D4vd Investigator Slams Authorities Post Murder Arrest

David's arrest for the alleged murder of. 14-year-old Celeste Robinson Hernandez. is a major development in this case and. we are bringing on the man who has been. investigating this story from the very. beginning who has been very vocal about. his frustrations and now has a theory as. to what this arrest may mean. Private. investigator Steve Fischer is coming on. I want to do a full breakdown of what. just happened in the last 24 hours, a. timeline of how this now fits into the. overall story and what we can expect.

next because at this time David has only. been arrested, not charged. Why? Welcome. to Sidebar presented by Law & Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. Okay, real quick before we jump into all. of this, we have this app, this partner. that I think you're going to love. It's. called Upside. Upside gets you cash. back, extra cash back on everyday. purchases like gas, groceries, takeout. So here's what you do. You download. Upside for free, you claim an offer at. one of the 100,000 plus locations, you.

pay it like normal with your card, you. verify the purchase and just like that, money back. So say I need to get gas or. want takeout one night, I'll search for. Upside offers first and after I spend, money appears in my app that I can. transfer right into my bank account. And. Upside's frequent users earn an average. of $254 back a year. So to start getting. your cash back, click the link in the. description or scan the QR code, but. make sure to use promo code sidebar. because you get an extra 25 cents bonus. on every gallon on your first tank of. gas. I can't talk about the arrest of. 21-year-old David, David Anthony Burke,

the singer, for the alleged murder of. 14-year-old Celeste Robinson Hernandez. without bringing on Steve Fischer. We've. had him on for so long. We've had him on. for months. The private investigator who. has been on the ground following this. case from the very beginning who has. been quite vocal about his frustrations. with this investigation and with the. apparent lack of action, lack of. transparency. Remember, Steve represents. the owner of the property that David was. reportedly staying at in the Hollywood.

Hills, apparently near where that Tesla. was found with Celeste body inside. before it was towed to an LA tow yard. And remember when I say Celeste body was. reportedly found in that car. decomposed, dismembered. And to give you. a timeline here as we do this kind of. case breakdown, as we try to analyze. what is happening right now with this. arrest. And to be clear, David hasn't. been charged yet. I want to get into. this. August 27th, 2025. This Tesla,

again reportedly registered to David, is. ticketed. It's marked as possibly. abandoned. And this leads to it. eventually getting towed. September 8th. At that tow yard in LA is where. authorities discover Celeste body after. reports of a foul odor coming from the. car. Decomposed, dismembered, her body. parts in bags. September 18th. Detectives execute a. search warrant at the residence that. David was reportedly staying at. Reportedly, uh they collected.

electronics and computers. David also. canceled his Withered Tour at this. point. So, we no longer publicly hear. from him or see him up until his arrest. yesterday. November 21st. The County of Los Angeles. Department of Medical Examiner receives. a court order reportedly initiated by. the LAPD to place a security hold on the. medical examiner's finding. So, essentially the court sealed the. records, meaning cause of death, those. other details not to be publicly. released. By the way, November was.

interesting because the LAPD indicated. that it was standing by its prior. September 29th statement, quote, "The. Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has. not yet determined the cause or manner. of Ms. Rivas-Hernandez's death. As such, it remains unclear whether there is any. criminal culpability beyond the. concealment of her body." And now. remember, he's just been arrested for. her murder, so I would imagine something. has changed there. December 2025, we start hearing reports. that evidence is being presented in.

front of a grand jury. We even hear. reports that a record executive was. grilled by the prosecutor, allegedly. being asked, "Why didn't you call. police?" Now, grand jury, uh this is. what's confusing. So, usually, the way. we know it, they're presented evidence, and they. come back and determine whether there's. enough probable cause for an indictment, right? An official charge against. somebody. There's also investigative. grand juries that hear evidence. Uh they. can issue subpoenas. Uh they can lock in. testimony, and maybe they don't they're. not tasked with returning back an.

indictment. February 12th, we learn that. David's purported friend, Neil Langston, was arrested out in Montana, reportedly. on a warrant for failure to appear as a. witness, is subsequently brought back to. LA to testify, we presume in front of. the grand jury. Later that month, we. learn more details from court filings. This is actually in connection with. attempts to subpoena David's family. members to testify, and we learn that. David is reportedly the target of a. murder investigation, and we learn how.

