Crime Weekly - S3 Ep145: D4vd | Shocking Revelations Revealed in Court Documents

Episode Date: May 6, 2026

Singer D4vd, whose legal name is David Burke, has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, a girl who was last seen alive nearly a year ago. Burke pleaded not guilty and faces additional charges, with prosecutors weighing whether to seek the death penalty. New information has also recently been released, including Celeste's autopsy report and what has been found during investigation, including possible tools David used to dispose of evidence, a motive for the killing, and more. Try our coffee! - www.CriminalCoffeeCo.comBecome a Patreon member -- > https://www.patreon.com/CrimeWeeklyShop for your Crime Weekly gear here --> https://crimeweeklypodcast.com/shopYoutube: https://www.youtube.com/c/CrimeWeeklyPodcastWebsite: CrimeWeeklyPodcast.comInstagram: @CrimeWeeklyPodTwitter: @CrimeWeeklyPodFacebook: @CrimeWeeklyPod

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to Crime Weekly News. I'm Derek LaVascer. And I'm Stephanie Harlow. And before we jump into it, you can see the title of the episode, not going to be talking about anything fun today. That's for sure. No, I've been... This case is crazy. But I just wanted to send a quick thank you to everybody who went over to Apple and Spotify and left some reviews. I had asked people to go over there. We have officially passed 10,000 reviews on Apple Podcast and I think 11,000 on Spotify. Shout out to a couple people who went over there after I asked for it. Katie Gobills kills me to say that. But okay. One Nikki. Anxious Human 268. And R.C.3 photography. Also, Halas G. And Patty, I know if I'm saying that right. But anyways, we appreciate the reviews. Even if they're not always five stars, honest reviews where you're talking about it. We obviously prefer five stars.

but we appreciate the honest feedback and it allows the shows to get pushed up in the algorithm so more people are hearing about these cases greatly appreciate it. Okay, we're talking about D4VD or David again. It's pronounced David, by the way. That's how he always pronounced it. Yeah, we're just going to call him David for now. I think he's officially no longer D4VD. I think that part of his career might be over.

We're covering it again, and I thought last week would be the last week. But for me, when I first heard about this case without any substance, without any real facts about the case. My first initial thought was, okay, we're probably looking at a situation where this girl was staying at this home. Maybe there was an accident at the house,

like an overdose or something. Something happened in there. And these people covered it up because the ramifications of this getting out optically would look terrible for his career, which is still, this is still horrible. But that's my initial thought.

And then as we started to hear more about the condition of her body, I'm thinking, okay, there's more here. She was definitely murdered. The question is, was it David or was it someone else in the home? And he just, he's just being grouped into it. Or did he know and have somebody help him or do it for him and not do his own dirty work?

And now, and you're going to get into it tonight, which is why we're covering it again, this is a whole different animal. If it's true, what is being alleged, this guy is like a borderline or not even borderline. This guy's had the potential to be a serial killer. This might have been one of the first of many victims. If what we're hearing about what he did to Celeste is true, this is not any way what I thought this was going to be. I've spent all week.

You texted me about it. Yeah, I spent all week doing stuff with this, looking into it, listening to his interviews, looking at the timeline. And I put something together. And I want to have us all walk through it right now because this is all based on the people's brief regarding preliminary evidence. So basically, this is a nine. page document that was filed ahead of an upcoming court proceeding. And it was publicly released

over the defense's objections. And what this basically means is this is the prosecution saying to the judge, this is the evidence we have. Right. So a lot of this evidence, what they're alleging, is backed up with pictures, screenshots, things like that. So I believe that it's absolutely all of it's true. So let's start with the background facts. Okay. Celeste Rivas, Hernandez, 14 years of age, was discovered in the front trunk of David's Tesla Model X on September 8, 2025. We know that. We know the vehicle had been towed three days prior from 1405 Bluebird Avenue, which was parked approximately 400 feet away from David's home at 1368 Doheny Place in the Hollywood Hills. Now we have found out in this new document. Surveillance video and other evidence confirmed that David was the last person to drive that car on July,

29th, 2025 before he left Los Angeles for his concert tour. They have surveillance video of David driving his Tesla on July 29th before parking it in the spot and then leaving on tour at the end of July. So there's that. Now we also know that when the car got to the tow yard, they reported to the police that there was a strong smell coming from the Tesla. There was also the presence of flies coming from the vehicle. So LAPD detectives, they get there. They open the front trunk at the tow yard. observed a black cadaver bag covered in insects, and inside the bag they discovered a severely

decomposed head and torso. And then underneath that cadaver bag, they found a garbage bag that contained dismembered arms and legs. However, Celeste's ring finger and pinky finger were missing. We know these things. And listen, the prosecution says that her ring finger was missing because it had the tattoo. Yeah, identifiable mark. And also ties back to the person involved. Why would the random person removed this tattoo if they're not connected to David. But he also took her pinky finger, right? This is important, and I'm going to tie everything back. Okay.

So during their investigation, LAPD robbery and homicide detectives determined that Celeste and David had met in January of 2022 when she was just 11 years old. They began a sexual relationship in November of 2023 when she was 13 and he was 18. So law enforcement learned that Celeste had been reported missing to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department in February and April of 20, It was the Riverside County Sheriff's Department because Celeste lived in Lake Elsinore, which is 75 miles southeast of L.A. Which makes sense.

