house so that he could kill her.
Speaker 1:
[12:07] And that would be the motive here, right? Like he had all this time with her. Never hurt, never killed her. But then there was something here where at this point, he felt like she, as we've said multiple times now, a danger to his career. So I do wonder what was said or what was learned where David felt like now she was an active threat. And that's where I think this charge could come into play. Whether he had heard from someone that maybe she was questioned by police or someone in her family network or friend network had mentioned something to law enforcement, maybe law enforcement had maybe inquired about it. Maybe there wasn't an active investigation, but an inquiry.
Speaker 2:
[12:45] And she had said, hey, the police came here asking about this, like just wanting to give you a heads up. And he was like, nope, got to tie up these loose ends now.
Speaker 1:
[12:53] Yeah, that would be one angle. Another angle could be she could, she might have said, I don't like the way you're treating me. I don't like the way this is going. If it continues, maybe I talk.
Speaker 2:
[13:03] Yeah. But like I said, there was according to the filing, at least, there was a stretch of time between when the abuse ended and when Celeste was last seen at his house. So that's kind of why I think maybe he had like been, said, okay, you know, this is going on long enough. Like I'm getting really famous and popular now. I have to worry about my reputation. He cut off the relationship and then months later, it popped back up and he was like, all right, I have to take care of this now. But either way, as we know, the cause of death has been pretty much kept under wraps. We know that she was dismembered and we know that she had been in the car for some time, but we really haven't been made aware of what the cause of death was. And so the DA's office, they said prosecutors will make court filings that will allow the coroner to release the details of Celeste's death. So that should be coming out within a few days. And as far as a trial goes, here's what I think is gonna happen. I think David and his legal team are gonna do everything they can to kill this case from within before a trial is even talked about. I think they're gonna try to say he's innocent. I think they're going to try and kind of file motions to have certain things suppressed so that they can't be included in a trial. And if all of those things don't work, I think David's going to make a deal. Because when we look at trials and what they are lately, they're not private events. And especially a trial like this would be broadcast, like Johnny Depp and Amber Heard and so many of the cases we talk about have these very public trials. And it's kind of like this moment in time that's just capsulated forever on the Internet. It's not just a news report about somebody doing something or even somebody being charged with murder. It's like an entire trial where you have people, like you said, assistants and people who knew him, who are sitting up there and they're being examined and cross-examined for hours and everything is coming out, not just everything about the case and the murder and the Celeste, but everything about David, like all his skeletons are coming out. We have seen this multiple times where you go into a trial for one thing and that thing is talked about, but all this other stuff comes out. And I think David will probably consider the fallout of such a public trial. And if he knows, hey, I have no shot of getting out of this. And if a trial happens, it's like all of this stuff about me, my private stuff is memorialized on the internet, on YouTube, on law and crime forever until the end of time. I would rather just take my chances and try to make a deal here. And I mean, at this point, they're saying if charged, if convicted, he would be found guilty and then probably face life in prison. Obviously.
Speaker 1:
[15:52] Well, life without parole, but also he's subject to the death penalty. Do I think he'd get it?
Speaker 2:
[15:56] Really? In California?
Speaker 1:
[15:58] It says here in the article again, I'm going off Yahoo News, so don't come at me if I'm wrong here, but it says the charges carry a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.
Speaker 2:
[16:10] Yeah. I mean, that's what I see too on the LA Times, but.
Speaker 1:
[16:12] Do I think that's what's going to happen here?
Speaker 2:
[16:14] No, not in California.
