Until six months ago, David Westerfield hosted barbecues by his pool, fixed dinner in his remodeled kitchen and relaxed on white leather sofas in his four-bedroom house. Posted on 08/05/2002 8:59:13 AM PDT by FresnoDA
By Kristen Green
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 5, 2002
Until six months ago, David Westerfield hosted barbecues by his pool, fixed dinner in his remodeled kitchen and relaxed on white leather sofas in his four-bedroom house.
He ran a business from home, logging onto one of several computers. He took his plush motor home on trips to the desert, where his children and friends played on his numerous sand toys.
Today, his Sabre Springs home is on the market for $480,000 and his Toyota 4Runner, motor home and computers are in police custody. No matter what the verdict in his capital murder trial, life as David Westerfield knew it will never be the same.
After he was charged Feb. 22 with kidnapping and killing his 7-year-old neighbor Danielle van Dam, Westerfield was incarcerated in the 17-story County Jail in downtown San Diego. Because of security concerns, he was placed in isolation on the third floor, the building's medical unit.
His cell is equipped with the basics. A television is the only perk. The floors are cold, hard concrete. So are the beds. Three inches of mattress cushions his back at night.
The cell is painted white and furnished with a tiny, built-in desk, a urinal and a sink that doubles as a water fountain. On days when court isn't in session, Westerfield doesn't see much else.
"There's little opportunity for him to do anything other than watch TV or read," said Sheriff's Capt. Ken Culver, who runs the jail.
Westerfield has limited contact with anyone other than the guards. He can leave his cell, with an escort, to make phone calls, and he gets visitors several times a week.
During his incarceration, his attorneys and their staff members have met with him more than 50 times. He's had six sessions with a couple of psychologists.
He's allowed two 30-minute visits a week from friends and family. His sister stopped by 10 times, and his ex-wife and two children have visited at least a dozen times.
After visits, he returns to his cell, where he eats his meals, reads books, writes letters, watches television and sleeps.
Westerfield was moved into an isolation cell not as disciplinary action but because he was threatened. His first day in the facility, inmates drew pictures of him with a noose around his neck and screamed that they wanted him to die.
"Since then there have not been any issues with him," said Culver, who noted that Westerfield is respectful toward deputies.
Culver said it's unlikely that other prisoners know where Westerfield is. He showers alone and occasionally is allowed access to a gymnasium, also alone. He hasn't been outdoors since he was booked.
His life is not only restricted to his cell, it is tightly monitored. Deputies and video cameras record his every move.
Inmates are awakened at 4 in the morning, and breakfast is served within a half-hour so those with scheduled court appearances can be transported to courthouses.
Lunch arrives between 9:45 and 10 a.m. and dinner usually is at 4 p.m. The lights are out by 10.
Meals are produced en masse in an Otay Mesa facility and delivered to the Front Street jail. The meals, which range from fried chicken to casseroles, are reheated on individual trays in a big oven, the way airline flight attendants heat in-flight meals.
Westerfield's meals are delivered to his cell, while most inmates eat with others in central dining areas.
On court days, he changes into a suit, which sometimes has been dry-cleaned overnight.
Beneath his jacket, he puts on a metal waist-belt that has chains that cuff his arms. Then he is escorted from his cell to a pedestrian bridge that stretches from the County Jail through the old jail next to the downtown courthouse, and then to the courthouse.
During the trial, his restraints are unhooked. Westerfield sits at the defense table in a suit and tie, laughing occasionally at the judge's jokes and smiling or waving at friends who testify.
At lunchtime, when his attorneys, the jury and court staff head off to lunch, he's locked in a holding cell behind the courtroom and handed a jail-packed sack lunch. It's typically a peanut butter or bologna sandwich, an apple or orange and a drink.
After the court proceedings, deputies lead him back through the crosswalk to the jail.
When he gets there, he changes out of his suit and back into his blue jail uniform. Then he's led to the sparse, white cell that, for now, is home.
As the David Westerfield trial moves towards its conclusion this week, San Diegans have had the best chance to follow the court case through streaming video available on Web sites maintained by NBC 7/39, KFMB/Channel 8 and KGTV/Channel 10.
While news stations have stumbled as they experimented with what works on their Web sites, staffers from the three network Web sites say streaming video is among the strongest benefits to viewers.
"People come to us when the big news happens," said Jennifer Brady, managing editor of The San Diego Channel.com, the Web site for KGTV. "But the David Westerfield trial really put us on the map."
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Brady said KGTV Web users often check the site during lunch breaks or may log on to the site during the day at work. Web browsers can watch the Westerfield trial live on the NBC 7/39 and KGTV sites; KFMB offers recorded trial coverage.
Besides the Westerfield trial, all three Web sites offer video of previously aired reports. (The FeedRoom Video on the NBC 7/39 site is particularly useful.)
While television stations might have been leery of the Internet at first, it has proven to be a beneficial partnership.
"The fear was that (the Internet) would cannibalize television," said Phyllis Schwartz, president and general manager of NBC 7/39. "But in the last year or so, research has show that there might have been some nibbling in the beginning, but people on the Web also watch TV."
Schwartz agrees that streaming video "made a big difference," but it's the interaction of TV viewers with the station's Web site that impresses Schwartz. All three sites use interactive polls to gauge viewers' opinions, and the results are broadcast on the air. The Web sites also offer more in-depth coverage of stories and information given during a broadcast.