Celeste was reportedly dismembered. April 16th, David is arrested. Now, this came in from the LA County. District Attorney's Office, quote, "Our. office is aware of the arrest of David. Anthony Burke by the Los Angeles Police. Department. The case is expected to be. presented to the Major Crimes Division, at which point prosecutors will review. the facts and evidence to determine. whether there is sufficient evidence to. file charges. At this time, additional information is. not available. We will share an update. on Monday once a filing decision has.

been made." And then, this came in. really late last night, early morning, good evening. "The individual mentioned. is still in LAPD custody. You may reach. out to the District Attorney's Office. once the case has been presented to. them.". Then, on Thursday night, the Public. Information Officer for LAPD put this. out on X. Detectives from Los Angeles. Police Department Robbery-Homicide. Division have arrested David Burke, a. 21-year-old resident of Los Angeles for. the murder of Celeste Riveras. Burke is. being held without bail. The case will.

be presented to the District Attorney's. Office on Monday for filing. consideration. Now, the attorneys for. David released a statement, so this is. from Blair Burke, Marilyn Bednarsky, and. Regina Peter. They say, "Let us be. clear, the actual evidence in this case. will show that David Burke did not. murder Celeste Riveras Hernandez, and he. was not the cause of her death. There. has been no indictment returned by any. grand jury in this case, and no criminal. complaint filed. David has only been. detained under suspicion. We will.

vigorously defend David's innocence.". And before I bring on Steve Fisher to. break down more of our questions on this. case and his perspective and his. reaction and what we can expect next, here's what Steve had to say on X last. night. Quote, "David was arrested by. complaint, not indictment, and this case. will be submitted to the DA's office by. Monday for charging consideration." Now, again, he said this I think before. the the attorney statement. "This likely. means either the grand jury did not. return an indictment or the DA chose not.

to seek one. An arrest by complaint. means that there will be a preliminary. hearing to determine probable cause. This is a public hearing where evidence. is presented and witnesses are. questioned under oath, something that is. bypassed with a grand jury indictment. It will be important to see whether this. reflects a difference in strategy or a. difference of opinion regarding the. strength of the case between LAPD and. the DA, or if there is another reason. for proceeding this way. Immunity. agreements, whether formal or informal, proffer remain in effect even though.

there was no indictment. Celeste. #CelesteRiverasHernandez.". Okay, I want to bring in Steve Fisher. right now. Steve, you have been all on. top of this. I mentioned before all. about your role in this, your feelings. on this. Um I'm curious just from a. human point of view how you feel about. this moment since you've been waiting. for there to be an arrest. And to be. clear, you know, again, David hasn't. been officially charged. He's innocent. until proven guilty. But this is not.

exactly. what you were looking for, right? I. think we all imagined that when there. would be an arrest, there would be a. charge, right? That this was going to be. a grand jury indictment. So I I'm. curious from a human point of view, how. do you feel after 7 months that he has. been arrested but not charged? >> You know, I. well, it's tough one. I feel a little. bit better, obviously, that um. it looks like the process is starting, but this is not how I imagined it. starting. Uh you know, they.

from what we see in the paperwork, uh it. appears they went the grand jury route. And to find out that there's not an. indictment here is is worrying. It it. appears that there's um. maybe maybe a difference of opinion. between the LAPD and the DA's office as. to whether. uh. um. what the charges should be or if there. should be charges. And. you know, we don't know if it went if it. went. for a vote and they came back with a no. true bill, and that no indictment, that that's very.

concerning. And even if they didn't if. the DA hasn't sent it for vote or asked. for a vote yet or for an indictment, why? Um and um so it's there's listen, Monday's going to be a big day day. You. know, that's the day they have to decide. whether there'll be charges right now or. not or or whether he's released. >> What is the biggest. What's the biggest hole in this case? Is. it Is it the idea of the cause of death? Is it the idea of understanding what. David's alleged role is? Is it the idea.

