← Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Drop Dead Serious With Ashleigh Banfield
Did Celeste Die in the Spring? Inside D4vd’s Santa Barbara Mystery | Celeste Rivas Hernandez
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- [00:06]
A
Hey, everyone, I'm Ashley Banfield and this is drop dead serious. Just a quick note if you didn't know this. My little companion in the studio, Atlas, he left us this week. I'm so sad to report that our Atlas cam today for this episode is showing his collar and his leash and. And his water bowl that was always in the studio and a couple of his favorite milk bones. I do have an episode telling the story of what happened to Atlas this week, but it's very sad. He's 15 and a half and it was time and it was very sad. But I am continuing to do the podcast by myself now. Very lonely. But I do have some big bombshells in the case involving Celeste Rivas Hernandez and the singer known as David. And I'm just going to say it. What the hell is actually going on with this case? Every time a new piece of this story surfaces, it doesn't clear anything up. It just seems to blow the whole thing open even wider. The singer who calls himself, you know, David with a 4 is really David Anthony Burke. That's his legal name. And by the way, he might have to start using that legal name real soon. And the underage girl that was found dead in the trunk of his Tesla, that was his girlfriend, Celeste Rivas Hernandez, according to his friends. And the more we learn about the investigation, the stranger this entire situation gets, nothing seems to line up. Everybody's clamming up, and the questions are getting louder than the answers. The bombshell, though, this week was that LAPD sources say investigators now consider David the singer a suspect, which might raise the question, what took them so long? Except that two and a half months after Celeste's decomposing remains were found in David's Tesla, authorities still aren't saying how this young runaway died or whether anyone else may have had a hand in it. Tmz, as often happens, was the first in line for that leaked information and says David may not be the only suspect on the investigator's radar. The outlet also reports that David made a quick and mysterious trip to a remote part of Santa Barbara county back in the spring. He apparently set out in the middle of the night. Nothing weird there, right? This is what TMZ is reporting in that he returned to LA just a couple hours later. Again, nothing weird there, right? Just a little trip, miles and miles away in the middle of the night and back. And if that midnight drive to a remote corner of Santa Barbara county wasn't strange enough, just wait. There is a lot more underneath that little late night detour. Earlier on my News Nation show, Shout Out Banfield on News Nation weeknights, 10pm Eastern. I spoke with TMZ's Harvey Levin about all of these new details involving David, the possibility he's a suspect, and whether anyone else might be involved, not to mention that little trip in the middle of the night to Santa Barbara. Here's our conversation. Harvey, what are the sources in the LAPD suggesting when it comes to this case right now?
- [03:34]
B
Well, we're getting more than suggesting. We know what's going on. So there is not an official cause of death yet because the medical examiner has not ruled nor have the toxicology reports been given to lapd. But what I can tell you is that the Robbery Homicide Unit and the investigators looking at this case are viewing this as a homicide and viewing David the singer, as the suspect.
- [04:06]
A
Are they? Well, there's my next question. A suspect. Because there was some, as you mentioned, that it was too difficult a job for one person to carry out. So are they thinking that there are more involved?
- [04:21]
B
They believe there is more than one person involved in this based on the way and the manner in which the body was discovered, that it was cut up. And they. And I don't know why, but they believe that it couldn't be the work of just one person.
- [04:39]
A
I've been thinking it through, and I. And I want to just put this, you know, past you to see what your reaction is. Is it possible they're thinking there could be others involved because of the timing of the movement of the Tesla and that comparing to the timing of David's schedule?
- [04:56]
B
You know, I wondered that, too. The information we got was it was specific to cutting up the body. So that's the information we got. I am actually. The more I learn, the less I understand this case and what's interesting, and I guess we can get into this in this whole mysterious trip to Santa Barbara, but one of the things I was told is don't necessarily use logic because there are lapses in logic here.
- [05:26]
A
Well, let's go there. This weird trip to Santa Barbara county, apparently your sources have unearthed this. Walk me through what it was, when it was, how long it lasted, the whole story behind this trip.
- [05:40]
B
So we are told that in the spring of this year. I can't give you a month. I'm just told the spring, David went to a remote area of Santa Barbara county, which is about 100 miles from where he lives in Los Angeles, a remote area of Santa Barbara county, in the middle of the night and. And spent a couple of hours there. And that is a hugely important part of this case. The way I understand it, and I don't want to be more specific, but, you know, based on, you know, all the things that are going on, that is a point that seemed to stand out when we got this story that this Santa Barbara trip is very, very important. Now, what does the Santa Barbara trip mean? Remember, it's spring, and his body wasn't found until early September. Her body, rather early September. So we're talking months. So, you know, you could theorize that maybe he went to try and bury a body, maybe he would have gone to bury a weapon. But if it was a body, why was the body found in the trunk of his car in Los Angeles months and months later? Would they have gone and picked it up and brought it back? Now, there are some people who are saying, well, wait a minute, maybe he took Celeste there and allegedly did her in there. The reason I don't think that's the case is we were told David went to Santa Barbara county, not they went to Santa Barbara County. And, you know, it makes me think, how would they know David went if it was just a cell phone? I don't think what they would say David went. I think what we would get is his cell phone pinged in that area. We got the word David. That makes me think there is video from his Tesla and that they have gotten into the Tesla. We know they have data from the Tesla, and maybe there is video showing him there, that they could track it there and they could see him there. And I don't know what it is that he did there. And it may well be that the LAPD knows, but we don't know yet. Something big happened during that trip.