All three sites also offer community information. Schwartz mentioned the "San Diego Art + Sol" listing of arts and community events on NBC 7/39's Web site. KGTV offers community events through its "10 Leadership" campaign, while KFMB offers such programs as "Buddies for Life," which focuses on preventing and surviving breast cancer.
"We have ways to drive people to the Web," Schwartz said. "It wasn't a separate thing, but the converging of the two. We can refer people to more in-depth information than can be done in a 30-minute broadcast."
Promotion is a third benefit to the station, Schwartz said. Teaser headlines for upcoming broadcasts can turn a Web reader into a TV viewer that night. Also, special events (station community events or auditions for network game shows) can be published on the station's Web sites.
One of the newest ways for viewers to interact with the stations are e-mailed news alerts. Internet Broadcasting Services (IBS) is a separate software company that assists about five dozen television stations across the country with Web site development and content. Its software allows Web users to receive e-mailed alerts for breaking news, or the headlines at a specific time each day. Both KGTV and NBC 7/39 work with IBS and offer the e-mail service.
While KFMB does not offer e-mailed news alerts, its visitors can sign up for e-mail notices on volunteer opportunities in the community.
Local news stations are figuring out how to divide divides their reporting resources between television and Web as they gain more experience. A 24-hour news channel such as CNN can broadcast coverage of breaking stories, but local news stations are constrained by national daytime broadcasting and the money it costs to send a camera crew to a location.
If a station always puts breaking news on its Web site, doesn't it run the risk of harming its TV broadcast? Each of the three stations profiled are determining their own rules for situations like this.
"We're still in the middle of deciding if we use our resources to put it on the Web, or send a field reporter to the site," Schwartz said.
In the event of a brush fire, for instance, Schwartz said she still must consider if it's worth spending limited resources to set up a field camera to provide hours of streaming video to the Web site.
Brady and her co-worker are an independent assignment desk, separate in some cases from the television assignment desk.
"We focus on getting it up as fast, or faster, than on TV," Brady said. "If we need to, we'll make our own calls" to report on a story for the Web. She added, some reports exclusive to KGTV ---- investigate stories, "Troubleshooter" and "Staying Healthy" reports ---- are all broadcast before they're published on the Web.
For KFMB, where stories always appear on air before they're posted on the Web, Webmaster Loren Kling said, "We will post it simultaneous with the broadcast, or right afterwards." However, the site offers a "crawl" of local headlines that can be updated easily.
In general, Web staffs work in, or next to, the station's newsroom and rewrite the broadcast stories for the Web.
"It became a simple process in the newsroom to modify a story and send it out," Schwartz said.
Here are the Web addresses: NBC 7/39 (www.nbcsandiego.com), KGTV www.thesandiegochannel.com) and KFMB (www.kfmb.com).
http://www.lectlaw.com/files/cas62.htm
Of particular interest to me was the reasonable doubt detail, comments on circumstantial evidence and how to evaluate expert witnesses.
"Both direct evidence and circumstantial evidence are acceptable as a means of proof. Neither is entitled to any greater weight than the other. However, a finding of guilt as to any crime, may not be based on circumstantial evidence unless the proof circumstances are not only one, consistent with the theory that the defendant is guilty of the crime, but two, cannot be reconciled with any other rational conclusion. Further, each fact which is essential to complete a set of circumstances necessary to establish the defendant's guilt, must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. In other words, before an inference essential to establish guilt may be found to have been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, each fact or circumstance upon which such inference necessarily rests, must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Also, if the circumstantial evidence as to any particular count is susceptible of two reasonable interpretations, one of which points to the defendant's guilt, and the other to his innocence, you must adopt that interpretation which points to the defendant's innocence and reject that interpretation which points to his guilt. If, on the other hand, one interpretation of such evidence appears to you to be reasonable, and the other interpretation to be unreasonable, you must accept the reasonable interpretation and reject the unreasonable."
"In examining an expert witness, counsel may propound to him or her a type of question known in the law as a hypothetical question. By such a question, the witness is asked to assume to be true a set of facts and to give an opinion based upon that assumption. In permitting such a question, the Court does not rule and does not necessarily find that all the assumed facts have been proved. The Court only determines that those assumed facts are within the probable or possible range of the evidence. It is for you, the jury, to find from all the evidence whether or not the facts assumed in a hypothetical question have been proved. If you should find that any assumption in such question has not been proved, you are to determine the effect of that failure on the proof Excuse me. You are to determine the effect of that failure of proof on the value and weight of the expert opinion based on the assumed facts. In resolving any conflict that may exist in the testimony of expert witnesses, you should weigh the opinion of one expert against that of another. In doing this, you should consider the relative qualifications and credibility of the expert witnesses as well as the reasons for each opinion and the facts and other matters upon which it was based. In determining the weight to be given the opinion expressed by any witness who did not testify as an expert witness, you should consider his or her credibility, the extent of his or her opportunity to perceive the matters upon which his or her opinion is based and the reasons, if any, given for it. You are not required to accept such opinion but should give to it the weight, if any, to which you find it to be entitled."
