Rotten Mango - D4vd Finally Arrested - Everything We Know So Far

Episode Date: May 14, 2026

You can buy a cadaver bag online, no questions asked. Though, most of the buyers make sense: a rural veterinarian, a hunter, maybe a livestock farmer.   Just because you order a body bag on Amazon doesn’t mean you get put on some government watch list, right?   Recently, people have been arguing for the opposite.   Especially if a buyer is flagged buying an inflatable pool, two chainsaws, and a large burn cage, in addition to a cadaver bag.   These were purchases made by David Burke, aka ‘D4vd.’ The same rising pop-singer whose Tesla was discovered to contain the dismembered remains of a 14 year old child.   D4vd was just arrested, seven months after the Tesla discovery. According to California v. David Anthony Burke aka ‘D4vd,’ this is exactly what authorities say happened…         Full show notes available at RottenMangoPodcast.com Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Bada being bad a boo. In some cases, it's more alarming to buy a money counting machine than to buy a cadaver bag. You can technically freely buy both online. The money counting machines being the little things where you put in a stack of cash, it counts it for you. Some of them are really smart. They do mixed bills of cash. So there's fives, tens, hundreds in there.

It'll count it. Then at some point, that was more alarming in the United States to purchase them body bags. full-on cadaver bags. In 2008, the DEA started to use blanket administrative subpoenas to vendors, people who are selling money-counting machines. And they're like, we want a list of every single person who's buying a money-counting machine. Basically, if you purchase one, I would imagine that you're still on some sort of federal watch list for buying that money-counting machine because why did you need one?

The DEA has since stopped. There was a lot of public outrage and human rights activists arguing that it is actually abusive to Americans' right to privacy, to put them on some sort of arbitrary list based solely on the fact that they purchased an item that is technically lawful to purchase. It's a lawful product. They're legally allowed to buy it. People were really upset about it until now. Now, netizens are wondering, maybe we bring the list back and put some other things on the list, because why are you allowed to go on Amazon and purchase a cadaver bag for $32? You can buy a cadaver bag online, like the ones that they use in morgues and hospitals, body bags. Depending on the quality, obviously, it's going to be a different

price, but it's also going to be anywhere between somewhere to 100% leak proof for long-term storage. Some of them are going to be better sealed that prevents less odors from escaping. And body bags are not just used for human bodies, which might be why that they're so freely available on the market. Some hunters say that they use them for game, though I think that's now been labeled like a newbie mistake because you need your game meat to be able to be able to breathe during transport. So sticking it in this heat sealed body bag would be bad unless you're moving very quick. One hunter writes, you want to get your game out of the skin and on ice immediately. If not, you won't want to eat it. So maybe a no-go on the body bags. Aside from hunting, body bags are

used by a lot of different people. Search and rescue teams for recovery missions. State emergency agencies will stockpile them for mass casualty events. Farms, sometimes vets, livestock vets, they're going to have body bags to transfer livestock to their final resting place, wherever that be, or to their cremation, their burial, horse owners, cattle ranchers, lots of people will have them. And it's also just something that you can purchase on Amazon for $32. The reviews are not as grim as you would think. Some of these reviews are about people writing about how they used it for something completely unexpected. Somebody is using it to storage their mermaid tail, nine foot tall mermaid tail under their bed in a body bag. Another says that they're a doctor for athletes and they use it as a cooling

tub. So as they wait for EMT to arrive, they'll fill it with cold water if need be and throw the athlete in there. Another review reads, this bag was perfect for storing two seven foot long pre-lit Christmas garlands without crushing them. It's very sturdy fabric. Zipper and handles makes it easy. Another reads, I'm tall. I got this for a camping trip because I needed a cheap way to make my sleeping bag waterproof. It's a bit awkward if anyone sees it since that looks like a body bag because it is a body bag. But it is, you know, this was a good find though. And of course, there are other reviews that feel maybe a little more unsettling to read.

Do not use this for what it was intended. It will leak and will not hold water or fluids leaks through all the stitching. But just because you order a body bag on Amazon, it doesn't mean that you get put on some federal watch list. Though recently people have been arguing, yet maybe you should be put on a watch list, especially when you purchase a body bag, an inflatable pool, two chainsaws, and a burn cage to go along with it. Like what David did. This is the updated episode with all the legal updates for the David case, where last year in September, a 14-year-old girl's decomposing body was found in the trunk of this famous singer's car while he's out on tour.

It took seven months to arrest him. And this is what the authorities say happened. We would like to thank today's sponsors who have made it possible for Rotten Mango to support Nekmec, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. This episode's partnerships have also made it possible to support Rotten Mango's team of dedicated researchers. We'd also like to thank you guys for your continued support. As always, full show notes are available at Rotten Mango Podcast.com.

Please be aware that there are mentions of grooming, CSA, CCM, and dismemberment in relation to a 14-year-old child. This case may be extra sensitive due to the victim's age, so please don't hesitate to pause. We have two previous episodes on Celeste's case back when her body was first discovered. However, I would say that if you haven't seen those, maybe go watch those first. I'm still going to try my best to provide enough context and foundation to the case so that you're not completely lost as we go through the most recent case updates. Though if you ever find yourself at a point being like, oh, why don't you mention the song

that he allegedly wrote in her name? Why don't you mention this? Those are probably in the first two episodes. Those are pretty thorough deep dives of all the internet speculation theories. comments that people had. And this is now with the legal aspect of the case, the pre- preliminary hearing that's coming up, the arrest, and the preliminary hearing brief that the prosecutors dropped as well as the autopsy. With that statements, any quotes from court documents may be condensed or combined for brevity. So with that being said, let's get into it.

Everyone has their own opinion on whether or not you should or should not bury your beloved to family pet in your backyard. You have to weigh out your options. One person says they want to bury their family pet and their family pet's favorite spot in the backyard because that's what feels like honoring them. Another says, I mean, yeah, I get it, but I would never because what if one day I move? Then I would rather my pet come with me so I'm going to cremate them and then take them everywhere with me. I don't necessarily think that there's a right or wrong. It's all personal unless you're breaking the law. It is not legal in every state, which poses a huge problem because you're grieving the loss of your family pet and then the police are investigating you, especially if you are this particular family

in the Hollywood Hills. Because it is illegal to bury your pet anywhere within the city of Los Angeles in your backyard. Really? Yeah, not only that, the smell is starting to get bad. They buried their family pet. This is a big dog, a husky, back in February of 2025. This is when the weather is still very chilly in L.A. And now that it's hitting the summer months, I mean, some days are okay, but any time it gets above 70 degrees, this smell is starting to get really bad in the neighborhood. They're thinking maybe they didn't bury their beloved deep enough. And so right when they're about to take on this very alarming task, unpleasant project of digging up their family dog to rebury their remains even deeper, the smell stops.

September of 2025, the smell is gone. This is right around the time that their neighbor's Tesla is also gone from being parked on the street. The smell is gone. It's getting hotter, but the smell is gone. We know now that the smell was likely not from the family dog being buried in the backyard, but this is what the family told a private investigator that had been looking into this case, that this whole time they thought it was their family pet. That's so crazy. So they've been smelling for a long time. Yeah. And now they know that it is most likely from human remains being stored

in Singer David's Tesla's front trunk. The smell in the neighborhood appears to have been present for months. There have been newly circulating clips. So I'm just going to... It was in the front trunk? Yeah. Front trunk is not that big. No, it's pretty small.

You'll see how the body was found in a second, but I'm going to give you a timeline. April 23rd, 2025 is when prosecutors believe Celeste Rivas Hernandez was killed. July 4th of 2025. There's this live stream that's been heavily circulating and people have been dissecting every single part of it. People have been major news networks have been throwing it up and then they're trying to catch background noise and they're adding subtitles of a confession and it doesn't necessarily sound like it to me. But there's just a lot being dissected in this live stream that we're going to go through the entirety of. But there's this one moment that everybody is fixated on because it's July 4th,

2025. The alleged murder took place April 23rd, 2025. So this is month later. And this is live streamed by a Twitch streamer by the name of Sakura. She is at David's house getting ready for a 4th of July party with David and a few other people. So they're all getting ready and then they're going to go to the phase compound for the 4th of July party. Wow. I didn't know they're all close friends like that.