- [08:10]
A
And to me, that would bring in a whole other jurisdiction. You would have the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department possibly involved in this investigation as well. I have not seen evidence of that. I don't know if you've been hearing musings and musterings that they're involved in some aspect of this or that the jurisdiction might even change if a killing happened there or if a body was discovered there. It just. Just opens up a whole can of worms.
- [08:32]
B
Well, you and I think alike, because I spoke to people at the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's about two hours ago and really pushed to see what I could get. And all I would get back is that the LAPD is the lead investigator in the case. Call them. So I couldn't get anything out of Santa Barbara. The way it typically works is that the. The area where the jurisdiction is that the LAPD would be searching, would accompany the lapd and that's protocol in with a lot of. A lot of these cases. Wouldn't surprise me at all if Santa Barbara county sheriffs did that. Now, I also asked if Santa Barbara county sheriff was doing some kind of a parallel investigation, since Santa Barbara seems to be really important here. And I was just told I was referred back to lapd, and they wouldn't say anything.
- [09:21]
A
I wonder if they would have said we're not involved at all. Were they not involved at all? I mean, who knows, right? Would they? Yeah, the fact that they're saying, I tried.
- [09:31]
B
I tried that, too, actually.
- [09:32]
A
Right. I knew you would. I want to go back to the. I want to go back to something that Steve Fisher, who's a private investigator who's been working this case, discovered inside the rental home after David and his. Whomever he was living with there moved out. He said there were. He wouldn't be specific, but he said there were things that were purchased and left inside that home still in the packaging that looked like they could be used to dismember a body, but were not. And what makes me curious is, were the purchases traced? And if it weren't David, who made those purchases, Whomever did make the purchases of this equipment, could they be somehow involved as the other parties that might have given help? If David, in fact, did something to Celeste?
- [10:24]
B
I have no idea. What equipment are we talking about?
- [10:27]
A
You know, he wouldn't be specific, but it almost sounded like it was equipment. I know. Maybe that was a second thought they purchased. It sounded as though he was describing buzz saws or machinery and equipment that could. His words could be used to cut up a body, but were not. We're still left in the packaging, and we're left there. And then I was also told by Steve Fisher, the PI that the LAPD detectives that raided that home, photographed it, documented it, did not take it because it wasn't used. It wasn't opened. It was just a fascinating development.
- [11:07]
B
That's weird to me.
- [11:08]
A
I know.
- [11:08]
B
If the LAPD sees something that might remotely be part of a crime, it would seem to me that would be seized as evidence. And, you know, you can always put something in a package, but if the package was. First of all, are they going to unwrap things at the crime scene? I don't think so. I think what they do is they take it to the station and they handle it very gingerly. So there's parts of that that doesn't make sense to me.
- [11:38]
A
I'm with you. I was sort of flummoxed by that report. But at the same time, the more I hear that there might be someone else involved and that the, you know, the dismemberment of the body is the clue that someone else was involved, I'm trying to figure out, Listen, you and I have both covered many cases in which one person is more than capable of chopping up a body and sending it into multiple locations. We're covering the Anna Walsh and Brian Walsh story right now in Massachusetts. And that is.
- [12:03]
B
Look at Jeffrey Dahmer.
- [12:05]
A
Look at Jeffrey Dahmer and Robert Durst down in Galveston. Chopped up his neighbor admitted it. Morris Black tossed him into Galveston Bay.
- [12:11]
B
I agree with you. And I'm confused. Like I said, the more I learn, the less I know. And God, I sound like an eagle song. But it's true. And I don't understand how the dismemberment is what makes LAPD believe that there's more than one person involved. But that is precisely what we were told.
- [12:36]
A
So the other strategy I'm trying to think through as I try to put my LAPD hat on and get inside their investigative techniques, is it possible that they are trying to smoke David out or at least get him nervous enough by releasing this little nugget then that he is in fact a suspect and see what he does with that information and how he behaves.
- [13:00]
B
Hmm. I really didn't think of that. That's generally not, you know, it's interesting. I really hadn't thought of that maybe. I mean, that's kind of an interesting theory. Because I wondered too, because, look, you've been working this case, too. I have rarely seen the LAPD so tight lipped on any case. And I'm talking all over the place. And we now have sources that up to this point had not spoken. And I can't say anymore. But it's an interesting theory.
- [13:43]
A
I see big things are coming and I'm going to stay tuned to your website and your reports on that one. I can sense something's going on in there that you know and can't talk about, which is you always know stuff before everybody else. So the other question I have is, do they know where he is at this point, does anyone actually know where David is?
