Jury begins deliberations -Prosecutor says victim has pointed to her killer (keep it civil)

UNION-TRIBUNE signonsandiego.com ^ | August 9, 2002 | Alex Roth

[dread78645]

Jurors in the David Westerfield trial began deliberating yesterday after hearing a final statement from the lead prosecutor, who beamed a photo of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam onto the wall and urged the jury to focus on the physical evidence.

Finishing closing arguments in the two-month murder trial, prosecutor Jeff Dusek called a blood spot on Westerfield's jacket the "smoking gun." And Dusek imagined what Danielle might tell the jury if someone could bring her back to life "just for a moment" so she could answer the question, "Please tell us who did this to you."

"I've already told you," Dusek said the girl would tell the jury. "I've told you with my hair and where you found it. I've told you with the orange fiber that you found on my choker, and where you found it.

[Krodg]

I doubt we'll ever know who did it. I don't think LE will look any farther than DW.

[hoosiermama]

I think we WILL eventually know. Either when (not If) the Bren files for divorce; or when some serial killer tells all. (they're usually proud of their acts)

[the Deejay]

I realize they don't know about Rowland, but it only takes one of them to think about the one neighborhood girl, with the questionable parents, just happens to be the one murdered.

[the Deejay]

I (like many) had thought that would happen with Jon Benet Ramsey. At this point in time, I don't think we'll ever know for sure about her murderer. Except for "suspecting."

[gigi]

"In addition, Julie Mills originally put his stuff under the wrong customer's name and didn't even know that until she tried to give the stuff to that customer and the customer said it wasn't hers. Then, she didn't tell the police what items she DID enter and told him about items she DIDN'T enter. AND, she originally didn't remember any details (color, etc.) about any of the items she originally checked in. Later, she remembered that the jacket was green and the bedding was floral and striped."

"Sounds like some serious confusion at the drycleaners to me."
___________________________________________________________

This is from the beginning of Julie Mills testimony, Direct examaination by Dusek.
EXAMINATION BY MR. DUSEK:
Q: MISS OR MISSUS?
A: MISS.
Q: MISS MILLS, DO YOU WORK?
A: YES.
Q: WHAT TYPE OF WORK DO YOU DO?
A: I WORK IN A DRYCLEANER'S.
Q: WHERE IS THE DRYCLEANER'S LOCATED?
A: POWAY.
Q: DOES IT HAVE A NAME?
A: TWIN PEAKS DRYCLEANERS.
Q: ITS ADDRESS, PLEASE.
A: I REALLY DON'T KNOW. I HAVEN'T -- I DON'T KNOW.
Q: HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED THERE?
A: TWELVE YEARS. I HAVE NEVER HAD TO LOOK AT THE ADDRESS. I DON'T KNOW.
Q: DO YOU THINK IF I SHOWED YOU A PICTURE YOU WOULD RECOGNIZE IT?
A: YES.
Q: I HAVE HAD MARKED AS COURT'S EXHIBIT 73 A PHOTO DISPLAY BOARD LABELED AT THE TOP "TWIN PEAKS CLEANERS, 14891 TWIN PEAKS ROAD."
A: THANK YOU.
(PHOTOBOARD CONTAINING ONE PHOTOGRAPH MARKED TRIAL EXHIBIT NUMBER 73 FOR IDENTIFICATION.)
BY MR. DUSEK:
Q: DO YOU RECOGNIZE WHAT WE HAVE DEPICTED HERE, MISS MILLS?
A: YES, I DO.
Q: WHAT IS IT?
A: IT'S THE DRYCLEANER'S.


Anyone who has worked somplace for 12 years and doesn't know the address, is a MORON!!!! I bet there's confusion at that dry cleaners every day!!

[Krodg]

Just saw a new thread in breaking news. Two girls missing, possibly Fresno area. I don't know how to link to another thread. Sorry.

[The Other Harry]

Just a small item that has been bugging me. Both parents took credit for putting the gate in Danielle's doorway. Why the battle on this small detail?

Because they didn't have their stories srraight. "I thought I was the one who was supposed to say..."

