Overview
- The multi‑day preliminary hearing is ongoing in Los Angeles and will decide whether there is probable cause to send singer David Burke to trial after prosecutors presented evidence this week that ties him to an April 23, 2025 killing.
- An LAPD criminalist testified she found signs that blood had been cleaned from Burke’s garage and that jugs of fake blood were present while two small chainsaw blades tested negative for blood, and defense lawyers pressed witnesses about the limited DNA testing done on those items.
- Police detectives described cell‑tower tracking of Burke’s phone and data from his Tesla that place him at his Hollywood home on the night prosecutors say the killing occurred and later in remote Santa Barbara County where the victim’s passport was found.
- Prosecutors also showed purchase and delivery records for a body bag, chainsaws, an inflatable pool and a shovel ordered in the days after the alleged killing and displayed graphic photos of the victim’s dismembered remains in court.
- Burke, who has pleaded not guilty, remains jailed without bail while the judge considers probable cause and the case has prompted large digital discovery, a county inquiry into alleged coroner‑file access and music‑industry partners severing ties.