Yeah. So David is actually friends with a lot of streamers. Yes. He started off as a streamer because he was streaming Fortnite and he's always been embedded in the streaming world. He has music videos with other streamers. He has music with streamers. Wow.

Heavily involved. Now, these people are going to be important later, but you have David. You have Neo, who is David's friend, and also a Twitch streamer. But I think that he's a very small-time Twitch streamer. I've never heard of him up until this case. You have Asia, another one of David's friends, and a few other people that are lingering in the background. Now, like I said, there's a few notable parts in this live stream that we're going to go

through. But particularly, there is this one shot where they're just showing around the living room and there is a candle balanced on the very edge of the grand piano right at the entrance of this house. This is kind of a weird thing to do because the candle is burning. And this candle is the size of imagine a coffee mug and trying to balance it on the stem of a fork. It seems dangerous and it seems like it's not doing enough to mask whatever is stinking up the house because at some point, David apologizes to Sakura on the live stream. Oh yeah, Sakura. I apologize for the way my bathroom smelled. I took a shit in there like two hours ago. You don't really see David in the stream,

so he's not in the frame of the camera, but you see Sakura and she's sitting next to Neo, who's David's friend. And she's like, oh, I don't care. I just took a shit in there. David's like another one type shit, type shit. That's what I'm talking about. They shake hands. And Neo is sitting there looking very uncomfortable. Like he's looking left, right, looking like, I mean, one could imagine that maybe Neo seems caught off guard that they're so openly discussing their bowel movements on camera. I mean, I guess some might even call it crass. But others think that Neil is not the type to be taken aback clutching his pearls at the mention of poop. So why is he looking so uncomfortable? And what exactly are they even smelling?

Let me run you through that timeline again so it makes sense. Celeste was killed, prosecutors believe, April 23rd of 2025. July 4th, 2025 is when this stream in question was filmed with David apologizing to his friends about the smell in the bathroom because he pooped two hours ago, then September 2025, Celeste Badi is found in the front trunk of David's Tesla while he's out on tour. And for months, nothing substantial comes out about this case until January 23, 2026. So earlier this year, four months after Celeste Badi is found, the very first arrest is made, not in L.A., in Montana. And it's not of David. It's of his close and personal friend, Neil Langston. Neal Langston does not seem to have a person.

personality outside of being David's friend. You can find out a lot about Neil Langston. Also, nothing about Neil Langston all at the same time. He's a Twitch streamer. Apparently he played Fortnite a lot. That's all I know. Maybe that's the common interest that he had with David or even how they met. He just makes like very mediocre content online. I don't know how else to describe it. One video is of him standing in the room stating, Motherfuckers will go out of their way and do something for you and then expect something in return and then call themselves selfless. Like, no, motherfucker. You're just a manipulative asshole. Get over yourself. Fuck you. Which I think is a very mediocre, just mindless take, but he thinks it's philosophically

profound the way that he's spewing it out to the camera. There's another one of him in a beanie and a hoodie staring into the camera saying, quick reminder, good people don't call themselves good people. Thanks for the reminder, Neo. Why are you smiling in your mugshot? He's arrested January of 2026 and he's smiling in his mugshot full smiles. He also tried his hand at stand-up before all of this. He does a little stand-up bit where he says, I don't have much dating experience, which hopefully is a shocker to y'all. I don't want y'all hearing that and being like, yeah, that makes sense why he's bitchless. I keep going through these many relationships or as the kids call them situationships. At the end of every single one of these situationships, the other person,

and I mean this without fail, always finds the love of their life every single. single time. I help everyone find the love of their life just at the expense of myself. So I took this negative and I turned it into a positive. I decided to make a dating profile and it ends off with I'm not going to be the love of your life. I'm going to be the guy right before that. So if you want to find the love of your life, do yourself a favor and date me. He's not particularly memorable by any means, except for the fact that he was very proud to be David's one and only Asian. He actually said that he gives me the type that if he and David are in the restroom and there is no toilet paper, he would gladly offer David his palm. I would say no offense, but that would be a lie

because full offense is meant in that. He gets arrested at his mom's house in Montana on a warrant for failing to appear as a witness. He gets hauled back. He gets extradited to Los Angeles, where he is reportedly forced to testify in front of a grand jury in connection with David's case. I'm going to try to break down all the grand jury shenanigans as cleanly as possible. There's been so much discourse about, oh, because it wasn't a charging grand jury, it must mean that the DAs don't have enough evidence. There's a lot of discourse about it, and hopefully this clears up some of it. When we hear grand juries, typically what we picture is a charging grand jury.

It's where the DA will present a structured case to the grand jurors. This is sealed. This is not public. You can't go and watch this happen. There's no judge in the room. No defense attorney. No defendant. Just the DA presenting their case to the jurors.

They can bring in witnesses. They can bring in other people. I mean, the target, they say, let's, I'm going to give an example. The target of our investigation is Chelsea. Chelsea, we think she stole her best friend's cat. Here are our witnesses. Her best friend's mom. Her best friend.

the neighbor who was an eyewitness saw her steal the cat. Here's our exhibits and all the elements of each proposed count that we want to bring on. Now please vote. Okay, Chelsea, you are now indicted with stealing a cat. Technically, that would never happen because stealing a cat in most jurisdictions would be considered a misdemeanor. And I think it would be highly unlikely for a grand jury indictment to be done over a misdemeanor. You get the point. This is just an example.

In the federal system, essentially every federal felony begins with a grand jury. You need a grand jury indictment. That's what the feds do. That's not the case on a state level, like California. The choice is up to the DA, whether or not they want a grand jury indictment before arresting someone. So this is the way that it works.

You can get a grand jury indictment and then arrest somebody. Or you can arrest someone and file a criminal complaint. But the most common method is you file a criminal complaint and then you arrest someone. So you don't need the grand jury indictment. I mean, that's what a lot of people picture though when they refer to a grand jury.

It's a charging grand jury. The DA is here to get an indictment at the end. Now, there's a different kind of grand jury. It's an investigative grand jury. And they cannot be the same. So you can't go in there and say, hey, guys, I'm the DA. I'm going to start this off as an investigative grand jury.

But then I might change my mind. And at the end, you guys get to vote on whether we indict. You can start another one. You can convene another one, but you can't do it in the same one. They use the same grand jurors, but the prosecutor, the DA, is not asking for a vote. They're just using the grand jury's subpoena power to investigate a case. So to give you some context, unless the police have a warrant, really at most, all they can do

if you maybe saw Chelsea steal a cat is ask you politely to talk to them about what you saw. But you could also say no. But a grand jury compels you to testify. You have to come in and you have to answer these questions. Otherwise, you're going to be held in contempt of court, which is a crime, a felony. So now you are forced to come in and answer these questions. Another huge element is they're locking in testimonies. So it's not even just about forcing people to come in and testify. Also, is that what Neo, what happened to Neo? He refused to come to this grand jury. Yes. Now, here's the thing. And this is going to get complicated later. We're going to do a whole deep dive into Neo in a second. But even if you don't show up, you're kind of taking the risk of

maybe they're going to arrest you. Maybe they're not. So this arrest is not even like about oh, he's guilty of anything related to the crime. It's just you refuse to talk to us. But I think the arrest itself, people have been dissecting in terms of the LAPD going all the way to Montana to make this, or coordinating with Montana to make this arrest. It must mean that Neo knows something, or at least they thought he knows something. Maybe he doesn't know anything. They just thought so. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

It's a lot of effort. Yeah. So that's the first one. You're bringing in people to testify because maybe they wouldn't otherwise. Then the second aspect of an investigative grand jury is you're locking in these testimonies. People are testifying under oath in front of the grand jurors. This transcript will always be there forever. And if the case goes to trial two years down the line, the prosecutor's defense, they can and will hold it against you and try to impeach you on the stand. Even if you're the prosecutor's witness. So this is why prosecutors might want to bring in someone like Neo to test. testify. So to give you an idea, okay, let me explain. Let's say you saw Chelsea steal the cat. You're subpoenaed. You testified to the grand jurors. I saw her pick up the cat with both of her hands and she

put the cat in her backpack and then she ran to the car. Two years later, you're on the stand during the trial and you tell the jurors, I saw her pick up the cat and she was running with the cat to the car. The defense is going to try to impeach you. Did she have a backpack? You're like, no, I didn't see a backpack. They're like, oh, well, two years ago during the grand jury investigation, you stated, and she put the cat in her backpack. So do you not remember? Or did you see a backpack? You didn't see a backpack?

