Hearing closes with Danielle's parents' emotional testimony
Posted on 03/15/2002 6:59:05 AM PST by FresnoDA
Hearing closes with Danielle's parents' emotional testimony
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 Westerfield to stand trial By Alex Roth March 15, 2002 David Westerfield was ordered yesterday to stand trial in the slaying of Danielle van Dam, after her parents spent an emotional day on the witness stand retracing their steps before and after their daughter disappeared. "I have reasonable cause to believe that Mr. Westerfield is guilty" of kidnapping and murdering the 7-year-old girl, Superior Court Judge H. Ronald Domnitz ruled. In her testimony, Brenda van Dam told of having four alcoholic drinks that night at the bar, playing pool, dancing, and again smoking marijuana outside in her truck before heading home when the bar stopped serving drinks for the night a few minutes before 2 a.m.
Brenda van Dam admitted under cross-examination by Westerfield's attorney, Steven Feldman, that she told investigators her friends were "toasted," referring to their inebriated state.
'An empty bed'In frequently tearful testimony, she told of the panic she felt after waking up the next morning, going downstairs to make breakfast and then going back upstairs to wake her daughter and finding her gone from her pink-and-purple bedroom. Danielle's bedroom door was open, she said, and she was asked what she saw inside. "An empty bed." She became frantic, she said, searching every room, looking under beds, calling her name. Her husband, Damon van Dam, began searching for Danielle outside. "I went outside and looked in the Jacuzzi and places you never want to look," she said, "and then I called 911." A uniformed police officer arrived and asked her, Damon and their two boys to leave the house until investigators arrived, Brenda van Dam testified. "Before I knew it, it was total chaos," she said. "There were lots of people on the street looking for Danielle. One of our neighbors made missing-child posters. "We weren't allowed back in by the Police Department because they were searching for evidence."
Says barely knew WesterfieldBrenda van Dam said she barely knew Westerfield, and as of a week before Danielle's disappearance the night of Feb. 1 did not know his name and had only limited contact with him as a neighbor. She said although Westerfield bought her and her friends drinks at Dad's Feb. 1, she denied dancing with him and said she didn't notice when he later left the bar. Van Dam said the first time she ever spoke with him was a year earlier when she and her daughter went door-to-door in the neighborhood, selling Girl Scout cookies. Westerfield, a self-employed engineer, lived two houses away from the van Dams in Sabre Springs, a San Diego neighborhood adjacent to Poway.
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Prosecutors could announce as soon as March 28 – the next scheduled court hearing in the case – whether they intend to seek the death penalty against Westerfield, a 50-year-old twice-divorced engineer who lived two homes from the van Dams.
The judge's decision followed three days of evidence presented by the prosecution that included testimony linking Danielle's DNA to Westerfield's motor home and his jacket. They also presented evidence that Westerfield lied to police and possessed pornographic images depicting rape fantasies and under-age females engaged in sex acts.
The hearing also provided a glimpse of what could be Westerfield's defense – that the crimes were carried out by someone else, someone with intimate knowledge of the van Dam household.
Although the first two days of the preliminary hearing were largely technical, yesterday was riveting.
Crying at times, and at other times bristling at questions about their lifestyle, the parents testified about their activities on the night of Feb. 1 and about the hours after they discovered their daughter missing from her pink-and-purple bedroom the next morning.
Damon van Dam recalled the last time his daughter went to sleep in the house: She brushed her teeth, read to her 5-year-old brother, got into bed and received a good-night kiss from her father. The next morning, he said, she was gone.
The mother, a part-time bookseller, wept when she talked about the hearts and flowers on her daughter's bedroom door, and about the sparkle-covered shirt she'd bought Danielle for an upcoming father-daughter dance.
The father, a software engineer, blanched when asked how many children he had.
"Three," he responded, then softly corrected himself: "Two."
Through the day, the lawyers undertook the delicate process of probing what the parents were doing on the night before Danielle was discovered missing.
Brenda van Dam admitted smoking marijuana, drinking and dancing with friends and strangers at a local bar – a bar where she knew Westerfield, their neighbor, also planned to show up.
