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Criminally Obsessed
New Celeste Murder Details: Crime Scene Investigator's Unfiltered Analysis
00:42:03
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- [00:00]
A
Hey, everyone. I'm Ann Emerson, and this is Criminally Obsessed. Ever since I heard about those blue plastic bits embedded in Celeste's body, I could not stop thinking about what it could have been. Literally, it was keeping me up at night. And now we know it was pieces of an inflatable pool that police say David put Celeste's body in to dismember it. It was used to contain her blood,
- [00:24]
B
but did it when he takes that chainsaw? Now, imagine if you've ever mixed batter. Have you ever, like, lift it up a little bit, and it just kind of goes everywhere. It is not going to be contained in that little pool.
- [00:37]
A
I mean. Wow. And the latest doc drop doesn't stop there.
- [00:42]
B
He does nothing the entire month of June but drive around with a dead body in the trunk of his car. Why? Why? Why? There's something so wrong with him.
- [00:53]
A
That's Cheryl Mac McCollum. She's a crime scene investigator and s seriously one of the best in the business.
- [01:00]
B
So that Tesla is going to be one of the best witnesses of this whole thing.
- [01:04]
A
She's seen a lot of crazy stuff in her career. So was she surprised by what the preliminary hearing evidence brief revealed?
- [01:11]
B
I think they've got witnesses talking, and
- [01:13]
A
she answers the question, could Celeste have been pregnant? Be sure to like and subscribe to Criminally Obsessed. There are going to be a lot of updates to this case, and I don't want you to miss any of it. And let's get into it. Mac. The reason I've been, you know, really persistent, like, wanting to talk to you about this case, is because I wanted to really be able to see it through your eyes as an investigator, as somebody that, you know, as a crime scene investigator, getting to the scene of something like this, it is. It is so horrific. But there is so much time. The timeline must have driven investigators crazy. I mean, it's like one of our biggest questions. Why did this take so long from the time they found Celeste to making the arrest? What do you think?
- [02:03]
B
I think they were building a solid case. They knew he wasn't going anywhere. They already had him monitored. They might have even pulled his passport for all I know. But he wasn't going to be able to go anywhere. They had him. They wanted this thing done right. They knew how serious this was. They wanted no missteps.
- [02:23]
A
They.
- [02:23]
B
There's no reason to get in a hurry. Being arrested faster doesn't make your case better. So I think they did the right thing.
- [02:32]
A
When we heard that Celeste Rivas Hernandez's body had Been found back in September. They don't make the arrest till April. What is it that the investigators immediately have to start doing?
- [02:47]
B
I think, you know, I would want her phone. I would want phone records. When did a certain number stop? Who's the last person to text her? Call her? Who's the last person she called? Because that's going to tell you a whole lot of a potential suspect. So, for example, you got to look at David. They had a relationship. So when did she go missing? When did her family stop hearing from her? When did David stop hearing from her? Why didn't David contact her family and say, hey, I hadn't seen her. She won't respond to text messages. I've been calling her. Have y' all seen her? So a lot of times for us, what somebody does is real important, but what they don't do is equally as important. So if he's showing no cause or concern of her whereabouts, that would be a flag for me.
- [03:41]
A
Well, Mackie, what we saw was that literally there was some what prosecutors say were just sort of fake text messages that he sent literally right after this.
- [03:52]
B
And that's something we know now. But, you know, like, in the beginning, you know, you don't know that yet. And you think, well, okay, he's reaching out. But again, is he reaching out like he normally would? Like, is there normal banter? Hey, girl, where you at? Or is it, bitch, I told you to be here at 9? Like, how was he responding? Is it a normal way or is it not normal? So, like, if you look back on some of the cases we've had in the past where family members are like, hey, give me a call. I hadn't heard from you. And then it's increasing their concern, and it's like, hey, if you don't call me by 5, I'm gonna call the police. Well, then the next day, okay, I'm calling the police. I mean, I'm freaking out now. So you're giving them a little bit of space. But it's clear that somebody's getting more and more concerned if David says, hey, are you still coming or not? And then there's nothing. That's not a normal response for a boyfriend. It's not?
