A man charged in the death of Dennis Day, an original cast member of Walt Disney’s “Mickey Mouse Club” television program in the 1950s, has been sentenced to just over four years in prison after entering a modified guilty plea this week.
Daniel Burda, 41, pleaded no contest Monday to charges of criminally negligent homicide and abuse of a corpse. Burda had been a live-in handyman at Day’s home in Phoenix, Oregon. Day, 76, was attempting to evict him around the time he disappeared in mid-2018. A no-contest plea means Burda concedes that the state can prove the criminal charges at trial and carries the same legal effect as a guilty plea.
Prosecutors stated that Burda caused Day’s death and then used Day’s identity to spend money.
Day’s badly decomposed body was discovered nine months later, buried beneath a pile of clothes at his home. His family has sued the Phoenix Police Department, claiming its failure to find his remains, despite multiple visits to the home, caused emotional distress.
According to the lawsuit, during one search, police officers stepped on Day’s body, causing fractures to the corpse but still failed to discover it. It wasn’t until April 2019, when Oregon State Police used a cadaver-sniffing dog, that Day’s remains were finally found. The delay prevented the medical examiner from determining a cause of death.
The Phoenix Police Department has denied the allegations, and a trial is set for October in Jackson County Circuit Court.
Burda’s criminal case experienced significant delays due to his trips to the Oregon State Hospital to assess his mental fitness for trial and other legal challenges. While out of custody, he faced several other charges, court records indicate. Additionally, Burda was recently sentenced to two years for a separate burglary case, which will be served consecutively, bringing his total prison time to just over six years.
The sentencing brings some closure to a case that has deeply affected Day’s family and highlighted serious concerns about the handling of the investigation by local authorities.