| The Trial of David Westerfield for the Abduction and Murder of Danielle van Dam |
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 Danielle's photo distributed by family
case in the Crime Forum, here This was About/Crime's This poll was rebooted David Westerfield: Judge William Mudd Jeff Dusek: Steven Feldman:  Elizabeth's photo distributed by family Elizabeth Smart: Salt Lake City  Rachel's photo distributed by family Rachel Cooke: Disappeared while jogging January 10, 2002,  Jahi's photo distributed by family Jahi Turner: San Diego  Mikelle's photo distributed by family Mikelle Biggs: Missing since Sabrina Aisenberg: Missing since November 24, 1997 Missing Children and Adults: Missing Children: An updated Child Watch of North America The Other Missing Kids: What Whose Kid is Important? Protecting Your Child From Abduction: including a section A Look at Other Recent Why the Murder Charge We've also got special Michael Skakel/ |
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Information and updates about the search for Danielle van Dam
(February 2 through February 28, 2002) are here
Information and updates about the weeks leading up to David Westerfield's trial
(February 28 through May 30, 2002) are here
Background:
Update: August 1
The defense, beginning their "counter-rebuttal", brought in another forensic entomologist, who backed up the testimony of the other defense entomologists. This article explains in detail how he arrived at his conclusions, and sums up what the San Diego Union-Tribune calls "The Battle of the Bug Experts".
The judge and lawyers will discuss jury instructions tomorrow, and the trial itself will resume Tuesday (August 6)
Follow-up:
The Union-Tribune discusses the obvious: The David Westerfield jury has heard a great deal more about insects than they have any patience for.
Update: July 30
The prosecution's final rebuttal witness was a forensic entomologist who testified -- for what it's worth -- that Danielle's body was been left outside anywhere between February 1 and February 12. Danielle was reported missing on February 2 and Westerfield was under police surveillance from February 5. Essentially, this prosecution witness said that the prosecution's contention (that Westerfield disposed of Danielle's body between February 2 and February 5) could be correct, but the defense's contention (that the body was left by somebody else after February 5) could also be correct. Why the prosecution chose to conclude its case with expert testimony that increased "reasonable doubt" is a bit of a mystery.
Some clarification of sorts: The prosecution entomologist also pointed out that the defense entomologist had errors in his data -- but a previous prosecution witness had already contradicted the defense entomologist's conclusions, so the net result of this final witness has to be a boost to the defense's reasonable doubt argument.
Update: July 29
"The only way the girl gets into the possession of Mr. Westerfield is by kidnapping" -Judge William Mudd
Judge Mudd denied a defense request that the jury be given the option of finding David Westerfield guilty of murder but not of kidnapping.
Why on Earth would they even make such an odd request?
Well, it could be a matter of life or death: This article doesn't explain it, but California law only allows for the death penalty under special circumstances. In the Yosemite Park murders, Cary Stayner faces the death penalty because he kidnapped his victims. In Bonnie Lee Bakley's murder, Robert Blake could have faced the death penalty because he'd been "lying in wait". The kidnapping and sexual abuse charges would "qualify" Westerfield.
Proving sexual abuse to the certainty that a jury would sentence Westerfield to death is nearly impossible with a decomposed body. If the defense pretty much concedes that Westerfield committed the murder, but Danielle had sleepwalked out of the house (she appears to have had a history of sleepwalking), Westerfield could escape Death Row.
Update: July 29
No testimony today in David Westerfield's trial, as the judge and attorneys discuss jury instructions and closing arguments.
Update: July 25
The prosecution brought in, as a rebuttal witness, a forensic anthropologist who contradicted the testimony of a defense entomologist who'd testified that Danielle's body was probably left in the desert after February 12 (which would clear Westerfield, since he'd been under constant surveillance since February 5). The above-linked article is probably as graphic as it needs to be.
After all rebuttal testimony is complete, the defense will have an opportunity to present counter-rebuttal.
Update: July 24
The defense rests its case -- without Westerfield ever testifying -- and the prosecution begins its rebuttal case with Westerfield's son, who denies his father's suggestion he was responsible for the pornography on his father's computer
Update: July 23
No testimony today: Instead, a hearing was held to discuss witnesses the prosecution intends to call when its rebuttal case begins later this week.
Update: July 22
As David Westerfield's trial resumed today, the judge instructed the jurors to "ignore" the Samantha Runnion case
Update: July 12
According to a just-released police affidavit, Westerfield told police, while the search for Danielle was ongoing, that the desert would be "a great place to dump a body".
Also: Denise Kemal, the flight attendant who testified that she'd smoked marijuana with Damon and Brenda van Dam, was fired once her airline learned she'd violated their strict anti-drug policy
Update: July 11
Judge Mudd has granted a petition by Damon van Dam to be allowed back into the courtroom when the trial resumes July 22 after a one-week recess (for Judge Mudd's family vacation)
Update: July 10
An entomologist testified that, based on the insect activity on Danielle's body (click the article for more graphic details), it had probably been left in the desert 10 to 12 days before being found (meaning somebody other than David Westerfield must have left her body there) -- but he stressed this was only an estimate, because insect activity was unusually low in February, so this period of time should be thought of as a minimum.
Update: July 9
Two defense witnesses testify, in effect, that it wouldn't have been impossible for neighborhood children such as Danielle to have entered Westerfield's motor home by themselves.
Update: A forensic scientist working for the San Diego PD was recalled by the prosecution today after having completed a comparison between fibers found in David Westerfield's motorhome and fibers found in the blanket used to wrap Danielle's body. They matched.
More details about the fiber testimony
Update: July 8
"She was rubbing herself all over him" -Patricia LaPage, defense witness
Two witnesses testify that Brenda van Dam had been "dirty dancing" with David Westerfield hours before Danielle disappeared.