She and several friends returned to the van Dam house, where one of her friends was briefly kissed by Damon van Dam while they were on his bed upstairs.
Much of the parents' testimony focused on the little things they said seemed slightly amiss with their home security that night: Alarm lights flashed, a sliding-glass door was discovered open, an outdoor gate was found unlatched and their dog was whimpering.
Prosecutors say Westerfield kidnapped Danielle the night of Feb. 1 or the next morning to sexually assault her. Her nude, decomposed body was found Feb. 27 in a rural area east of El Cajon.
In an unusual move at a preliminary hearing, Westerfield's lead attorney, Steven Feldman, attempted to call witnesses and launch a defense against the charges to contradict the van Dams' testimony.
The attempt fizzled after Domnitz rejected some of Feldman's arguments and worked out a compromise to put several witnesses' statements into the record.
Feldman spent much of the hearing trying to question the van Dams about what he labeled their "swinging lifestyle" and the types of people that lifestyle might have attracted.
Feldman asked both parents about whether they had made statements about having recently become "swingers" – couples who swap partners. The parents didn't directly answer the questions, usually because the judge decided most of the questions weren't relevant.
The defense attorney also asked whether Danielle had a habit of playing in the neighborhood unsupervised, or whether she'd ever sneaked out of the house.
Domnitz has issued a gag order prohibiting lawyers, police or witnesses from commenting, but several defense experts who have been following the case say Feldman probably will try to argue that Danielle might have sneaked into Westerfield's motor home, which could explain how her blood and fingerprints got inside.
Both the van Dams testified that Westerfield was almost a complete stranger whose name they had only learned recently, even though he'd been their neighbor since they moved into their home three years ago.
Damon van Dam, 36, said he had a few, brief neighborly chats with Westerfield. Brenda van Dam, 39, recalled waving to Westerfield a few times, as she did with other neighbors.
The first time she talked to him, she said, was when she and Danielle sold him Girl Scout cookies a year or so earlier.
She couldn't recall any subsequent contacts with Westerfield until Friday, Jan. 25, when she went with two friends to Dad's Cafe, a restaurant and bar in Poway. Westerfield was there, chatted briefly with the three women and bought them drinks, she said.
She saw him again a few days later when she and Danielle again went to his house to sell Girl Scout cookies, she said. Her younger son, Dylan, 5, was also along.
Westerfield showed her his remodeled kitchen and filled out a form to buy cookies. As the children explored his backyard pool area, he mentioned that he'd be back at Dad's that Friday and wanted to meet her two girlfriends, she testified.
"He asked me to tell my friends I had a rich neighbor to introduce them to," she said.
He also made reference to hosting "adult" parties, she said, adding she wasn't sure what that meant.
That Friday, Feb. 1 – the night before Danielle was discovered missing – Brenda van Dam and her two friends went back to Dad's after smoking marijuana in the garage with Damon, she testified. He stayed home playing video games with the children.
At the bar the women ran into Westerfield. This time he was with two friends, she said.
Again, Westerfield bought the women drinks, she said. She denied dancing with him. Westerfield's lawyers later identified witnesses who they say will testify they saw Westerfield and Brenda van Dam dance together.
Brenda van Dam said during her stay at Dad's she and her friends smoked more marijuana in her truck before returning home at closing time. She said she brought along her two girlfriends and two male friends that they had met up with at the bar.
By this time she'd consumed three cranberry-and-vodka drinks and a shot of tequila and a non-alcoholic energy drink, she said.
Entering the house she noticed a blinking red light on the security alarm system indicating a door or window was ajar in the house. She later noticed that a garage door to the outside of the house was open. The group had opened the door earlier that night to let the marijuana smoke out, she said.
The garage has another door leading to the inside of the house, according to testimony. That door locks from inside the garage because they didn't want their children wandering into the garage when they were smoking marijuana, the parents testified.
Meanwhile, Damon van Dam was up in his bedroom. After his wife, the two girlfriends and the two men came into the house, one of his wife's friends – identified as Barbara – went upstairs and Damon van Dam kissed her and rubbed her back on the bed, he testified.