- [04:55]
A
No. And earlier on, we heard a lot about witnesses and who was here and who was there. And, I mean, this is a guy who normally had an entourage to some degree around him because he's a celebrity.
- [05:07]
B
Right.
- [05:09]
A
Why are they only concentrating on David? Is that very deliberate?
- [05:14]
B
I think they have not told us. So, for example, this girl's been hanging around him since she was 11 years old, when he was 18 and she was 13. We now know that's when their sexual relationship started. Illegal, Right. There's no way these people around him didn't know. So it's the kind of thing where the first one that talks gets the deal. So you knew this 13 year old child was spending the night with him, was traveling with him, was going to London and Las Vegas and all these different places, yet you did nothing. You told no one. You didn't even tell him to quit it, Right? So they can say whatever they want. And let me just go in and be real clear about something. Oh, I had no idea she was a minor. Yes, you did. You want to know a girl is 13, talk to her. Look at her. I mean, you can't be around somebody 13, much less 11, and not realize they are not 18 years old.
- [06:19]
A
That's just not possible.
- [06:21]
B
And here's the other deal. When she's hanging out with all these people, what is she talking about? She ain't talking about college classes, she ain't talking about her work. She's not talking about anything that an adult woman would be talking about. She doesn't even freaking have a driver's license. Guess why? She ain't even 16. So they knew. They absolutely knew. And my question is, I don't even know how she got to London. You can't travel with a minor that you're not related to. How did she get through tsa? How did that even happen?
- [06:54]
A
That is a great question. I mean, they would have had to go through all of the same protocol, even if they were driving, you know, flying his G5 across, you know, the continents they still needed to have. And I do think they found her passport, ID card. But I, I question and wonder how all of that came to be. That is such a good question.
- [07:17]
B
Even with a minor that has a passport, they can't travel with an adult that's not their parent. That's one of the ways they're trying to combat human trafficking. So she can't, as a Hispanic female, show up with an African American Male 5 years her senior and get on an international flight. She had to have some type of permission to do that. So again, somebody is allowing this to happen that has full knowledge of her age is my point.
- [07:49]
A
Do you think it's family?
- [07:51]
B
Well, her parents would have had to have given permission, you know, and her family knew where she was. Even her teacher knew her boyfriend was named David. I mean, this was not something she kept A secret. Another thing, she's 13. This was never going to be a secret. But if you go back, how does a 16 year old guy meet an 11 year old runaway? It's not a good way.
- [08:21]
A
No, it sounds like it was a lot of Internet chatter. A lot of being in the, in the wrong chat room, talking to the wrong person on the wrong messaging systems.
- [08:31]
B
You mean getting groomed? Yeah, that's what it is.
- [08:35]
A
Well, I mean, and, and who was she around that, that that grooming was taking place as well? That's absolutely right. The other thing, Mac, that I was just. That really was. I noticed that they had brought up in the, in the affidavit was the yearbook photo. Because when they went and questioned David, he pulled up a picture and it was her yearbook photo. So she 100% knew how old that child was.
- [08:59]
B
No question about it. And he knew for years. This again. When you meet somebody in a chat room and you're not there in person. Yes. You may think they're six foot four and extremely handsome. And then you meet him and you're like, I thought you were. He met her in person at 11. And keep in mind he's got child pornography in his phone. This is his thing. Of course he reached out to somebody.
- [09:31]
A
11.
- [09:32]
B
And let me be real clear about any type of pedophile, they know what they're doing, they know the questions to ask, they know how to get information about your parents. Are you able to sneak out? Would you sneak out? Do you want to sneak out? All of these things? Oh, you're much more mature than anybody in your class. You're so beautiful. You're all of these things. Next thing you know, you're at his house. But again, her family knew that there is no way that grown man should be able to knock on your door to get your 11, 12, 13 year old daughter out of that house.