Or like, you just don't care? Or did you even see her run to the car? Or sometimes it's for the prosecutors. So if you're friends with the target of the investigation, you might change your mind about what you said. It just could be human nature. And maybe you feel bad for Chelsea. Two years later, you're on the stand at the trial.

And the prosecutors knew that you have a soft spot for Chelsea. and now you're on the stand and you say, I don't remember if she put the cat in her backpack. Honestly, I think the cat might have just walked with her to the car by itself. I don't remember her picking it up. I don't know. I can't tell you. They can technically impeach their own witness and say, no, you're lying.

Two years ago, you told us at the grand jury investigation that you saw her put the cat in her backpack. Don't lie now. So they're locking in these statements. So they're like, you can't go back on your word now. We're going to impeach you with this. And there's also the secrecy element. Grand jury proceedings are sealed, which means the target of the investigation, David, in this case, will not learn what others have said until years later if he's charged. And, well, in this case, it won't be years later, but it'll be later.

So he doesn't know what's being said while it's happening. It's not, you can't request the court transcript for grand jury investigations. And it keeps autopsy details forensic findings sealed away from the public. during the investigation. Basically, an investigative grand jury makes sense in this case when prosecutors want subpoena power. They want testimony under oath. They want people to come in that would never sit voluntarily and they need to lock in their

stories. A lot of netizens were initially concerned that an investigative grand jury meant that this was a weaker case for the prosecutors, just gauging based off the fact that they didn't have a charging grand jury. Thankfully, that is not the case. It's just what the DA decides to do to get what they want. They had three investigations. grand juries, not to indict, but to investigate the target David Anthony Burke for murder.

I'm going to run through the timeline. September 8th, 2025, there's a black Tesla sitting in the impound lot of Hollywood Toe. You guys know the story, but there's a little bit more that's come out since. The employee see flies circulating the frunk and the smell emanating they stated is, they describe it as being foul. They call the police. LAPD detective Clore. He opens up the front. trunk of the Tesla and he notices this large black zippered body bag with handles. I mean, it's very clear it's a cadaver bag. It's not just like a trash bag. It's not a laundry bag. It's a cadaver bag. The report reads, he partially opened the bag to reveal a human torso and the back of a head. The autopsy further states how the body was delivered to the Emmy's office. We can kind of understand

how the body was found in the trunk. Quote, I observed the decedent's posterior head and torso lying prone. So face down. So Celeste's torso and head were found face down in the body bag when you open the zipper. And her head was oriented towards the north. She appeared of indeterminate age and ethnicity with dark hair and natural teeth. She was wearing a tube top, underwear, and leggings, and socks. I observed multiple holes in the front and back of the tube top. She was missing both arms above the elbows. and both legs above the knees. Underneath the body bag was a black trash bag that contained the decedent's apparent compiled bilateral arms and legs.

They appear to have been dismembered into several fragments. The decedent was in an advanced state of decomposition demonstrated by foul odor, discoloration, liquefaction, insect activity, partial skeletonization, and skin slippage. Side note, she couldn't even be fingerprinted because her fingers were waterlogged, which means through decomp and sitting there in that body bag, her fingers had soaked up so much fluid that the ridge pattern that is typically used for fingerprinting was useless for an ID.

The report reads, The decedent was female and had dark hair with decomposition fluid and insect activity. Also, insect activity was observed on the body and the body bag. The body bag had a double zipper, three handles on each length side, and a handle on the top and bottom width end. The body bag took up most of the front space. space underneath in the trash bag where quote the trash bag was tied and contained with the dismembered arms so the decedent's arms were cut and removed at the bicep so above the elbow under the

shoulder now this is an interesting point that a lot of medical former medical examiners have been commenting on usually people in cases like this where there's not a lot of medical knowledge people will try dismemberment at joints, so elbows and shoulders. The fact that that was not done is just interesting. I mean, I'm sure someone could psychologically break it apart, break it down. That person wouldn't be me, but they just noted it's interesting. So at the bicep. And the legs were cut twice, so severed above the knee, so around the thigh,

and then below the knee around the calf. So is it like, again, through the bones? Yes, yeah. So not the joints. so not the knees, not the ankles. So the legs are in four separate pieces. And this autopsy was sealed until as of recent. This was presented to the grand jurors during the investigations, I'm sure.

I mean, perhaps they received even more information, which would be likely. But the public autopsy does not indicate whether or not the dismemberment had clean cuts, how rough the cuts were. There's just a lot up for forensic debate. The report reads that on the right hand, on the inside of her right index finger, she has the sh tattoo, which David has been photographed with having a very similar tattoo, which that was like dug up. S-H-H-H-H on the finger. Yes, like you would put your finger to your mouth and say,

as in keep quiet. The report continues that her left eye is gone. And quote, the left ring and pinky fingers appear to have been mutilated, and I did not locate them during my scene again. examination. They're actually still missing. So her left ring finger and her pinky are still missing. Now, reportedly, Celeste had David's name tattooed on her left finger. I don't know if you remember, but there were pictures that were circulating on Discord where somebody was wearing what appeared to be

almost like a promised ring engagement ring and then had David tattooed on there. People were saying, oh, maybe that's Celeste. Maybe that's Celeste. I mean, that was all up in the air for debate. It seems a little bit more solidified now, though we still can't confirm it 100%, but that's just what it appears to be. And now those two fingers are missing. That's in September. They have their first grand jury investigation, December of 2025, and then the third one, January of 26th. Then Thursday, April 16th, 2026. So this is seven months and a week after finding Celeste body in the Tesla, LAPD walk up this driveway. And they are finally arresting David in a three and a half million dollar house in the Hollywood Hills.

Not the house that David was living in when Celeste Body was found in his car. This is a new house. Really? That he's rented. Huh. And for the past seven months, David more or less had gone radio silent. He was not publicly seen for months. A lot of people were actually under the impression that he had gone to Texas to be with his family after Celeste body was identified.

He canceled his tour. He didn't post on social media. He went dark. There were reports and rumors that he was. was active on Fortnite, that he was reviewing movies on a movie account, like rating system. But he doesn't publicly say anything. He's not caught by TMZ grocery shopping at Trader Joe's. He was apparently hiding out in a new rental in the Hollywood Hills for the past seven and a half months, a new house that apparently nobody knew he was hiding out in for the past seven and a half

months. I mean, this house, it's, there's a very private pool area with a cabana. It's four bed, three bath. It's a stunning house. It's in a very calm neighborhood, very close to, the other house that he was living at when Celeste body was found. Except on Thursday, this neighborhood was not so quiet. April 16th, 2026, one neighbor says she just hears on a loudspeaker, surrender. It's time to surrender, David. Time to surrender. She's just no clue what's happening. In fact, another neighbor releases video of David talking to the police who came to arrest him, and they're letting David know if he tries to run, they're going to release the canine dogs and he's going to get bit. To which David says, almost in his casual tone,

I got you. I got you. He has to come out through the gate, but he also needs to keep his hands in the air. So he asks them, all right, so the gate is locked. Do I open the gate? He opens the gate at the police's instruction and he's promptly arrested. He is by all means cooperative in the arrest. He's wearing gray sweatpants, a black hoodie. He's escorted out of this Hollywood Hills house that he's staying in with his arms behind his back. He's taken to LAPD's 77th Street Community Police Station and booked in at 1012 p.m. as inmate number 722-1640 and is held without bail. That's crazy. So you're saying that this is the first time people know that David lives in this house. One neighbor later tells the news. We were surprised to learn David was living nearby. We never saw him.

