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Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
STAR MUSICIAN D4VD WATCHES WHILE CELESTE, 13, BLEEDS IN KIDDIE POOL IN GARAGE
00:31:59
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- [00:00]
A
This is an I heart podcast, guaranteed human bombshell. Tonight, a star musician, multimillionaire musician, D4VD, aka David Anthony Burke, watches while Celeste Rivas, 13, a little schoolgirl, 13, bleeds in a hidden kiddie pool while he stands there and watches. Good evening, I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you for being with us. This little girl, partially skeletonized, her left eye gone.
- [00:50]
B
We don't know why they wanted to keep it secret for so long.
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A
When I read this, I felt nauseous. I got hot all over, over. Because I think of Celeste as that little girl. Repeat. I have just reviewed the people's brief regarding preliminary evidence, Estate vs. David Anthony Burke. And I've got to tell you, I prosecuted a lot of homicides. I've handled cases where bodies were rendered. All sorts of cases this beyond practically anything I've ever seen. Joining me, an all star panel to make sense of what we are learning, straight out to Joseph Scott Morgan. He is a professor of forensics, Jacksonville State University, is the author of Blood Beneath My Feet on Amazon. He's the star of a hit podcast series, Body Bags with Jo Scott Morgan. But most important, he is a death investigator with over 10,000 death scenes under his belt. Did you read this? That's a yes. No. Yes. No. Did you read it?
- [01:59]
C
Yes. Yes. Yes. I sure did.
- [02:02]
A
Okay. I really don't know where to start, but can we start with he D4VD? David Anthony Burke stands by. Remember the other night I was talking to you and I said, you know, what we are learning is that there are tiny fragments, microscopic fragments of blue plastic in her body, in the cuts on her body. And we were talking. Where did that come from? What could it be? Now we know that SOB plays this girl in a kitty pool. I just. It's more than I can take in.
- [02:47]
C
Yeah, I'm glad that you're using the term bleed out, because let me explain something to you real quick. The injury, which in my opinion, and I think that the ME corner holds this opinion as well, is the lethal injury here is going to be the liver. Nancy, if you sustain trauma to the liver, I've seen this with stab wounds, gunshot wounds and motor vehicle accidents. It is not a quick death. This is an agonizing death. The liver is very vascular. Next to the brain, it is the most vascular organ in the body. And so as she was laying there, having had this happen to her, where she is attacked with this weapon, and they're not being very specific here, we know it's sharp Nancy, she would have bled out, or exsanguinated is a fancy term, but bled out into her abdomen. And it. It's not one of these things like a gunshot wound, all right, to the head or something like that. That. That's not what we're talking about here. It would have been a slow, agonizing death. That she would have gone through that experience specifically is enough to send a chill up and down your spine.
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A
Trey Lovell, veteran criminal defense attorney, trial lawyer, founder of the Lovett Firm, joining us out of this jurisdiction. Now I see why the prosecutor is discussing the death penalty in this case. And yes, D4VD is over 18. That's the cutoff set by the U.S. supreme Court. The death penalty will apply if it is implemented, if it is handed down by a jury. Jay Lovell, could there be anything more aggravating? That's a term of art. To prove the death penalty, the state must prove special circumstances. Special aggravating circumstances according to what the state says they can prove in a preliminary hearing. They've got him busted buying on Amazon, for Pete's sake. Idiot. He buys it on Amazon, it can be traced to him. And just for fun, let me throw this into you in for you, Trey. He used a fake name. He used a different name to buy the kiddie pool. Look, I bought kiddie pools before. I didn't have to use a fake name for it. That's just another element of proof right there. Trey. What do you do with that? A kiddie pool? He watches her. Stands there and watches her as she dies. That's cold.
- [05:16]
D
Well, listen, you know, the death penalty is one is absolutely the most draconian, worst sentencing that we can have. So we're way, way ahead of ourselves. We need to establish the basic elements here. We need to establish the evidence and. And ensure, you know, what this guy did. We're at the very beginning. We can't be making judgments at this point. You know, these are egregious facts, but there's a number of things that could have happened that would. Would mitigate the situation on his end, maybe not on somebody else's. So we're way ahead of ourselves in terms of talking about the death penalty.
- [05:47]
A
Now, did you say mitigation? Did you say, what was he, a Cub Scout? What mitigation is there possibly out there that would reduce the fact that the state says in writing, this isn't a courthouse rumor up and down the halls, outside the judge's chamber.