Victims' locations where the report would be filed. Now get this. Riverside Sheriff's Office called David on the phone on February 17, 2024, after they identified a phone number in Celeste's phone records that belonged to him. And they talked to him on the phone. And at that time, David claimed he had last talked to Celeste on February 13th or 14th of 24. He also stated that he was unaware that she was a minor or that she had been reported missing. This is important because the Riverside County Sheriff's Department told David, okay, well, Los Angeles

County Sheriff's Department deputies are going to come to your home two nights. And this was 804 North Doheny Place in West Hollywood. That was a different house, but the same area. And they were like, they're going to do a welfare check. And the deputies went to David's home that night at 8.15 p.m. and they informed him that Celeste was a 13-year-old runaway, and David once again claimed he did not know she was a minor and he had only met her once in person. The document says, quote, despite being informed by law enforcement, the victim was only 13. Defendant continued to pursue her. After the victim returned home in February of 2024, her parents took her cell phone away. Defendant drove to Lake Alsnor and paid a junior high school student in the victim's class $1,000 to give her a cell phone, end quote.

So David drove to Celeste school and paid somebody she knew who was in her class $1,000 to give Celeste a secret cell phone because her parents had taken her as white. Now, this is after the police have showed up to his home and told him on the phone that Celeste is a 13-year-old girl. And he claimed he didn't know. So he's continuing. Now, if you claim you didn't know before this, you certainly know after this. Yeah, well, and we should break this part down because this is a crime in and of itself before we even get to the murder. having a relationship, an ongoing relationship with a minor, that is a crime. And what you have here is a behavior to try to circumvent any type of detection, which would

be referred to as consciousness of guilt. An understanding that you know what you're doing is not only morally and ethically wrong, but also legally wrong. You were informed directly by law enforcement. So him going these steps and taking these measures, paying someone, a junior high student, to give her this phone, not directly through him, his own actions, is to try to create a barrier between him and the victim, Celeste. So consciousness of guilt right here for sure. And they probably already spoke to this junior high student who was given a statement. So dead to rights there.

That's already crime number one. And we know that Celeste had a phone, was able to contact David after her parents took her phone away, right? And I don't want to be, I don't want to speculate here, but I think it's safe to assume that this relationship wasn't just text messages. It was a sexual relationship. Yes, they have proof of that too we're going to get there. Full stop right there for anyone being like, oh, they were just talking. This was a full-blown relationship with a 13-year-old girl. Now, the document also says throughout 2024, Celeste spent a significant amount of time with

David, including summer weekends at his home in the Hollywood Hills and traveling with him to Las Vegas, London, and Texas to meet his family. Wow. Okay, so first of all, let me break this down for you. David took a 13-year-old girl and flew her on an international flight somehow to London, which how did he do? Don't your parents have to be present or give permission of some kind when a minor is traveling to an international location? They should. Right?

I mean, well, she's not an adult. She needs consent. I couldn't just take any 13-year-old off the street and be like, hey, let's go to Madrid. I couldn't do that. They'd want to know, like, who is this 13-year-old to you, right? So I almost wonder, did Celeste's parents know? Because we've got here, she's going to Texas to meet his family. And I'm going to talk about that in a second.

Long weekends at his home in the Hollywood Hills. Trips to Vegas and London. Her parents didn't know where she was during these things, right? And we talked about it on our Patreon Live. Yeah, we talked about it on our Patreon Live last week. And Derek said, I think her parents knew. and maybe after she came home, after being reported missing, they took her phone away, and then they realized she was still talking to him.

They were kind of like, well, you know, he's famous. He's going to, he's on the, he's on the border about to, you know, have a multimillion dollar career. Well, it's not the worst person she could be with. And personally, unless she just like had something against social media, more than likely she was posting while she was in these locations. And who would have access to that? her family member and friends. So I don't think that they had no clue where she was.

I think they absolutely knew when she was outside the state or even outside the country. Because I'm assuming, as a teenager would often do, they're posting about these things as they're doing them. Unless there was an unwritten rule, like it was a secret she wasn't allowed to post. I don't know. We'll have to see. Now listen, David's parents who live in Texas, right? We have Dawad Burke and Colleen Burke. David's father is a Texas-based lawyer.

He's an attorney. David brought this 13-year-old girl to meet his family, which I assume they stayed with them because David was the one paying for the house and everything. And I suppose his parents could be like, well, we didn't know she was under age. You can see in these pictures. I'm sorry. You can see. She looks young. Very young.

She doesn't look 18. She doesn't look 17. I wouldn't even say she looks 16. I agree. I agree. You knew. You knew. knew there was something going on here. But once again, because now your son's bringing in the money

and he's got this, you know, potential career, it almost feels like the roles shifted, where it's like David is running the family now. He's in the power of authority, position of authority there. And when David was arrested this past April, right, just a few weeks ago, his family, his parents came out and they said, yeah, we knew it was a strong possibility that he was going to be arrested for this. But he still has our full support. And we're flying to L.A. to support him and be there with him. Good for you. You can support them there. Hopefully, the charges get brought against you as well for harboring a minor in facilitating this relationship. Now, they also have messages in this brief, and this is, I'm just sure, the tip of the iceberg. Messages exchanged between Celeste and David contain references

to sex, pregnancy, abortion, and use of Plan B emergency contraceptive. There's also explicit photos documenting and corroborating their sexual relationship. They said there's photos depicting Celeste naked, as well as when she was engaged in a sexual relationship with David when she was 13. This document says that David and Celeste broke up in November of 2024, and screenshots of messages and social media posts show that, you know, because David and Celeste were in all of these, like, messaging groups with his other fans. And someone asked David, like, are you happily married or single? And then Celeste responded and said, me and David got a kid on the way.

