DNA was included in a mixture found<\/a> on an outer trash bag recovered from his garage. An inner bag held stained wipes that tested presumptively positive for blood. DNA on one wipe was three trillion times more likely to have come from Rivas than from an unknown person, Tosch said. Burke\u2019s DNA was not detected on the wipe.<\/p>\n\n\tTosch said Rivas\u2019 DNA was also found on a rowing machine, a black rubber floor mat, a Tesla charger, and a green tarp in the garage. It was further detected in a rear compartment of Burke\u2019s Tesla, separate from the front trunk where her remains were found.<\/p>\n
\n\tUnder cross-examination, Tosch acknowledged that DNA can be transferred without direct contact and that police software only calculated the likelihood of Burke\u2019s inclusion in the mixture, though nothing definitive. She nevertheless said it was her professional opinion that his DNA was present on the trash bag.<\/p>\n
\n\tAnother criminalist, Lisa LaHendro, testified that fragments of blue material recovered from Rivas\u2019 remains aligned with holes in an inflatable pool found in Burke\u2019s garage. Prosecutors allege Burke dismembered Rivas in the pool to collect the blood.<\/p>\n
\n\tCriminalist Lauren Wallace testified that Bluestar, a chemical used to detect possible blood, produced strong reactions on the rubber mats covering the garage floor and on the bricks beneath them. She said investigators did not collect two chainsaws from the garage or a third electric saw from upstairs because they tested negative for possible blood and were not considered forensically valuable. Prosecutors have said Burke ordered the two chainsaws found in the garage from Amazon shortly after the alleged killing. A detective testified that Burke also bought a 10-inch Makita chainsaw from Home Depot on May 4, 2025, and had it delivered through Uber Postmates. That saw was never recovered.<\/p>\n
\n\tDetective William Roecker testified that cell-tower records tracking Burke\u2019s phone and the modem in his Tesla showed the phone and car traveling together from his home to a remote area of Santa Barbara County three times after the alleged murder. The first trip began around 11:31 p.m. on April 23, about an hour after when prosecutors say Rivas was killed. The phone and Tesla traveled to a \u201cpretty desolate\u201d area off Highway 154, near where a transit worker later found Rivas\u2019 passport card. The phone and Tesla returned to Burke\u2019s home around 7 a.m., Roecker said, and later returned to the area on May 8 and May 31.<\/p>\n
\n\tEarlier testimony established that investigators found at least 11 air fresheners inside the Tesla, including one beneath a mass of fly larvae near the concealed remains.<\/p>\n
\n\tDetective Joshua Byers testified that Burke had \u201cCeleste\u201d tattooed in red cursive on his left ring finger when he was arrested. Tesla data showed Burke\u2019s iPhone disconnecting from the vehicle on July 29, 2025, shortly before a neighbor\u2019s camera recorded him walking back toward his home. Police license-plate readers recorded the Tesla in the same parking spot until it was impounded on Sept. 8.<\/p>\n
\n\tProsecutors also played body-camera footage showing sheriff\u2019s deputies questioning Burke in February 2024, after Rivas was reported missing. Burke said he had met her online, seen her once, and believed she was 18. Prosecutors allege Burke later bought Rivas a secret phone and paid a classmate $1,000 to deliver it after her parents confiscated another device. Investigators also found evidence that Burke bought airline tickets and traveled with her to Texas and London. <\/p>\n\n\n
\t\tTrending Stories<\/p>\n<\/h2>\n<\/section>\n
\n\tBenjamin Greger, a former financial manager at Burke\u2019s management company, testified that he discussed transferring Texas properties from Burke to his mother to protect the assets from a potential civil lawsuit.<\/p>\n
\n\tAt the conclusion of the hearing, a judge will determine whether prosecutors have presented enough 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
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"D4vd\u2018s attorneys offered a glimpse of their possible defense as they questioned a medical examiner about the death of 14-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez. The…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":69235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-69234","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\/69234","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=69234"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69234\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/69235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=69234"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=69234"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/musicianvoice.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=69234"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}