that he's the only one. uh currently arrested? I mean, what. would be the thing that might be. missing? Um I interviewed Bradford Cohen. who agrees there might be some. disagreement of thought in terms of the. LAPD and the DA's office. You know this. case better than anybody. What might be. lacking in a potential prosecution here? >> Well, I think that um. So so the the prosecutor's name that. we've seen attached to a lot of the.

grand jury filings that that have. uh come public is known for being very. very very thorough. And. if this case had that smoking gun. evidence, if it had that uh crime scene, if it had the blood uh what not, then I. think we would have seen charges. very quickly. And but we didn't. So that. means this is a circumstantial case. This is probably going to. rely on testimony by people like Neil. Langston or um you know, Rob.

Morgan-Roth, the the manager. Uh and I don't know if. that particular. district attorney. um really. wanted that type of case. So a couple. things I think will be telling one day. are one if he's charged. And and if he. is, who's prosecuting attorney is on it. And. uh so I think maybe and this is pure. speculation. I don't have any inside. information on that this part of it. It's just. my you know, thought process is that.

there probably is a difference of. opinion and it probably is more. circumstantial case than than anyone. >> Before I go into what could happen. Monday, your client, has your client. reacted to this arrest at all? >> He has. um. he's. has reservations. Uh this is not this is. not. Uh listen, we're we're glad it happened. There's no doubt. And I'm not knocking. LAPD for. going forward to making the arrest. Uh. it's just there's a big. um question mark as to what's going to. happen Monday because if the DA didn't.

wasn't comfortable either sending it to. uh grand jury for vote, are they. comfortable actually being under the gun. and having to to file charges on Monday? >> What what's the process? Do they. announce charges after a few hours on. Monday and then it goes to a preliminary. hearing in front of a judge to turn to. determine there's enough probable cause? Do they bring it back to a grand jury. for an indictment? Because one of the. things we were wondering is this grand. jury this reported grand jury that's. been hearing evidence where they just an. investigative grand jury that didn't.

have the power to indict. They were just. here there to hear evidence, get. subpoenas, lock in testimony. So what. actually will happen by the end of the. day on Monday, end of the day on. Tuesday? >> Well, I imagine I would not be. surprised. There's going to be a couple different. angles here because the DA's office is. going to come under a lot of pressure. right now. But that doesn't mean that they're going. to make a decision under pressure. So. they'll probably use I'd imagine most of. the day on Monday. They can only hold a. person so long without being charged or. cutting them loose. And.

and as far as. um. then what the process is. it's hard to say. There's going to be I. think there's going to be some. gamesmanship here going on. Um. I think that ultimately David would. probably waive his right to speedy trial. uh just possibly to give his attorneys. more time. But if not, you know, preliminary hearing comes up or they. could send it back to grand jury. We. don't even know if there's a grand jury. seated right now because in LA County. you can only hold juries grand jury. criminal grand juries for 30 days. So if. this grand jury process has been going. on for months and months, these have.

been different grand juries. And so. maybe now it is a grand jury that has. charging power if it was just. investigative before. It's it's really. hard to say what it looks like right now. because there hasn't been any movement. >> Right. Let me ask you this. He was in. the Hollywood Hills possibly this whole. time and we saw authorities in tactical. gear making the arrest. We weren't sure. where he was. Did you have any idea that. he was at this house in the Hollywood in. the Hollywood Hills? >> Yes, I learned about 2 and 1/2 months.

ago that he was in West Hollywood and it. really surprised me, to be honest with. you. At at the very beginning I knew he. he was still in LA, um. but I thought he had probably gone home. to Texas and and especially with what. was going on with his parents fighting. their you know, their grand jury. subpoenas, I thought he was he had. probably gone back even though like 2. and 1/2 months ago I had learned. that he was in West Hollywood. Um but I figured he'd left by then cuz I. hadn't heard anything the last few. weeks, but so I was surprised he was. still there. And um.