- [10:11]
A
No, no, there was way too much, Too many people would have had to know what was going on for this to have carried on for as long. That's what you're saying. And as far as the premeditation and the lying in wait, which is he's charged with, you know, he sent an Uber to go get her. How long do you think it was from the time that he picked her up that night in that Uber and
- [10:36]
B
when she died, I think she was ambushed immediately. That was the plan. There's no reason to argue anymore. There's no reason to talk about it anymore. She says in a text message to him, I'm basically going to out you as a pedophile and ruin your career. He was never going to let that happen. And here's the deal. Let's be honest. All it takes is an accusation, right? And you're not going to get past it. She had proof in her phone. She had photographs with him. She had been with him overnight, multiple times she traveled with him. Lord only knows what the text message exchanges were when everything was good. So it was there, the prosecution knows, they have it, that this is what was exchanged between the two of them, which was, you know, highly sexual. So if he's got child porn in his phone and he's got photographs of her and text messages between the two of them about a sexual relationship when she's 12, 13, it was, it was going to ruin him.
- [11:47]
A
And he was literally like within hours, like it was the same week, within hours of when he was supposed to be really launching the next phase of his entire career.
- [11:57]
B
That's right. And that was another flag for me that here he had this world tour set up. Now you know what it takes just to pull off a conference. Can you imagine a world tour? The amount of people, the, you know, venues, the merchandise, all the things that have to be in place. He called it off. Yeah, he called it off because he knew what was coming.
- [12:21]
A
Yeah, yeah, he knew that he was cooked, basically. And you know, when the, the, the other part that just screamed at me was that he was able. Everything about this was just so sick. But, you know, that he was able to. According to the prosecutors, he had a. Someone within her school, a school friend. He paid her $1,000 to give her a burner phone when her parents took her phone away.
- [12:49]
B
Right. Again, this is a pedophile. This is somebody that's going to control the situation however he can. That was an easy step to make sure he had communication with the person that he's targeted. And that's what she is. Because again, why did she run away? Was it because of him? Why would he ever have access to her? Why would he ever be in a group chat where a child would be. That's deliberate. That's on purpose. He's laying the foundation to go where the age group is that he is attracted to. That's all. You're not going to have an 18 year old guy ever hanging out at an elementary school for what she was in the seventh grade.
- [13:39]
A
Yeah.
- [13:39]
B
When they started sleeping together. Think about that. She's a baby. She's a baby.
- [13:45]
A
I mean, and it's, you can't even, it's, it's Hard to imagine. I mean, these kids are learning how to ride a bike, you know, I mean, like, this is. This is beyond formative years. This is when they're still just trying to figure out, like, how to get their shoes on.
- [13:59]
B
Yep.
- [14:00]
A
And he's putting on her on a. On a jet to go to London.
- [14:03]
B
That's right.
- [14:04]
A
It's unbelievable.
- [14:05]
B
So this is somebody that could drive a car. He can drive a car. And he's talking to somebody 11 years old.
- [14:12]
A
It's so sad. I do wonder just from, like, tell me if I'm overthinking this, but how did the prosecutors get all these text messages if these. These messages were coming in on a burner phone? And, I mean, was he really that. That stupid to leave everything on his own phone? Like, all of this. All of this material. Is that. Is that how simple this is? Is that he literally just. They opened his phone and went, oh, my God, what's that?
- [14:41]
B
He had child porn all over it still. He put a dead body in his own trunk and then left the car somewhere and never reported it stolen. I mean, yeah, I think he's pretty stupid, but thank God, because again, you know, we're going to be able to have a case that is solid, and it's going to be difficult to wiggle out of it, because here's the thing. Without the murder, just with the child porn in his phone, he's going to do decades in prison just on that. But you add, hey, I got an Amazon receipt. And yeah, you used a female's name, Victoria Mendez, or whoever it was. It was your address. And you not ordered just one chainsaw. You ordered two just in case one didn't work. Well, I guess. And then you ordered body bags. But this is what blew my mind. He killed her on the 23rd because that's when all activity on her phone stopped. Nothing else from her at all, right? It was May 1st. He ordered the chainsaws, and then it's May 5th, he gets the body bags. Are you telling me he's just hanging out in his house with her dead body? And, I mean, this is days. This is almost two weeks now. You're talking about.