Update: July 8
This week, the defense is expected to bring in a forensic entomologist to testify that Danielle's body had been out in the open for too short a time for Westerfield to have been responsible (Danielle disappeared February 2; Westerfield was under constant police surveillance as of February 4)
Update: July 3
The defense introduces evidence to suggest the child pornography might actually have belonged to Westerfield's son
Update: Two defense witnesses testify about Brenda van Dam's sexual lifestyle, and contradict her claim that she avoided David Westerfield (Brenda had said she'd found him "creepy")
Update: July 1
Closed-door hearings today, as the lawyers and judge discussed a number of issues, including whether the prosecution can call one more witness.
Defense attorney Steven Feldman has said that if the prosecution doesn't call a forensic entomologist -- a specialist in determining facts about a crime scene based on the interaction of insects -- the defense will. He contends that Danielle was killed after police had placed Westerfield under round-the-clock surveillance.
It should be remembered that the defense chose to push for an early trial and not to ask for a change of venue, reasoning that the backlash against the van Dams would work in their favor.
That being said, this is the sort of publicity that led to Sam Sheppard's conviction (for the 1954 murder of his wife that -- in part -- inspired television's The Fugitive) to be overturned.
The judge also ruled that Westerfield's bestiality photos would not be admitted into evidence, though the jury was not ordered to disregard having heard about them.
Update: June 26Update: June 24
Testimony: Hair similar to Danielle's was found in Westerfield's bed. The prosecution has not yet established whether DNA testing has confirmed that it's Danielle's.
Update: June 20
A criminalist testified that three spots on the jacket David Westerfield took to the cleaners shortly after Danielle's disappearance were indeed blood. The prosecution did not ask him whether the blood had been determined to have been Danielle's. He also testified having found blood on a beanbag, though the blood wasn't human (the significance of this might become apparent sometime in the future). He also described finding hair and fibers on a comforter Westerfield brought to the cleaners, a pair of Westerfield's boxer shorts, and a blanket found in Danielle's room.
More: A DNA expert discussing bloodstains on David Westerfield's jacket and on the carpet of his motor home estimated the odds that they weren't Danielle's as 1-in-130,000,000,000,000,000 and 1-in-670,000,000,000,000,000 (those are quadrillions).
Update: June 19
Evidence gathered from Westerfield's home and exhibited today included laundry, videotapes and lubricant
Update: A forensics expert testified that he's absolutely certain" that fingerprints found in Westerfield's motor home are those of Danielle van Dam
Update: June 18
The prosecution produced a shopping list written by David Westerfield, on which he'd written "bleach". Investigators had smelled bleach in Westerfield's garage and motorhome, and the prosecution is suggesting that Westerfield had used the bleach to destroy evidence. They offer no explanation of what Westerfield might have used the Mountain Dew, Pepsi, rum, dryer sheets, eggs and mouthwash for.
Update: Short, dark hairs, which could have been Westerfield's, were found on Danielle's body. A forensics specialist testified she found "possible blood stains" at various places in Westerfield's house.
Update: June 17
Physical evidence was discussed in David Westerfield's trial today: The prosecution offered testimony about clothing and bedding Westerfield brought in to be dry cleaned two days after Danielle disappeared, but the employees he dealt with -- who described Westerfield as seeming "tired" and "distant", conceded under cross-examination that they'd seen no trace of blood on the items. There was also testimony about how much Westerfield spent on gas over 3 days (about $164), and where he did and didn't drive.
Update: June 13
Testimony from three park rangers about the day after Danielle disappeared:
Update: June 12
Today, the jury heard a tape of a police interview of Westerfield, in which he described his trip the morning after Danielle disappeared and, at one point, said "this little place we were at" [italics mine], rather than "this little place I was at". The evidentiary value of this slip is questionable, but the prosecution thought it worth presenting.
Update: June 11
The Garden Hose:
San Diego police detective Johnny Keene testified about speaking with Westerfield after Danielle's disappearance and just before Westerfield left the area in his motor home. Keene noticed that, although the rest of the Westerfield home was immaculate, the garden hose was unrolled and strewn across the property. In his opening argument, lead prosecutor Jeff Dusek had pointed to this as a sign that Westerfield felt he'd had to leave in a hurry.
More of Keene's observations about Westerfield: "I noticed that he was sweating profusely from under his arms" and Westerfield was "overly cooperative".
Update: June 10
"He was very quiet and weird. He was creepy. He didn't say anything at all" -Denise Kemel, referring to David Westerfield on the night of February 1
Brenda van Dam's friends describe Brenda's "girl's night out", the night Danielle disappeared. The defense stresses the fact that one of the friends and her husband had had sexual relations with Damon and Brenda.
Kemel testified that the following day, after Danielle's disappearance, she spoke to David Westerfield and he mentioned having left the club at 9pm -- but she'd seen him there around 10pm.
Update: June 7
No testimony today. This article recaps what Brenda said yesterday.
Update: June 6
Brenda van Dam, Danielle's mother, testified about her encounters with David Westerfield, including walking away from him once at a local bar. The county medical examiner testified that Danielle had been dead for at least 10 days and -- as this article states -- "potentially up to six weeks" (an odd comment for anybody to make, since Danielle had been missing for 3 1/2 weeks before her body was found). He also conceded that, although evidence clearly indicated a homicide, there was no way to positively determine the manner of death or whether Danielle had been sexually assaulted.