you know, he's. they're he kept secret really well. He. probably I don't think he moved around. much. I know he was receiving things. under you know, another false name, but. um. yeah, it it I think he. shows that he thinks his career is going. to take off again one day. >> But there was no indication like he was. about to leave the country and like we. have to immediately make an arrest. before something happens. Like I I I you. you saw the photos from the arrest. I've. seen the reporting from it. It hasn't I. haven't seen anything that there was a. level of violence that he was.

you know, fighting it that he they. chased him. It's I don't know if his. attor- if his attorney got advanced. notice that this was happening, but um. you know, I I didn't see anything to. indicate you tell me that you know, he. was a flight risk or anything. >> No, what I did see is that there were. some US Marshals there as well. They had. tactical vests on. So, I think they. probably had they probably knew where he. was the whole time. I think they were. keeping an. eye on him for preventive reasons. He. was free to come and go. He could even. leave the country if he wanted to.

Uh but I think they were keeping an eye. on him. Um it probably gives him a. little bit a sense of of power knowing. that you know, something's not happened. with a grand jury. I probably you know, isn't feeling too bad about it. >> What what did you make of his lawyer's. statement? >> I think that. um I I it probably did catch I don't. think they I don't know if they got. advanced notice because. it seemed like it was you know for to. say that it wasn't even charged by. complaint. I think there is a.

I think it's safe to say there's a. complaint there. They said that they did. send a complaint up by. uh. by Monday. So, um. I don't I don't know, you know, it's. Listen, this is where high dollar attorneys. really can excel, right? When there's. it's a circumstantial type case, you. know, and and they can get the high. dollar expert witnesses and pick them. >> important. They said there was no that. that he's not the cause of death. How do. they know that? >> Well, exactly Well, that's that's the. other thing like there's certain things. like this the evidence will show. Well, what is the Do they know what that.

evidence is? Like what communication. have they had with the DA's office or. with the LAPD? Cuz from what we. understand, he hasn't even had sat for. an interview with LAPD. So, he doesn't. even know exactly what those questions. will be. Are there other people that have. appeared in front of the grand jury that. they've been able to debrief? Hard to. say, you know. Um it seems like they do have some. handle on what the evidence is, though. >> Do you Do you Were you surprised there. were no other charges against him? And. were you surprised that nobody else was. arrested? >> Yeah, I was because there are other.

crimes here. Listen, we know that the. mutilation of a corpse alone is Now, that's a felony cuz it's not simply the. um. you know, concealment like we've heard. in the LAPD press release originally. This is mutilation, so it's a whole. different thing. There is sex crimes. Listen, I'm very very confident This is. just my opinion from what I've seen, but. I've talked to the victims. that there's sex crimes here and in in a. lot of in these cases a lot of times. you'll see. kind of bunch of charges thrown at the. wall and then then they'll take them off. as they get further down, you know,

after prelim and whatnot. But that's not. the case here. It sounds like it's a. single charge type of complaint. And. it's also what we saw it matches up with. what we saw in the paperwork filed in. Texas where they talked about a single. charge of murder 187, which is. murder with forethought. It's a strong. charge. it's a Well, the strongest charge, but why not throw. them all out there in case something. like this happens? >> Mhm. And and you, right before his. arrest, you went on X, you expressed. your frustration with the lack of. action, with the lack of movement here,

and you believe that authorities haven't. been consistent with the crimes that. were allegedly committed here, right? Their their discussion of what happened. here, right? >> Yeah, listen, it it's been a very. frustrating process. I I The only reason. that myself and my client are are still. involved in this is we want to make sure. that there's justice for this young teen. who um. he was taken advantage of and and. ultimately, you know, murdered. And.

uh it's been it's been a very slow. process. Uh I understand investigations. take time, however, it seemed like it was stalling out. And. um. maybe this is proof that it was because. it does seem to me, I you know, I didn't. I haven't seen the interview with their. progress, but it seems to me that there. is a disconnect between LAPD and the. DA's office. >> Well, well, no, even at the very least, you you you took issue with the fact. about, well, there's only concealment of. a of a body that might be charged here, not murder, and you're like, well, if if.