There's screenshots of David asking his fans what he should name the baby. People are suggesting leg D4VD Jr. And then there's also a picture where the prosecution says after the pregnancy reveal, there's a picture of David's arm on Celeste's leg. So it's showing them together. Now, at this point, the death certificate of Celeste Rivas Hernandez has been amended. The original document, which was dated September 25, 2025, indicated that she had not been pregnant within the previous year before her death,

but a coroner's amendment dated April 22nd, 2026, switched that category to unknown. Because clearly there is quite a bit of evidence outside of this nine-page kind of synopsis that Celeste at one point became pregnant. Messages throughout March of 2025 show David continue to manipulate Celeste. She was messaging him.

She said, quote, all we do is have sex and just hang out. Man, I want more than that for myself. end quote. This was found in David's Eye Cloud data. So you really didn't try to hide it all that well. Now they say that April 23rd, 2025 was the likely date of Celeste's death when all her cellular activity ceased. The document says, quote, the night prior April 22nd, 2025, defendant David and the victim Celeste engaged in a lengthy argument described in detail in their text messages. The messages reveal the victim's jealousy over defendant's relationship with other women as defendant led her to believe they had a future. She became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging a relationship with defendant to end his career and destroy his life. Now, at that point, David is a huge hit.

All right. He's the next big thing. He's all over TikTok, all the, what is it, Gen Z, those kind of younger, like. I got crucified in the comments for saying he was a rapper. Apparently, he's not a rapper. He's like an R&B. What is he? A singer, I guess.

I don't know. He's like a sound cloud singer. I don't know. I apologize. David, I know that's a top priority for you right now. So he's on the precipice of a very, very lucrative career. His first solo album, Withard, was due to be released on April 25th, 2025. And he had multiple product endorsements, which were highly profitable at that time.

So April 23rd, 2025 at 8.40 p.m., David sends an Uber to Celeste's house. And the ending destination is his house, which is why they say he learned. her to his home. The document says, quote, they communicated before and during her Uber ride, which dropped her off at the defendant's Hollywood Hills home around 10, 10 p.m., end quote. Now at approximately 10.30 p.m. David sent Celeste text. He was like, where are you? Obviously, he knows where she is. He's just trying to make it look so he's not guilty, right? By the way, that would indicate she's already gone or incapacity, no longer in possession of her phone at minimum. That's what the prosecution says this was part of David's premeditated plan to cover up the murder as she was,

quote, already dead by this time. Oh, yeah. Or at least separated from her phone, but more than likely dead. So the document says, quote, knowing he had to silence the victim before she ruined his music career as she had threatened very soon after her arrival at his home, defendant stabbed the victim to death multiple times and stood by while she bled out. At no time did he call law enforcement or 911 or take her to an emergency room to attempt to save her life, end quote. And you might be wondering, why are they saying, like, oh, why would he stab her and then try to save her life? The point is, he stabbed her himself, and then he stepped back and stood and watched as she bled out and died.

So this is messed up. Then the brief says that David drove to Santa Barbara County immediately after Celeste died, attempting to dispose of her property and destroy evidence. Approximately 11.30 p.m. on April 23, 2025, David drove away from his home. he texted and called Celeste's phone again, asking where she was. He then drove his Tesla North on the 101 freeway to San Marcos Pass Road near Lake Kuchuma in Santa Barbara County. He returned home early the following morning on April 24, 2025 before going to a radio interview

for the release of his album. Priorities. Now, listen, we're going to play a clip from this interview. The host, first of all, wishes him a happy 20th birthday. So we understand this time when this, when David killed Celeste, he was 20 years old. And they start talking about relationships on this, this radio show. I believe the last time you were here, you didn't, you, didn't you say you never experienced love or hadn't been in love you did? Yeah, I wasn't in a relationship then.

But today you are? I've been through a couple. I'm single today right now, but I've been through a few. and they've taught me a lot of things and they've shown me what love is and what love is and how to approach it and how to be human with it and not be so artists, you know, and not look for the things to write about

in these types of situations and I've kind of been more mature about it and getting emotionally intelligent with it and with this interlude it's kind of like telling my view on what the invisible string theory is or the scarlet string or the whatever it's so many different names.

Is that like that also connected to like the rope that's around? Yes. The album cover, I'm covered in this string, which is representative of the invisible string theory. But throughout the entire project, I wanted everything to feel connected. I want everything to feel holistic and have a through line that everybody could understand. And with the interlude, it's kind of explaining from my perspective how it was taught to me.