Speaker 1:
[16:16] You know, I look at this case like any other high profile case. If it appears that the person did it, what these high powered attorneys are going to do is try to question the process in which the evidence was obtained. That's really all you have, right? If you're going to go after the evidence in which how it was obtained and also try to pose an alternate theory that can't be disproven. My hope is that law enforcement took all of this time under that understanding and knew that there was no rush. This is a public figure. He's not going anywhere. And they took their time to do things right. They clearly took enough time to go after him, to charge him. So I can only hope that they dotted their eyes, crossed their T's, gathered all the evidence that they could in the proper manner with the proper paperwork, and then also investigated any alternate theories, other people that were in that home to discredit the possibility that they were the ones who killed Celeste, because that is going to be as relevant as proving David did it, right? That's their responsibility, but it's also to discredit any other possible scenarios that the attorneys, the defense attorneys, are going to present at court, saying, hey, there were seven other people in the home. Why couldn't these other six people have been responsible for this? Law enforcement and the prosecutor's office is going to have to have an answer for those questions. And it may be turning those people into witnesses, but that is going to be the main source of attack here. It's going to be questioning the evidence, questioning the investigators that collected the evidence, and making sure that all policies and procedures were followed, because if they were not, it's a quick way to get that stuff thrown out. And then your most critical piece of information or evidence may be not usable any longer. So that's what this really comes down to. We saw it with like a case, like to go back in the day, like an OJ case, right? Where it was very obvious that he did it, but it was the questions and the motives behind the evidence that ultimately got him freed. You had someone who was clearly a racist in the top seat at one of these investigations collecting the evidence. And once you prove that, it's all thrown out. So that's what happened here. And in that case, and I hope that doesn't happen here. I hope everybody has learned from history and seen how some of these cases go, especially when it involves a high profile figure, because there's no doubt these lawyers are going to be prepared.
Speaker 2:
[18:42] Yes. And like I said, I think they'll try to fight it and do whatever they can, and then eventually try to make a deal. Personally, I hope it goes to trial, because I want to know all of David Anthony Burke's deepest, darkest secrets. I guarantee you, Celeste was not the only one that he did this to.
Speaker 1:
[18:58] There may be other victims, for sure.
Speaker 2:
[19:00] Yeah. And I want to know that. And I want every single thing he's ever done to be brought to the light and not let him make a deal and quietly go away to prison.
Speaker 1:
[19:06] It's my belief, allegedly, that he killed her, and there were probably other people that helped facilitate covering it up. I don't know if he did this himself. I don't even know how, unless the house was just empty, I think he would carry this out alone and no one else would be aware of it. Especially if this was a house that was frequented by a lot of his associates. So I think there's a hierarchy there. I think law enforcement has been spending the time going after the lower tier people, and now they feel they have enough. So we'll see how it goes. As always, we're thinking of Celeste's family because regardless of the outcome here, it's not going to bring her back. All we can do is make sure that those responsible, not only the person who killed her, but everybody else who tried covering it up for David, whether it's for money or loyalty, whatever it is, if you actively participated, you should be held accountable as well. That's all we can do at this point. That's all we can do is make sure that Celeste gets justice. Even though she's no longer here, the people who are still here, make sure that those accountable for what happened never see the light of day again.
Speaker 2:
[20:09] Yeah, absolutely. But we find out everything about them. So I hope it's this trial, and I hope they play it on law and crime and all the other places. And I want to see, yeah.
Speaker 1:
[20:18] Oh yeah. And listen, if there's a small chance, we don't personally believe it, we're not going to sit here and sugarcoat it. I don't believe he's innocent. I don't think Stephanie believes he's innocent. But if by chance during this trial, something becomes apparent that makes it seem as if he may be innocent, we'll say that as well. As this trial unfolds, if there's something there that we're like, wow, we weren't aware of that, we'll say it. I'm not placing any bets on that.
Speaker 2:
[20:41] I don't think that's going to happen.
Speaker 1:
[20:44] No, they've had their time to vet those theories and if there was something there where they felt they didn't have enough or there could be something else that was viable, I don't think they would make this arrest. They know how many eyes and ears are going to be on this case and it's important that they get it right because if they don't, they're going to be the laughing stock of the nation. I'm talking about the LAPD and everybody else involved. So can we switch it up to a more positive note? Yes, you know what I'm talking about here?
Speaker 2:
[21:09] Patreon birthday shout outs.
Speaker 1:
[21:11] Yep, birthday shout outs for our partner in crime members. For anybody who doesn't know, we now have our Patreon subscription up and we have different tiers. Our top tier is the partner in crime tier and part of that tier, you get birthday shout outs in Crime Weekly News. So we have our April shout outs.