The two went downstairs after about five minutes and joined the other four for pizza. The visitors left about 2:30 a.m., and the couple went to bed, Damon testified.
Neither parent checked on the children until the next morning, they said. Damon had put the children to bed about 10 p.m.
Later, Damon woke up to go to the bathroom and noticed a flashing red light on the alarm system. He said he went downstairs and discovered the sliding glass door open. He closed it.
When prosecutor Jeff Dusek asked him why he didn't check on the children at that point, Damon van Dam said, "I didn't believe I had any reason to. I assumed in my state of drowsiness that one of the other people in the house had left the door open."
The next morning, Brenda van Dam found her daughter's door open and "an empty bed," she testified.
What followed was "total chaos," the mother recalled. Both parents frantically searched under the beds, on the side of the house, in the Jacuzzi. The father ran around the block. And one of the van Dams noticed a side gate on the house had been unlatched.
By mid-morning the entire neighborhood was involved in hunting for Danielle – a search that evolved into one of the biggest volunteer efforts in the history of San Diego County.
SAN DIEGO (Court TV) — The parents of Danielle van Dam took the stand Thursday at a preliminary hearing for their daughter's accused killer and tearfully recalled the circumstances of the 7-year-old's abduction from her bedroom.
Asked what she found when she went to wake her daughter on the morning of Feb. 2, a red-eyed Brenda van Dam replied, "an empty bed."
But the girl's disappearance and murder quickly took a back seat to questions about her parents' drug use, drinking habits and sex life.
Brenda and Damon van Dam acknowledged smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol the night their daughter vanished from her bedroom. A lawyer for murder suspect David Westerfield also repeatedly quizzed the pair about rumors they were "swingers," sexually involved with others.
Judge H. Ronald Domnitz precluded many of the questions as irrelevant, but Brenda van Dam admitted a female friend tried to grope her breasts in a bar that night. And her husband said he had a relationship with the same woman and had kissed and massaged her in his bed the night his daughter went missing.
Westerfield, a 50-year-old engineer who lived two doors down from the van Dams, is accused of kidnapping the second-grader from her bedroom the night of Feb. 1 and killing her. Her body, too decomposed to determine a cause of death, was discovered in a trash-strewn lot Feb. 27. Spots of Danielle's blood were found in Westerfield's recreational vehicle and on his jacket, according to police. They said they also recovered child pornography from his home and suspect a sexual motive.
At the close of the three-day hearing Thursday afternoon, Domnitz ruled there was sufficient evidence to try Westerfield for kidnapping and murder. He will be arraigned March 28. Prosecutors have not decided whether they will seek the death penalty.
Brenda van Dam, who like her husband wore a picture of her daughter on her lapel, testified that almost all of her contact with Westerfield came in the week preceding her daughter's abduction. On Jan. 25, she said, she saw him at Dad's, a neighborhood bar where she had gone with two female friends. He bought her a cranberry and vodka cocktail, but she said she could not remember what they talked about and still did not know his name.
Several days later, she said, she, her son Dylan and Danielle went to Westerfield's home while selling Girl Scout cookies. Westerfield formally introduced himself and bought four boxes of cookies. While the children ran around his pool, she and Westerfield talked, she testified.
He wanted to get to know her female friends, she said.
"He said to tell them I had a rich neighbor to introduce them to," she testified.
She said she told Westerfield that she and her friends might return to Dad's the next Friday if she could get a baby sitter. Her husband, she recalled telling him, would be out of town.
As she left his house, Westerfield took her phone number and told her he "had adult parties and also barbecues" and planned to invite her and her husband to them, she testified.
She said she found the comment so strange that she called her husband at work when she got home.
"It struck me as odd that he mentioned adult parties. I didn't know what he meant by that," she said. On cross-examination, she denied Feldman's charge that she was tickled because "there were others in your neighborhood allegedly engaged in the swinging lifestyle."
The van Dam's testified that on Feb. 1, Brenda and her two female friends planned to go to Dad's bar and Damon, his trip postponed, to stay home with the three children. Damon van Dam said he drank two beers with dinner and a third later.