- [16:04]
A
What does it smell like, Mac? Like, what is the. What is going on in that house when you've got a dead body in the house that long?
- [16:10]
B
She is decomposing. There's no question about it. You're talking about from the 23rd to May 5th. You're talking about 12 days, maybe 13 going into 13 days. All I can tell you is there was Be no way you could walk in that house and not know it.
- [16:32]
A
And Mac, they were. There were weird videos out that we've seen recently of people coming in, and he's made these weird excuses about having to go to the bathroom and just kind of. Just really disgusting, like, excuses of why he. Why the house smells so bad and what. I mean, without. I know this sounds awful, but, like, how overpowering is a smell like that when a body is decomposing for that long?
- [17:03]
B
Every single person listening to this right now has driven by someplace outside where an animal has died on the side of the road that's outdoors, and you're driving past it, and it about knocked you out. Right. Imagine being enclosed, not moving.
- [17:24]
A
The prosecutors say that. That. That he got a. An inflatable pool, put her body in there. Like, put her in there in order to do, like, the dismemberment and all of that. But before we get to that, one thing I do want to say is they say he put her body in this blue inflatable pool and that she bled out, and he just stood there while she bled out. Mac, how do they know that? Is that for drama or is that something that they could actually.
- [17:55]
B
No, it's not drama. It had to have happened. So if you have a body, even if it's in the process of decomposing, it's still intact when he takes that chainsaw. Now, imagine if you've ever mixed batter. Have you ever, like, lift it up a little bit and it just kind of goes everywhere? That's what's going to happen with that chainsaw. That chain is flying, and so it's going to have a spatter. You could have it on the roof, on the walls, on the floor. It is not going to be contained in that little pool. The fact that there is the little blue embedded in her, the little plastic piece. Well, that also tells you he hit the sides because it's inflatable. So when he pushes down, he's hitting something. Right. I'm telling you, it went everywhere.
- [18:44]
A
It went everywhere and it was still there. There's no way he could have ever gotten that out. We're talking bits of bone, DNA, blood, brain matter, everything.
- [18:54]
B
Yeah. Whatever he hit. But I'm telling you, the liquids, you know, everywhere. And the smell would be.
- [19:07]
A
Yeah.
- [19:08]
B
And overwhelming.
- [19:10]
A
Is it. Would it still be in the house? I mean, is it the kind of thing that you don't get out of? You don't. You can't clean that up, can you? You can't. That's like tear down stuff.
- [19:22]
B
Well, here's the reason you can't really clean it. Odor is going to seep into things. So think of if you've ever asked for a hotel room that's non smoking and they give you one that's smoking, you know it immediately. Yeah, because anybody's in there smoking, but it's in the drapes, it's in the carpet, it's in the bedspread. So this, if you're talking about April 23, April 26, May 1, May 4, May 5, it has seeped into carpet and bedspreads and curtains.
- [19:51]
A
Yeah, well, and then you've got June, August.
- [19:57]
B
Well, I think by then she's in the trunk of the car, not in the house. But that's what I'm saying. To me, he gets her out of the house once he gets the body bag on May 5, and then he realizes, oh, she's too big to fit in the frunk because the Tesla, it's a smaller area. It's not a huge trunk. So he has no choice but to cut her up, which is what he does. So I think by, you know, May 6 or 7, she's in the trunk of the Tesla, but he does nothing the entire month of June but drive around with a dead body in the trunk of his car. Why?
- [20:37]
A
Why? Why?
