In taped interrogation, Westerfield tells police 'my life is over'

San Diego Union Tribune ^ | January 7, 2003

[TomB]

In a videotaped interrogation with San Diego police detectives four days after Danielle van Dam was kidnapped, an exhausted David Westerfield says "my life is over," seemingly coming close to an admission that he murdered his 7-year-old neighbor.

"As far as I'm concerned my life is over, the life that I had, the life that I was living is over," Westerfield says in the interrogation conducted the evening of Feb. 5, 2002. Danielle was last seen the night of Feb. 1.

"But you can't blame anyone but yourself, Dave," answers one of the police detectives.

"And I have no problem with that," Westerfield replies.

In the tapes released Tuesday, Westerfield admits "unusual" sexual encounters with his wife, denies anything improper about his alleged use of binoculars to watch neighbors and says the child pornography found on his computer was simply something he downloaded along with a lot of other pornographic images and that he had no sexual interest in children.

Superior Court Judge William Mudd agreed Monday to unseal the videotape along with hundreds of pages of transcripts, documents and recordings in the Westerfield case, as well as transcripts of police interrogations and court hearings conducted in secret.

Some of the material – audiotape and videotape of Westerfield being interrogated during the early stages of the investigation – was released Tuesday afternoon.

The remainder of the material, which ranges from transcripts of closed-door court hearings to motions regarding potential evidence, will be released Monday, Mudd ruled.

The ruling Monday came three days after Mudd sentenced the former design engineer to death for kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, his neighbor in Sabre Springs.

Monday's court hearing came in response to a request by The San Diego Union-Tribune, which has been seeking access to the information for months. The San Diego-based 4th District Court of Appeal has ruled that Mudd must release the information.

The San Diego chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists made a donation to the legal costs.

Westerfield, who attended Monday's hearing, is scheduled to be moved within days to death row at San Quentin State Prison outside San Francisco.

During earlier court appearances, Westerfield was always dressed in civilian attire, but he appeared in court Monday in a green jail jumpsuit. He sat in a holding area so he couldn't be filmed by a television camera.

[EllaMinnow]

Court TV's website is always way behind.

Are you a Rheo man or a Rheo woman?

[cyncooper]

Before the last break Rick Roberts said that in the over 1200 pages of material just released is information about what Westerfield would do in his bathroom with an 8mm camera.

Redden back in speaking with DW.

[Freedom2specul8]

That gives me chills. remember what I wrote about the movie 8mm w/nicholas cage in it? Well it was on tv a couple of days later.

Did he give any idea what it was going to say?

[UCANSEE2]

1 hour 15 minutes of today's session left to hear. On RR show. FYI

[Freedom2specul8]

I DON'T THINK RED OR CYN POSTED THIS...

NOTE: DW thinks he failed the polygraph cuz he has too much empathy... http://www.courttv.com/trials/westerfield/010903_ctv.html

David Westerfield flunked a lie detector test in spectacular fashion last February and then told San Diego detectives it was because he had too much compassion for Danielle van Dam's family, newly released police tapes show.

"The only thing I can mark it up to is empathy," Westerfield said after a polygraph indicated his claims of innocence in the 7-year-old's abduction were "100 percent deceptive."

Westerfield was sentenced to death last week for Danielle's kidnapping and murder. The jury that convicted him never heard about the lie detector test. Tapes of the questioning session were released Wednesday after media organizations sued for access to them and other materials deemed too prejudicial for release during the trial.

Polygraph specialist Paul Redden, a civilian employee of the San Diego Police Department, interviewed Westerfield Feb. 4, two days after Danielle vanished from her bedroom.

"Did I pass?" the 50-year-old engineer asked Redden moments after answering the final question.

"No, you did not pass my test and I don't think that's a surprise to you," Redden shot back, adding, "You are somehow involved in the disappearance of Danielle van Dam."

Westerfield protested, "No, I'm not" and offered to retake the test. He also said his "mechanical background" made him distrustful of the results. But Redden showed him how his blood pressure "went crazy" every time he answered a question about Danielle and noted that everyone else tested, including the girl's parents, "passed with flying colors."

Westerfield first said he couldn't have reacted to her name since "I didn't even know her name until today," but finally told a detective the results must have been skewed by his own concern for the missing child.

Danielle's naked, badly decomposed body was found by a roadside three weeks later.

[cyncooper]

Did he give any idea what it was going to say?

No, he just said it basically as I reported.

I have a *guess* that it will be footage of the neighborhood and maybe neighbors. That is just a guess.

[Freedom2specul8]

DW thought he failed the polygraph cuz he had too much empathy for the van dams... http://www.courttv.com/trials/westerfield/010903_ctv.html

[cyncooper]

remember what I wrote about the movie 8mm w/nicholas cage in it?

No, I don't remember....what about the movie?

[UCANSEE2]

About post 206.

I agree with you.

About the personal attacks. I agree. I wish I could quit getting suckered into making them myself.

Coming back on. gonna listen.

[Freedom2specul8]

Now I didnt' get online to verify any of this. (I don't know anything about 8mm reels) ..but in the movie w\cage..he doesn't have to take the film into a store to get it developed if you know what I mean.