We never saw anyone like him. We never saw anyone going in or out of that house, really. We actually assumed nobody was living there. Another neighbor says all of our neighbors were kind of in a group chat and we were like, Like, this is kind of scary that we've been living around the corner from an accused murder and nobody knew. Is he living alone, though? It seems like it. That's crazy. How does he like even get food or how did he even get in there at the first place? We don't know any of this.

No. Another neighbor, look, I don't know which neighbor is telling the truth. Perhaps one or somewhere mistaken. Maybe they're all telling the truth, but it's all kind of in the middle. But another neighbor says, well, I'm glad he's been arrested. Because there were parties at that house all the time. What? He's like, it's been an ongoing problem for me.

Now, we don't know if maybe one of the neighbors got confused about which house they're talking about. Maybe he was throwing parties. We don't know. Technically, I wouldn't be surprised, in my opinion, if he was throwing parties and people were showing up. But I just don't imagine that that would not get posted on social media. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like TMZ would have picked that up in point two seconds. TMZ would be at the house party.

Yeah. Yeah. So I don't know. Maybe he's mistaken. Maybe it's a different house. But it's just, it's the big question, though, is why now? Not that anybody is upset that he's getting arrested,

but we also wanted this like seven months ago. So why now? We know that the DA's office did not get a grand jury indictment to arrest David. There was actually no criminal complaint filed before David's arrest, which means LAPD would have probable cause to arrest him, which makes people confused. Because, okay, so the way that it works is you get an indictment. and then you arrest.

That indictment means that you can arrest. The DA's office will file a criminal complaint. With that, the police are like, oh, now we can go arrest. The third way, which is the way that they did it, is the LAPD go in and they arrest. Now, for the LAPD to do that without an indictment or a criminal complaint, that means they need to have probable cause to arrest him. So that has people confused. Like, what probable cause do you have now seven months later that you didn't have seven

months ago. One of the arresting officers says, we did the best we can keep tabs on him, but once we developed probable cause to arrest him for murder, then we were on him pretty diligently, which a lot of people are like, that makes it sound like you just got this probable cause, that this is not something that you've been sitting on for months because at that point, you should have arrested him. So like, why didn't you have that months ago and suddenly you got it in April of this year? Netizens believe that maybe police received a new big piece of evidence they didn't have before.

maybe they received forensic testing back, maybe they got a witness statement that could be verified, or maybe they felt like David was going to flee the country, because all of those would result in probable cause. It could be any and all of those things or none of those things, really. I mean, the DA has been rather tight-lipped about why the process took so long. They were giving very the expected answers. More on that in a second. But David is charged with count one, first-degree murder with three special circumstances. The special circumstances means in the state of California, he could face the death penalty. That's up to the prosecutors to decide if that's the route that they want to take.

And he only has to be found guilty of one of the special circumstances. The first special circumstance is lying in wait. So this is on top of the murder charge. Like murder charge special circumstance. Meaning that they're trying to prove that David concealed his purpose, that he watched and he waited for the perfect opportunity to surprise attack and kill Celeste from a position of advantage. The second special circumstance, is murder for financial gain, which this is exactly what it sounds like, but technically

some legal experts believe that this is actually the weakest of the three special circumstances, mainly because of legal wording. Some people believe, some legal experts believe, that protecting preexisting income might not qualify as financial gain. So they're saying, like, usually in legal situations, you're talking about killing someone for inheritance, an insurance payout, or a murder for higher payment, you're gaining financial gain. It might not apply to someone killing to prevent the loss of an already established income stream. I see. Though I think that could be easily debated with prosecutors presenting the fact that he's going on tour right after allegedly killing Celeste, and that would be a new income stream.

He released a new album, which is a new income stream just days after they alleged David killed Celeste, two days after his new album drops. And other cases have treated avoidance of loss as equivalent to acquisition of gain. So experts think that this will be the most litigated special circumstance, but I don't know. Then you have the special circumstance of murder of a witness. And this is where a lot of people have been getting confused. Allegedly David intentionally killed Celeste for the purpose of preventing potential testimony in a criminal proceeding. So everyone just started running with it. And they were like, oh my God, Celeste had already gone to the police. Celeste had gone to the police and she was a witness in the crime against her of him grooming her as saying her. And then he needed to kill her to make sure that she's no longer a witness.

that's not necessarily what the wording means. It just means that she is a witness to a crime that was committed against her. There's no way to verify as of right now that she had already gone to the police about it. But the wording, I think a lot of people were running with it like she had already gone to the police. He has also been charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child under 14. They are very specific about this charge. So the charge date is September 7, 2023 to September 7th, 2024. So this is the exact year that she's 13 years old.

Now something to note is the prosecutors believe that this documented abuse will be from when Celeste was 13 all the way up until her death. So when she's 14 as well. They're like, oh, yeah, he was abusing her when she was 14 too. But they only charge him for the time that she's 13. And that is highly intentional. So when the victim is under 14, it's going to make the case the most severe in the state of California. and also in the state of California, if a child is under 14,

the prosecution does not have to disprove consent. Basically, based on California law, the victim's consent is not a defense to the crime of lewd and lascivious acts on a child under the age of 14 under any circumstance. So the defense, if they try to do, oh, the victim wanted this, initiated this, kept repeatedly coming back,

was gaining financially from it. It doesn't matter because they're under 14. So the judge is going to say, oh, jury, ignore everything the defense is saying. Also, the mistake of age is not a viable defense for this charge. So when someone is under 14, it doesn't matter even if this is true. It doesn't matter if the defendant is like, no, I swear and I have all the evidence that I thought she was 18.

It literally doesn't matter. You can't use it as a defense. It doesn't matter. No matter how true it may be, even though I genuinely think that you can tell the age difference between someone who's 18 and 13. but even if you say the victim lied to you, doesn't matter. Again, I still think that you would have to be hit on the head a bunch of times to be diluted into believing that David didn't know Celeste's real age, but he won't be able to use this. Then count three is the unlawful mutilation of human remains.

This is what a lot of people call the floor conviction. Even if they can't get David on the murder charge, which given the information being released thus far, I mean, albeit it is released by the prosecutors, it seems hard to imagine that they won't get him for the murder charge. but even if they don't, this is their floor conviction. They're probably, most definitely, going to get him for this. And the prosecutors, they're going strong. The felony complaint reads that David, quote, with malice aphor thought, murdered Celeste. It is further alleged that the murder of Celeste Rivas Hernandez was intentional and was carried out by the defendant David Burke for financial gain.

It's further alleged that the defendant intentionally killed the victim by means of lying in wait. De Hauchman, this is the district attorney, Hawkman. he says these charges include the most serious charges that a DA's office can bring. That is, first degree murder with special circumstances. The special circumstances being lying in wait, committing this crime for financial gain, or murdering a witness in an investigation. These special circumstances carry with it along with the first degree murder charge a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole or the death penalty.