she was dismembered, you were talking. about something else here. >> Well, well, my issue was is that. in my opinion, that you know, we got. limited press releases in this this. case. We got two, I believe, from LAPD. No press conferences. And and they were. not telling the truth in the press. release where they came out and said, "The only you know, there might not be. any criminal culpability beyond. concealment of a body." Which is in. California is a misdemeanor. But when. the body is mutilated, it's that is not.

concealment of a body any longer. That's. mutilation of a corpse, which is a. felony. And they knew at the time they. put that press release out that she had. been dismembered. So, that is is not true. And then then the. next press release, the only other press. release that came out with was them. saying that. they had the medical examiner's records. sealed just to make sure that detectives. receive that information first. And um. you know, that's been months. And why. not unseal them? >> Is that going to be released now?

>> I think it has to be because. um. you know, listen, I think that if. Blairberg or his attorney, David. attorneys. have reason to believe that they can. show that he wasn't the cause of her. death, then they're going to obviously. they'll get that information anyways, but I do think that once this discovery. process starts, they're going to unseal. them. Now, and there might have even. been a contingency in the sealing. documents or the judge signed saying. that upon charging or upon indictment or. whatever that these are unsealed within.

7 days or something like that. Just kind. of like a grand jury transcripts would. be. Now, they won't be because it wasn't. an indictment. However, same type of. process. So, I do think within the next. couple weeks, if he's charged, that. those will be unsealed. >> Where does Neil Langston fit into all of. this? Because you've been quite vocal. about him, right? His purported friend. who was allegedly arrested for. uh failing to appear as a witness, reportedly brought in front of a. criminal proceeding, we assume the grand. jury, to testify. He takes to Instagram.

uh a short time ago. I mean, this is. like about I don't know, maybe last. month or so, had a series of posts where. he talked about uh his silence, um how. he said the case isn't about me, uh it's. about getting justice uh for the victim. Really took some shots at seemingly. David, called him I mean, it looked like. he was calling him a derogatory name. Um. and he said he has like all the. receipts. And um. you know, he he said, "I thankfully I'm. legally fine in every way, and boy do I.

got all of my receipts for things. Haha. haha haha." He hasn't been charged. He. he been arrested. Where do you think he. fits into all this? >> Well, I think he knows a lot and and and. there he was saying he's very vocal like. you said he come out and said that he. had all his receipts and and he was. legally fine but then he seemed they. seemed to leak to TMZ that they he. didn't even have anything to tell the. grand jury. He says only in there for 40. minutes. So, they can't be both, right? I think he knows a lot. From my what. I've investigated personally, I think. him and a couple others know a lot and I.

think that they probably got. uh some sort of immunity. Um and um. unfor- you know, unfortunately we'll. probably probably had I'm not saying. that they're directly tied to the murder. itself, but after the fact I think that. they knew certain things that they. should have come forward with and um and. I don't think he's the only one. I think. I think there's three of them um uh. personally, at least three of them. And. I think that they're going to um. walk away from just for their testimony. because I think this is a circumstantial.

case. >> It was interesting. I was talking to. Bradford Cohen in another episode of. Sidebar and he was like, "Look, if. someone's involved in the actual murder, there's only so much leeway that the DA. would look past. If they're involved in. a murder, it's it'd it'd it'd be kind of. unlikely. uh that they'd be granted some sort of. protection or immunity. I mean, it. depends about how much they would want. the the alleged ringleader the the. person who's uh you know, instrumental. in this, but it does make you wonder. what everybody's alleged role or not. role is in all this. Again, to be clear, David's the only one who's been.

arrested. Um and then I was thinking. about, okay, so he's arrested and I was. thinking about his parents brother. You. mentioned it, they were fighting these. subpoenas to testify. I'm not entirely. sure what the purpose of their testimony. would have been um but it was through. those filings that we learned more. details about what seemingly happened to. Celeste. What What do you think that's. all about with his family now that he's. been arrested? >> You know, I don't know and I do think. that but I do think they could be. uh kind of the catalyst for why LAPD.