Because that's a real conversation that happened. And the irony of it was that person that was saying, I love you, I love you. She's not in my life anymore. So it's like people say that the string can't be cut and the connection cannot be severed. But I feel like it can sometimes. And that's where I wanted to put, you know, afterlife. all these songs that feel like endings and conclusions and goodbyes on the project to kind of solidify that message of this is the end of something, not the beginning. Wow. I mean, for me,

I'm not even, I'm listening to what he's saying, but more so I'm looking at this from the perspective of this was within 24 hours of him killing Celeste. Yes, this was within hours of him allegedly, even though I don't want to say allegedly, because this pretentious prick needs to he needs to be in the electric chair. But this is within hours of him allegedly killing Celeste. So you heard them talk about the interlude and how that was a real conversation, et cetera, et cetera. Okay, I want us to play the interlude now because he's talking about the invisible string theory.

And he says this is a huge thing for this album. It's tying everything together. It's big, big, big, big. Here's the interlude. Why do you think we met? Yeah. Why do you think we met? What I think personally,

I have you ever heard of the invisible strength theory Oh yeah yeah exactly that So basically We met because we were supposed to meet And we're connected because we're supposed to be connected It's kind of like that I loved you before I existed and I love you even when I die Yes

But yeah like it's like It's weird and strange It's unpredictable Yeah. So don't leave me. Please. Okay. Okay.

Okay. So, you heard the interlude. You heard this female voice. Now, people are saying that is Celeste's voice. And he used her voice and dialogue that he'd written for her to say in that interlude of his album. And he's talking about all of this on the radio show hours after he killed her, allegedly, and talking about how the invisible string can be severed. So is that Celeste's voice?

Now I'm going to play you a clip of a live stream that has David and Celeste on it. They're together in person. Yep. And this is a newly kind of released resurfaced clip. And you tell me if the voice isn't the same. We need to delete it. Maz, can we delete all Vives? And then as soon as the stream ends, delete the stream, too.

Can we delete anything? Okay, bye. It's been a good one. Bye. Bye, guys. Mw-mois, mua, mois, mois, mois. Oh my, my. Delete everything. Delete everything. Everything goes. Everything. Yeah, I think it's her. I think it's her. And it would make sense because this conversation

when they initially had it would have been when they were still on good terms. And she's explaining to him the invisible string theory is. I think it's a script he wrote for her to say, being like, I'm going to put you on my album. But you heard what he said. Yeah, they probably, yeah, they probably discussed the invisible string together before. Yeah, he said that was a real conversation he had was a real conversation. And he said, um, that that that person is longer my life now. Yeah. So I think it's her. I mean, I'm not a voice analysis person. There may be somebody, but it's to my ear. And we got these pretty good quality recording style headphones in where it's like the in-ear headphones. I mean, everything's canceled out. It sounds like her to me.

Even the accent. Hands down, that is her voice. Okay. I listened to them back to back. I even made like a clip where I could put them back to back and then like her voice talking and then her voice on the live stream and I listen to it over and over and over again. And I have no doubt that that is her voice. A little bit more of like an equalizer, like an EQ and then the reverb put on it. But I think it's the same thing. Yeah, I agree. Now, David sent two additional texts to Celeste's phone that day the same day he's doing the radio show and everything. But after April 26, 2025, he never attempted to contact her again. Now the night of April 23rd, 2025, so the same day that he's doing the radio show and all of that. That night, there was an album release party at David's

house, which started at 8 p.m. Now, that means his managers, a whole lot of other people, were at his house that night, right? Like 24 hours after he lures Celeste to his house to kill her, and he then took a red-eye flight to New York right after the party. On April 24th, 2025, David ordered a shovel from Home Depot, and he had to deliver to his home with postmates. May 1st, 2025, David ordered two chainsaws to his home. May 5th, 2025, David ordered a body bag, heavy-duty laundry bags, and a blue inflatable pool to his home. He did this on Amazon, and he made these purchases under the fake name, Victoria Mendez, but had them delivered to his house using his credit card.

Now, the document says he placed Celeste's body in the blue inflatable pool to prevent her blood from spilling onto his garage floor. He then used a chainsaw and possibly other tools to cut off her length. limbs. Small blue plastic fragments were found embedded in Celeste's remains. They were collected by the medical examiner and then fragments were analyzed and an expert was able to make a match, right? Because law enforcement served a search warrant at David's home on September 17, 2025 after Celeste's body was found and identified the day before. And inside the garage, detectives found evidence consistent with dismemberment of Celeste body in the inflatable pool, which contained multiple linear cuts. So not only did he use, he ordered the pool to his house, he used the pool to dismember

her, he kept the pool in his garage. It was there months later, months later, okay? Months later when the police came. And after they'd found her body in the Tesla, the blue inflatable pool still just sitting in his garage. Now they also collected several biological samples. from the pool, those tested positive for blood, and then they did a DNA analysis, and they determined the blood belonged to Celeste. So after David does his amputation in the blow-up inflatable pool, the document says he amputated the ring and pinky finger because the ring finger contained a tattoo of his name. He then placed Celeste's head and torso in the body bag, placed her limbs in a garbage bag, placed all of that in the front trunk of the Tesla. So May 8th, 2025, David returned to

area in Santa Barbara County, leaving his home around 11.30 p.m. He returned to this area again on May 31st, 2025. This area is described as an isolated site off of SR-154 where Celeste identification was found in January of 2026. Her passport was found there. So obviously, she was there at one point. Her body was there at one point. This is where they say David went right after he killed her to dispose of evidence. And then July 7th, David ordered a burn cage to his home under the same fake name as part of his plan to incinerate evidence. That's where we're at. A lot of evidence. A lot of evidence. Just in this nine-page document where the prosecution is like, here's a summary, a very quick condensed version of what we have here. And they refer to messages and photos. And then they gave us a few examples. But those aren't all they have. And I mean, when you look at everything, I'm not sure how David's defense team is still saying that he is innocent.