And, of course, Brenda answered some explicit questions about her own sex life
More: The jury listened to the 9-1-1 tape.
Update: June 5
Damon van Dam, Danielle's father, testified that he barely knew David Westerfield, and they'd never been in one anther's houses (for what it's worth, there are reports that Brenda van Dam, Danielle's mother, was dancing with Westerfield the night Danielle was abducted)
More: Damon admitted he'd withheld information about that night from the police: specifically, that he'd been smoking marijuana at home and had been "snuggling in bed" with one of his wife's friends (apparently they weren't actually having sexual relations that night, though they had in the past)
Opening Arguments: June 4
The prosecution discussed the physical evidence (Danielle's hair found in Westerfield's sink, fiber similarities that were not fully explained in the opening statement), while the defense stressed the van Dams' lifestyle and pointed out that all manner of people were in and out of their home on a regular basis.
The prosecution then called a neighbor who described the search for Danielle, and two volunteers who found her body.
Update: June 3
The prosecutor revealed why hair found in Westerfield's sink is significant: DNA analysis showed that it belonged to either Brenda van Dam or one of her three children, but Brenda dyed her hair and her sons' hair was too short. Westerfield suggested that Danielle could have wandered into his home at any time, which could explain why her hair and drops of blood were found there -- but Danielle had gotten a haircut just days before her disappearance, and the hair found was consistent with the length of her hair after it was cut, severely narrowing the period of time the "wandering" could have occurred.
by
Miroslava Flores
La Voz de Aztlan
Los Angeles, Alta California - 6/7/2002 - (ACN) What would be the worst nightmare for a child or for parents of young children in America? Having a stranger come at night into the bedroom of your baby daughter and snatching her away, never to see her alive again, would certainly rank as one of the worst. Two such cases have occurred in America this year alone. All of us are also familiar with the Polly Klass case in 1992 and of what happened to 6 year old JonBenét Ramsey one Christmas night in 1996. What will a multi-billion dollar USA "Homeland Security" cabinet level department do for the security of children? Not much I think! Children in America will be increasingly taking it "on the chin" because it seems that the real enemy is not from without, but from within. Who is this enemy?
Aside from the thousands of child abductions, murders and rapes each year in America, the one currently in the news in San Diego, California, exemplifies best who this enemy really is. This is the case of 7 year old Danielle van Dam who was "supposedly" snatched from her upstairs bedroom on the night of February 1 while her parents were having a drug crazed orgy downstairs with two men and two women the mother had brought back home from a local bar at 2:00 in the morning. One of the men the mom brought home from the bar is a drug dealer, according to ongoing court testimony. The body of little Danielle was found dumped besides a road not far from the home on February 28. The body was badly decomposed and an initial report said that it had been "burned", a practice common in Satanic rituals. Also, four of her front teeth were missing, another Satanic practice in the performance of "fellatio" by a young child.
The police did not arrest or charge any of the persons who participated in sex-drug parties at the van Dam's but a neighbor who lives two houses down by the name of David Westerfield. The trial is presently underway in the downtown San Diego Superior Court. David Westerfield has pleaded not guilty and is literally fighting for his life because a conviction can mean the death penalty.
The trial began on Monday and already the testimonies of mom and dad, Damon and Brenda Van Dam, have said volumes of who the enemy in America really is. Damon van Dam, the father of the child victim, admitted Wednesday that he initially lied to police officers about what went on at the family's home the night his daughter disappeared – and that he had previously had sex with two of the women who were there.
Damon van Dam testified that he didn't tell investigators that he had taken drugs with the women and his wife prior to all three women leaving for the bar to pick up men. He testified that he previously had sex with the two women and that he was in bed with one of them, Barbara Easton, hours before Danielle was discovered missing.
"You lied to the police, isn't that true?" van Dam was asked by Steven Feldman, the lead defense attorney for suspect David Westerfield.
"Up to the point they told me the gravity of the situation, yes," van Dam said.
Steven Feldman, Westerfield's defense attorney, stated in his opening statement Tuesday that someone else known to the van Dams could have kidnapped Danielle – someone who'd previously become familiar with the layout of their house and the location of Danielle's bedroom and who'd become friendly with the family dog that did not bark at all during the night Danielle was "supposedly" abducted.
Steven Feldman questioned Damon and Brenda van Dam Wednesday about failing to tell police about just how intimate he and his wife had been with Barbara Easton, Denise Kemal, Rich Brady and another man who had come home with Brenda after partying at a nearby bar that Friday night till 2:00 in the morning. Damon van Dam admitted to having previously had sex with Easton "in the presence of his wife" and with Kemal at the van Dam residence in the presence of Brenda – and Kemal's husband. Westerfield's attorneys have argued that the van Dams were irresponsible parents and that their daughter could have been killed by any number of people the couple attracted into their perverted lives.
A day after Steven Feldman questioned Damon van Dam about the couple's sexual and drug habits, he did the same with Brenda van Dam, asking whether she had sex with her friends Barbara Easton and Denise Kemal and their husbands. She acknowledged that she had. She later admitted that she and her husband had sex with Kemal and Kemal's husband, Andy, during a Halloween Ghouls' Party in October of 2000 at their home while the children were asleep upstairs. Having orgies on the night of Holloween is another Satanic practice.
