\n\n
\t\tRelated Content<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\t\u201cYou can see the edges align on both sides,\u201d she said, referencing a photo of one fragment recovered by the Medical Examiner that was placed next to a hole in the pool, like a puzzle piece. \u201cThey were both once one object at one time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tLaHendro said investigators also recovered a fragment of black fabric from a trash bag in Burke\u2019s garage that she compared against the black leggings found on Rivas\u2019 dismembered remains. She couldn\u2019t make a definitive match. The leggings were still wet, heavily soiled and badly deteriorated, LaHendro testified, making the edge detail too unreliable for comparison.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe day began with Los Angeles Police Department criminalist Lauren Wallace returning to the stand to further describe the suspected blood evidence found at Burke\u2019s house. Under cross-examination, Wallace said investigators did not swab or collect two chainsaws found in Burke\u2019s garage because both tested negative for possible traces of blood.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cThe chainsaws did not appear to be used,\u201d she said, so investigators decided \u201cnot to collect them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tProsecutors had mentioned the two chainsaws in a prior court filing, saying Burke ordered them on Amazon shortly after the alleged murder. An LAPD detective revealed for the first time Tuesday that investigators believe Burke also purchased a third chainsaw \u2014 a 10-inch Makita \u2014 from Home Depot on May 4, 2025, and had it delivered to his home through Uber Postmates. He said the Makita chainsaw was never recovered.<\/p>\n
\n\tA third electric saw, found upstairs, also tested negative and was left behind, Wallace said Thursday. Defending her work under cross-examination, she said investigators did not swab or collect items they considered \u201cnot forensically valuable,\u201d in part because Burke lived in the house and his DNA could be expected there.<\/p>\n
\n\tWallace began her testimony Wednesday, describing how she processed evidence at Burke\u2019s rental home during a Sept. 17, 2025, search. She said Bluestar, a luminol-like chemical used to detect possible blood, produced strong reactions on the black rubber mats covering the garage floor and on the bricks beneath them. Presumptive blood tests also yielded positive results on a rowing machine, a crumpled green tarp, and stained wipes found in the trash bag that contained the fragment of black fabric.<\/p>\n
\n\tWallace also processed the inflatable pool that prosecutors say Burke used while dismembering Rivas. The pool had a \u201cfresh, almost laundry-like scent\u201d and a dryer sheet stuck to it, she said. No blood was visible, but one area glowed after being sprayed with Bluestar.<\/p>\n
\n\tLos Angeles Police Department Detective William Roecker also testified Thursday, describing his review of cell-tower data linked to Burke\u2019s phone and location data from his Tesla. He said the records showed that the phone and car traveled together from Burke\u2019s Hollywood Hills home to a remote part of Santa Barbara County on three occasions, including the night of the alleged murder.<\/p>\n
\n\tOn April 23, 2025, Roecker said, Burke\u2019s phone and Tesla left the house around 11:31 p.m. and traveled to a \u201cpretty desolate\u201d area off Highway 154, near where a transit worker later found Rivas\u2019 U.S. passport card on Jan 7, 2026. (Prosecutors allege Burke traveled to the area after killing Rivas to dispose of evidence.)<\/p>\n
\n\tBurke\u2019s phone called Rivas\u2019 number around 12:04 a.m. on April 24, Roecker said, though the call appeared to go unanswered. The phone and Tesla returned to Burke\u2019s house around 7 a.m.<\/p>\n
\n\tRoecker said the phone and car returned to the same area on the night of May 8 and again on the afternoon of May 31. He also testified that Burke used a charging station near Lake Cachuma in Santa Barbara County.<\/p>\n
\n\tEarlier in the multi-day hearing, yet another criminalist testified that investigators found at least 11 air fresheners inside Burke\u2019s Tesla, including one beneath a mass of fly larvae near where Rivas\u2019 remains had been concealed. <\/p>\n
\n\tThe hearing opened Tuesday with graphic photographs of Rivas\u2019 remains, which were found divided between two black plastic bags in the front trunk of the Tesla Model X. Prosecutors said flecks of blue plastic on her knee came from the inflatable pool. Rivas\u2019 mother bowed her head and cried as the images were displayed.<\/p>\n
\n\tLAPD Det. Joshua Byers testified Tuesday that Burke had \u201cCeleste\u201d tattooed in red cursive on his left ring finger when he was arrested. He said data from the Tesla showed Burke\u2019s iPhone disconnecting from the vehicle at 2:18 p.m. on July 29, 2025. A neighbor\u2019s camera recorded Burke walking back toward his home two minutes later, he said. Automated police license-plate readers repeatedly recorded the Tesla in the same parking spot until it was impounded on Sept. 8.<\/p>\n
\n\tOn the hearing\u2019s first day, Silverman played body-camera footage showing sheriff\u2019s deputies questioning Burke in February 2024, after Rivas was first reported missing by her family. Burke said he had met her online, seen her once in person, and believed she was 18.<\/p>\n
\n\tProsecutors allege Burke later bought Rivas a secret phone and paid a classmate $1,000 to deliver it after her parents confiscated her previous device. Byers said investigators also found evidence that Burke traveled with Rivas to Texas and London and bought both airline tickets.<\/p>\n\n\n
\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tBenjamin Greger, a former financial manager for Burke\u2019s management company, Mogul Vision, testified that he discussed the transfer of Texas properties from Burke to his mother to protect the assets from a potential civil lawsuit.<\/p>\n
\n\tAt the end of the preliminary hearing, the judge will decide whether prosecutors have presented sufficient evidence to send the case to trial. Burke faces life in prison without parole or the death penalty if convicted as charged, though prosecutors have not said whether they will seek a death sentence.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"D4vd, the platinum-selling singer accused of murdering 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, sat quietly in a Los Angeles courtroom on Thursday as a police criminalist…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":69161,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pop","article","has-excerpt","has-avatar","has-author","has-date","has-comment-count","has-category-meta","has-read-more","thumbnail-"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=69160"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69160\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}