And I did see an interview with a defense attorney. And she was like, I think David's team is going to try to say that Celeste died of an overdose or something, like as an accident when she was at the house. And then they dismembered her in order to, you know, cover it up because they were scared of what was going to happen. They didn't want to get in trouble. But he did not kill her. I think that's what this defense lawyer, at least, was saying that David's defense team is going to do. But no, no. And here's where it gets into like a deeper conversation about what we're dealing with here,

what kind of person we are dealing with here because this person is very concerning to me. I don't think that what we're looking at is necessarily the motive of I need to make sure my career, my life isn't ruined. And I think it goes further. So here's where I'm going to kind of go off on my own analysis. And others have thought and kind of gone along the same trail. So there was an interview with David Burke that was with the outlet mahogany. And this was March of 2025. So about a year and a month after he kills Celeste.

And he talks about what his inspiration for his romantic homicide music video was. And I had the idea to kind of make this first music video introduce a character that I had been kind of ideating for a really long time. That's why you see him with the blindfold and the bloody shirt aesthetic and the bowtie. I'm really big into anime and I'm really big into manga. And I wanted to make my own manga series at one point. And I was writing a lot of poems and writing a lot of things for it. And a big part of that manga was an evil version of me named Atami. which means pain in Japanese.

And he wears his blindfold. And he's basically an agent of chaos and kind of my alter ego. And the story of the manga went like I was a detective. And there was an evil version of myself that would kind of come out at random moments, kind of like Fight Club with Tyler Durdon. And he would commit the crimes that I would have to solve as a detective. So like when I was as a detective, I'd be like solving murders that I'm committing my And it was like a cool little story. I didn't think anything would come of it. Like it was in the vault for like months and months and months. And I introduced it for the first time on screen because I had the opportunity with music to kind of explore this idea further with the romantic homicide music video. But at Tommy was the staple of this music video. You kind of see him throughout the entire thing. He's holding the knife with a bloody thing. You get the girl who's basically like the ghost of the person that he killed was his first victim in the manga. And I put that all on screen. And me and Tommy had a great time just like chopping it up.

up and getting to kind of merge creative ideas on the entire thing. And the Bloody Rose aesthetic was birthed in that music video as well. And kind of me representing my entire artistry through this rose, which is like beautiful things can hurt you with the stems having thorns on them. And that became my entire aesthetic for like the rest of time. I kind of still, even to this day, use that bloody rose to kind of show how beautiful things can hurt you even through music. Like music is very beautiful, but it can also hurt you with.

the lyrics. All right. So he says he's into manga, he's into anime. Anybody who watched his live streams would know that because he talks a lot about that. But people who are fluent in the manga world have said that David plagiarized this idea for what he called his idea for a manga from a popular one called MPD Psycho, in which the wife of the main character, who is a detective, the main character is a detective, not his wife, but his wife's killed. And the trauma of that event caused his mind to split into two personalities, a serial killer and a detective. And a detective, who is investigating his own murders. It's reportedly a very graphic story,

illustrations of women being murdered, mutilated, dismembered, et cetera. And there's also specific themes in this manga concerning the removal of the pinky finger and the ring finger on the left side of a person's body, which is the same side that Celeste's fingers were removed from. So in MPD Psycho, the removal of these fingers is mainly symbolic. Fingers specifically on the left hand are tied to identification and uniqueness, So removing them shows the person being reduced to a partial and incomplete identity.

And it also signifies a loss of connection. The ring and pinky fingers symbolically relate to social ties in binding relationships. And their removal suggests severing connections. Now, when you look at this with what David talks about in his music and what he's kind of creating, and you even hear him in these interviews saying like the invisible string can be severed, right? It's about goodbyes and it's about endings. It kind of seems like he took them to almost symbolize that for himself. Like this was his ending with Celeste.

It was finally ended even if they'd broken up, but she was still in his life, still hovering over him, still breaking his heart. There's just no reason if he was doing it to make sure that they couldn't identify her. Yeah, the ring finger with the tattoo and to make sure they couldn't identify him. That would make sense. but the pinky finger and the ring finger together. So just something else that's a little bit more kind of dark. Like he's following these things that he's been obsessed with. You know, David, if you look at it, he committed this horrible act.

He did it in like the most horrible, violent way. And it doesn't really seem like he tried to cover his tracks all that much, right? He left Celeste's body in his vehicle. And then he like went on tour. when the police showed up months later, the inflatable pool was still in his garage, even though he ordered like a burn cage, it's like he knew he was going to get caught and he didn't really care. Like maybe he didn't care if he got caught or the whole act was something else to him. So was his motive to protect himself in his career or something deeper?