went ahead and arrested him on complaint. because. shortly after we threw that out there. about the filings in in Texas and what. was going on and which had all the. information about her being dismembered, the they filed a motion to seal those. records in Texas and they were. successful. So now on the docket, you. don't you don't see anything. So we. don't even know if that's made its way. cuz it it was like on a third appeal, if. it's made its way through the court and. LAPD might have just said, "Listen, this.

thing could be hung up for months and. months and months in this appeal court. Why do we even need the parents'. testimony cuz we're probably not going. to get a thing out of them." So. maybe they just said, "You know, we're. going to go ahead and. you know, there's public pressure and. people want answers about this. 14-year-old that lost her life and we're. going to go ahead and say we've done our. investigation. We think we've gathered. everything that's out there to be. gathered right now and here it is and. it's up to the DA whether to charge him. or not.". >> And the Santa Barbara trip the Santa.

Barbara trip the police say he allegedly. took. in the spring of 2025, do you have any. more clarity about that if we're. thinking about this arrest or how it. fits into it? >> So I don't have any information on the. Santa Barbara trip. I there I'll tell. you that we do have some evidence about. a trip to a part of the national forest. that. uh. it's not Santa Barbara County. It's I. guess. I don't even know if you could confuse. it or but it's it's it's not in um it's.

not close to the LA. There was a trip, I'll say made to. the mountains. and area which is. looks a lot like the topography of Santa. Barbara, but it's not Santa Barbara. So. I don't know if there's another trip we. don't know about or if these two might. be getting confused a little bit, but he. did make a. a trip to in fact I put a photo out on. um Twitter a few months ago of. a photo he took by himself uh a in a. forest location, really remote area.

Whether it's um. that has anything to do with her murder. or dismemberment, I don't know, but it's. um. it's it's an interesting, you know, photo, but I don't see any evidence of. Santa Barbara myself. >> Mhm. Do you know how Celeste's family is. doing? >> I don't I've never had any contact with. anybody in the family. I I've tried to. uh. respect their. um grieving process, their boundaries, but at the same time. some questions if if they were willing. to talk. We've reached out to a couple.

people in the family. They have not. gotten um back to us. I I do. think uh through. people I've talked to trying to to get. some further clarity on uh people that. knew uh David. I do think if he's. charged on Monday, I think some more. people are going to come forward and be. willing to talk. Not Not that um there's. more victims or anything, but people. that may know some things about um. how long it's been going on with Celeste. or even other uh.

you know, people that um had. communication with David when they were. underage. I think there might be a few. of these people that come forward now. They'll be more comfortable that if he's. charged, that's if he's charged, you. >> Mhm. Do you I mean, so so before we wrap. things up, based on your investigation, based on your opinion, your perspective, do you think there is sufficient. probable cause to support a murder. charge against David for the death of. Celeste? >> That's a tough question. Um I'll tell.

you without knowing exactly what Neo and. possibly Rob, who we know um. appeared, the the the manager, um. what they know, it's hard to say. I do. know that there's I believe there's. probable cause. for. sex crimes and you know, other charges. related to to holding, you know, Celeste, harboring and whatnot. The. murder, I. um. It's It's hard to say. I think it's. circumstantial. >> That's fair. That's fair. >> I think it's a.

circumstantial case and I have not. talked to Neo or with those other two. people directly and without knowing what. they're going to say, it's It's hard to. say. >> We don't have clarity on any of this. We. don't have clarity on what anyone's. alleged role in this is. Again, David is. innocent until proven guilty. >> Yeah. >> He has not been officially charged. We. will see if that happens. Obviously, this is a big development, but we're. still trying to understand exactly where. this fits into the overall story. Steve. Fischer, thanks for taking the time. As. always, appreciate it. >> Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.

>> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us and as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcast. You can also check us. out on NBC's Peacock. If you want to. follow me, X, Instagram, my NewsNation. show, Jesse Weber Live, Monday through. Friday, 11:00 p.m. Eastern. I'll see you. next time, everybody.