When the friends, identified as Denise Kamal and Barbara Easton, arrived, the adults went into the garage, locked the door and shared half a marijuana joint. The boys played video games while Danielle sat at the kitchen table writing in her journal.
Brenda van Dam said she had smoked marijuana about 30 times before, and both testified they had the garage lock specially set to keep the children from happening upon them. Damon van Dam said he had one or two hits and Brenda said she had "three or four puffs."
"Did it get you high?" asked defense lawyer Steven Feldman.
"I did," she said.
The women left for the bar, and Damon van Dam said he played video games with his sons and then put all three children to bed at about 10 p.m. Danielle, he said, was already in her four-poster bed when he entered the room to tuck her in.
"I gave her a kiss goodnight," he said. He left her door and those of her brothers open about eight inches, he said.
After watching television and walking the dog, he went to bed, he said. He testified that the dog, Leila, was raised with dogs who had their larynx removed and almost never barked.
Brenda van Dam said that when she arrived at the bar, Westerfield was there with two friends and offered to buy her and her friends drinks.
"He said, Ladies don't buy their own drinks and threw some money on the counter," she testified.
She said that over the course of the evening, she had three cranberry and vodka cocktails and a shot of tequila. She said she did not know how many Westerfield bought because her friends just kept passing them to her. She also said she went to the parking lot with Easton, Kamal and two male friends and smoked the rest of the joint.
"How clearheaded were you," Dusek asked.
"I think I was very clearheaded," she said.
At one point, she and her friends played pool with Westerfield's friends. She said she noticed him watching them.
She said she danced with her male friends and a male stranger and then with Kamal and Easton. Under cross-examination, she admitted that Easton and Kamal were dancing provocatively with each other, and that she told investigators Easton tried to grab her breasts. Brenda van Dam denied ever dancing with Westerfield, but before the hearing ended, the defense listed several bystanders who said they had seen the pair on the dance floor together.
At 1:50 a.m., the bar closed and she drove Kamal and Easton back to her house. The two male friends also joined them.
Damon van Dam said he had just returned to bed from taking the dog out again when his wife and friends arrived home. Brenda van Dam said as she walked into the house, the security alarm indicated a door in the garage was ajar. The alarm was not hooked up to a security company and did not sound continuously when a door or window opened. She said she closed it and then she and Easton went to the master bedroom.
Easton, he said, got on the bed.
"I put my arm around her and kissed her and rubbed her back," said Damon van Dam, adding that he could not remember whether his wife was in the room at the time, but she later left.
On cross-examination, Feldman asked if he and Easton had a relationship with her and he said "Yes."
Eventually, he and Easton joined the two men and Brenda van Dam in the living room. After eating pizza, the guests left and the van Dams went to bed about 2:30 without looking in on their children.
Damon van Dam said that sometime during the night, he woke to use the restroom and noticed a flashing light on the alarm panel. He went downstairs and found the sliding back door slightly ajar. He closed it, thinking one of his guests had opened it, and returned to bed.
At 9 the next morning, Brenda found Danielle's bed empty.
"We started looking everywhere," she said.
"What was your state of mind?" Dusek asked.
"Frantic," she said.
Damon said he didn't remember if he was kissing Barbara when Brenda was right there - and Brenda obviously wasn't thrilled with the two of them being up there alone - - she went up and told them to stop being rude.Don't know much about Barbara - - was she interested in Damon? Did she think that his marriage might break up if not for the kids (specifically his daughter?) Does she have any history of violence or mental problems?
Everyone around that child needs to be investigated - - - - -
| 8 . "I think" Posted by ziggy on Mar-15-02 at 03:50 AM (EST) |
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Perhaps Barb was involved in a 3 way with them at one time and feels that level of comfort now. Maybe Brenda doesn't like it but lives with the fact it happened and that she had agreed to it. And Barb and Damon are cool with it and less bothered. |
A big AMEN to that !!!!!! If not, the authorities have not done their job.
What a shame, children suffer because of their parents sins.
Did Westerfield actually have ANY "adult parties"? Or was he just sounding out Brenda to confirm what they were into?