So I guess psychologically the question is, what do we call a person who may need a person? something extreme, violent, taboo, or horrifying to feel powerful, inspired, alive, or creatively real. Right. And he has these conversations all the time about how he was homeschooled. And so he didn't have the normal, like, oh, I have a crush on this girl. And then I'm in my first relationship. And now I'm in my first heartbreak. And he says, you know, in my first songs, I was writing about something that I hadn't experienced before because I was homeschooled. So I didn't have like a girlfriend or, you know, like have a first heartbreak. I didn't have that stuff, but I was writing about that stuff.

And it wasn't until I became an adult and started making my music and then developed a community around me. That's when I had those experiences of like falling in love and dating and how like it can be, you know, so tragic. And it felt to me like maybe he was doing something to elicit inner experiences that matched the external art he was creating, right? So he could feel real, so he could feel authentic. And he wasn't just like making songs about things he had never experienced before. And if you look at his music and his visual world, they generally center on like teen,

young adult heartbreak, emotional numbness, obsession, abandonment, death imagery, ultra-egos, romantic despair. His work feels like it's sitting in that space between, you know, indie pop vulnerability, which, you know, you know, we can all relate to. We've all listened to music like that before, but something darker, more theatrical, almost like horror adjacent. His breakout song, Romantic Homicide, that's the one where he's like, in the back of my mind, I killed you. In the back of my mind, you died and I didn't even cry. Even that title fuses love with killing. The song's not loud or aggressive. It's soft, detached, numb sounding, which makes the violent language feel even colder.

and he often described writing it quickly in a flow state saying he wanted to convey sadness and grieving. There's a repeated theme in his work, which is love is not just painful. It's fatal or it feels fatal. Relationships are framed as something that can destroy you, hollow you out, leave you emotionally dead. He said that, right? Things beautiful can hurt you. Roses have thorns. You know, love can hurt you. And he projects a use of a lot of relationship imagery, roses, petals, thorns, decay, falling apart. This is important because David's romantic world is not, like, healthy or grounded love. It's love is something beautiful that inevitably, like, kills you and then rots, and then it's over. You know, it's about loss and damage and pain.

His idea of love is very, like, dark, you know, it's not a healthy idea. And you could say, well, he's just writing those songs. Like, everybody writes about their biggest heartbreaks and stuff. but it seems like he just didn't have a healthy idea of what love was and he didn't really have a lot of experience with like relationships and love. And that kind of brings me back to like he was homeschooled. He didn't get that stuff. And if you hear him in interviews, he's very childlike. He talks about liking to play video games and he loves anime and he's like, I'm going to Chucky Cheese.

I love all this stuff. It almost seemed like he was trying to relive a childhood with a child that he never had. You know what I mean? Like, I didn't get all of that. And you're not going to find somebody when you're 18, 19, 20. I mean, you probably could. But usually people by that time have had some relationships under their belt. They're not just, like, falling in this desperate love with you like you did when you were in middle school.

They're not just, like, obsessed with you. Can't stop thinking about you. The way, like, a young teenager would in their first relationship. I think he was almost trying to, like, replicate the feeling of that obsessive nature of, like, this is my life that you really can only feel when you're in that early relationship the first time before you figure out like, oh, you know, it's okay. I'll recover. I'll be with somebody else.

We've all been in that relationship when we were young where we had a high school or a middle school boyfriend or girlfriend and we were like, if I break up with this person or they break up with me, like they'll never be anyone else for me. Once you go through a few of those, you realize like, oh yeah, there's more fish in the sea. Like there are other people. But I almost feel he was trying to capture that like feeling of there's nobody else for me that like feeling that's so hard to replicate as you get older. And it just, he didn't get to experience these like your first heartbreak, your first

relationship, your first obsessive love. And so it was almost like he was choosing relationships with somebody, even though it's not a relationship. He was grooming her, I know, but she's not aware of that at that point. With somebody who had the emotional capacity to still fall head over heels like that. And so that he could write from it. like so that he could experience that and he could make art from it. And then he killed her so that he could once again experience something so

dramatic and like outside the realm of what is socially acceptable. So he could continue making this really dark art that he didn't have a ton of experiences to pull from. I think he's somebody that can't feel things normally just on himself. And he has to do extreme things to get to the point where he can feel something. And he understands that his career depends on being able to write these bangers that all these like 11, 12, 13, 14 year olds can relate to because they're in the throes of that because that's his fan base, these younger kids. And he's like, how do I stay there? How do I get there?

Like, I'm an artist. You know, you heard him talk. He sounds pretentious. Like he's like, you know, I want the art and the thread to tie it all together. It seems like he really isn't all that creative. and he really isn't all of that like an emotionally aware person. And so he did this to kind of replicate the things he had talked about and wrote about so that he could keep doing that. So he's a psychopath is basically what I'm saying.

Yeah, for me, I think David's in a lot of trouble here. I think he thought he was smarter than he was, which a lot of these criminals do when they commit these types of crimes and they think they've seen enough TV or movies to get away with it. first off, without this going to trial, what happened here from a law enforcement side is something that I've said numerous times, even when it comes to true crime and covering these cases. It's not about being fast or first. It's about being right. And I know there were some frustrations online with the fact that David had not been arrested or even named a suspect until he was arrested, basically, right? And that was by design. And I can tell you that a lot of the things we're hearing about now They didn't just discover all of this in the last week before actually pursuing charges against him.