- [06:07]
D
These are allegations. Evidence has just started, and we can't get ahead of ourselves. The death penalty is the most draconian sentencing we can have in California. And we've got to make sure, you know, that we meet the elements and we go forward. The death was horrendous, but we need to still tie him to it. There's still defenses they can have. So, you know, at this point, we can't be judging it. You know, we've seen one side of the evidence out of the prosecution. The defense is just getting going, and I guarantee you they will be poking holes in the evidence. They will have their alternative theory. We are just at the beginning.
- [06:38]
A
Straight out to Susan Hendricks joining us. Investigative reporter and journalist, author of a bestseller down the Hill, My Descent into the Double Murders in Delphi. Susan Hendricks. Just. Just the portion about him buying. I mean, we've got Amazon orders out the yin yang here, technical legal term. But he is busted buying a blue kiddie pool. And I know where the kiddie pool was used. It was hidden in his garage, his downstairs garage in that mansion that he was renting. Let's see a shot of the mansion. Maybe I can get a shot of the basement door. So the blue kiddie pool, the inflatable pool was in the basement. Basement. My question is, isn't it true the state alleges he bought it on Amazon?
- [07:30]
B
I know, absolutely. And that's why what you said, Nancy, that brief is so key, because to me, it gives us a timeline. It shows us what he bought. You mentioned it with a fake name. And to me, it says he changed his mind a few times. Out of the gate, buying a shovel. Did he use that? But the kiddie pool. The kiddie pool is so horrendous. I wonder what his train of thought was thinking. Oh, I'm going to order this. And this is so she won't bleed everywhere. It's horrific. And that's what the DA said. Hoffman. This is a parent's worst nightmare.
- [08:03]
A
There is the shot. Susan, if you can look at your monitor. This is from our friend Harvey Levin over at tmz. There is the garage door down the side, the bottom level, the backside of the home. Okay. I'm looking at everything you're saying. You know, another thing that did not escape me to Joseph Scott Morgan. She was identified by her dental records. You and I know what that means.
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C
Yeah. And she's in such an advanced state of decomposition, Nancy, and that's. That's critical, actually, it was, as a result, I think probably to a great degree of the orthodontic work that she had, had done this child had braces. All right, let that sink in just for a second. And because of those braces and the work that had been done, the orthodontic people would have had extensive records on her teeth. And I'm assuming also that they ordered these up pretty quickly. You've got a dentist that's cooperating with the ME in order to get her tied down, get this ID tied down as quickly as possible. And it could be. I don't completely buy it. It could be that maybe from a sampling standpoint the DNA was degraded. Again, I'm not necessarily buying that. But they went with dental ID here and that's going to be critical because it's very distinctive. We all have very distinctive teeth, Nancy. And even if you've had orthodontra done, they're still unique to, to you because we not only look at the teeth where they're visible, we actually look at the, at the root system on X ray. And we can do examinations relative to that. The forensic odontologist can. And they turn this around apparently pretty quickly because they needed to verify that this was her. Because you knew that she was missing.
- [10:03]
A
That's why I think they did it. Just got. I think they used dental records because they couldn't wait on DNA. They already knew of Celeste Rivas existence. They knew she was missing and they wanted to get that dental match. They wanted to get an ID on the body immediately. And dental records were the fastest way to go. You're absolutely right. Back out to you. Susan Hendricks joining us. I was just taking a look at all of the things this idiot ordered on Amazon. Hey, does this name ring a bell? Brian Kohberger ordered the murder weapon on Amazon. Let's take a look at Brian Coburg's KA bar knife that he ordered that came back to haunt him. He can think about that tactical mistake as he's sitting behind bars for life without parole. Then we've got cult mom Lori Valo. You know, technical legal phrase, she's another idiot. Let me go to Trey Lovel on this. Trey. It's when you're prosecuting a murder case and in Coltmom, Lori Valo's case, multiple murders including her own children. But let me just throw in her now husband, the prophet, self appointed prophet Chad Daybell. What she saw in him, not sure. He was married. But before his wife died that is was murdered. She caught mom. Lori Valo goes on Amazon and orders her wedding dress and a ring and her soon to be groom's outfit for a beach. B E A C H Wedding on Amazon before Tammy Daybell, the wife is dead. So you've got, for instance, Coburger ordering the KA bar knife. You've got cult mom Lori Valo does nobody. I mean, second verse, same as the first. And here you've got D4VD. David Anthony Burke ordering. I had to make a flowchart. He ordered a body bag. He ordered a heavy duty laundry bag, a shovel. Oh, he ordered that from Home Depot. Two chainsaws by Amazon and a home burn cage. I mean, there's more. I'm just throwing you the highlights. He ordered it all on Amazon and then ding dong tried to use a fake name.
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D
Listen, he's 18 years old. You know, this guy doesn't know what he's doing. The last thing he's thinking about is, no, he's not. Or not 18 at September.
