Mudd Letters Opened To Public: Van Dam Jurors Continue to Mull and Ponder Westerfield's Fate! 8-15

Union Trib ^ | August 15, 2002 | Union Trib

[FresnoDA]

Letters to judge opened to public

SIGNONSANDIEGO

August 14, 2002

The judge in the trial of David Westerfield today allowed reporters to see court log entries of notes from jurors, as well as letters to the judge from the public about the murder of Danielle van Dam.

The letters from the public included a variety of theories about the case.

Jurors ask to review pictures, interview

One letter-writer sent the following theory to Judge William Mudd: "Danielle van Dam killed herself.''

A nearly illegible postcard with a Spokane postmark alluded to at least one ex-wife "with a drinking problem (who) lives in Spokane.''

 

DAN TREVAN / Union-Tribune

Some of the folders of documents made public by Judge William Mudd.

The writer failed to indicate whether the reference was to ex-wives of Westerfield – who has been married and divorced twice – or someone else connected with the case.

The postcard was unsigned.

Another missive came from a man who referenced another high-profile murder trial – that of O.J. Simpson.

"The O.J. Simpson case was a miscarriage of the state's justice mainly because Judge (Lance) Ito was too lenient with the actors defending O.J.,'' the man wrote.

There was no news Wednesday afternoon about the status of deliberations, but Mudd announced he was holding a sealed hearing 9:30 a.m. Thursday to consider an unspecified defense motion in the case.

Wednesday was the fifth day of deliberations. The prosecution concluded its closing arguments last Thursday.

Westerfield is accused of kidnapping 7-year-old Danielle van Dam from her Sabre Springs home and killing her.

He could face life in prison or the death penalty if convicted of murder with special circumstances.

He has also been charged with misdemeanor possession of child pornography.

The log entries show that on Friday, the jury requested ``all available evidence of pornographic images'' and a photograph of a teen-age daughter of the defendant's ex-girlfriend.

[Jaded]

His sister was murdered by her husband.

[alisasny]

Sorry, wasn't thinking about how bad her remains must have been.

The quick cremation does sound strange too. I wonder if it was a tradition in this family. I can see many elders in the family getting upset about this.

When was the cremation?

Goes to show you how different families treat different things. For example they are still testing the Levy remains and only held a memorial service. I guess the Levy's really want to know what happened to their daughter.

[hoosiermama]

Go to Google and type in "left foot"
add words like: evil, missing, cult etc. and you'll find all sorts of stuff. We may not be dealing with one perp but with several practicing the same "religion". Just a thought.

[cyncooper]

I have yet to find him in the VD house with access to Danielle's blood, fingerprints(?) and hair,

How would he plant blood? How would he get Danielle's blood on the drycleaned jacket that was sealed in a plastic bag when picked up and delivered to the criminalist?

There was hair in her hairbrush, are you saying he took some and scattered it around? Including putting one in the MH sink drain?

How would he pick up prints from Danielle and plant it in the MH?

You didn't mention fibers, but Danielle's body wasn't found when all the fiber evidence was lifted in DW's house, SUV and motorhome. How would the orange fiber be planted in her necklace? That fiber was tangled in a wad of her own hair indicating it was clearly not planted. Also blue fiber was within her hair, too and on her body and the ground beneath her body.

Det. Jim Tomsovic says that the drycleaning receipt has a phone number on it

That is Westerfield's phone number, not the drycleaners.

What would the motive be to frame Westerfield and decline to find the "real" murderer?

[domestice]

LOL!!!!!

[mommya]

"Wasn't Keyser the cop who had a relative that vanished and they belived she had been murdered and prosecuted the case without a body and won? "

I'm pretty sure that was Keene - not Keyser.

[afraidfortherepublic]

On the Danielle case, he claimed Westerfield had just moved into the neighborhood a month or so earlier--among many other completely bogus statements.

I know those words were written about John Walsh, but they seem to describe many of the popular pundits. Last night I was listening to some of the Van Dam pundits on O'Reilly, Hannity, etc.; and I can't believe how much they have wrong.

I really don't know if David Westerfield is guilty, or not, at this point; but I do know that there is no "overwhelming" DNA and forensic evidence linking him to the case. The so-called experts that are hired by the TV shows mischaracterize testimony and even misidentify witnesses as to whether they testified for the prosecution or the defense. No one calls them on it.

[The Other Harry]

Fwiw, I have a friend who is not a Freeper and who has recently gotten into following this. She has read some of the threads here, and she has read other things she's found on the internet. She ain't dumb.

This is her take so far:

He knocked her out at some point but took her to the desert to rape (maybe for the 2nd or 3rd time) and kill her.. that is why he had to take the blankets to the cleaners after the desert but still did wash before the desert too. that would explain the "we" factor.. she was still alive and maybe even playing nice a little (hence the conversation some people heard from the RV)

I told her that she would be completely disemboweled if she ever tried to post that up here.

Still, she isn't dumb. She has pretty good instincts.

[alexandria]

Think we should do t-shirts?

Definately!
Actually I didn't hear it the first time or two.

The first time I heard closing I thought I heard the word stealth, but what really got me was when he said something to the effect of, "he went out of the house and, what? Walked, ran, skipped? Across the road with this 7 yr. old?"
Thank goodness I wasn't at work cause I was loudly proclaiming "no, he just clicked his ruby red slippers together and said there's no place like the RV, there's no place like the RV."

[domestice]

I think it was late when you posted that!