No, no, no. This was a case and investigation that they had been building up to for the entire time. Since they found her body, they went to his house the next day. So it looks like they were onto him pretty soon. They were covering all their bases, dotting their eyes, crossing their T's and hopefully ruling out any other possible defenses. Because we've talked about it before, that is part of being a detective. is not only building a case in a direction that it's going to ultimately go, but also making sure you're following any alternate theories

so that when those theories are presented at trial, you have evidence to support why they're not possible. And so kudos to law enforcement so far, and the job that they did, it really seems like they took the time to make this case as solid as they could, and I'm sure they're still not done. And for me, without knowing all the specifics, it seems like they went after his team as well,

the people around him, Neil Langston being one of those people where they had arrested him, you know, beforehand and talked to him and probably talk to others. And at this point, I think David basically has two options. And I'm not a lawyer. One option is going to be self-defense, which based on everything that you talked about today, is not going to hold up all the premeditation that you talked about with the text messages and all these other things. And as far as the motive where she publicly disclosed in these text messages that

she was going to potentially expose him. And that would be, that would be a motive in this case. So I don't think the self-defense claim is going to hold up. The other angle, and it all depends on the direction David wants to go with this, is that someone else in the home committed this crime. And I don't know how you're going to prove that where this person would just do this on their own. But even if it's not that, there could be another reason why David wouldn't want to bring another party into this equation.

I don't know what the dynamics were in the home and who else was living there. but if there was another person involved, and I think it's a high likelihood that it was, and I'm going to tell you why in a second, this person could ultimately implicate David. So, for example, if David was the one that committed the murder, he stabbed Celeste and then he brings someone in

to help cover up the crime and dispose of evidence, that person's not going to go down with them. They're going to give more incriminating evidence against David. Why do I think there may have been someone else involved? Well, first off, power dynamics. We talked about it, and all the times we've covered. David that there's a bunch of groupies around him, yes men, family members, friends who all want

to be on this gravy train. Maybe they have aspiring careers as well in music and acting. And if he is, you're going to get his biggest. Or they're just on his payroll. Or they're on his payroll. But here's something that I don't hear a lot of people mentioning. We talked about all the things that he did before, during, and after this crime. But I don't hear a lot of people talking about the fact that he purchased two chainsaws. Yeah. Why would you need two chainsaws?

I mean, as a backup in case... Backup, Stephanie? I don't know. I don't know how chainsaws work, dude. Then why not buy a backup shovel in case the first one breaks or something? Because a chainsaws mechanically operated so something could go wrong. I don't know. You're giving him way too much credit.

Two chainsaws? I think that there may have been somebody else involved with this. And I have a hard time believing that based on the amount of forensic evidence that would have been in that house, even if someone wasn't there during the crime itself, they would have. have had access to that home and you would think that they would have seen something there that would indicate something really bad happened. And yet nobody came forward to report that to police. As you had mentioned, the pool was still in the garage for an extended period of time. And one correction we have from last episode was Celeste was reported to be approximately 5-3-120 pounds prior

to her death. When she was found, she was 71 pounds. So we're talking about 50 pounds in decomposition and also, let's just call it what it is, the loss of certain body parts, material, et cetera, because when she was found, as you've already laid out, not everything was there. So 71 pounds from 120, big difference. So she had been decomposing in that house or around that area for an extended period of time. You would have had smells, you would have had indications of it where there were bloodstains, et cetera. And yet, again, not a word from the David camp prior to this all coming down. That's what we're going to. have to see where it goes from here. What's the defense going to be? I don't know. I don't know

what he's going to put out here where it's going to exonerate him completely. It's pretty damning. I don't think that they can. No, the evidence is overwhelming. And I think he's in trouble. And then, as I've said in every episode that we've covered on David, we talk about the two charges, the two main charges here, which is first degree murder and then sexual abuse of a minor, 14-year-old child. There are other accomplices here, in my opinion, that facilitated this relationship, they should be held accountable as well. There were adults that were allowing this to happen under their own roofs that were facilitating this relationship, maybe even assisting in the communication.

His parents, her parents, we need to hear from them all. And his parents have consistently refused going before the grand jury. Her parents, her dad just released a statement saying, like, whoever's accusing us of taking money and knowing, like, that didn't happen. And well... It's not about money. It's just about knowing right from wrong and not doing something to stop it. You better have some evidence because I do think this is the first domino to fall.

This is the big charges. You got to go after the head of the snake. There's also an email that somebody had sent to David's manager. And the email said, you know, Celeste Rivas Hernandez is missing. Her parents can't find her. We had some word that, and this was like a friend of the families, I guess, we had some words. that like your client may know where she is. The manager screenshot of that email sent it to David.

David then sent it to one of Celeste's friends. Yeah. So what I'm saying is her parents knew enough to know where to go when she was missing again. No doubt. And to go to David's manager and be like, hey, we think she might be with David. Why would you think that? No, I mean, they're doing live streams and stuff. There's definitely more here.

