Transcript
A (0:01)
Hi listeners, it's Vanessa Richardson. Real quick, before today's episode, I want to tell you about another show from Crime House that I know you'll love. America's Most Infamous Crimes. Hosted by Katie Ring. Each week Katie takes on one of the most notorious criminal cases in American history. Serial killers who terrorized cities, unsolved mysteries that keep detectives up at night, and investigations that change the way we think about justice. Listen to and follow America's Most Infamous crimes Tuesday through Thursday on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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This is Crime House.
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Good morning everyone. We have multiple breaking true crime cases this morning that you need to know about. And we're starting with the biggest one. Musician David has officially been charged with first degree murder with special circumstances after 14 year old Celeste Rivas Hernandez's remains were found in the trunk of his Tesla. And now the death penalty might be on the table. This is crime house 24. 7, your non stop source for the biggest crime cases developing right now. Make sure to subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Vanessa Richardson and we have quite a lineup for you today. Here's what you need to know. Lately I've been trying to take the stress out of getting dressed. Just focusing on pieces that feel easy, comfortable and still put together without a lot of effort. That's really what's been pulling me toward quints. Their stuff just fits that effortless everyday vibe. I love their fabrics, linens, cottons, cashmere. They're all the highest quality and they feel feel so good. Their design is also simple in the best way. Clean silhouettes, neutral tones and pieces that don't require a ton of styling to feel finished. I've been reaching for their staples a lot because they make it easy to get out the door quickly while still feeling like everything's intentional. And the fit tends to feel really natural, like the clothes are made to actually be lived in. I grabbed a few things thinking they'd be just basic fill ins, but they've ended up becoming some of the most worn pieces in my rotation. Rolling Refresh your everyday with luxury you'll actually use. Head to quint.com crimehouse 247 for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-I-N c e.com crimehouse 247 for free Shipping and 365 day returns. Quint.com crimehouse 24. 7 on April 20, the Los Angeles County District Attorney made it official. David Anthony Burke, the 21 year old singer known as David has been charged with first degree murder with special circumstances in what D A Nathan Hockman called the brutal and horrific killing of 14 year old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. Standing alongside LAPD Chief Jim McDonnell at a morning press conference, Hockman laid out charges that carry the most severe penalties. His office can seek life in PR without parole or the death penalty. Hawman said the decision on whether to pursue the death penalty will be made at a later time. The special circumstances are staggering in scope. Prosecutors allege Burke of lying in wait before killing Celeste, that he murdered her for financial gain and that he killed her to silence a witness. According to Hawman, the financial motive was tied to Burke's desire to protect a lucrative music career that Celeste was allegedly threatening. On top of the murder charge, Burke also faces a charge for mutilation, mutilating human remains and account of lewd and lascivious sex acts with a person under the age of 14. During the press conference, Chief McDonnell confirmed that investigators learned Celeste had been involved in a sexual relationship with Burke while she was a minor and he was an adult. Burke was arrested on April 16 at a home in the Hollywood Hills. He's been held without bail ever since. His defense team maintains his innocence. In a statement released after his arrest, attorneys Blair Burke, Marilyn Bednarski and Regina Pet said the actual evidence would show Burke did not murder Celeste and was not the cause of her death. But the evidence prosecutors have assembled tells a very different story, and it begins seven months ago on September 8, 2025, workers at a Hollywood tow yard reported a foul odor coming from a Tesla Model Y that had been impounded days earlier. The car had been sitting on a street in the Hollywood Hills, seemingly abandoned for more than a month before it was cited for a 72 hour parking violation and tow. When officers opened the front trunk, they found heavily decomposed human remains inside two bags. Her head and torso were in one bag. Her arms and legs were in the other. The vehicle was registered to Burke at a Texas address tied to his family. The remains were identified on September 16 as those of Celeste. And not only that, but this was a day after what would have been Celeste's 15th birthday. Celeste was a young girl from Lake elsinore, California, about 70 miles southeast of Los Angeles. Born to parents who immigrated from El Salvador, she'd been reported missing three times in the final year of her life. According to the Riverside County Sheriff's Office, she last ran away in April 2024 and last contacted her family in May 2024. She was just 13 at the time, and surveillance footage later revealed she was alive as recently as January 2025. The connection between Celeste and Burke