[UCANSEE2]

I think DW shot himself in the foot, being cooperative, and being suckered into discussing specifics of how the PG machine worked, what the graphs showed, what controlled each. They were suckering him in. He was too 'naive' to see what they were doing.

(note: this is not an attack on the police. They were doing what worked. Also, above applies whether dw is the 'angel' or the devil trying to outsmart the machine)

[EllaMinnow]

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/danielle/20030109-9999-westerfield_documents.html

Documents detail rape allegation against Westerfield




SIGNONSANDIEGO
January 9, 2003



One of some 1,200 pages of court documents relating to the murder and kidnapping case against David Westerfield that were released Thursday.

Details of a rape allegation against convicted murderer David Westerfield were included in documents made public Thursday by Superior Court Judge Mudd.

The woman, identified in an unsealed court document as "Sara K." told police Westerfield raped her in a hotel room in 1991 while she was in San Diego attending an industry conference.

"I remember him pushing me onto the bed from the side," she told police. "The TV was still on. I said, 'No, don't do that' or something like 'No.' I'm not really clear what I said. I guess I froze. I covered my face with my hands and didn't do anything but say 'no' a few more times."

The woman did not testify during the penalty phase of Westerfield's trial. Prosecutors decided against it after discovering information about her psychiatric background and history of making rape allegations.



View April 22, 2002, prosecution motion detailing rape allegation, information on "Jenny N." allegation.
PDF document

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From the U-T: Westerfield failed polygraph test badly

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(The FREE Adobe Acrobat plug-in is necessary to view the above documents.)




The two had met in Florida earlier in the year at an orthopedic nurses convention, and had an idea to develop an orthopedic device.

Westerfield, a design engineer, worked on a number of orthepedic devices during his career. Last Friday, Mudd sentenced Westerfield to death for kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, his neighbor in Sabre Springs.

The information was contained within 1,200 pages of unsealed documents released following legal motions by The San Diego Union-Tribune, which sought access to the information throughout the case. Mudd had refused, reasoning that the defendant's right to a fair trial might be compromised.

But the San Diego-based 4th District Court of Appeal ruled that Mudd must release the information.

Audio tapes and a videotape of Westerfield being interrogated during the early stages of the investigation was released on Tuesday.

The material released Thursday ranges from transcripts of closed-door court hearings to motions regarding potential evidence.

Arguments over the rape allegation were among the numerous evidentiary hearings out of public view. The hearings also involved defense allegations that police violated Westerfield's rights during interrogations after Danielle was reported missing Feb. 2, 2002.

Mudd declined to release all the records sought by the newspaper. Among other things, he said he wouldn't release transcripts of sidebar conferences conducted during the trial. Those are hearings where the lawyers discuss issues at the bench, outside earshot of the jury and public.

The judge said it would take too much time and effort to document and release the dozens of sidebar conferences conducted during the three-month trial. He called it "a waste of my time, my reporter's time, counsels' time."

According to a prosecution motion filed April 22, the woman called authorities on March 14 after viewing TV coverage about the case. Westerfield encouraged the woman to visit San Diego so he could help her produce and market the device.

The alleged rape occured after a visit to the San Diego Zoo, in the woman's hotel room.

The motion also includes a transcript of police interrogator Paul Redden's polygraph interview with Westerfield Feb. 4, in which he relates his recollection of an incident involving "Jenny N.," a 19-year-old niece of Westerfield.

"Jenny N." testified that she had a strange experience with her uncle when she was between the ages of 5 and 7. Westerfield rubbed her teeth at night while she was upstairs trying to sleep with other child relatives, the girl testified.

Westerfield, asked by Redden if he could think of any reason why someone would think he was involved in Danielle's disappearance, related his version of the incident. He told the interrogator another girl's foot had become became lodged in "Jenny N's" pajama pants.

The girl's mother confronted Westerfield after "Jenny N." complained, he told Redden

[UCANSEE2]

I still agree with RR. He shouldn't read it out on his show. That would be irresponsible.

It should be available via the internet for that that want to go to the trouble of looking it up. Not spread on the airwaves for children to hear.

[Valpal1]

I think he shot himself in the foot by kidnapping and murdering an innocent child from his own neighborhood to feed his own perverse and narcissic need for domination and control.

[Freedom2specul8]

Cage is a private investigator hired by a very rich old lady who was going through her newly deceased husbands belongings. She had found a 8mm movie reel..a snuff film. Footage of a girl about 15yrs old who was killed while someone was raping her.. Cage was hired to find out who the girl was...talk about having to rub elbows with some real scuzz buckets... There are no words strong enough to describe what cage had to go through to get to the bottom of it all.

ONe of the guys in the movie was the main guy on sopranos..what's his name? I Forgot..we took hbo off last year..

[Freedom2specul8]

http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/8mm/

[Rheo]

Agreed...he didn't mention sex stuff when he said he was going to read it....so he made the right call in not reading it...just not clear why it took damon calling for him to make that determination.

Maybe I missed the part where he said he had just received it and had not read it yet.

[Freedom2specul8]

(conspiracy) I wonder if he made a movie, sold it and if he has an overseas account? (/conspiracy)

[Valpal1]

I can't help but wonder how much Gloria Alred's being Damon's lawyer effected RR's decision to not read Brenda's statement. Hmmm?

The shark has a proven bite. LOL

[Rheo]

woman