Probably made for some ugly evenings at home.

[John Jamieson]

Excellant point! We're dealing with a very suggestable person here. No wonder she finally recognized the clothes, because the police kept telling her what to say and think. Is the cop that searched 4 drycleaners before going to the one he was told to go to, her brother?

[hoosiermama]

Two sisters missing. Think the perp is the mother's boy friend.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/731125/posts

[Krodg]

Thanks. I'll get the hang of things eventually.

[John Jamieson]

Fresno is right. Where's Condit tonight?

[hoosiermama]

Having students that are mentally challenged, this young girl appears to fit their profile. We often find jobs for them in the service areas. Really is embarrassing for the DA to put her in this situation without explanation, if that is the case.

[gigi]

I don't think its her brother, but I think in cross it was brought out that she knew one of the officers because he was a customer. I still have the page up so I'll check.

[John Jamieson]

Just kidding.....they seem of have similar mental disabilities, that's all.

[hoosiermama]

You are welcome. Check your freepmail!

[The Other Harry]

Anyone who has worked somplace for 12 years and doesn't know the address, is a MORON!!!! I bet there's confusion at that dry cleaners every day!!

That was a very cute point. I'm still laughing. :)

[rolling_stone]

I went back to the transcripts and could not find where the clerk later remembered the jacket was green or the comforter floral...interesting.

BY MR. DUSEK: Q: WHAT IS THAT? A: IT'S A PRINTOUT OF WHAT HE HAD BROUGHT IN THAT MORNING. Q: DOES IT INDICATE WHAT HE BROUGHT IN? A: YEAH. Q: WHAT? A: SPORT JACKET. Q: DO YOU REMEMBER ANYTHING ELSE ABOUT THAT SPORT JACKET? A: I DON'T. NO.

................
BY MR. DUSEK: Q: WHAT IS IT? A: IT'S A RECEIPT TYPED WITH HIS TWO COVERS AND TWO COMFORTERS. Q: WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY TWO COMFORTERS? A: I HONESTLY DON'T REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT THEY -- COMFORTERS THAT COVER A BED OF SOME KIND. Q: AND COVERS; WHAT DID YOU MEAN BY THAT? A: COVER MORE OF A PILLOW-SIZE ITEM INSTEAD OF A BED-SIZE. Q: ALL OF THESE ITEMS CAME IN ON THE ONE TRIP, THE BEDDING AND THE JACKET?

......................
Cross by Feldman

Q: DO YOU HAVE AN INDEPENDENT RECOLLECTION OF WHAT IT WAS MR. WESTERFIELD CHECKED IN? A: I REMEMBER IT WAS A LARGE ITEM AS A COMFORTER, YES. AND A COUPLE COVERS, YES. I REMEMBER THAT. AND I DO REMEMBER HIM BRINGING IN A JACKET. I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT ANY OF IT LOOKED LIKE. Q: ALL RIGHT.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/danielle/transcripts/20020617-9999-pm1.html

[gigi]

This is on cross examination by Feldman,

WHEN IS THE FIRST TIME ANY REPRESENTATIVE OF LAW ENFORCEMENT EVER SPOKE TO YOU CONCERNING ANYTHING HAVING TO DO WITH THIS CASE?
A: I DON'T REMEMBER EXACTLY WHAT DAY. IT COULD HAVE BEEN A COUPLE DAYS, MAYBE EVEN A DAY AFTER. I'M NOT SURE. AFTER FEBRUARY 4TH. I'M NOT REALLY SURE.
Q: YOU SAID A COUPLE OF DAYS. I JUST WANT TO -- WHEN YOU SAY COUPLE, DO YOU MEAN TWO?
A: ONE TO TWO DAYS.
Q: ALL RIGHT. AND WAS THAT A GUY NAMED OTT, DO YOU REMEMBER?
A: NO, I DON'T REMEMBER.
Q: DO YOU KNOW A DETECTIVE NAMED OTT?
A: YES, I DO.
Q: DOES HE COME AND DO BUSINESS WITH YOU?
A: YES, HE DID.
Q: AROUND THE SAME TIME?
A: AROUND THE SAME TIME?
Q: AS FEBRUARY 4TH.
A: I DON'T REMEMBER WHEN HE CAME IN.
Q: YOU DON'T REMEMBER. DOES DETECTIVE OTT COME IN IN A CAR?
A: YES, HE DOES.
Q: DO YOU REMEMBER WHAT KIND OF CAR HE DRIVES?
A: NO, I DON'T. I HAVEN'T KNOWN HIM -- I'M SORRY.