- [20:39]
B
There's something so wrong with him. I mean, he's not mentally okay, obviously, but, you know, he doesn't even dump her. Like, truly just, I can't even drive this car anymore. He goes and dumps the. The car. Not. Not until July, something. She's not even found till July 19th. So you're talking about from April 23rd to July 19th.
- [21:04]
A
Well, I thought she was found on September 8th.
- [21:07]
B
I'm sorry. I'm talking about when the car is first noticed or whatever. He's dumped it, I think, by July, hasn't he?
- [21:15]
A
Okay, yeah, okay. All right. Yes.
- [21:17]
B
He's even saying to himself, yes, the house stunk. I had to get her out. I put her in the Tesla. Now I can't even drive the Tesla. But for the whole month of June, the Tesla is around. He. He is seen driving that car for the last time. I know.
- [21:32]
A
That is so screwed up, Mac. Like, that's. That's one of the things that is the most screwed up about this, is that he is on surveillance driving that Tesla.
- [21:40]
B
Yeah.
- [21:41]
A
Why is he not dumping the body?
- [21:45]
B
He probably at this point doesn't know how, because where would he take her? And again, he's not. Well, look at the things he's Done. Oh, I'm going to kill her. And then I'm going to send a text message. Hey, you still coming? An Uber dropped her off, right? There's going to be proof of that from the Uber driver in the Uber driver's camera. We know that happens. So your text message is bogus. Why would you lie to text message? Because you killed her. I mean, everything he's done is not somebody that is thinking logically clearly. She sends you a thread that she's going to basically ruin your career and then you invite her over for what? To kill her.
- [22:29]
A
Well, there's another part to this too, is that, I mean, there's a million things. One thing I got to ask before I go any further is why did they feel it necessary? I mean, we've, we've read affidavits a lot. I don't know if I've read one that laid it out like this to this degree. I'm sure you have. But when it's this, this specific, what are they trying to tell us right now? As far as, I mean, I'm sure there's still some stuff they left on the cutting room floor on this. But having said that, did they really need this much for right now?
- [23:07]
B
Yes.
- [23:07]
A
Okay.
- [23:09]
B
For me, I'm not one of those that buys into the, hey, don't show the jury this photograph because it will inflame them. Dadgum it, they ought to be inflamed. They should be angry. She was a child that trusted him, that was entrusted with her, and you killed her because you had been committing crimes against her since she was 11, period. Yes. We need to know just how awful and graphic and disturbing because that's how he should be treated. This should not be. Well, why are they going after the death penalty?
- [23:50]
A
It should be.
- [23:51]
B
Why in the world are they not?
- [23:52]
A
Yeah, okay. And they, and there's also another disturbing part to this that bothers me from like a psychological profile angle as well. I know we're dealing with a stupid 18 year old that did this. I know that we're dealing with, you know, the, the facts of the matter that, that, that, that David did not have his head screwed on at all. But the fact that he kept on going back to where the place was where he dropped some of her identification. I was looking at it and I was like, he goes back. He drops it once the night of, he goes back and then he goes back. So he's, he's gone back to the same spot in Santa Barbara three times, according to prose.
- [24:36]
B
Isn't it interesting? That he would drop those items but not her body.
- [24:41]
A
Yes, 100%.
- [24:43]
B
Oh, yes. I bet I better get rid of this. Right? But I'm going to drive around with her body in my car again, I'm not a profiler, y', all, but it almost seems like, again, she is who he wants to control. So he's not giving her up, dead or not. I'm going to keep her in my car. I'm going to drive around. I'm going to keep her in my house, decomposing. I'm going to keep her in my car, decomposing. You would think that'd be the first thing he would get rid of. He couldn't. He couldn't. And this goes to his obsession with her, starting at 11 years old.
- [25:23]
A
Oh, and all of his music videos and all of the. All of the things that, that he did in his art and his music that looked like what we just saw. I mean, that, you know, we've looked at that as well on this show and done episodes on just, you know, that part of his psyche. Yeah, but it is like he needed to keep on replaying it, right? He had to keep on replaying what happened in his fantasies.