He says, my description of these charges is not evidence that we are going to present in court. These charges, in fact, will not be evidence in the court. So this is just him legally saying, just because we charged him doesn't mean that's evidence. Evidence will be the witness testimony, the documents, the different types of admissible testimony that we will admit into court in the prosecution, and if it leads to the eventual trial of Mr. Burke to convince a jury of 12 people beyond a reasonable doubt that each and every one of these charges is true. He later explains that, quote, there is physical evidence and there is forensic and digital evidence that we intend to present in court. to prove these charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Celeste was just a child under 14 years old when David Burke allegedly engaged

in a repeated, lewd, in lascivious sexual relations with her, but David Burke's actions did not allegedly stop there. When she threatened to expose his criminal conduct and devastate his musical career, Burke allegedly murdered her, cut up her body, and stuffed her body in two bags that were placed in the front trunk of his car. There, the dismembered body sat for over four months,

decomposing until it was found at a tow yard on September 8th, 2025. This horrific and gruesome murder committed by the charged sexual predator is shocking and appalling to Celeste's loved ones. We will get the justice you seek and deserve. By the time that you're seeing this, we are now heading into the preliminary hearing for David. And there's a lot more of the weird aspects about the preliminary hearing that we're going to get into later and what to expect and why it's working out the way that it's working. but before that, the prosecutors have decided to drop a preliminary hearing brief. A pre- prelim is what some people are calling it. It's formally called the people's brief regarding preliminary hearing evidence,

and it is almost like a narrative timeline of what the prosecutors believe happened to Celeste. And this is by all means kind of unusual. Usually prosecutors don't drop a brief before the preliminary hearing. It's kind of, I mean, it's not. something they shouldn't do. It's just unusual, but let's dissect it. So we already know that September 8th, 2025, Celeste body is found in the front trunk of David's Tesla. And we all know that it seems like she had been deceased for a long time, but nobody really knew this strong, firm timeline of when she could have passed. People were just saying, oh, one friend came out anonymously on Reddit and

Discord and said, this is the last time they heard from her. This is just like internet ramblings of us piecing together what we thought happened. The prosecutors are like, I'll give you the timeline. The court document reads, April 23rd, 2025 is the likely date of the victim's death and when all her cellular activities seized. So she would have been deceased for about five months before her body is found. We are given more detail about when the two met. So January of 2022 is when the prosecutors believe this is three years before her death. Celeste is 11 years old. It goes on to state, they began a sexual relationship in November 2023, when the victim was just 13. years old and the defendant was 18 years old. We're going to focus more on that time period in a

second, but we're just going to go over the other findings first. Prosecutors believe that Celeste is killed April 23rd, 2025 and the night before she's killed, so April 22nd, David and Celeste get into an argument over text messages. We don't have those exact text messages right now, but it appears those will probably be introduced into evidence and will probably be key pieces for motive. The brief reads, the messages reveal the victim's jealousy over defendant's relationship with other women, as defendant led her to believe that they had a future together. She became extremely upset and threatened to disclose damaging information about her relationship with the defendant to end his career and destroy his life. Defendant's first studio album was due to be released

on April 25th. So these text messages are happening April 22nd. She's killed allegedly April 23rd. And his Withard album, this is actually his first studio album, debut studio album, is scheduled to be released April 25th. Insane. And this still came out on the 25th? Yes. And he went on tour for it. He had an emerging multimillion dollar career already in progress. This is what the prosecutors stayed in their brief. He also had multiple product endorsements, which were highly profitable. So back to April 23rd. So April 22nd, it seems like they were arguing over text. She was jealous. I mean, these are the words that they choose to use, right, over his relationship with other women, could be girls, could be minors, we don't know.

April 23rd, pre-sale tickets for his Withered World Tour go on presale. And this is the tour that he keeps bringing a casket to each of the tour locations. Remember, we covered that in the first two episodes. This is that tour. He even posts on TikTok, your prayers have finally been answered. My album drops tomorrow, which you probably have to go through like the Reddit trenches to find this or go through our first two videos, his TikTok has since been deactivated by TikTok after his arrest.

That was around 5.53 that he posted that. The brief reads that at around 8.40 p.m. April 23rd, David sends Celestin Uber to her family house in Lake Elsinore. That Uber is now going to take her drive about an hour and a half all the way from Lake Elsinore to David's house in the Hollywood Hills. And this ride was, I mean, by all means, completed. So the prosecutors state that during this Uber ride, the two of them are communicating. I'm assuming texting.

And eventually, she's dropped off at his Hollywood Hills home at around 10.10 p.m. Now the filing says, 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. He allegedly stabs her on the right abdomen, so injuring her liver. A second stab wound is on the left side of her chest with penetration of underlying intercoastal space, and the second stab was in her left chest area. The autopsy reads, there are two penetrating wounds of the

torso with smooth edges that may represent sharp force injuries. So, I mean, everyone's thinking a knife, but they can't in the autopsy state a knife. They can't be that specific. stood by while she bled out. That has been a huge topic of discussion online with people saying, oh, well, how could the prosecutors write that unless someone has proof of him doing that? Was a witness there? Did a witness come by and say, oh, he stood there and watched her blood out? Others are saying this wording has been misconstrued because people have been taking it,

running with it, and saying he watched her bleed out, which almost insinuates that he got off on her dying, and he was just watching the life drain out of her. I will say something to note is it just seems like a narrative inference to emphasize that he did nothing to save her life. So I don't necessarily think that there was a witness, at least at this point, that saw it happened or heard that he did that. It seems narrative at this point. Now, the prosecutors seem to believe that after stabbing her, he sends her a message at approximately 10.30 p.m. So she arrives at the house, 10.10. This is 20 minutes later.

He sends a text message to Celeste inquiring about where she is. 10 what time, 10.30? Yeah, 10.30 p.m. So the people are saying, the people meaning the prosecutors, they're saying this is part of the defendant's premeditated plan to cover out the murder. Like, they believe she's already dead at this time. The filing further alleges, despite knowing she was dead and her family was trying to find her, the evidence will show the defendant lied and claimed he didn't know where she was.

In fact, the defendant drove to Santa Barbara County immediately after the victim died, attempting to dispose of her property and destroy evidence. we know that he makes at least three trips to Santa Barbara after killing Celeste. Santa Barbara is like hours away. Yeah. Santa Barbara is really far. Like a few hours, right? Yeah.

And I remember the drive is like, like there's a lot of isolated parts even to get from L.A. to Santa Barbara. Because we've made that drive before as well. And there's like lots of parts where there's not a lot of people, especially on the road that you're supposed to take. Santa Barbara, I think it's going to be, yes. He drove like that same night? Yeah.

And then he drives like a few weeks like. or two. So he makes at least three separate trips. Now, Santa Barbara, I think, is going to be a pretty big element in all of this, whether or not it's fruitful in finding items that the police need. I just think there's something in Santa Barbara. That's what a lot of people think. Because January of this year, Celeste's passport card was found in Santa Barbara off the highway. So this is before the arrest. And the phrasing in this document is, in fact, the defendant drove to Santa Barbara county immediately after the victim died attempting to dispose of her property so that could mean her ID and destroy evidence. Is that just like clumped together? Oh, her property is evidence or could

it be the murder weapon because that hasn't been found yet? What else do they think that he could have disposed out there? Could it be the missing left ring finger and pinky finger that have still yet to be found? Or is it just the passport ID card? Why did he make so many trips? At approximately 11.30 p.m. on April 23rd, 2025, he drives to Santa Barbara. So she arrives at 10.10. He texts her at 10.30. And then 1130, he starts driving. He calls and texts Celeste phone as he's driving, asking where she is. The prosecutor state, again, these racks calculated and planned to set up his defense within a very short timeline after the victim's vicious murder. He gets home early the next morning, April 24th, 2025,

and he does this quick radio interview for the release of his album. That's all the prosecutors give us a radio interview. People have been dissecting it. So the Zach Sang Show interview comes out, but that was actually filmed early in April. I will say the date hasn't been confirmed, but it seems like it was not that interview because he talks about Coachella.

He talks about going to Coachella. He talks about preparing for Coachella, which happened before. Then people have brought up a different interview, the songwriter universe interview. And I will say that he does sound really tired in it. It's like an 11-minute audio interview. He sounds exhausted.

