INTERVIEW: Jesse Weber (Host, Sidebar / Law & Crime) with Private Investigator Steve Fiser
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JESSE WEBER:
Steve, really appreciate you taking the time here to talk about this. First off, how were you hired? How were you retained in this matter?
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STEVE FISER:
So, uh, originally when the case, uh, when the body was originally found, I had another missing person's case going in LA of a female and we thought that that could be that individual. Uh, and so I kind of stayed with the case for a little while until she was identified and we knew it wasn't. And I had, you know, discovered some other things such as the when the car was towed and the photos from it being towed and whatnot. And uh you know the owner had gotten in touch with me of the house and uh I shared some things with him and and uh it just kind of evolved from there.
But one thing you know I would say is um he is the owner of the house. It wasn't David's landlord. David wasn't even on the lease, you know, and and the owner never even knew that David was in the house. It was actually Josh Marshall, his manager, who had leased the house.
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JESSE WEBER:
But to be clear, David was living there, right?
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STEVE FISER:
Yes, he he was definitely staying there. It just was not known to the owner.
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JESSE WEBER:
Right. Okay. And by the way, I understand this is, you know, an active investigation. There might be limited what you can share, but what exactly is he looking for in this? What exactly is this property owner? What kind of answers is he looking for?
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STEVE FISER:
So, where it really kind of evolved from was uh the search warrant was served, I believe, on the 17th or 18th, and it was a forced entry uh search warrant, meaning that nobody was home at the time. And um they did not leave uh a copy of the warrant or of the return, the the inventory list of the items that they took from the house.
And it was really kind of born out of that. We—I um was not officially retained at that time, but I I helped him try to obtain that and we told Robbery Homicide, hey, listen, you know, no warrant was left behind. David was out on tour. Josh Marshall lives out of state, we found out. So, the owner had his representative go to the house immediately after he found out about this and there was no warrant, no return.
He really just wants to understand what of his property could have been taken and what the status of that is. And then also, this is troublesome when you learn something like this. All of a sudden you're thrown into this and he feels absolutely horrible for Celeste’s family and he's like, you know, if there's anything that involves, you know, in and around my house that that um could help, then I want to discover that.
And I'll tell you that there have been things that that we've learned that and we've turned right over to LAPD but we think there's significant um you know things that that could help.
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JESSE WEBER:
Do you mean that there might be evidence that a crime was committed at that house?
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STEVE FISER:
Not so much a crime. No. And I'll tell I'll just be honest with you. We don't have ev—any evidence that anything happened to her at that house, but there is definitely evidence that we've collected that helps the timeline.
Uh we now have a much better understanding of when that Tesla arrived at that final parking spot. I'll tell you I do have surveillance from different houses in the neighborhood showing Tesla being moved. So things like that—like, and I'm not even saying that LAPD didn't have that. I'm sure they did—but we wanted to make sure, and you know, we did some work on up-resing the footage to find out who was driving the vehicle.
And there are some other items that were found at the house that weren't taken during the search warrant. And you know, search warrants are limited, right? That they can't just go take everything—it's what the judge, you know—and we don't know how broad that search form was because we haven't seen it and that's what we'd like to see.
But there were some things that were not taken into custody of LAPD that we think are significant and um including digital media and some other things that really help nail down timeline and things like that.
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JESSE WEBER:
And you handed that over to LAPD.
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STEVE FISER:
We have. The day—literally the day that we um—the things that we've recovered we've given to um LAPD within 24 hours, you know.
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JESSE WEBER:
Do you know who was driving that car, that Tesla? You don't have to tell me, but do you know the identity?
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STEVE FISER:
Yeah. Um I—you know, as far as it going to the final, that what we believe is the final parking spot where it was towed from. Uh yes.
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JESSE WEBER:
And that information's been communicated to law enforcement.
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STEVE FISER:
So it's been given to law enforcement. They don’t—they’re not going to tell us if they're confirming if if that's a person or not. Robbery homicide, the way they work is—we’ll take your information, we’re not going to speak on it, you know. So, I don’t know.
But listen, it's very clear that that neighborhood is filled with um surveillance cameras and uh the timelines—once you once we learn those dates and we can see other things that were happening that were even public on Instagram and whatnot were going on in those people's lives—it makes a lot of sense.
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JESSE WEBER:
So, let me ask you this. If you see when the car was parked there, have you seen anything to indicate that Celeste's body was transferred into that car after the car was parked there? Or in other words, do you believe that her body was in that car the minute it was parked in the location it was ultimately towed from?
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STEVE FISER:
So, I'll say I have no evidence of a body being transferred uh before or after. There's no evidence of that at all. Um, but I will say when it was moved to that position, it was already like that. So that car had not been used in a very long time. It was super dirty, caked on dirt. I'll tell you this was in late July. So it's bizarre because we also got media that that car was used a lot.