- [25:54]
B
And, you know, sometimes they just want to go to see if anybody's found it. Are they any closer to figuring something out? So I'm going to go see if, you know, anybody's picked it up.
- [26:04]
A
You know, so he. That was. But he could have buried it.
- [26:08]
B
He could have.
- [26:09]
A
The. The passport ID card was picked up by a caltrans worker.
- [26:12]
B
Right.
- [26:13]
A
Like, that's just a dot guy, like, saw it and was like, oh, what's this?
- [26:17]
B
Oh, wow.
- [26:18]
A
Oh, this is the girl that's missing. I mean, that's unbelievable, you know?
- [26:22]
B
Right? And maybe in his head, he wanted them to find it, to think, oh, whoever did this lives in Santa Barbara. I mean, you never know. There's. So listen, most people, men, do not think past the murder. They don't lay out this sophisticated plan of how to get away with it. They just don't. That's why you kill her, then go on Amazon a couple of days later and go, well, better chop her up.
- [26:50]
A
Start buying a bunch of burn. Like a burn cage. He didn't use the burn cage, though. He could have done that, too.
- [26:55]
B
He could have, but that wouldn't have worked either because he's never going to get it hot enough long enough to get rid of the bones and the teeth and all of that. And then you're going to have to explain what's in Here. I mean, he's going to get caught no matter what he does at this point. Because again, he doesn't have the plan. Who murders somebody and then wait several days, oh, I better get the chainsaw. Because she doesn't fit in the Tesla. And the whole time the Tesla's filming you. I mean, I've told this story before, but I wasn't even really up on what all that car could do, early release of it. We had a situation at my police department where there was an altercation in a parking lot. The driver, the Tesla, wasn't even involved, wasn't even at their car. Best video I've ever gotten from a crime in my life. Because the car, once you get close to it, starts recording you. So this whole fight that happened in this parking lot, we got the whole thing. And when I tell you crystal clear, so that Tesla is going to be one of the best witnesses of this whole thing. They know he drove it July 19, right? We knew she was still in the trunk of the car because it was in the trunk of the car when they got it and looked at it in September. So again, April, May, June, July, you are driving around with this child in the trunk of your car who you dismembered.
- [28:19]
A
When you hear Mac about the. The photos, attacks about pregnancy, about. About plan B contraception. Do you think we're going to find out that Celeste was pregnant?
- [28:34]
B
You're never going to find out. She was too far decomposed. So they wouldn't be able to really, you know, look at the uterus and the ovaries and be able to tell that she was too far decomposed for that to happen.
- [28:48]
A
I wonder if there's a. And it doesn't prove it still without the body being able to show us. But I do wonder if there's going to be a test strip stick, like something like a picture that. That ended up on one of these texture photos that like once, like what I said earlier, like what's on the cutting room floor of this whole affidavit that we haven't seen yet.
- [29:11]
B
I think you've got friends that are going to testify to what she said. She sent text messages, maybe even to her mom. You know, again, it is almost impossible to think somebody 13 is going to keep anything a secret. You ask any seventh grade teacher. Do you know if you have a student in your classroom that's got a crush on somebody? Of course they know the girl can't hide it. Do you know if the boy is mad at somebody and wants to fight yes. They can't hide it. These are very emotional beings at 13. Right. They're telling everybody they have a crush. They giggle. They practice writing their name like they're already married, you know. Well, it's not something that unusual. Yes.
- [29:58]
A
And think about what he did. The David tattoo on her finger. We didn't talk about that, Mac.
- [30:04]
B
Why did he.
- [30:07]
A
He keeps his matching tattoo of sh. Of their secret. But he cuts off her ring finger with David on there in the pinky.
- [30:16]
B
Correct. And listen, I think most people know this, but Nancy Grace was one of the first prosecutors assigned to the major case division. When I was assigned to that same division, I didn't know that she was the best at putting up poster board. This last thing he said. So she would have a huge poster of his finger of all tattoos, of anything you could possibly get. A lighthouse, you know, a car key for a big time car, whatever. Your tattoo. Yeah, it's.