What is the connection to David Westerfield in all of this? According to Brenda van Dam, Westerfield was a neighbor she sometimes waved to in the street. A year ago she and Danielle went to his house and sold him "Girl Scout" cookies. She had virtually no contact with him again until Jan. 25, when she ran into him at the bar where she was with Easton and Kemal, her two sexmates. The trio had taken drugs that night before heading to the bar, where they happened to spot Westerfield, who bought them a round of drinks. They had little more contact with him before leaving that night.
The following Tuesday, Brenda van Dam, her daughter and 5-year-old son went to Westerfield's house selling Girl Scout cookies "again". He invited them in, and she asked to see his remodeled kitchen. While her son and daughter went to his back yard to look at the pool and wandered around the property, Westerfield, who is a divorcee asked her whether she would be willing to introduce him to her female friends. She said she might be going to the bar that Friday night but would need to get a baby sitter because her husband was planning a trip away from home. This is also when, Steven Feldman argues, Danielle may have left some of her hairs on Westerfield's property the prosecution is using as evidence.
By Friday night, the night of the abduction, Damon van Dam had canceled his trip and planned to stay home with the couple's three children while Brenda went out with her two sexmates.
Easton and Kemal arrived at the van Dam's home in the early evening, and the three had drugs in the garage. They also drank alcohol, according to their testimony. At 8:30 p.m. the three women headed off to the bar in nearby town of Poway , where they once again ran into David Westerfield, who again bought them drinks.
The three women later ran into two male acquaintances with names of Rich and Keith. The five played pool and danced all night, leaving the bar at one point to smoke marijuana in Brenda van Dam's sport-utility vehicle. By closing time at 2:00 in the morning, Brenda van Dam said she had consumed four alcoholic beverages – three vodkas with cranberry juice and a shot of tequila. One of the men, who is a drug dealer said he had some "special pills'" (perhaps Ecstasy) and wanted to "hook up" with Barbara Easton, according to the mom, Brenda Van Dam.
The three women headed back to the van Dam's house with the two men they picked up at the bar. The five entered the house about 2:15 a.m. Barbara Easton went upstairs at one point and got in bed with Damon van Dam. Eventually they joined the others downstairs to commence their drug crazed party while, according to mom and dad, little Danielle was safe and sound in her upstairs bedroom.
At about 2:40 a.m., the two women and two men left and the couple went to bed. In testimony, Damon van Dam said he awoke an hour or so later, saw a flashing alarm light and discovered a sliding glass door open downstairs. He said he closed it and went back to sleep. The next morning, Danielle never came down for breakfast. Her mother went upstairs and discovered that the door to Danielle's room was open and the bed was empty.
In court, Steven Feldman, Westerfield's defense attorney, stated that the three women were dancing so provocatively at the bar that night and the previous week that strange men began gravitating toward them. Brenda Van Dam admitted telling her friends on the night of Jan. 25, "You guys, you're probably making everybody in this place excited. . . . You probably realize that every man in this bar is probably paying attention to you." A witness testified that he saw Barbara Easton fondled Brenda van Dam's breasts while they were dancing.
So who really is the enemy that is more threatening to children and the future of America than any terrorist attack from the outside? Can so call "Homeland Security" protect our children and the rest of us from this enemy from within. Allow me to point in the direction of the real enemy.
If you listen to the mainstream media concerning the Danielle van Dam case, you will definitely get an idea as who the enemy might be. The mainstream media is depicting Brenda van Dam as a "Soccer Mom" who cared so much for her little girl that she would help her sell "Girl Scouts" cookies in the neighborhood. Perhaps the mainstream media is doing it because, like Cardinal Roger Mahoney in dealing with the homosexual pedophile attacks on altar boys, the van Dam's hired a PR firm. Money and greed is certainly only part of the larger complex that points to the real enemy.
This morning through the Michael Eisner KABC 790 AM radio station in Los Angeles, radio talk host Gloria Allred said that Brenda van Dam was a good mother and that her lifestyle had nothing to do with the murder of her daughter. This is very disturbing because it appears that she actually believes it. Gloria Allred is also a big time supporter of the homosexual lifestyle and participates in West Hollywood's annual "Gay Pride" parades. She was joyous that Jerusalem, Israel will be hosting its very first "Gay Pride Parade" and has defended the play Corpus Cristus" by Jewish playwright Terrence McNally in which he portrays Jesus as the "King of Queers" who has sex with the disciples . No she is not a lesbian, as far as she has admitted, but she is Jewish. The Jewish dominated mainstream media has contributed immensely to the corruption of America's morals that culminate eventually in the horrendous crimes against children. We are all familiar with the perverted antics of Jewish "shock jockey" Howard Stern and the "moral sewer" that flows daily through your living room through the Jerry Springer Show. Jerry Springer is of course another Jew that cares not how many children he may corrupt through his programming. The mainstream and influential media, however, is also just part of the larger complex that points to the real enemy.
The real enemy can be sensed by watching the faces on video of Damon and Brenda van Dam when asked point blank about their drug use and sex orgies at home with people they pick up at bars. They answered as if nothing is wrong with it. "So what . . . doesn't everyone do it?", is what seemed to go through their minds. Here is the crux of the American problem and something that a multi-billion "Homeland Security" cabinet level department can never save us from. The USA has lost its moral bearings and may be headed towards the same fate as that of the ancient Roman Empire. There are now signs of deep spiritual and moral decay. The signs are Enron type corporate greed, Catholic Church homosexual pedophilia, LAPD and New York police corruption, high level politicians on the take, complicity in the drug trade of high level government officials, the Bill Clinton Lewinsky and Pardongate scandals, and the murderous foreign policies against the Palestinians among others. These are but a few examples that are taking America to the brink of disaster.