David even spoke about it in Instagram videos. He took it to a detail shop and stuff like that. And then all of a sudden the very beginning of the year that car—something happens, you know, and that car's not—doesn't show up anymore. It's not used. It seems to disappear and then uh that red Tesla learned, which we didn't know until the search warrant was served, that there's a red Tesla in the garage um which I can tell you was released on February 1st.
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JESSE WEBER:
Yeah. Let me just narrow down here. Do you have the precise date of when that car—the one with Celeste's body inside—when it was left there? Do you know the specific date of when it was left in the Hollywood Hills?
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STEVE FISER:
I I I—you know, I believe uh I believe it, you know, um, July, late July. Very late July. Very late July.
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JESSE WEBER:
One thing that we've heard — the LAPD has seized footage from the rental property, multiple security cameras around the property. There are even reports of a smashed Ring camera on the ground. And according to TMZ, police seized all the footage from multiple security cameras at the house last month when they executed the search warrant.
TMZ described that footage as a “potential gold mine for investigators.” The question becomes, did you see anyone coming into or leaving that property after the Tesla was there? So after the Tesla with Celeste’s body inside is there. Can you tell us you saw people coming in and out of that property before the search warrant?
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STEVE FISER:
No, not from the time that the Tesla was left. So, from the time the Tesla was left there, uh, he literally immediately started the tour. There was a tour bus that was leased and I'll tell you that Tesla was moved and literally a bus departed for tour.
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JESSE WEBER:
You talked about things that might have been taken from the house, things that you handed over to LAPD. Is there anything you can share with us about what that information may be?
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STEVE FISER:
You know, one thing that you just brought up and I guess which TMZ reported on — uh, the security system. The house has got a very sophisticated uh security system, not just with cameras, but with sensors and and all types of things. It all records to a DVR and for privacy reasons, the owner when he leased the house said, you know, this is the system that's in the house and you can use whatever functions you want on it.
That's not something that then the owner could access. So, we don't know if the cameras were enabled or not enabled. But if they were, it wouldn't just be cameras. It would be, we'd know anytime anybody came and went from the house, anytime anybody opened a window, everything kept it like it was.
But we don't know. LAPD came in and took that whole DVR. They took the entire system, which you would expect. And I've talked to the security company that installed the system and they've told me, you know, how it was set up.
We think it was probably running because there's limited alerts that the security guy can see, which is stuff like if there's a major failure, and there was a low power failure warning that triggered right when they were executing the search warrant, and we think that's when they unplugged the system.
So there's reason to believe that the system was running. Whether the cameras were covered or not, I don't know. I can tell you that some of the smoke sensors in the house were covered and that's probably because maybe they were—I don't know what they were doing in the house. So, the cameras might have been covered as well.
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JESSE WEBER:
During the course of your investigation so far, have you learned more information about Celeste and David? Perhaps their connection — anything we should be thinking about that hasn't been publicly reported? Is your investigation also into them as well?
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STEVE FISER:
Sure. Uh, yeah. And, and you know, one of the reasons that we've kind of come public with what I'm doing is because, you know, I have a little bit different method of working than a lot of private investigators and then what people think is the proper way of doing it.
I believe in this digital age, and when especially the younger generation — when they're on places like Discord and you don't even know their real identities — you know, I've put myself out there, and those people do come to me. And a tremendous amount of people have come to me and I've learned a lot.
Now, listen, a lot of it circumstantial, right? But there are people that are directly in his orbit and there are people that have photos and videos, and we've gotten a lot of photos and videos from inside the home itself. So we—you can put people at certain dates and times at the house, and—and there's a lot of them. It's in the thousands
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JESSE WEBER:
Do you know if Celeste was ever at that property?
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STEVE FISER:
So you know what we recovered? We don't have any of her at that property. We have pictures of her that were taken by David. We assume because it's not on a camera phone, but these photos are on a regular camera at different locations.
And it really makes me think that it's likely she had another place she was staying. There was—I can tell you that there was a lot of time spent towards downtown LA. And I'll—I’ll say the last photo that we have of Celeste is um uh January 2nd, 2025.
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JESSE WEBER:
Okay. Now, that’s significant because we were wondering when she was last seen alive. There was that surveillance footage of her seemingly running away from her neighborhood, and that was September of 2024, I believe.
So we didn’t have anything — we were like, where was this girl in 2025? But we do have a photo of her early in the morning, January 2nd, 2025. Has anyone — and just to be clear — you don’t know more information about when she died, right?
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STEVE FISER:
No I don't—I don't have any information of how she died or when exactly she died.
I have—listen, investigations are always moving, and and right now I I tend to believe it happened a while ago, a long time ago, and I think January, February, things change—I mean you can see it in the photos and everything.
And I also think when I first started looking at this case—hey, I'm very much, you know, a razor-type person, where I think things are a lot easier than people try to make them sometimes, especially online, into these big things—and I thought this was going to be a tragic overdose, which it very well still could be.
