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.

[pinz-n-needlez]

If Damon did, indeed, dump the body, (and I'm inclined to believe that he did), why did he dump it in the worng spot?

If this scenario was built to point to DW, why did they blow with the biggest piece of evidence?

Damon surely knew what the map of DW's travels looked like by then. Did he and his friend just get too cocky and shoot themselves in the foot/feet?

FWIW, I wouldn't be at all surprised to find out that Damon was involved in the kiddie porn stuff, nor with the local mob (whatever their nationality) for drug sales. They are living WAY above their means.

nota bene: Please look over all puns in the above post, intended or unintended, salacious or otherwise. Too difficult to avoid in this case. :-)

[pinz-n-needlez]

I've wondered this several times. If you were DW and you were hellbent on stealing, raping and murdering a little girl in the neighborhood, there would be so many better targets.

Why would you choose the little girl who lives in a house where they never sleep. Company is going into and out of that house all night long!

Wouldn't you choose a house where everyone was predicatably in bed and sound asleep at 11:00, where the dog is housebroken or chained up in the backyard.

None of the premises work in this case. I think that's why Dusek whined that he didn't have to prove anything until he got past the point that Danielle was dead, and DW did it.

Thanks for bringing this up.

[Yeti]

I'm not quite 40 yet.... This is my first year at 39 and intend to have several more ;)

My personal observation, and I know I'll be flamed for it, is that there are only 2 "smart" posters in the VDA camp, and they have both been very dishonest. In fact, the less-mature-seeming one of the 2 isn't necessarily all that smart, just likes to try to sound smart.

I'll leave it to you to guess which 2 posters I mean.

[Kerensky]

Damon was involved in the kiddie porn stuff, nor with the local mob (whatever their nationality) for drug sales

Again, remember that Damon's profession was cell-phone engineering. Untraceable cell-phones are in great demand by drug cartels. What was the purpose of the trip to Italy that was cut short? A great deal of drugs from Albania flow to Europe through Italy. Italy, in fact is instituting measures to combat untraceable cell-phone use.

[Yeti]

Yes, and I even read things into the amount, purity, size and shape of the stains. One Qtip of lab DNA would make a nice 1/4" spot, and wipe what's left on the jacket. One Qtip's worth of "evidence".

Agreed.

The panties, the PJs, the smears on the stairs. I don't know enough to say specifically how they could have reconstituted and transferred it, but I certainly know enough to know that they could.

Remember the rest of the blood on the jacket was his, probably from the scratches on his arm. If evidence were placed, LE could have thought at the time that they were painting a very plausible picture of a struggle. Now we know that the scratches had nothing to do with Danielle, and weren't even entered as evidence. But LE didn't know that at the time.

[small_l_libertarian]

Yeti, my grandmother's sister (born sometime before 1920) lied about her age so much, she forgot how old she really is. She has no birth certificate, and no one has been able to find the family Bible - so no one knows for sure when she was born. All we know is that she's around six years older than my grandma!

[pinz-n-needlez]

I seem to keep different hours than most folks here, and now I'm talking to myself. lol

I woke up early this morning thinking about the case (again). I wonder this about Friday night's testimony....

If the media reports are true, Damon left (probably after the boys were in bed, maybe with Danielle). He was seen at a woman's home playing paintball, IIRC. Someone earlier suggested it might have been Mrs. Bill Libby.

What if he 'delivered' Danielle to Bill and then did the paintball thing to create an alibi. But then they decided not to use that one.

Denise first said she never saw Damon. Then they talked about him and Barb being in bed together. Was that a smoke and mirrors bone thrown to the media to keep them busy with some salacious stuff? (Excuse the mixed metaphor.) Rather than have investigators (from media or LE) check into drugs, $$$, porn acitivities, sex is something everyone will pay attention to and it's easy to sell. I felt smug when I thought early on, ah hah! He and Barb were upstairs all night. Was I falling for their trick and being gullible?

Maybe Damon's message to Brenda that the cat was out of the bag was just the opposite of what it sounds like. That is, we're still not telling the truth, but move to plan B and talk about Barb being in bed with me (Damon, not me! lol).

I DO think that Damon could have hacked DW's computer. Beefing up the porn images on Monday afternoon might have been helpful to the prosecution, in Damon's mind.

John, please talk more about your statement about more fibers found where DW had time to clean. I see the truth of it, but don't quite get the meaning.

Another idea in my early morning mental wanderings was the notion that Damon/Brenda were setting up a scenario taking Danielle to DW's and planting evidence. Brenda sure did warm quickly to the role of being the Mama-face of protecting children from abduction, kind of like a counterpart to John Walsh's role. Walsh seemed willing to help her get to that spot. Even Bush spoke about Brenda as a caring, grieving mother last week.