- [30:51]
A
Shh.
- [30:52]
B
Right?
- [30:53]
A
Yeah.
- [30:53]
B
Of all the things for her to get. It's him. It's his name, his artist, you know, artist name. Right, right, right. That's what he cuts off with her ring finger.
- [31:05]
A
Huh?
- [31:06]
B
She would have a poster of that. She would let the germs see it.
- [31:12]
A
And that, and that finger. Where is that finger now? Did he just. Would he throw that away? I mean, when he's keeping all these, when he's keeping her whole body, he's not keeping the finger that says David on it.
- [31:26]
B
We have not recovered them. So those two fingers are somewhere. They weren't in the bags.
- [31:32]
A
It's just so telling. I mean, it's just alone. Just that information alone is so telling of this whole relationship.
- [31:40]
B
Yes, agreed.
- [31:42]
A
That's so interesting. The, the other thing, you know, was the, the way they spoke to each other. From what we've seen in these text messages, the 14 year old is saying that she wants more than just sex from this, you know, 20 year old. I mean, it's obviously what in the end they're saying got her killed because she wanted more. What is that? What does that tell you about their power dynamic of what was going on?
- [32:12]
B
Well, again, he was having relationships with other women is what she thought. And if you start having a crush on somebody at 11 and you start sleeping with them at 13, by 14 you are in a relationship, committed. He is where she lives for the most part, until they, you know, quote, broke up. But she was in his house. I think she was traveling. She didn't have a job. So any purse or clothing or food came from him. Right. He had to be supporting all of that. So she probably, at some point, wanted to make it formal, real official. I mean, I've got the tattoo. Let's put something on this finger. Well, not only did he not do that, he cut that finger off.
- [33:03]
A
Mac. And where. What are the gaps right now? Like, before we go, like, what is it that we don't know that we need to know that the jury's going to hear? Is there. Is there. Is there anything that. That's missing right now?
- [33:20]
B
I don't know that there's going to be any bombshells, so to speak. I think what's going to really get everybody's attention is who they put on their witness list, because, again, there were people that had knowledge. Let me just say this. You had somebody that tattooed a minority.
- [33:36]
A
How did that happen?
- [33:38]
B
Yeah, I mean, everything that happened to her was illegal.
- [33:41]
A
Yeah. And. And not only that, people. People very close to her would have had to know.
- [33:49]
B
Yeah.
- [33:50]
A
That she was getting on these planes, that she was getting tattoos, that she was having sex, that she was. All of these things that it can't. It can't be hidden. These are not things that can be hidden.
- [34:03]
B
It wasn't hidden there on video together at his house. It's not hidden. There's photographs, there's text messages. She wasn't at home. She ran away at 11. He sent her back at 13 because his manager gets an email from a friend of hers saying, hey, she's up there with a grown man. So he sends her back home, but they're right back together. She goes right back.
- [34:30]
A
He just couldn't stop. He just couldn't stop. It was total obsession.
- [34:35]
B
He never got rid of her.
- [34:37]
A
He never got rid of her, Mac, what am I missing? What. What are they going to do now? Like, what. What is it that they need to do now? Or have they done what they needed to do?
- [34:48]
B
Listen, we got child porn in his phone. We've got. You're the last to see her. You were driving a Tesla on July 19 with a dead body that you had to know was in the trunk. There ain't no way you didn't know it. She gets into your house, the last she's ever seen alive from an Uber driver. It's a solid case right now. Solid. And when you start adding, when did his manager know and what did he know? What did her parents know and when did they know? What did her brother know and when? Think of his whole entourage. He had people around him all the time. The videos that they're in, who's Videoing. Who's taking the pictures? It's there. The text messages between the two. The videos they made privately, just the two of them. Oh, it's coming.