America's moral and spiritual decay is unfortunately having the worst effects on the most innocent and vulnerable, the children. Just this week, three extremely disturbing cases are making the news. The first is the Danielle van Dam case which we described above. The second is the abduction from her bedroom of 14 year old Elizabeth Smart of Salt Lake City. Elizabeth Smart vanished Wednesday around 2:00 A.M. when a man with a gun entered her bedroom and took her away, according to her younger sister who was in the same bedroom. The police are baffled and no trace of Elizabeth has been found in three days. After this length of time, the probabilities is that she is dead. The Elizabeth Smart case as well as the Danielle van Dam case and the third described below, all occurred in upscale homes. Elizabeth's home is on the market for $1.9 million and the Holmby mansion decribed below is worth no less than $3 million.
The third recent case occurred just this past Sunday in a Holmby Hills mansion in the Los Angeles area. A 7 year old boy disappeared from a swimming pool birthday party. Paolo Ayala had been invited by his well to do classmate from Rodeo Elementary in Beverly Hills . Paolo's humble parents who live in a one bedroom apartment dropped little Paolo Ayala early in the afternoon at the mansion where ten adults were supervising. When the parents returned at 5:00 P.M, they could not locate Paolo. The LAPD was called in and close to one hundred police officers started conducting a through search on foot, with helicopters and with canine units.
Police officers as well as detectives did a thorough search of the mansion, the swimming pool and surrounding areas on Sunday and all day Monday. Early Tuesday morning, a swimming pool maintenance company came by to clean the swimming pool. At around 8:30 A.M. the housekeeper found the body of little Paolo Ayala at the bottom of the pool. She screamed and called 911.
"At this time it appears that at some time during the evening or early morning hours somebody placed that body in the swimming pool," Deputy Chief David Kalish said. "There is no way that boy's body was there yesterday." "This swimming pool was searched obviously throughout the day yesterday and through the night last night," Kalish said. Police left the home about 10 p.m. Monday.
On Wednesday, however, the death of little Paolo Ayala was declared an accidental drowning and a theory about some kind of optical illusion is being disseminated by the mainstream media. They are saying that the detectives, policeman, firemen and countless adults were fooled by some kind of milky substance at the bottom of the pool that hid the body from view. The deepest part of the pool is only 9 feet deep and many swear they could clearly see all the way to the bottom of the "sky blue" colored pool. It looks like in America, money has more worth than the life of a 7 year old boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Did the owners of the mansion hire a PR firm as well?
Yesterday, the entire nation heard the words of President Bush concerning the establishment of a US Department of Homeland Security. Will "USDHS" also be securing children? Will it be securing all the children who are being murdered or raped by priests, neighbors, friends, and yes even their own parents?
Agreed; just check out the Mormon threads, which seem to get pulled shortly after its apologists get painted into a corner with their own words and then start making pewrsonal attacks in order to get the threads pulled and thereby hide the real truth about Mormonism.
Watkins testimony, July 24:
Q DID YOU AT ANY TIME EXAMINE THAT SAME COMPUTER IN THE OFFICE, THE ONE CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET, TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THERE WERE ANY VIDEOS LABELED WITH THE TERM ATTACK ACTUALLY IN THE MEMORY; THAT IS, THE HARD DRIVE OF THAT COMPUTER?
A YES
...
BY MR. CLARKE:Q WAS IT ONE OR MORE VIDEO FILES?
A THERE WERE NUMEROUS VIDEO FILES IN THAT FOLDER THAT BEGAN WITH THE WORD ATTACK.
Q ALL RIGHT.WERE THESE THE SAME FILES OR DIFFERENT FILES FROM THOSE THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY SHOWN THE JURY DURING YOUR TESTIMONY THAT WERE LABELED WITH THE TERM ATTACK?
A THEY WERE THE SAME FILES.
Q CAN YOU DESCRIBE FOR US WHERE THEY WERE LOCATED IN THIS DIRECTORY STRUCTURE ON THAT OFFICE COMPUTER.
A THEY WERE LOCATED IN A -- THE MAIN FOLDER WAS MY DOCUMENTS. THEN THERE WAS A SUBFOLDER SPECTRUM FILES. AND THEN A SUBFOLDER BELOW THAT WHICH WAS STUFF FOR FILES.
Q OKAY.SO WE HAVE MY DOCUMENTS, THAT WAS ONE OF THE SUBDIRECTORIES.
A THAT IS ONE OF THE DIRECTORIES.
Q IS THAT A DIRECTORY THAT'S COMMONLY FOUND ON COMPUTERS THAT USE THE WINDOWS OPERATING SYSTEM?
A YES, SIR, IT IS.
Q NOW, I BELIEVE YOU SAID THERE WAS A SUBDIRECTORY UNDER MY DOCUMENTS ENTITLED, I'M SORRY, SPECTRUM FILES?
A YES, SIR.
Q WHAT TYPES OF FILES OR FOLDERS DID YOU FIND UNDER SPECTRUM FILES?