was not hidden, her mother said. Her daughter had a boyfriend named David told reporters she went missing after Burke picked her up in his Tesla. Sources say she'd been living in a rental property with Burke and met him through the Internet. The two reportedly had matching tattoos and Celeste was a member of Burke's official Discord server as early as 2022. CNN reported that the two appeared together in a January 2024 Twitch live stream, joking and talking in the early morning hours before Burke, laughing, said, delete everything. When the remains were discovered, Burke was on his Withered World tour. He performed at the Filmore in Minneapolis on September 9, the day after the body was found. His tour was suspended on September 19th. Interscope records cut ties with Burke and major brand deals were severed. Initially, a representative said he was cooperating with authorities. By November, an LAPD source told NBC4 Investigates that Burke was no longer cooperating. In November 2025, the Lo Angeles Times confirmed an investigative grand jury had been convened to hear evidence. Then came the arrest on April 16 and on April 20, the charges Hawkman said he's met with Celeste's family. He described their grief as incalculable. The family's attorney, Patrick Steinfeld, said they're committed to ensuring Celeste's voice is heard and her memory honored throughout this process. Now staying in the courtroom but heading to the East Coast, a New Jersey judge is weighing whether his own behavior during a trial warrants giving a convicted killer a second chance. On April 20th, a Monmouth County, New Jersey courtroom became the stage for an unusual legal confrontation. 59 year old Paul Canero, a man convicted of quadruple murder, is fighting for a new trial after his attorneys claim that the judge's own conduct during the trial trial helped lead to the guilty verdict. Canaro was convicted of four counts of first degree murder and aggravated arson in the deaths of his brother, 50 year old Keith Canaro, Keith's wife, 45 year old Jennifer Canaro and their two children, 11 year old Jesse and 8 year old Sophia. What happened inside the Family's Colts Neck, NJ home on November 20, 2018 remains one of the most horrific family killings in the state's history. Keith Canaro stepped outside that night at around 3am 18am to check on a power outage and a failed generator, but he never made it back inside. He was shot five times at point blank range four of those shots striking him in the head. Inside the home, Jennifer was shot in the head and stabbed in the torso. Both children, Jesse and Sophia, were stabbed multiple times. Prosecutors said 8 year old Sophia survived her stab wounds long enough to experience breathing difficulty and the onset of high degree stress before she died from a combination of sharp force injuries and smoke inhalation. A slow burning fire had been set in a basement storage closet and the children were left to die as the home filled with smoke. The murder weapon, a silver chef's knife from the family's own kitchen, was recovered in a pile of debris near where Jennifer's body was found. After the killings, prosecutors said, Paul Canero drove back to his own home in nearby Ocean Township and set it on fire with his wife and two adult daughters still in inside. Thankfully, they escaped uninjured. Investigators said the fire was meant to destroy evidence and create the appearance that the entire family had been targeted by an outside threat. The alleged motive was money. Paul had been the trustee of an account tied to a $3 million life insurance policy on Keith. Bank records show he had drained tens of thousands of dollars from the trust account and diverted money from his niece and nephew's college funds into accounts for his own children. Just three days murders Keith told family that he planned to cut off Paul's $225,000 annual salary from their shared business, according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the children's maternal grandfather. Jennifer had told her family months earlier that she and Keith had discovered Paul was stealing their money. The case took more than seven years to reach trial, in part due to defense challenges over DNA analysis methods. When the conviction finally came, it seemed like the end of a long road. But on April Twentiet, Paul Canero was back in court with his attorneys, arguing he deserves a new trial. The defense claimed that Judge Mark Lemieux's visible frustration with them during the trial had influenced the jury. But Lemieux pushed back hard, pointing out that every incident the defense cited either happened outside the jury's presence or at a sidebar. He asked the defense to walk him through how something the jury never saw could have affected their verdict. Defense attorney Andy Murray argued the judge's annoyance would have been obvious to anyone in the court courtroom. But Lemieux was direct. He told Murray he was speculating and that there was no documented proof the jury was impacted in any way. Prosecutor Christopher Decker put it even more bluntly, telling the court they would have to have been in two different courtrooms for there to have been a manifest injustice Lemieux took the matter under consideration and said he would issue a written ruling, though no time frame was given. For now, Canero faces life in prison and his sentencing is scheduled for May 12th. Now we go to another courtroom in New Jersey where a 35 year old murder is finally being addressed.