They both need to be found guilty of child endangerment and serve a maximum jail sentence. It was their lifestyle that caused this. I feel sorry for the two remaining children.
I hope they have nightmares for the rest of their natural life.
I of course mean the 'parents' have nightmares for the rest of their natural life.
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - An Ethiopian court sentenced a flour mill owner, a sorceress and her friend to death for murdering a seven-year-old girl in a witchcraft rite, the state-run Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) reported on Tuesday.
Struggling miller Abametcha Abageda was so desperate to rid himself of the gremlins in his malfunctioning mill that he sought the advice of a local sorceress, the court heard.
Shenfo Alenchena, the sorceress, told him the only way out of his problems was to sacrifice a suitable girl child and sprinkle her blood on the floor of the mill and mill house.
She then paid four people $2.40 each to kidnap such a child and take her to Abametcha. The four kidnappers were all given life sentences when the verdicts were read on Monday.
Mitiku Minota, a friend of the sorceress, took part in the killing.
December 8, 1999, Reuters.
HT Correspondent
(New Delhi, October 22)
THE DELHI High Court has upheld death sentence on a man and a woman for murdering a one-and-half-year-old girl for a witchcraft ritual and converted capital punishment for two others into seven-year rigorous imprisonment.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Arijit Passayat and Justice DK Jain, which heard the reference for confirmation of capital punishment for the six convicts, however, acquitted two of them giving them benefit of doubt.
Describing the murder as rarest of the rare offence, the bench confirmed the death sentence awarded by a sessions court on Shaka and Babu Lal. However, it converted capital punishment on Iqbal and Munir Bux into seven years RI as the duo were found guilty of concealing evidence under Section 201 of the Indian Penal Code.
Giving benefit of doubt to Chaman for whom the act was committed, as she did not have a child even after three years of marriage, the court also said there was no clear evidence against the sixth convict, Tabiz Ali.
Government counsel Anil Soni said Shakila had arranged the witchcraft for the benefit of her daughter Chaman in Sultanpuri area of West Delhi on October 2, 1987. Babu Lal had selected one-and-half-year-old Kavita for the 'sacrifice'.
Additional Sessions Judge KP Verma had awarded death sentence on all the six accused subject to its confirmation by the High Court. According to the prosecution, Babu Lal picked up Kavita around midnight when she was sleeping with her parents at her home. The witnesses produced by the police before the Sessions court had stated that they heard Shakila and Babu Lal talking about arranging the 'ritual' in the evening. The child was allegedly burnt with acid and her body was later thrown in a nearby water tank.
The police, who had recovered most of the articles used in the ritual, alleged that Munir Bux and Iqbal had abetted in destroying evidence. The Government counsel pleaded the court that none of the accused should be let off for their involvement in such a heinous crime, a "rarest of the rare" offence committed by them. http://www.hindustantimes.com/nonfram/231000/detCIT05.asp
Defense interrogates Damon...
"... [14:35] where live... [14:36] lived there about 3 years [14:36] do u work? yes [14:36] monday thru friday [14:36] she has a part time job selling books (at least i think thats what he said) ..."
How many vehicles do the van Dams own?
Do they commonly use the garage for parking the vehicles, or is one parked in the garage while the other is in the driveway? OR do the both park in the driveway and use the garage as an additional room?
In the event that the van Dams have two vehicles, where was Damon's vehicle parked on the night of Feb. 1? Did it remain there for the entire night?
Brenda stated that she drove to Dad's. That would mean that the vehicle (s) that her girlfriends arrive in, was parked by the van Dam house. Where exactly was the vehicle (s) parked?
Brenda drove her and her girlfriends to and from Dad's. The two guy friends arrived in a seperate vehicle. Where did they park?
Were the "drag marks" that are suspected to be connected to Danielle's disappearance in the area of any of these vehicles?
About the number of cars in the drive way, unless DW stayed home and watched the girls arrive, he'd have no idea who was at the house. BvD testified he was at dad's when they got there.
The book selling or the child sacrifice ;^).
Seriously, Brenda gave her phone number to and probably danced with a man who had questionable images on his computer, a man who revealed to her he wanted to throw "adult parties" (don't tell me she didn't understand what he was talking about.).