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A
Trey Lovell. He's 21. He was 20 at the time Celeste was murdered. And speaking of ages, they met, and that's certainly euphemism, they met when she was 11. 11. And he gave her, according to these bombshell documents, a secret cell phone so they could text and send naughty pictures back and forth. 11. 11. Trey Lovell back to Amazon orders.
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E
Yeah.
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D
Yes. You know, listen, he's, he's a young guy. It doesn't have the, the benefit of having lived a while. You know, this is probably something he was obviously never been faced with and it may have affected the rest of his career and his life and he acted accordingly. So we can't expect people like this to be dotting their I's and crossing the T's. And obviously, you know, post murder, assuming it's him, he took steps to that he thought would try to hide it. But obviously in this day and age, you can't do it. So, you know, that's the problem of youth when you try to commit, allegedly commit a murder like this.
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A
I love the way you said he was young. Guess what, Lovell, she was younger, 11 years old when this whole sordid thing began. Back to the evidence. You know the orders on Amazon. Back to Susan Hendricks, investigative journalist, joining us from the field. Susan, what all did this idiot order on Amazon?
- [14:12]
B
Yeah, I have a list here too, and you're right. A body bag, garbage bag, the burn cage, which I had never heard of, as you said, Home Depot, the shovel. Just on and on, picturing him on his cell phone, scrolling like we all do through Amazon, getting, I don't know, laundry detergent. No things to get rid of a body. And you're right, just 11 years old when they first connected 11 with braces. The parents got involved, said, no, you can't see her anymore. What'd he do? He went to her middle school, paid a kid $1,000, and said, Give her this phone. And they continue to communicate. A baby in middle school.
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A
Hold on just a moment. Can you Repeat that? About D4VD paying 1 of her classmates a grand so they would give Celeste a secret cell phone? What?
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B
Yeah. Reported missing by her parents. She went back home in 2024. This was. So he goes. He drives about hour and a half to her middle school, sees a young kid and says, here, here's $1,000. Give this phone to Celeste so they could keep communicating. At this point, I'm picturing just a baby in braces in middle school, pays another little child $1,000, and therefore Celeste is able to get that phone.
- [15:29]
A
Dr. Jerilyn Utter joining us, clinical psychologist specializing in evaluations in the criminal justice system. She's the author of Mainlining Philly, Survival, Hope and Resisting Drug Addiction, the author of Aftershock How Past Events Shake up youp Life Today. She's the producer of Utter Nonsense Documentary, and you can find her@drjerilynutter.com 11 years old, and he is just that visual that Susan Hendricks just conjured up of him scrolling through his phone, finding just the right kiddie pool, ordering all of these items. Shovel, burn, cage, kiddie pool, chainsaws. It goes on.
- [16:23]
B
There is such a disconnect from individuals like Mr. Burke recognizing that the person that was allegedly killed Celeste, was a human being. There is such a huge detachment. I mean, when you look at the behavior. And I don't, you know, age has nothing to do with this. I don't care if he was 18, 21. That's even scarier, the fact that he was so young, you know, allegedly committing these types of crimes. And it's. It's just so disheartening. So when you look at this, you know, I deal with homicide cases. I deal with extremely violent cases and do risk assessments all the time where somebody unfortunately loses their life. And I work with the perpetrators. And what I can tell you that's so disturbing for me about this case is the sheer detachment of recognizing humanity. There was no empathy. There's no remorse. We are not. He is not looking at this little girl as a human being, let alone a little girl. So it's just. It's so upsetting to have to sit and to read and to take in all of this information again when you're going and you're buying all of these different things. You're buying a burn cage. I mean, it just goes to speak to the depravity of it all and how we're not dealing with somebody with one issue, which could be, you know, a pattern of antisocial behavior. We're dealing with a lot of things, you know, somebody that's attracted to children, violence, you know, obsession with murder and death and how you're going to hurt someone. There's so much to this, right? From a personality perspective, it's just devastating.
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A
Nancy, you know, you mentioned obsession with murder and death. Dr. Jerilyn, I don't know if you've seen the visuals of his PR campaign where he is wearing bloody clothes, selling bloody clothes. Joining us now, Steve Fisher, special guest, missing persons private investigator, search and rescue specialist, the owner of Search Investigations. He was hired by the owner of that Hollywood Hills mansion where D4VD was renting at the time of the murders. And you are the first person to say the words fire cage or burn cage or home incinerator. What did you observe?