Usually in interviews, he loves. Like he gets off on explaining his creative process and being the most creative person in the room. But this interview, it just seems like he's, oh yeah, so I got my start in my sister's closet

with my phone and band lab. And I just said, this is how I started because I didn't want Fortnite to, I was getting copyrighted on my Fortnite streams, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It just seemed very less enthusiastic, less sidetracking thoughts, which usually he's a fan of. However, I will say there are parts in the interview where they say, oh, your album comes out later in April. Right.

So that wording makes it sound like it's not. So people haven't found the exact interview? No. So we don't know exactly which radio interview this is. I'm sure we'll probably find out if this progresses to a trial. But around that time, so this is again. the day after killing Celeste, he does this radio interview and, quote, he sent two additional texts to the victim's phone that day,

which obviously went unanswered because she was already dead. Again, I guess this is his way of trying to create some sort of alibi and excuse, but the crazy part is prosecutors allege. After April 26, defendant never attempted to contact her again. So he really only does this. He only puts up this ruse for like three days. The day after allegedly killing Celeste, he's doing the radio interview and he orders something.

on Postmates, which is basically Uber Eats. He orders a shovel from Home Depot. That same day, he apparently goes on a live stream. There is not a whole lot of clips online, but the timeline seems to match up to this day. But don't quote me on it. It's not confirmed. This is allegedly what, like 18 hours after allegedly killing Celeste.

And he's just talking about his Fortnite locker. So with the release of his album, because he's been obsessed with Fortnite since day one. He did a song for Fortnite that you can use without copyright. was a whole thing. It was supposed to be a full circle moment. And Fortnite also released a locker that you could get, which has a bunch of David merch or David items that you could,

now you can refund them if you purchase them, by the way. And the whole stream, he seemingly cannot stop blurting out words. Like one person is just commenting like his energy is so strange because he's just, he's just rambling. It's like he's filling a word count. What is he doing? Just on Fortnite, he's like, look at my locker. Oh yeah, one day I'm going to get a.

skin. Oh, that's my dream to get a skin. Yeah, I'm a furry. Like, he's literally just, it sounds like he's on drugs, I would say. He seems manic. He seems, I don't know if it's the adrenaline high. I don't know if he's on drugs to push through. I don't know. Another person just comments, bear in mind. He just had his first album released. He just killed someone. He's probably on drugs. Guy's brain must have been going like a million miles per hour. Another note, his energy is definitely off. At one point, he can't stop talking, probably to take any thoughts out of his brain. Another comment addresses people saying that David was feeling euphoric after killing Celeste. So a lot of people have interpreted this clip as like, look at him. He's on cloud

nine. He's getting high from the kill. One comment writes, I feel like people really fetishize him as some sort of Ted Bundy type. It's probably anxiety and stimulants. Even if he felt like it was the perfect crime, everyone would have had some sort of anxiety. And that's not to humanize him, you know. It's apparently after this live stream that he attends an album release party held for him at the 100 Thieves compound. He's wearing sunglasses and he looks, at least from the outside perspective, completely normal. He's very smiley as one would be expected to be for an album release party. He's thanking, he's hugging people. A few things that people noted is that he appears to be wearing a silver hello kitty bow ring on one finger.

Some people suspect that it was Celeste. It's kind of crazy that from that point on, everything is almost recorded to the public. It was live and people were living through it with him without knowing what's going on. There are points that he even uses words like dismemberment when he's discussing something else after the alleged date of the dismemberment. So there's just a lot that comes out online. And usually I try to be a little bit cautious. and wary of tying things that people post online to exact state of minds because I just feel like you get disproven so many times during the trial. Like that wasn't even the timeline. There's just a lot up for

debate. But I will say with this case, it gets harder and harder not to do it. Even his lyrics, usually I'm not big on like, oh, guys, this is what his lyrics said. So it must mean he was planning it all along. But it's just a lot of, there's so much overlap of weird coincidences as well as the fact that he used her voice in some of his songs. But it's just, yeah, there's a lot. And in most of the pictures from the party, he has the palms of his hands faced away from the camera, where it's like balled up into fist. So there's one where he's holding his hands in the air in front of everybody,

but his hands are balled up into fists. So instead of like this, it's like this, or he's holding a drink cup, which makes people wonder if he had some sort of wound on the inner palm of his hand. Because that is the most common spot for wounds if you are stabbing. someone. It is very hard to stab someone without sustaining some sort of injury because of all the blood. There's usually some slippage of the knife and that would be on the palm. More on the palm in a second. But soon after, according to the brief, he flies from L.A. to New York City. So the day after allegedly killing Celeste, he's doing an interview. He's on a live stream. He's going into an album

release party and then he's flying to New York City. The next day, he has a band lab and David pop up at Union Square. He's performing and he's singing his song Afterlife, which is on his new Witherd album, at the band Lab pop-up. And we discussed this, but we didn't know the timeline. He breaks down crying mid-song. He's like singing after life and he's crying. Right.

This was the day after? Two days after. Whoa. He was like on the ground, nearly on the ground, right? No, so that's the Houston concert that's coming up in like a few days. But this is him on this bar stool. Uh-huh. He's wearing his bonnet, his sunglasses.

and he's like hunched over on his mic. Wow, this is... And notable lyrics for afterlife include, The Devil told me you were good for me. My mother told me he would lie. What doesn't kill you waits for later. I thought a girl would make me happy. Real love is not for sale.

I'm still by your side. I crossed it with you. And when I die, you're holding the knife. I'll love you even from the afterlife. It does appear that this song holds a lot of importance for him because in a previous Zach Sang interview, but this would have been filmed probably before Celeste died, he's, Zach Singh is asking,

so what stage of the Withard, you know, is dying? Witherd is dying? So you're going into dust, but you're coming back again. Is that what I'm getting through these 14 records? David says, it's definitely a resurrection type of thing, but by the end of the project it's done. So that's like the last track is called Afterlife. That's like the final blow.

He says that he went through a lot to write this album, quote, I mean, in the process of getting outside my house and exploring the world, finding friends, losing friends, finding relationships, losing relationships. It's just everything has kind of been shaping and leading up to this project in such a domino effect way. This album is my life, withered is my life. Peddles to Thorns and Lost Pedals are what I wanted my life to be. And then Whitheredert is my life. So he's talking about his mini EPs, pedals to thorns and lost pedals.

April 25th, 2025, he posts another TikTok where he writes, my album is out, let's fucking go. And the caption reads, No more side quest, you guys can't bully me anymore. Ha ha, ha, ha. And he's singing to one of his songs, Is this really love?

Potentially relevant lyrics include, Is this really love? You said you never meant to hurt me, but baby, I know this is how it goes. And if there is a world where you're not leaving, then darling, I need to know, is this really love? You may have called my bluff,

but you've been acting up, hating you ain't enough. I just want my love back. Now, one thing people have found interesting is he keeps opening his hand, his right hand. like he keeps singing to is this really love and opening it like a high and there's this red cross on the palm of his hand and in the center it reads jesus but it's almost like a scribbly red temporary tattoo some people think that

this temporary tattoo is covering up a scar because it just looks really bizarrely done i will say that he does typically draw crosses on his hand but in black ink so this is at least the first time i've seen it in red ink with Jesus written on the inside, but also the fact that he keeps showing it to the camera people thought was weird, that maybe he's trying to hide it in plain sight. Hmm. Interesting. Okay. It could just be a temporary tattoo.

Some netizens believe that he got this temporary tattoo before killing Celeste. So it's really hard to gauge the timeline because a lot of his stuff has been taken down. So you're kind of just going off of screenshots on Reddit that you're like, oh, well, this person is saying that it's that. So it must be that. That same day, he put.

post another TikTok asking, what's your favorite song on my album so far? And it's a TikTok of him and his sister lip syncing to Is This Really Love? And in the caption, he writes, My favorites are friend again, say it back, and ghost. Wait, he has a sister too? Yeah. So you say he had a little brother? He has a little brother, Caleb, and he has a little sister.