Speaker 2:
[21:27] I actually think it's so cool, these ones. Like I noticed a pattern about them.
Speaker 1:
[21:32] Well, they love your analysis of their birthday, so I'll let you take it away.
Speaker 2:
[21:35] Okay, so let's see the pattern. So we've got Connie Blanchard on April 20th, 2026.
Speaker 1:
[21:42] 420, baby.
Speaker 2:
[21:43] That's when we're filming right now. So happy birthday. Happy birthday, Connie. We have Lyric Manthee, 421, 2026, so tomorrow. And we have Christie Pruitt, 421, 2026, tomorrow. And we have Grace Kelly. What a cool name. I wish my name was Grace Kelly. 423, 2026. So obviously, these are all Taurus, right? We got Earth signs here. Taurus people, I love you guys. You're my favorite Earth sign, I will say. Sensible, hardworking, loyal. Also can be a little stubborn and rigid, you guys know. But all of these birthdays are on the cusp of power. All of these birthdays, 420, 21, 22, 23, they're all in this period that is the Aries Taurus Cusp. And it occurs between April 17th and the 23rd. And it's called the cusp of power. How cool is that? So basically, it's kind of like a blend of the rawness of a fire sign and the earthy presence of or the earthy persistence of a fixed sign. These people are known for their great leadership styles, being commanding and persuasive. They have a natural ability to take charge and to influence others, which can be scary. Like I said, they're often seen as courageous, stable, deeply dedicated to their goals, because they have that fiery initiative of the Aries. And this combination, once again, can sometimes lead to stubbornness or control issues because their drive to succeed is intense. So I think it's really cool that they're all in this cusp of power, and I just think it's awesome. So all our Patreons who are having April birthdays, they all fall in the cusp of power. And that's very interesting. So happy birthday to you all.
Speaker 1:
[23:30] Yeah, happy birthday Connie, Lerick, Christie and Grace. We appreciate it. And by the way, a couple of you guys, we just did our April cameos. And a couple of you, I don't recall your name, Stephanie, am I wrong on that? So if you got to submit your April cameo or suggestion, some of these people, more than halfway through the month, and we haven't got your question or cameo yet. So if you want that, you got to make sure you send that submission in. I'm calling you guys out. Guys, as always, we appreciate you being here. We're gonna start making sure we save this stuff for the end, but just a reminder to everyone, we have our company, Criminal Coffee Company. We donate a portion of the proceeds to solving cold cases. We're currently working on a couple of cases that we hopefully are able to announce relatively soon. Again, it's a long process. You guys know how that works by now, but in the meantime, if you go on the Criminal Coffee Company website, you can see all of the foundations and organizations that we have been donating to. There's a running little chyron there. You can see all of the companies that we're investing in because we believe in their causes, and you're helping us do that. So you can go check out Criminal Coffee Company. And then finally, Crime Weekly merch. I put up a post the other day. We have some new merch that's going to be coming out on the Crime Weekly podcast website. We're going to be basically, what's the word I'm looking for when you're showing something off for the first time?
Speaker 2:
[24:50] Showcasing, releasing, I don't know.
Speaker 1:
[24:53] What did you just say with the word you used?
Speaker 2:
[24:54] Teasing, releasing.
Speaker 1:
[24:56] Now when we release it there, it's debuting.
Speaker 2:
[24:58] Debuting.
Speaker 1:
[25:00] Debuting these new pieces at CrimeCon, but then most of them will be available on the Crime Weekly website. So make sure you're following all these different websites. There's forms, there's Google Docs. You can sign up for the newsletter so you're the first one notified. And if you want to become a Patreon member, you get a discount on these merchandise options as well. As always, guys, we appreciate you being here. Everyone stay safe out there. We'll be back later this week with a new series. We're not going to tell you the name yet, but it's a good one. So until then, everyone stay safe out there. We'll see you soon.
Speaker 2:
[25:30] Bye.