What if the drugs/porn/$$$ issue was going to explode in their lives and they knew it and decided to put the best face on it? Damon was done with Danielle early on, as his quote about still having his two boys shows. And they even had a brand new photo of her and her scary necklace.

I might be crazy in the wee hours, but this connects a few more dots.

[pinz-n-needlez]

Wow, I didn't know that's what his job is. It would take someone with a strong philosophical and moral base to work in that position and not be tempted by the easy money, fast track lifestyle that such work could purchase.

That sure doesn't describe our boy, though, does it??? lol

[juzcuz]

DW's perspective=opportunity

From His perspective as a perp. the likely prospects of getting away seem grim. If there is one thing a perp. would want is a clean getaway. Feldman made an interesting projection- if Danielle was being carried away from her room/house in the middle night she would have SCREAMED- bloody murder. The idea seems similar to the recent Samantha murder,where Samantha screamed out to her little friend, as Sam. was being kidnapped.
What it comes down to is this, Danielle walked out of the house. Either with someone she knew and trusted, or on her own and was snatched while outside by a stranger.

[pinz-n-needlez]

I don't think Damielle was kidnapped out of her house that night, at all.

There is a small chance, I guess, that she wandered out before her mother got home and was picked up by a child snatcher.

The behavior of the VDs in their testimony makes me think that almost everything we've been told about that night is false.

I think she was taken somewhere by Damon, or delivered to someone, maybe Bill Libby, by her father/parents. Everything else that happened that evening, that weekend, that week is smoke and mirrors to obscure the truth, imo.

I agree with Feldman's reasoning on the ludcrousy (sp?) of the kidnapping scenario.

[Yeti]

...late twenties....changes...

You know, from 28 through 33 I went through some very profound changes. I have come to believe that men aren't really even grown ups until their mid-30's, women late-20's. Founding fathers wise to set 35 as a lower age limit for President.

FWIW, my dad lost 30 IQ points in my eyes, rather than gaining them, and I flipped my POV on mom from saintly but not too bright to downright wicked at times, and quite clever in her way.

I just never get to "fit in."

[Bluebird Singing]

The weirdness started with the story about Brenda leaving Danielle alone in a Mervyn's dressing room while she went elsewhere with the boys that Friday afternoon. Who does that in this day and age? Was this a cover story in case someone surfaced and remembered seeing her in the afternoon without Danielle?

[Kerensky]

Was there any testimony that DW was an illegal drug user?
Were the VD and DW homes and vehicles tested for the presence of cocaine, etc.?

[Yeti]

LOL about gramma, small_l!

I am toying with the idea of telling people I am 45, just so I can hear the words, "Wow, you don't look it!"

Actually, I don't mind my age at all, except indirectly, in that I am not exactly where I want to be at this age.

[small_l_libertarian]

That's what I think. I believe she was already gone on Friday afternoon and that the story about her sitting at the table writing in her journal for hours, then going upstairs and reading for the rest of the evening is a lie. I have NEVER seen a 7-year-old sit still for that long for anything (including TV).

[sawsalimb]

Thinking about the...hmmm...opportunities available in non-traceable cell tech got me to thinking along a related line. Has VanDam's employer announced any large layoffs recently? Or any other restructuring that might get someone (who strikes me as living at the ragged edge of their income) to thinking about a side business?

[Kerensky]

The behavior of the VDs in their testimony makes me think that almost everything we've been told about that night is false.

Indeed, if it is your goal to deflect the truth, the best cover to use would be something despicable. So we think they are hiding merely their sexual proclivities, but are in fact using them as a smokescreen.

When I heard that their sons' little league coach was their pot supplier, red flags went off.

[small_l_libertarian]

I am toying with the idea of telling people I am 45, just so I can hear the words, "Wow, you don't look it!"

Now THAT would be funny.

When my grandma's sister tried to apply for Social Security, it was an absolute nightmare. :-)

[pinz-n-needlez]

I think you're on to something here.

Someone asked earlier if the boys got their passport pictures taken that day, too. Or was it only Danielle? If it were only her, by hair would stand up straight!

[pinz-n-needlez]

He admitted on the stand that he was an illegal drug user, but only to marijuana. I wouldn't be surprised if there were other drugs, lots of other drugs to enhance sex experiences, and provide enough stamina to party all weekend and go to work on Mondays. He was into lots of biking activities, too.

The VD house wasn't tested for much of anything, to my knowledge. There's never been even a suggestion of drugs connected to DW.