Man sentenced to 4-plus years in death of original ‘Mickey Mouse Club’ cast member

By James On Jul 10, 2024

A man charged in the death of Dennis Day, an original cast member of Walt Disney’s 1950s television show “Mickey Mouse Club,” has been sentenced to just over four years in prison after entering an amended plea of guilty this week.

MEDFORD, Oregon — A man charged in the death of Dennis Day, an original cast member on Walt Disney’s 1950s television program “Mickey Mouse Club,” has been sentenced to just over four years in prison after entering an amended plea of guilty this week.

Daniel Burda, 41, pleaded no contest Monday to charges of negligent homicide and abuse of a corpse. Burda was a handyman who lived in Day’s Phoenix, Oregon, home, but Day, 76, was trying to evict him around the time he disappeared in mid-2018. A no contest plea is an admission that the state can prove criminal charges at trial and has the same legal effect as a guilty plea.

Prosecutors say Burda was responsible for Day’s death and then used Day’s identity to spend money.

Day’s badly decomposed body wasn’t discovered until nine months later, under a pile of clothes in the house. His family is suing Phoenix police, saying the delay in finding his remains in his own home — despite multiple visits — caused emotional distress.

During a search, police stepped on Day’s body, causing fractures in the corpse, but they didn’t find it until April 2019, when Oregon State Police arrived with a cadaver dog, the lawsuit said. The delay prevented the coroner from determining a cause of death, the lawsuit said.

Police deny the allegations. A trial is scheduled for October in Jackson County Circuit Court.

Burda’s criminal case was long delayed by visits to the Oregon State Hospital to determine whether he was mentally fit to assist in his own defense, and by other legal challenges. He faced several other charges while out of custody, court records show, and he was also recently sentenced to two years to serve separately in a burglary case — bringing his total to just over six years in prison.