Who can say if Brenda does not also associate with (either knowingly or unwares) with individuals who believe in the occult or even carry out occult rituals?
One can make the argument that the van Dams personal life should be respected and has no bearing on this case...that is the position THEY took...and look where it got them. In point of fact, if the evidence against Westerfield didn't assemble so easily, or if the case against him falls apart, the police will have to wade with their noses plugged into the ever widening circle of odd friends and acquantences of the van Dams.
[10:53] keith was interested in barbara [10:53] Come back to house and talk to her [10:53] Girls had to get their cars[...]
[10:53] she said u can come back to house and talk but thats all u can do [10:53] at VD house [10:53] got in truck, went to window, told them time to go, they came out, got intruck, left [10:53] they came outside .. got into truck [10:53] barb forgot cigarettes
[10:53],ade u turn [10:53] went back to get cigarettes [10:53] on Poway Rd, Barb said, forgot my cigs, uturn, back to Dad's, back to her house [10:53] Where guys? don't know [10:54] doesnt know where guys were [10:54] At springhurst and Poway, they were there [10:54] they were in front of them at a cross street [10:54] Told us about alchol and mj...how clear headed were you? [10:54] how clear headed were u .. after drinks and pot [10:54] I think I was very clear headdd [10:54] i think i was very clear headed [10:54] when did u start drinking... about 8:45 [10:54] When did you start? about 8:45 and quit 1:30 [10:54] quit at 1:30 [10:55] could ahve been earlier [10:55] could have been a little earler [10:55] able to drive ok? uyes [10:55] she pulled into driveway [10:55] what happended when pulled up?
[10:55] Keith and rich in front of them [10:55] keith and rich in keiths car [10:55] in front [10:55] got out, went to door, front door [10:55] they guys still getting out of car [10:55] opened with key, all went in [10:55] all went in to house... [10:55] Denise and Barb in first, Keith and Rich walking into house [10:55] see anyone in house? no [10:55] she didnt see anybody when she went inside [10:55] I looked upstairs and tv on in our bedroom [10:55] tv on in her bedroom [10:56] could see tv light from bedroom [10:56] master bedroom [10:56] she could tell by looking upstairs and seeing the light [10:56] saw blinking light on control panel on alarm [10:56] could see from corner of left eye there was blinking light on control panel [10:56] panel direct to left next to door itno garage [10:56] control panel directly on left... beside door to garage [10:56] eye level [10:56] several lights on panel [10:56] lights align with door or window in particular? [10:56] yes [10:57] if u know which light is on u know which door is open>? yes [10:57] One light activated? yes, means door or window open [10:57] no alarm [10:57] no alarm [10:57] Can have it monitored, but don't have one now [10:57] dont have a security co that monitors it [10:57] If house is secure, all lights are off? yes [10:57] what kind of alert? Beep beep beep when open [10:57] when u first open door u hear beep beep beep... [10:57] for a few seconds [10:57] not very loud [10:57] Continuous? No, just few seconds, not loud [10:57] how many monitors? two [10:57] 2 monitors in house [10:57] one by front door [10:58] where other? master bedroom [10:58] one by master bed room [10:58] What did you do? Told Denise, need to find open door [10:58] told denise door was open .. she needed to find it [10:58] first ran up to tell Damon Denise is here, come say hello
[10:58] did you find open door? yes, outside garage door [10:58] Door open for the smoke? yes [10:58] ajar or unlokc? ajar [10:58] Denise walked up and clsoed it [10:59] was it locked afer closed? don't know [10:59] what then? back inside, guys inside sititin in lv room
DW sneaks into garage and opens the door to the inside (locked from the garage side!) goes upstairs, if he confronts Damon he can say that he saw the side garage door was open and that Brenda and friends were doing fine at Dad's but he was going home. Damon was in the master bedroom; saw Danielle's room and sneaked in...hid in closet...
Wait - if he came in the side wouldn't he have shut the door?
If he had snuck out the sliding glass door wouldn't he have shut it?
I'm still having problems with this...
Doesn't smell right...
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