And they made a bad decision because they didn't want to expose a potential relationship and put her in this Tesla. And then maybe he thought he could get somebody to get rid of that car and they were just like, "No, I'm not doing it. I'm not doing it." And it just got left there.
But I will say this—there are some things that um, and I'm talking physical evidence, that was at that house, that is—there could have been greater plans as far as getting rid of her. And it's scary, sadistic stuff.
And that's why we're trying to learn more about that. I wish I could say more, but for obvious reasons I can't. But—but it doesn't have to do with how she died, but maybe how they were planning on ultimately getting rid of her, and how maybe that Tesla was just a holding spot at the time, and things just, you know—their timing was just off as far as getting this done.
But there's some—there's a few things that were just like—will blow your mind
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JESSE WEBER:
Has anyone from David’s team, management, legal, anybody reached out to you or your client?
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STEVE FISER:
Uh you know I know that my client's been in touch with his manager but only uh for the purpose of the lease because they did ask to terminate the lease. And I believe the other manager that technically was the owner of the red Tesla I think was in touch with him just for—because they needed access to the house to get that vehicle and stuff out.
Because that's another thing I think could be key in this—is that there's only one key to that house, and who had that, and who had access to it, and who was in it.
Because we also have evidence um that while David was on tour at the time between the Tesla being found and the search warrant being served—David was on tour—but somebody was in that house. And there was actually a report made, not with police, but that homeowner association has a robust private security company and we've gotten videos from them and reports.
And so who had that key is probably the same person that you know had access to the Tesla.
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JESSE WEBER:
Do you know who that person is and do you believe that is the person that moved the Tesla?
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STEVE FISER:
So I believe I definitely know who moved that Tesla on that late July before they went on tour. Um, I can't say who the person—and I don't mean I can't say for—I mean I don't know who exactly was in that that house because it's just a report.
But there's video, but you can't make a person out. But somebody was in the house, and being that there's only one key, it's like okay—who had access at that time?
So is it the same person that moved the Tesla? Um was—was something—was another last part of the plan about to go in motion as far as getting rid of her body? Um I don't know.
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JESSE WEBER:
Now, we heard this week from LA County District Attorney Nathan Hawkman. He actually addressed this case directly when a TMZ reporter caught up with him outside the DA's office.
Regarding the status of the case, he said, quote, “It is currently under investigation. We don't discuss suspects or the points in a continuing investigation. When and if that case is presented to the DA's office and we make a decision on it, I'll make sure you're one of the first to know. A case has not been presented to our office for filing consideration.”
And just to underline that, a spokesperson for the DA's office confirmed to Complex that, yeah, no case has been presented for filing consideration. The LAPD also told the outlet that the county medical examiner still hasn't determined a cause or manner of death, saying, quote, “It remains unclear whether there is any criminal culpability beyond the concealment of her body.”
Now, Steve, you just told us a lot of information here. Are you surprised that we don't have a confirmed suspect from law enforcement or a person of interest or even an arrest at this point? Or can you say from what you're seeing that makes sense, but Jesse maybe being on the lookout for something soon?
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STEVE FISER:
Yeah, I would say Jesse, that makes sense, but maybe look—be on the lookout for something soon.
Uh yeah, I've seen this in a lot of cases. It tells me—listen, I don't have any inside information on this. I'm just saying from my opinion that this means that during the examination, autopsy examination, there was nothing very obvious such as a crushed skull, bullet holes, anything like that.
So, they're waiting on toxicology to come back to make that final determination.
Now, is the medical examiner in contact with the detectives in between this time? Are they? Absolutely. You know, do they have a preliminary determination? I'm sure they do.
I think the DA's office is working side by side with the detectives and telling them—this is what we need for these charges, this is what we would need for these charges. Can you get it or not get it?
Listen, a crime 100% happened here. At minimum, it's the concealment of a body, right? So, we know somebody did that.
Hopefully, it's not, you know, a mutilation. Hopefully, those initial reports were wrong about her being dismembered.
But one thing I have to say, even though I talked about how we've found some things that could have meant they had a really twisted plan in place to get rid of her—it never went in motion. So, you can't charge somebody for a crime that they may have thought about doing. So, you know, we may never know more about that.
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JESSE WEBER:
So, Steve, before I let you go, do you have any indication about where David is right now?
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STEVE FISER:
I don't—I I have no idea. And it's it's kind of bizarre because his group has stayed so silent. What's left of his group, I guess.
And um I'm not even sure the conversations that the owner did have with his management in breaking that lease. I'm not even 100% sure his management knows at this time where he's at. I think his attorney might be the only one—and his parents.
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JESSE WEBER:
Steve Fiser, rea
lly appreciate you taking the time. Thank you so much for providing a little bit more insight into what's going on right now.
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STEVE FISER:
Thanks for having me on.
