Credit: Brittany DiCologero, Inside the MagicDaniel Burda, the man accused of killing original Mickey Mouse Club member Dennis Day and concealing his death, has finally been found guilty and sentenced by a judge.
In 2018, Dennis Day was found dead at his home in Phoenix, Oregon. The 76-year-old former child actor had been missing for several months, and his car had been found 200 miles away; it is unclear how his vehicle came to be in the possession of the individuals who had it.
Day’s body was apparently in his home for nine months before it was discovered, leading his family to file a $2.2 million lawsuit against the Phoenix Police Department, accusing law enforcement of negligence in investigating his disappearance. Additionally, the delay prevented a medical examiner from determining a cause of death,
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A statement from the family reads:
“A missing person report was filed on July 27, 2018. During the two-week period that followed that missing person report, the City of Phoenix Police Department and Lieutenant Jeff Price had access to and possession of all evidence sufficient to lead the investigating officer to find Mr. Day’s deceased body. Discovery of Mr. Day’s deceased body would have allowed law enforcement to determine the cause of death, solve the case, arrest the suspect, and begin prosecution of the suspect in a timely and efficient manner in the interest of justice. However, due to the City of Phoenix Police Department and Lieutenant Jeff Price’s negligence, neglect, and failure to conduct an investigation at even a minimum professional standard, Mr. Day’s body was found in April, 2019 and not identified until June, 2019.”
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Daniel Burda, a live-in handyman at Dennis Day’s home, was arrested in connection with the former Mickey Mouse Club member’s death and charged with second-degree manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide, first-degree criminal mistreatment, second-degree abuse of a corpse, fraudulent use of a credit card, second-degree theft, and aggravated identity theft.
A trial was originally set for August 10, 2020, but numerous delays and legal tactics caused it to be bogged down. However, Daniel Burda finally pled no contest (a concession that the state can prove criminal charges and with the same legal ramifications as a guilty plea) earlier this week to charges of criminally negligent homicide and abuse of a corpse (per AP News). He was sentenced to more than four years in prison.
Dennis Day was one of the first members of the original Mickey Mouse Club and later became a dancer and theater director. He moved to Oregon in the 1980s with his longtime partner and future husband, Henry Ernest Caswell, who predeceased him.
RIP, Dennis Day, original Mouseketeer.