Another bug expert testifies in Westerfield trial
KIMBERLY EPLERStaff Writer
SAN DIEGO ---- A forensic entomologist called by the prosecution testified Tuesday that ants and animals may have carried away the evidence needed to determine when 7-year-old murder victim Danielle van Dam was first exposed to the elements.
The last days of David Westerfield's trial on charges of kidnapping and murdering Danielle are likely to be dominated by more dueling testimony on exactly when the child's nude body was dumped along a rural road in the East County.
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 Pool Photo |
| San Diego Police Department Detective Maura "Mo" Parga, testified about clothes she wore when she visited the home of defendant David Westerfield, during proceedings Tuesday morning at the San Diego courthouse. |
So far, two other entomologists, a forensic anthropologist and the medical examiner have given different estimates on when she died. The earliest date stretches back to before she disappeared on Feb. 2. A defense bug expert gave the latest date, putting Danielle's death six to 13 days before volunteer searchers discovered the girl on Feb. 27.
The issue is key to the defense of Westerfield, who was under 24-hour surveillance within three days of Danielle's disappearance.
On Day 24 of the trial, forensic entomologist Madison Lee Goff became the third bug expert to offer an estimate.
He also questioned the methods used by defense bug expert Neal Haskell, who determined Danielle's body was left in Dehesa six to 13 days before she was found. Later, Goff was forced to admit mistakes in his own calculations.
Goff said Feb. 9 was most likely when flies deposited the larvae that was found on Danielle's body, but he couldn't say whether it corresponded with her time of death.
"I only study the insects," he said. "I don't have a stop watch."
He had stretched the date back as far as Feb. 2, the day Danielle was reported missing, until Westerfield's attorney pointed out mistakes Goff made in determining how fast the flies developed. Goff said those errors might affect the accuracy of the earliest estimate.
The chair of the forensic science department at Chaminade University in Honolulu, Goff wrote "A Fly for the Prosecution," a book about using insect activity to help solve crimes.
Goff said ants or scavenging animals might have wiped out the first round of fly eggs, making it appear Danielle's body was left exposed for a shorter period of time.
How damaging Goff's testimony is to the defense case depends largely on much how of his disjointed testimony jurors were able to understand. Many of his answers were so laced with scientific lingo that even attorneys repeatedly asked him to simplify his academic language.
Goff said he used reports from the medical examiner, two other entomologists ---- including Haskell ---- weather reports and photographs of Danielle's body to make his conclusions.
After Goff's testimony, prosecutors rested their rebuttal case. The defense will begin calling witnesses for rebuttal on Wednesday. Judge William Mudd told jurors he expects them to begin deliberating by next week.
Westerfield could face the death penalty if convicted of kidnapping and murdering Danielle. He also faces a misdemeanor charge of possessing child pornography. Westerfield, a design engineer and twice divorced father of two, lived two houses down from the van Dams.
Mudd told jurors he has not ruled on a defense request to keep them sequestered during the deliberations, but he said he was leaning against it. He also asked them to limit any media exposure about the murder earlier this month of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, who was snatched kicking and screaming from outside her family home in Orange County.
Police have said that little girl was sexually assaulted before her nude body was dumped along a rural road in Riverside County ---- in a situation somewhat similar to Danielle's death.
Earlier in the day, three other prosecution witnesses briefly took the stand.
The lead detective in Danielle's murder testified he saw some ants around the area where the little girl's body was found. Detective Sgt. William Holmes also testified he calculated that Westerfield drove his motor home 552 miles during a rambling trek from the beach to the desert and back to the beach the weekend Danielle disappeared.
Previous experts have testified Danielle's blood, hair and fingerprints were found in Westerfield's motor home. The defense has suggested she might have gotten inside the vehicle to play hide-and-go-seek when Westerfield had it parked outside his home.
Holmes testified he measured the distance from the ground to the knob of the side door of the motor home and found it was slightly more than five feet. Danielle was about a foot shorter. But, Holmes said he didn't measure the distance from a street curb, which would have taken away several inches.
The prosecution also submitted as evidence several red and orange shirts detectives and dog handlers were wearing when they went into Westerfield's house after Danielle disappeared. A criminalist testified fibers from the shirts were different materials than bright orange fibers found during Danielle's autopsy and in Westerfield's 4-Runner.
Contact staff writer Kimberly Epler at (760) 739-6644 or kepler@nctimes.com.