“Dateline: Who Killed Courtney Coco?” on NBC. depicts the horrific strangulation of Courtney Megan Coco, a 19-year-old college student, in Alexandria, Louisiana, in October 2004. Three days later, in a different state, 150 miles away, her body was discovered. Before David Anthony Burns, the culprit, was apprehended and prosecuted, it took the police close to 20 years. Then, how was David apprehended and where is he now? Let’s investigate.
Who is David Anthony Burns?
Courtney Megan Coco, the youngest of Stephanie Belgard’s three children, completed high school in 2003. The 19-year-old was a criminal justice major at Louisiana’s Northwestern State University and was residing alone in Alexandria. She was also a part-time receptionist at a neighbourhood dentist practise. The teenager’s parents left her in charge of the family dog on October 1, 2004, while they went camping for the weekend. Little did they know that this would be the last time they would see their daughter alive.
Courtney’s body was found in an abandoned structure in Winnie, Texas, by a construction worker. From Alexandria, it was located around 150 miles southwest. The decomposing body was partially dressed, and the medical examiner was unable to determine the precise cause of death, according to police records. But, the coroner declared it to be a homicide, and the investigators launched a careful probe. They then discovered Courtney’s flat in total disorder, as if someone had broken into the safe and ransacked it.
Also, more than a week after Courtney’s murder in Houston, Texas, on October 12, 2004, the investigators discovered her stolen automobile. Even though investigators were unable to connect the Pontiac Bonneville’s occupants to the actual murder, they were nonetheless detained. Her blood was also discovered in the trunk of the car along with all of her things, including her cell phone. The police could only determine that it was a blend of Courtney’s and the DNA of an unidentified male at the time because forensic technology had not advanced much since then.
Given that Courtney’s comforter was stolen, the police theorised that she had been murdered inside her apartment. After that, though, the investigation didn’t get very far, and it eventually became unsolved. But in 2019, her mother was determined not to give up looking for answers and made the decision to get in touch with Woody Overton, a retired homicide detective who also has a podcast. The renowned detective examined the case with a fresh eye and used his platform to reignite interest in it 15 years after Courtney’s passing.
Woody’s investigation revealed that Courtney was killed by a strangulation at her flat on October 2, 2004, after midnight. The offender then placed the body in the trunk of the Pontiac Bonneville, dumped it in the vacant building in Winnie, and fled with the stolen car, leaving it in the vicinity of Houston. Then, on the afternoon of April 13, 2021, law enforcement officers paid attention to his meticulous work and detained David Anthony Burns, 45, of the 5000 block of Hot Springs Road. The Rapides Parish Correctional Center received his arrest paperwork.
Where is David Anthony Burns Now?
According to the police report, David was given preliminary consideration as a suspect in early 2011 after numerous witnesses came forward to say he had been discussing killing the teen. Even the court documents show that the witnesses claimed he mentioned suffocating Courtney with a pillow in her bedroom, wrapping her in her blanket, and then disposing of the body. The comforter was never discovered, but the statements were nonetheless taken seriously by the authorities since they contained precise details that were not available to the general public.
The tyre tracks from the scene matched the tyres on Courtney’s Pontiac Bonneville, which was another discovery made by the police that supported Woody’s theory. Another eyewitness claimed that while he was passing by Winnie, someone nearly rear-ended his vehicle. David, he thought, was leaving the same structure where Courtney’s disintegrated bones had been recovered. The information provided by the witness, which was made public after Courtney vanished, included the make of the car and a partial description of the licence plate.
Although the witness correctly identified David in a lineup, there was no conclusive proof connecting him to the murder. However, his defence attorney contended that the witness in 2004 never saw the face of the person operating the vehicle. Despite his lengthy criminal background, there was no concrete evidence linking him to the murder, therefore the case was closed. When he said he was with his girlfriend on the incident weekend, he was found to be lying.
The girlfriend, Courtney’s sister, denied the assertion, claiming that she had only met him following Courtney’s disappearance. The trial for David began on October 27, 2022, and two days later, on October 29, the jury determined that he had committed second-degree murder. Stephanie, Courtney’s mother, sobbed as she said, “That was music to my ears, after hearing the judgement. In heaven, I can almost hear the angels singing. I’m simultaneously happy and sad. I made every effort for her. She merited it. “We did this in what we considered was the appropriate way,” the prosecutors claimed. We properly investigated it.
But David’s defence attorneys weren’t happy, with one of them saying, “If you have been watching this trial, there has been inconsistent statement after inconsistent statement. Yet, I think that the crying and sympathy of the family. I think the decision was sympathetic. Several of those jurors, in my opinion, were predetermined. On November 30, 2022, David was subsequently given a life sentence without the possibility of probation, parole, or sentence suspension. Therefore, the 47-year-old is currently a prisoner at the Louisiana State Prison.
Courtney’s body was found in an abandoned structure in Winnie, Texas, by a construction worker. From Alexandria, it was located around 150 miles southwest. The decomposing body was partially dressed, and the medical examiner was unable to determine the precise cause of death, according to police records. But, the coroner declared it to be a homicide, and the investigators launched a careful probe. They then discovered Courtney’s flat in total disorder, as if someone had broken into the safe and ransacked it.