And he would bring his little sister up on stage frequently during his tour. She looks to be about 10. Oh my wow And the only reason that I'm pointing out these lyrics now is he posted this a few days after Celeste allegedly was killed So the fact that he's singling out these three songs And most of the TikToks that he was posting in this point He's really pushing the song Is This Really Love?

All the TikToks, that's the song playing He's reposting people using the song, Is This Really Love? Now he says, friend again, say it back and ghost I don't know if there's some sort of obligation that you have to promote certain songs in an album, or if this is some sort of inner looking into a psyche at the time, but relevant lyrics for Friend Again include, Think We Should Settle Down, that's what I told her.

I should have been bolder. She said, I'm not the one. I used to be her everything, and now she doesn't answer me. I think I'm coming down, but it's not over. I'm losing my composure, letting you get to me. Good thing we're older now, but I still want her. Now you're lonely, you need company. Please don't call me.

I won't be your friend again. Relevant and discussed lyrics for the song Say It Back include, I love you like I'm supposed to, but you don't say it back. You never say it back. So now I hate you and I hope it breaks you. I won't take it back. Talking to the walls inside my room, the voices in my head, girl. Relevant and discussed lyrics for Ghost Read, Oh, heaven or hell, we will meet. Lucky me, lucky me, just to have met. Torture me, torture me, torture me, I can't forget.

He might have you, but I've got your ghost and we both know that's the real you. And God knows it's true. I love you the most. we both know what I have to do. Eyes looking right through me. Why can I hear your heartbeat? Just a dream. Just a dream.

Don't wake me up. Make believe fantasy. Dance with me under the moon above. He states those are his three favorite tracks from the album. April 27th, he does an album release show in his hometown Houston. He closes with afterlife. And he apparently sings it back to back or like three times. I can't.

Some people are saying it was back to back just twice. Some people are saying it was three times. So take this with a grain of salt. but someone had calm and said, I was at his concert. The vibes were so off. Also, he sang his song afterlife like three times at the end. He's also, this is where he's crying.

He's like breaking down singing afterlife. Just full on eyes closed, holding his chest. At one point it appears that he's rocking back and forth almost, singing. And it looks like he's wearing the same bandana that Celeste was pictured in previously. Do you know which one I'm talking about? There's a picture where it's like her side profile from a party that was posted on Instagram. And she's wearing a bandana.

he's wearing the same bandana. And yeah. I understand that hindsight is like a huge thing for cases like this, but there is a TikTok, a comment on TikTok. This is before Celeste Body is found in David's car.

And it's a comment about his afterlife performance in Houston. And the comment reads, I wonder what was on his mind. Did he really love the song or did someone he loved I? So they're saying like it just feels like something happened. And this is before Celeste Body is found.

So this is not hindsight of like, oh, we knew it. He was, this is his guilt showing through, which I'm saying these are valid comments. But this is like truly, this person did not know. Another comment reads, I think it's creepy to see him crying, performing like this. And he keeps looking into the crowd. So originally before Celeste Body was found, a lot of people were using his Houston show as, oh, this is David's I Made It Moment. So you know how people like to make edits of pop stars and singers being like,

when's there I made it moment because he's looking out into the crowd. He's crying. He's emotional. This is his studio album being released. People are commenting, I think it's creepy because he's looking into the crowd like, this is what I did this for because we now know she's threatened to end his career and ruin his life. It's almost as if he's singing and crying the lyrics and thinking about it in a way of like, you made me do this. Why did you make me do this? While also feeling justified of what he did because he gets to continue to live his dreams. And this is again, not the netizen being like, I agree with him, but they're thinking like, this is what he's probably thinking because he's sick and twisted.

During the show, he brings a little sister on stage with him. And it seems like for the rest of the tour, he's spending a lot of time with his family. Whether that be because he's on tour and they want to support him, I'm sure that's part of it. Whether that he requested them be there with him as some sort of emotional support. It's unclear. Who's in his family then? I think his dad stayed back. His dad is an attorney.

Yeah. Yeah. He works for Brown Rudnick. huge law firm. Yeah. Wait, wait. His dad hire someone from Brown.

No, his dad is a civil litigator for... Dave's dad? Yeah, he's an attorney. What? Yeah, which is why a lot of people thought that he was so silent from the beginning because you would expect someone his age that had been so reckless thus far to maybe make a reckless post online, but it seems like he got advice from his dad and shut up. Oh, that's crazy.

You didn't know that. Yeah, Brown Redneck as well. So huge law firm, big law. And mom was a teacher. I don't know. She still is a teacher. But mom, brother, and sister are seen a lot on his TikToks throughout this tour. Like going to Asia with him.

Yeah. It's very eerie to know that David's sister is probably closer in age to Celeste than he was. I mean, that's not insinuating anything. It's just netizens are saying seeing him around his sister, knowing that Celeste was 11 when he started talking to her, it just gives you an idea of how young 11 is. April 26th, 2025, he posts on X lyrics to one of his songs, Where Did It Go Wrong? And this is very interesting because this is not a song that is on his Withered album.

This is a song back from 2024. So he's just like, I don't know if he's feeling something about this song all of a sudden. And it's suspected that Celeste's voice is in the end of it. So a lot of people have been dissecting this one. Notable lyrics include, where did it go wrong with you? I don't belong with you. It's a tragedy. I really thought you were meant for me.

I guess you're not and I can't believe you. I really want to leave you. How could you lie to me? Every kiss put a cavity between my lips. I really can't believe you. I don't want to see you. I've got to make up my mind, but I'm wasting time. I might die.

I don't want to die. You give me bad luck. I can't take it no more. Baby, don't trip on me. Baby, why can't you see? And I don't mean to sound conceited, but I'm the reason you're still breathing. I wish I never met you.

I even second guessed you, but I was in too deep. I can't leave. I couldn't let you walk away from everything. I thought you were everything. You told me I was special, girl, but that does not mean anything to me. It don't mean anything to me. And at the end, you hear what sounds like Celeste's voice saying, you were special, David. And it's, I mean, it's, when I say it sounds like, it's not like a murmured, a girl's voice,

but it kind of sounds like a hum. It's straight up a girl saying, you're special, David. It just, we don't know if it's Celeste. it does sound like her. This song is back from 2024. So like I said, this is not part of his new album. But the caption just reads, three different flows in 60 seconds, man, I love music.

Yeah. The next day, he's back to posting about the Withard album. By April 29th, he's in Brooklyn performing again, bringing his family on stage. April 30th, he's just spamming on Twitter. Pedals to Thorns, decay, happy indie, alternative rock, summer, empty the clip and I'm in love.

11 p.m. 11 p.m. is a song. Now I know who the OGs are. So he's not even hard. home what after this happened he's like doing a whole tour everywhere yeah he's like back and forth meanwhile we don't know what's no because especially this time we know that the prosecutors believe that on or about may 5th is when he dismembered celeste so between april 23rd and may 5th the 12 days we don't know where she was and he's just he's just recording music he's not even seemingly busy because

he's like, oh, I'm going to re-record one of my old songs that never released called 11 p.m. Only the OGs know it. And then he drops a re-recording of him. And then he's like, oh, wait, actually, you guys told me the vocals aren't so high. So I'm going to do it a little bit deeper. And then he re-records it and posts it on Twitter. He like keeps posting these on Twitter. In the 12 days?

Yeah. In between the 12 days. Now, the very next important day is the first week of May is a huge pivotal point for the prosecution. They stayed in their brief that May 1, 20, 25. he gets a few Amazon deliveries, body bag, laundry bags, inflatable pool, and two chainsaws. They're all delivered under the name Victoria Mendez. Now, there's a whole debate about whether or not David is dumb enough to believe that the fake name would throw investigators off.