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E
We found the burn cage at the house after the search warrant was executed. It was, you know, going back now, you can see it in images from live streams and videos that he took at the house. He didn't seem to have a care in the world that it was there for the friends to see. We found the chainsaw, you know, and several packages in the name of Victoria Mendez from Amazon, including the Burncage.
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A
Is there a Victoria Mendez?
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E
Not that we have found. It appears just to be an alias
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A
he was using to Steve Fisher. Before I get back to what we learned about her body, specifically why two of her fingers were cut off. You know what, let me just go to Jo Scott right now. Jo Scott Morgan, remember a couple of nights ago that you and I were talking about two of her fingers on her left hand were missing, Right. Some of the fingers were gone. And why? And they were never found. Never found. The rest of her body found in two separate bags. But her fingers were gone. They were amputated. Did you know that one of those fingers was the one? She had his D4VD's name tattooed on the finger?
- [19:55]
C
Yes, I have since found that out. But I got to tell you, it's not surprising because that's a specific identifier that could be tied back to her as a person. And she was a person, Nancy. And he's wanting to get rid of that. And I've had cases like this before where we've had victims that are in an advanced state of decomposition. They've been dumped. I've had hands cut off, heads cut off, those sorts of things. And so. And it's a feeble attempt, particularly in the face of modern forensic science, to try to keep these people unidentified. Because it's always been my contention in any death investigation, Nancy, if you can determine, if you can determine who the person is, it's like the proverbial sweater the mom tells you not to pull the string on. You pull that string and this whole thing comes unraveled relative to it pointing back to this individual. Nancy.
- [20:58]
A
Hey, Jo Scott, look at that picture again. I know you and I deal in forensics and probative value evidence, but look at this. Look. Don't take the photo down. This finger was amputated because it divulged the identity of the victim. But wait, keep looking. This is her ring finger. And she is wearing an engagement ring, a traditional engagement ring. This little girl, the whole argument, the whole thing blew up when she, Celeste, got angry that De Forvide would not quit sleeping with other people. It hurt her feelings. She's a little girl. She's 13. She said he promised her a future marriage, children, a life together. And she's even wearing a faux engagement ring on her ring finger with the tattoo on it, dreaming that she was going to be Mrs. David Anthony Burke. That breaks my heart. And her little broken heart that he would not quit dating other women led to her murder because she threatened to reveal their relationship. He was on the verge. Let me go to Steve Fisher on this, because he's made an incredible timeline. He was on the verge of dropping an album and launching a world tour. Celeste could have ruined the whole thing. He could either marry her or kill her.
- [22:34]
E
Yeah, he is true. And these other women were minors that she was upset about. And I'm in touch with them, and it's just really sad. This is. This is grooming to the fullest extent. I'll tell you one other thing that somebody called me that now it's comfortable since David's been arrested. And they told me that Celeste had been trying to give the ring back to David and he wouldn't take it. She was, like, trying to cut free from this guy. Of course, you know, she's being groomed, so she's still got this thing, you know, where she's having trouble doing it. But she wanted to break free from him. And he would not take the ring back. He would not let her go.
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A
Steve Fisher, you have exclusive video of D450's Tesla being moved around in the neighborhood and you are allowing us to show it. I want to thank you for that. Let's see Steve Fisher's video. What am I saying? Steve?
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E
So this is July 29, which is the last day they're actually in Hollywood because they're leaving on his tour. On the wither tour is beginning that evening in Santa Barbara. And this is the car being moved from the house. The house is right around where the car starts. It's right around that corner there. And it's coming down to where wraps around to Bluebird. And this is somebody moving the car. I think it's around 10:30 in the morning. I might be off by an hour or so there. But they have the window down. The car's super dirty. You can tell it hasn't been moved in an extremely long time. They, they did the windshield wipers once or twice to get rid of and it's a lighter skinned, you know, person with wearing red, you know, sleeves and a red type of jersey.
- [24:12]
A
So sounds like Neo, one of his best friends who has not been charged, who appeared at the grand jury, who is not a person of interest. Steve Fisher, what is the date of that video we're showing right now?
- [24:27]
E
July 29, 2025. And this is the date. This is the last video.
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A
You're saying the windows were rolled down and it's coming out of Defense4VD's mansion. Do you believe that Celeste was already. Her body was already in the front, the front trunk?
- [24:42]
E
Absolutely, yes.
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A
Why?
- [24:46]
E
Because they leave. That is, this is the last day that the car is driven. They leave that evening, early in the evening, late afternoon, on a tour bus for the first leg of the tour, which starts in Santa Barbara and ironically in Santa Barbara, or I'm sorry, San Francisco. And so this is, this is it. They leave and they're not back for. Until the search warrant. After the search warrant is executed. Now somebody is back, not David, but somebody is in that house the day before the search warrant is executed. And we don't know, we haven't narrowed down the two people, but we don't know exactly who but David and is is out on, on tour and doesn't come back before she's found.