- [35:35]
A
I mean. And, you know, I mean, they don't. Right now, the death penalty in California is, you know, it's under a moratorium. Right. So they're. They're not that. From a legal standpoint, you know, they can push for the death penalty, but until administration changes, they're not necessarily getting it. But is this, like, pretty much the perfect death penalty case if you don't use it here?
- [36:01]
B
I don't know when you use it.
- [36:03]
A
Yeah, exactly. I. Do you think. Do you think these witnesses. Do you think the family. Do you think they're talking to police right now?
- [36:14]
B
I think they've got witnesses talking, yes. And here's the reason I'm going to say it again. There are people that have some responsibility here that did nothing. Whoever tattooed that child KNEW she wasn't 18. I don't care if she had a fake ID or not. You know, that girl ain't 18 years old. So everything that was done to her was done illegally. Everything. And there were people hanging out. When that manager got that email, he is now on the. On the hook. He has some responsibility here. He did enough to tell David, send her back. So you did know. So we showed back up. You did nothing. She's a runaway. She's a missing person. And you don't call and say, hey, I know where she's at. She's okay. So I think there's going to be some people, they've got to do damage control for themselves. And look what's happening right now with. Let's just talk about his family a minute here. Your brother is charged with murdering his ex girlfriend who is only 14 years old. And what do you do? You drop your record.
- [37:23]
A
Yeah,
- [37:26]
B
I know how that's to play to that jury. You don't give a damn about this child. You have done nothing to protect her. You've done nothing to say how sorry y' all are. You're trying to make a dime of her dead back. Okay, that's gonna hurt your brother.
- [37:44]
A
Yeah, no, I just saw that. That just happened. Mac, he's decided that he's gonna. He's gonna be the next David.
- [37:53]
B
Yeah, I mean, the family business has got to go forward.
- [37:56]
A
I mean, we didn't. Did we talk about the fact that she was taken. According to prosecutors, she went to his home, to his family home, to David's home and met the family.
- [38:05]
B
You went Texas to meet him. Yeah.
- [38:09]
A
Unbelievable. Yeah. Fascinating information, really, and so sad. I. I do hope that whoever is looking out for Celeste Rivas Hernandez, which. It makes it feel like the people that really care are the prosecutors right now to get justice for. Because, like, what you just laid out, who was looking out for her? Was there anybody?
- [38:36]
B
I mean, teachers are supposed to be mandated reporters. I mean, it just seems like almost every adult in her life failed her.
- [38:49]
A
Yeah. It doesn't happen in a vacuum.
- [38:51]
B
Nope.
- [38:52]
A
Thank you, Mac. Thank you. Thank you for talking to us about this. It. You know, when you see a massive case like this come. Come to the forefront, you realize how much work went into this. How many man hours would you say went into trying to nail this down?
- [39:09]
B
Like, this is why it took him seven months. And what is really smart here, do not get in a hurry. I know everybody wants an arrest. Everybody believes he had something to do with it. Why is he still out there? Again, we know he went back more than once to look at where he dumped the stuff. That's good information that couldn't have happened if he was in jail. The other things that he did. Who's he been text messaging? What has he been doing? I mean, we know he got a shovel from Home Depot. Those records take a while to get back, right? We know he used an alias. It takes a while to get it back. Let it happen. Build the case.
- [39:48]
A
And then you have the Tesla that
- [39:49]
B
just basically, that Tesla, man, that's gonna be a good witness. From the black box to the video. It's gonna nail him.
- [40:01]
A
Yeah. 100. Thank you, Mac. As far as allegations that the family knew, David Jesus Rivas released a statement through his attorney saying, quote, I never had any contact with this guy, and we haven't received any money from him or anyone in his family. Family attorney Patrick Steinfeld said to telling the family about the graphic details in this brief was the hardest thing he's ever done in his 37 years as an attorney. He said, quote, there are no words to express the indescribable pain the family is experiencing right now. They still have bills to pay and jobs to go to every day. All they want is time to grieve and heal.