And obviously you want to get David first if he's the one responsible. And then you can always reverse engine. near from there because there's going to be more that comes out. And once the money dries up, people are going to be more willing to speak to law enforcement. So we'll see how it all, how it all plays out. Listen, we're covering it again, not only because this case has just taken a complete turn as far as what it could have been and what it is now, but also you guys are letting us know indirectly by the engagement. And that's not why we do it. But when we look at the videos and we look at the episodes, the amount of people who are coming over to listen or watch this,

you're telling us that you want to know more. And I think we're all invested in seeing Celeste get her justice. Of course. You know, nothing can bring her back. And this asshole, you know, with that video the next day, I mean, that's crazy. And so he might have thought he was like this higher being and he was going to be intelligent enough to get away with it. That's what I'm saying. You're a psychopath.

Like, how could you do that? He's about to find out. And then go and sit on a radio interview for a few hours and be so completely normal like that. That was intentional as well. And laugh and smile. Yeah. That was intentional as well. Hey, look at me.

Look at me. But mentally, how would a normal person be able to do that? Any of this. Well, that he's not normal. Clearly. I mean, normal people don't go out there and murder others and normal people don't do what he did to try to cover it up. So we're going to keep following it. I don't think this is going to be the last time we're talking about it.

There's going to be a whole trial. I don't think that David just pleads guilty. And I don't know. I don't know what happens here. He'd be smart too at this point. Yeah, he's got money, you know, he's got influence, and it's not necessarily about proving you're right. It's just about discrediting the investigation. If you can pull holes in not only the evidence, but the way it was obtained, then you got a shot. Proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

You only got to convince one jury member that you're innocent. So do I think that he goes to trial with this and fights it? I do. Or at least he's going to do the Koeberger route where he'll try to pull holes in it as much as he can. And then maybe when there's no other way to go, then he takes a deal, but I don't, no incentive there to do that. He might as well just ride it out. I don't know. I guess it all depends on if he's, he might be thinking like, oh, my music catalog, if this makes me famous and people are like listening to my music, like at least my parents will benefit or my estate will benefit, you know, like he could be thinking that. That's true. That's true. Take care of the family. So the more, the more exposure it gets, the more he like goes out there.

I think once again, it goes back to what I was saying, like at this point that he's caught and it It doesn't really seem like he tried that hard to not get caught. Oh, I think he tried hard. I would disagree. I think he tried his best. He left the pool in the garage, dude. We didn't say he was bright. We just said he tried.

He's got people to work for him. Like, hey, take that pool and get rid of it for me. Throw it out. And, you know, they don't even have to tell him anything. I think it's a matter of shit. Where do I dump? Like, he's trying to do it in a way where nothing's going to tie back to him. He bought a burn cage in July.

It was still there in September. Again, not smart. He could have burned the pool. So what I'm saying is, like, I think he almost was like, well, I'll probably. probably get caught one way or the other because there's so much that ties us together. But at least if I do, like, it's going to be the sensational thing because of what I did and how I did it. And that will make me infamous. Well, we're going to see.

We'll keep you guys up to date on it. Before we go, we just want to give some birthday shoutouts to our Patreon members. I'm going to read them off here. Some of you did not want your last names, totally understandable. So we're going to start with the earliest one. May 1st, we have Paige Barker. On May 2nd, we have Erica Peck. and then we have also on May 2nd, Courtney Barnett.

Then we have Katie Wellich, May 6th. We have two on May 8th, and both of you do not want your last name. So we have Stevie and we have Beth. Any analysis on May, Stephanie? As far as, hit me with it. We have Taurus. You know, this isn't Gemini season yet, thank God. So we have, although I love Gemini's, by the way, I get along with Gemini's really well.

But we have Taurus. This is an Earth sign. This is a fixed sign. Lots of, like, famous people in this sign. at William Shakespeare, Segment Freud, also Carl Marx, and Malcolm X, so interesting. Audrey Hepburn, just to throw that in there. But Tauruses are notoriously stubborn, and because they're a fixed sign, so they're notoriously stubborn.

They're also hardworking and practical, being an earth sign. They are grounded, realistic, dedicated to completing tasks, which makes them excellent workers. And also they're dependable and patient and consistent. but like that's all the good things, they can be a little possessive, all right? They can be a little possessive or jealous, and they are straightforward. They like to avoid drama. They like to be honest.

But, you know, they can be fiercely loyal. That kind of goes to the possessive, jealous thing. But all together, really solid sign, solid earth sign. We like you. We appreciate you guys. Happy birthday to everybody. If you'd like to be part of that, it's our partner in crime level on Patreon. but there's also other tiers as well. Stephanie mentioned it at the top of the show. We did a

live chat this month and we get to talk about actors and actresses and who we thought we're good. And that's a whole different debate. So if you want to check that out, head over to our Patreon page. A lot of fun in the discussion chats there. It's been a good time and we're enjoying it. We'll keep you guys updated on David. You guys are wanting to know about it. And we hear you loud and clear. We're going to keep covering it. We're going to be back later this week with the third. third and final part of our Brandy Hall series. This is another case that has been really interesting to cover from the perspective of you would think at this point that this would be a solved case and yet here we are talking about it and it deserves more exposure because there's no world that

this case shouldn't be solved. So if you haven't caught up on Brandy's case yet, go listen or watch part one and two. We'll be back on Friday with the audio for part three and then the video on Sunday Until next time, everyone stay safe out there. We'll see you soon. Bye.