Well now isn't that interesting, Det. Ott..

I don't think she is retarded, but she could just slow. I don't want to sound mean, especially after I read this again, I feel kinda bad about calling her a moron. She could have been easily manilpulated. Later Feldman asks her a question and she answers, then looks to Dusek for confirmation. Feldman caught it and question her, "Why did you look at Mr. Dusek."

[gigi]

LOL!! Now you tell me you were joking.. Oh well I still think the part about Det. Ott is interesting. And if she isn't too brite, which is obvious, she could have been easily manipulated into remebering what he wanted her to.

[John Jamieson]

Interesting Fresno connection to the child porno ring, in light of tonight's kidnapping:

Parents held in child-porn ring Alleged leader Fresno chiropractor

Bill Wallace, Chronicle Staff Writer Saturday, August 10, 2002

Federal officials said Friday they had broken up an international child pornography ring, headquartered in Fresno County, in which parents molested their own children and traded pictures of that activity over the Internet.

The full scope of the child sex operation, under investigation since November, was made public for the first time when the U.S. attorney's office in Fresno unsealed a 16-page federal indictment that lists 15 of the suspects and details some of their activities.

Meanwhile, U.S. Customs Director Robert Bonner held a press conference in Washington and said the case was one of the most disturbing he had encountered in his career.

"These crimes are beyond the pale," Bonner said. "They are despicable and repugnant. . . . What is particularly disturbing is that the majority of the people who have been charged were actually the parents, who were sexually exploiting their own children."

The activities involved 45 children around the world, including 37 in the U. S. Eighty percent of the victims were molested by their own parents, according to U.S. Customs officials who investigated the case. The children have been placed in foster care or with another parent or relative.

The indictment says the defendants, who referred to each other as members of "the Club," would message each other on the Internet and ask for pictures of children engaged in "sexually explicit activity." In one example, cited at the end of the indictment, Lloyd Alan Emmerson, a Fresno chiropractor who, prosecutors say, was the central figure in the operation, asked his Danish friend Eggert Jensen for "an audio tape of a minor child (in Jensen's custody) so that . . . Emmerson could hear the child crying while the child was being spanked and otherwise abused."

10 AMERICANS ARRESTED

Emmerson, who is 45, was one of the primary organizers of the group's picture-taking and -sharing activities. He is one of 10 Americans arrested during a joint investigation, dubbed "Operation Hamlet," that involved the Customs office, the Danish National Police, Interpol, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and a number of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in California and 10 other states.

Ten other suspects were arrested in Denmark, Belgium, Germany, England, Switzerland and the Netherlands. One of the American suspects, Sean Bradley, who was arrested in Reno, committed suicide after police raided his house and before he could be formally charged with molesting several children.

According to the indictment, in addition to Emmerson, the ring's members included Paul Whitmore, 43, and Brooke Rowland, 41, both of San Diego.

Participating outside California were Tracy Reynolds, 40, of Texas; Leslie Bowcut, 28, Idaho; Michael Harland, 42, Florida; Harry Tschernetzki, 41, Washington; John Zill, 36, South Carolina; Craig Davidson, age unknown, Kansas;

Eggert Jensen, 44, and Bente Jensen, 34, Denmark; and Jean-Michael Francis Cattin, 36, Marcel Egli, 47, Dirk Van Prins, age unknown, and Peter Althaus, 63, all of Switzerland.

All the Americans named in the indictment are in federal custody. The 10 suspects from other countries were arrested abroad, but it was not clear Friday how many, if any, are in custody. Authorities said more arrests in the United States are anticipated.