I actually think he's dumber than that. I tend not to believe that he was doing this for investigators. I tend to believe that he was so audacious that he didn't think that he was going to get caught at all. because if I'm not mistaken, I don't know many people, especially maybe public figures who order anything under their names. So I think that his Amazon account

has always been Victoria Mendez. So I don't even think this was like him trying to be like, oh, I'm trying to be smart and no one's going to catch me. I don't even think that thought came across his mind. Like I think that he genuinely thought no one would even look into Celeste being gone. So he orders these items with the,

named Victoria Mendez. I think that a huge part of him felt that because Celeste had been missing for a minute and had gone missing previously before and it didn't seem like there was a huge police effort to find her that she's just a missing child and he is V. David going on tour. I think that might have been more close to his state of mind in my opinion. So for most of the first week of May, he's relatively quiet on social media. Prosecutors believe that May 5th, 2025, 12 days later, he allegedly dismembers her body. The belief is that he set up the inflatable pool in the garage of this Hollywood Hills home. There is a drainage point in the center of the garage floor where he could have gotten rid of any fluid. Now, there's also debate on whether or not

this inflatable pool had been inflated or not. So because the fact that we believe, or were led to believe through this brief, that he used the chainsaws. Some people have been arguing about whether there would be splatter on the walls of the garage. And if that were the case, which we've seen pictures of this garage being released, not from the police, but from the homeowner. There doesn't seem to be any sort of like visible blood splatter, though Luminol is going to say something differently. So if you're using a chainsaw, people are imagining that must have been a lot of blood splatter.

So people are thinking maybe he inflated the pool. There's going to be a lot more on the pool in a second. But the felony complaint reads, Honor about May 5th, 2025 in the county of Los Angeles, the crime of unlawful mutilation of human remains and violation of health and safety code was committed by David Anthony Burke. Court documents read, moreover, defendant took horrifying measures to destroy and discard the victim's body. After placing her body into the blue inflatable pool to prevent her blood from spilling out onto his garage floor, defendant used a chainsaw and perhaps other tools to cut off her limbs.

Small blue plastic fragments were found embedded in the victim's remains, which were collected by the LA County's Medical Examiners Department. The fragments were analyzed by the LAPD's Forensic Science Division, Trace Analysis Unit, an expert was able to make a physical match from the blue fragments found inside of Celeste to the blue inflatable pool purchased by the defendant in May of 2025. In order to distance himself from the victim,

he amputated her left ring finger and pinky fingers because a ring finger contained a tattoo of his name. Her fingers have not been recovered. Defendant then placed her head and torso into the cadaver bag he purchased. Then he placed her limbs into a garbage bag which he deposited into the front trunk, so he put the garbage bags of limbs first

and then the cadaver bag on top. For several weeks or possibly months, defendant left the victim's body to decompose inside his Tesla. That day of the alleged dismemberment, David apparently posts on social media on his Instagram page a story. It shows two pink skateboards,

one of them is Kirby, and the other one is Hello Kitty, which we know Celeste loved Hello Kitty. And he captions said, Oh my God, chat should I get? Then a few days later, on May 8th, 2025, defendant returned to the same area in Santa Barbara County

leaving his home at around 11.30 p.m. He returned to the same area again on May 31st, 2025. So remember the day that he allegedly kill Celeste, he goes to Santa Barbara. Then he goes two more days after the alleged dismemberment date. So some people think that maybe he took the shovel

out there and he was trying to think of burying her entire body or maybe he just buried her fingers. Those are speculations, obviously. But why did he go to Santa Barbara twice? We don't know. Twice at this point, three times in total. There's just a lot of questions to this.

All we know for sure, at least as of right now, is he purchased these items. They were delivered to his address. Celeste was dismembered at some point. But why this date? Like, why May 5th? How did they settle on May 5th? I mean, they keep it a little vague and say on or about May 5th,

but still, May 5th is very precise. It's not the first week of May. Yeah. You know, but also where was her body for the 12 alleged days between him allegedly killing her and then allegedly dismembering her? More on this later, because it's a huge point of contention. Some people are saying she was put in a freezer, like it's a whole thing. But a few days afterwards, May 13th, he's in Asia for his world tour. Starting in Malaysia, he brings his sister up on stage where he's singing Here With Me, one of his most notable songs.

He continues to post videos of him and his sister and even his mom posting TikToks with. the song Afterlife. May 17th, he posted TikTok and cosplay and he's dancing along to his own song and he's holding this pickax and a katana and he starts stabbing, like air stabbing while screaming out loud and staring into the camera, which would just be like a little over a week after prosecutors believe Celeste was dismembered and to even be able to go on camera as a joke after allegedly dismembering someone and to make stabbing motions, netizens think to some degree, it seems like he gets off on knowing that he's going to get away with it. Some people think that he's trying too hard to almost hide in plain sight because maybe it's reverse psychology. Like,

you wouldn't think that a killer would do this. So maybe he's trying to get away with it by doing the things that we don't think a killer would do. Some people think that he is a Ted Bundy in the making. I mean, I think netizens' reactions are just all over the place with this part. But he doesn't seem particularly anxious. Yeah. And some people are saying, like, would he not want to project a soft image? Like, why wouldn't that be the plan? Like, he seems like the, you know, why wouldn't he go this far?

Yeah. The document continues, he lied to friends, business associates, and others who noticed the strong smell of decay in and around his home and vehicle. July 7th, so this is after the 4th of July party live stream. He orders a burn cage on Amazon to his house, again, under a fake name. And the plan was... What's a burn cage? A burn cage, okay.

So it doesn't appear to have been used, by the way, but it's a stainless steel container that has these little pockets to let in air. And you put a bunch of things that you want to incinerate in there, and then you light it on fire. Okay. Yeah. So just for you to get rid of something? Mm-hmm. Yeah.

It's a burn cage. What do people usually get rid of? I could. couldn't tell you. Okay. I would imagine probably mulch, like, you know, mulch, but yeah. Is it huge? I would say it's big enough to fit things of substantial size in there.

It's not going to be like a commercial burn cage. You can get them in different sizes, but this one I would say is maybe like a, from the pictures that the PI released later on, because the PI was hired by the homeowner, we're going to get there in a second. But maybe like a carry-on suitcase size, but wider, obviously. be thicker. Okay. More uniform.

Now, two days before ordering that, he's on TikTok with a blue Bob wig that a lot of people when this case first broke out speculated of being Celeste wig because she appears to have worn something similar before. Then another important date is July 29th. Prosecutors allege that he, David, was the last person to drive his Tesla July 29th. So nobody drives the Tesla from July 29th to like September. And they write, quote, before leaving on his concert tour at the third. the end of July. He parked his Tesla on the street around the corner from his home. And he's on tour. He's

doing interviews. He's dropping the deluxe. So he's preparing for the deluxe album of Withard out, Withard. He posts two more songs, bonus tracks for Withard. He's performing on stage. He does an interview with Complex where he mentions that his phone got stolen and he says, quote, yeah, I check my location on my phone this morning and it's in China getting dismembered. Tragic. So this is again, after the date of the alleged dismemberment. and August, he's heavily promoting all of his new songs. And from July to September, he's doing a lot of odd things on social media. And even from September, up until his eventual arrest in April, there are things that people have been piecing together thinking that he had this reviewing

movie account on Letterbox and was reviewing very specific types of movies. There have been people coming out to say, hey, look, I DM David. And he responded back after Celeste Badi was found when he was basically in hiding. These are our DMs. And there's lots of theories about what exactly he did with, what was his plan? I mean, I think that's like a huge thing that people have been discussing because it just doesn't make sense. He was just going to leave Celeste in his Tesla for how long until forever and just leave it

parked on the street and do nothing. Like people just don't understand what's happening. And I've tried to compile and break down the netizen theories into very clear to understand theories that people have formulated. But because this episode is just becoming so abysmally long, I am going to put that in part two. Stay tuned for part two where we go over all the autopsy details, the internet theories. There are speculations that he was inspired by a manga, that he kept certain parts of her body as a trophy as a sacrifice. There's lots of rebuttals to those theories as well.

So stay tuned. Stay safe. And I will see you in the next one.