- [14:05]
B
Well, I don't know if the LAPD knows he was in la, if he is still here, he is virtually in hiding because there are a lot of paparazzi agencies in la. And you know, that photograph is worth a lot to these agencies. So if he's Spotted out, there's probably, they're probably going to get a picture of him. And we haven't seen any of these agencies say, hey, we got a picture of David. So if he's here, he is underground. And I think there's a good chance that maybe he went somewhere else where it's not going to be, as you know, where there aren't going to be these, you know, paparazzi agencies around. But we haven't seen him and I don't know where he is. I know he was in la, but that was a couple, that was weeks ago.
- [15:00]
A
So he made a stop in la, which is fascinating because most of the reports had him likely down in Texas where his family is from. Where he be.
- [15:07]
B
I know he went to LA after the tour ended. What he did after that, I don't know.
- [15:15]
A
And nothing to suggest that the folks in Houston, that the authorities in Houston are working in concert with the authorities in the LAPD just to have eyes on him and see what he's up to. I'm always watching to see if somebody's making plans for a trip to Ecuador or some South American country that doesn't have an extradition treaty with us. I'm always watching to see what someone's doing when the heat is on.
- [15:38]
B
I would be stunned. If LAPD has not been in touch with Houston. I'd be stunned.
- [15:46]
A
So I'm going to ask for your best guess because you live and breathe the business of what happens to people upon arrest and impending arrest. What do you think is about to happen? Do you think he's about to be in cuffs?
- [16:01]
B
Well, we were told not to in the near future. I don't know what near future means. One of the problems is the medical examiner has not determined cause of death and they have not given toxicology to lapd. The even if the say the medical examiner comes back and says undetermined, the LAPD could still move forward. And my sense from our reporting is they would. But I'm told, and I don't know what the specifics here are, is that the relationship between the LA County Medical examiner and the LAPD has not been great over the last few years. And even though they could fast track if they wanted to, the medical examiner could fast track some of these, the tests that they're doing. My sense is they have not done so because, you know, it can take three months easy for something like this, but they could also fast track it. And based on our conversations, that does not seem to have been done. And it may speak to the relationship that LAPD has with the medical examiner. I don't know what's behind it, but that's what I was told.
- [17:14]
A
Well, my God. I mean, if there's. Let's just say the talks comes back with a lethal amount of xyz, that doesn't tell you who put the XYZ into that person. And it's really hard to suggest what it means.
- [17:28]
B
Well, let me tell you, Ashley, if that happens and the medical examiner comes back and says that it was a likely drug overdose, I think that would potentially blow up the homicide investigation. Because you don't know. I mean, remember, you can go way back in LA to John Belushi's death, where Kathy Evelyn Smith was prosecuted for manslaughter, which is a homicide, for what she did at the Chateau Marmont with John Belushi and heroin. But then you have to pin it on a particular person who gave him the drug. And then it's not as simple as saying, oh, he gave her X. If she died by some means of foul play, that's a more direct line in terms of a homicide than it is a drug overdose. So, you know, and again, I don't know. I mean, it's weird to me that the LAPD is looking at this as a drug overdose. That would be weird to me. But it could be. It could be. I. I don't know. I know. But I will tell you this. They're not looking at this as an accidental death. They are absolutely looking at this as a homicide.
- [18:41]
A
And there's a difference that is fascinating. And I think about Casey Anthony's little daughter, who was so far decomposed they never really could determine, other than a piece of tape over the face and mouth that ended up there, if that's really how she died. And finding that is key.
- [18:59]
B
And I'll tell you when this all started. When her body was found, it was so badly decomposed and cut up that they didn't know if it was a man or a woman. And what happened was that we got a tip that this girl was missing. Her name was Celeste, and there was a poster that said, have you seen this girl? We called the mother and asked the mother, and she told us, because the lapd, all they said was she had a tattoo on her right index, on her index finger. We called the mother, and we talked to the mother, and she said that, yes, my daughter had a tattoo, and it was red. I called the lead homicide investigator as soon as we got off the phone with her, and I gave the lead homicide investigator the information. I said, look, we just talked to this woman who not only said that her daughter had the tattoo, but it was red. And then two days later, they said not only that it was a woman, but it was Celeste.
- [20:03]
A
They made the connection.
- [20:04]
B
It was that badly decomposed that they couldn't even tell if it was a man or a woman. So, I don't know, maybe the medical examiner is having trouble right now, too.
- [20:13]
A
I can imagine.
- [20:14]
B
So, again, there are a lot of unanswered questions here, Harvey.
- [20:18]
A
I know you're gonna have the answers before I do, so I am going to call you again. Thank you for this. I appreciate it.
- [20:23]
B
It's my. I'm always happy to be on your show, Ashley.
- [20:26]
A
So that's where we'll leave it for now. But this case is moving fast, and the details are only getting stranger. Make sure you're subscribed so you don't miss any of my. Because you know they're coming fast and furious. Thanks so much for listening. Thanks for watching. I'm Ashley Banfield. And don't forget, the truth isn't just serious, it's dropped. Dead serious.