- [25:32]
A
What an idiot. All the digital evidence ordering from Amazon, Postmate, Uber, where he lured her according to these documents. Isn't that true, Susan Hendricks, that the night we believe she was murdered, D4VD orders an Uber for her, she arrives at his home and she's never seen again.
- [25:57]
B
Yeah. Using everything that we may Use every day, as you said, Amazon and Uber. Having her delivered to his home, knowing exactly what he was going to do. And it's gut wrenching to think just a baby. Eleven, as we mentioned, her body was discovered. I learned September 8th and her birthday. She would have turned 15 September 7th. He threw her away like crash. How long was she in that car? It's just excruciating to think about.
- [26:26]
A
You stated he threw her away like trash after he ordered her up like a pizza delivery. Like he's ordering Chinese. He just orders an Uber. She comes over that night. We believe he killed her according to these bombshell documents. And out to you, Joseph Scott Morgan. He goes to the trouble of ordering a blue inflatable kiddie pool to use so she won't bleed on his floor. But guess what? He didn't get rid of all the blood, did he?
- [27:01]
C
No, he. I think that it's probably an empirical impossibility. You know why? Because she was rendered according to what they're saying. Nancy, with. And I've worked cases and they are some of the most brutal cases that you can encounter from a rendering standpoint. This is critical in the sense that. Just let me give you one quick stat. Actually moves at anywhere from 12,000 at the top end to 15,000 rpm. That's revolutions per minute. What the me is saying relative to the report. They're talking about how the edges are clean. And I had a lot of questions about this when I read the. The autopsy report thinking about. Well, that's probably reasons you're seeing this embedded plastic on the surface of these injuries. And one more thing here. They alleged that he had done this in the garage. Now, I don't know how thoroughly they were able to clean up, but they had to have recovered something. And Nancy, he himself, whoever the perpetrator was, would have absolutely been covered in all of this debris off of her body.
- [28:22]
A
Well, look at page six, Joe Scott. Page six. Inside the garage, detectives discovered evidence consistent with what happened to the victim's body. The rendering in the inflatable pool, they find biological samples positive for blood. Corrupt. Collected in the garage. DNA confirms it matches victim Celeste. So I don't care how much he hosed out the garage, his garden hose is no match for DNA collection, especially with the way that she was killed, the blood that is flying around hitting everywhere in that garage. Also, there's a ton of digital evidence that we're hearing about Susan Hendricks. What else do you. Jumps out at you tonight out of this document that we've just obtained.
- [29:17]
B
Less than 24 hours later, after allegedly murdering her, he goes to the opening of his album at the 100 Thieves Cash App compound. He's out there partying just. And as I mentioned, the motive. They were arguing on the 22nd, 23rd, comes around, gets the Uber, brings her to his house. He knows what he's doing, kills her, acts like nothing happens and all he thinks about is getting rid of her. That's it. And himself goes to a long term
- [29:47]
A
and then goes and parties. Look at that. Steve Fisher. We're showing a shot of the party you first told us about Steve. These are your photos. What happened?
- [29:58]
E
Somehow he is within 24 hours, you know, out celebrating and what I don't understand, and maybe Joseph can speak more to this, can you even clean the scene up within this amount of time before he's at this party to the point where, you know, lapd, when they came out and did that search warrant, they didn't turn it into a major crime scene. They didn't. They weren't in Tevic suits after they found some, you know, they were only there a few hours. So I, I'm confused how he was able to clean it so well by himself and then have a party the the next night. That started at 9pm not super late. So I still have a lot of questions after this affidavit or after I've
- [30:32]
A
got a question about how he was out there partying after he just murdered and rendered a little girl and he's partying. I mean career before all. There was no way in he double L he was going to let a little 13 year old girl destroy his world tour and his album drop. Oh no, nothing will get in the way of that. Well, how does life without parole or the California death penalty feel now, David Anthony Burt, you can think about that as you await trial. To everyone listening tonight, if you know or think you know anything regarding the murder of this little girl, Celeste Rivas, please dial 213-486-6890. Repeat, 213-486-6890. We remember and American hero officer Michael Wall, L.A. county Probation, California, passed away in the line of duty after 14 years, leaving behind his daughter sentenced to life without dad. Aubrey. American hero Officer Michael Wall. Thank you to our guests, but especially to you for being with us and our search to bring justice to Celeste. Nancy Grace signing off, but I'll see you tomorrow night. And until then, good night, friend. This is an I heart podcast. Guaranteed human.