A THEY APPEARED TO BE DIFFERENT FOLDERS AND FILES THAT CONTAINED WORK-TYPE FILES, SPREAD SHEETS, LETTERS, CORRESPONDENCE, THAT SORT OF THING.
Q DID THEY APPEAR TO BE FILES CONSISTENT WITH OR CONNECTED WITH THE DEFENDANT'S BUSINESS, SPECTRUM DESIGN?
A YES, SIR.
Q THEN I BELIEVE YOU SAID THERE WAS ANOTHER SUBDIRECTORY UNDER SPECTRUM FILES CALLED STUFF FOR FILE?
A YES, SIR.
Q WHAT DID YOU FIND WITHIN THAT SUBDIRECTORY?
A WELL, I FOUND THERE WERE SEVERAL DELETED FILES THAT I WAS ABLE TO RECOVER THAT WERE THE ATTACK VIDEOS.
Q COULD YOU DETERMINE WHEN THOSE VIDEOS WERE PLACED ON THAT COMPUTER; THAT IS, THOSE VIDEO FILES, THE ATTACK VIDEOS?
A THE DATES THEY WERE RECOVERED INDICATED THAT THOSE VIDEOS WERE PLACED ON THE COMPUTER ON AUGUST 30TH OF 2001.
...
Q IS THERE A WAY TO DETERMINE WHAT FILES OR MOVIES, LET'S USE THE EXAMPLE OF MOVIES, HAVE BEEN VIEWED ON A WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER?
A YES, THERE IS.
Q TELL US ABOUT THAT.
...
Q NOW, WHAT DOES THAT PARTICULAR EXHIBIT TELL YOU; WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT EXHIBIT IN TERMS OF WHICH, IF ANY, FILES WERE ACTUALLY VIEWED USING WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER?
A ALL OF THE FILES THAT WERE LISTED WERE FILES THAT WERE VIEWED ON THE WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER. AND IN SOME CASES YOU CAN TELL THAT SOME OF THE FILES WERE VIEWED SEVERAL TIMES.
Q ALL RIGHT.CAN YOU TELL US ANYTHING ABOUT WHEN THEY WERE VIEWED?
A ON THIS PARTICULAR SCREEN, NO, I CAN'T. BUT WHEN I EXAMINED THE FILES, WHEN I EXAMINED THE FILES AND EXAMINED IT AT THE LAST ACCESS DATE, I SAW THERE WAS A LAST ACCESS DATE, ACCESS DATE, EXCUSE ME, OF NOVEMBER 18TH OF 2001.
Q CAN YOU TELL US WHAT -- AND WE HAVE USED THE TERM GENERICALLY ATTACK VIDEO FILES. DO THEY ACTUALLY HAVE DIFFERENT LABELS ACCORDING TO THE NAME OF THE FILE?
A YES, SIR, THEY DO.
Q CAN YOU TELL US WHAT, WHICH FILES THEY WERE, FIRST OF ALL, THEN EVEN HOW MANY TIMES VIEWED?
A THERE IS ATTACK 01, BABY 010, ASS RAPE 1, ATTACK 02, ATTACK 03, ATTACK 04, ATTACK 05, ATTACK 06, ATTACK 07, ATTACK 08, ATTACK 09, ATTACK 010.
Q AS FAR AS THE NUMBER OF TIMES VIEWED, WITHOUT GIVING THE NUMBER OF TIMES FOR EACH ONE, IS THERE A RANGE BETWEEN THE NUMBER OF TIMES, FOR INSTANCE, ONE OF THE ATTACK VIDEOS WAS VIEWED VERSUS ANOTHER?
A YES, SIR.
Q CAN YOU GIVE THE RANGE?
A THE RANGE WAS BETWEEN ONE AND FIVE TIMES.
...
Q NOW, AS FAR AS THE C.D.'S, AND YOU RECALL YOUR DISCUSSION OF THE C.D.'S, AND I'M REFERRING TO THOSE FOUND ON THE BOOKSHELF BEHIND THE BOOKS THAT HAVE BEEN DESCRIBED EARLIER, --
A YES.
Q -- AS FAR AS THE VIDEOS SHOWN ON THOSE, I'M SORRY, THE VIDEOS CONTAINED ON THOSE C.D.'S, FROM YOUR EXAMINATION AS A FORENSIC COMPUTER SPECIALIST, CAN YOU DETERMINE WHEN A PERSON LAST LOOKED AT A VIDEO FILE ON A C.D.?
A NO, SIR, YOU CANNOT.
Q AS OPPOSED TO WHAT'S SHOWN IN EXHIBIT 188 WHEN A FILE IS EXAMINED, THAT'S ON THE HARD DRIVE OF A COMPUTER?
A CORRECT.
Telling isn't it.
"Q -- AS FAR AS THE VIDEOS SHOWN ON THOSE, I'M SORRY, THE VIDEOS CONTAINED ON THOSE C.D.'S, FROM YOUR EXAMINATION AS A FORENSIC COMPUTER SPECIALIST, CAN YOU DETERMINE WHEN A PERSON LAST LOOKED AT A VIDEO FILE ON A C.D.?
A NO, SIR, YOU CANNOT.
Q AS OPPOSED TO WHAT'S SHOWN IN EXHIBIT 188 WHEN A FILE IS EXAMINED, THAT'S ON THE HARD DRIVE OF A COMPUTER?
A CORRECT.
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