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.

[UCANSEE2]

LOL !

[Rheo]

Nope.

[Jrabbit]

Nope

[UCANSEE2]

Correction:

Do you really feel justified trying to state another thing as fact that has yet to be proven?

[UCANSEE2]

Name man's best friend: His own dog.

Name man's worst enemy: His own mouth

[UCANSEE2]

Parked across from "the lady's" house.

Did you pickup who the lady would be? I missed all of that conversation.

[Freedom2specul8]

I took that post as assuming there was a plea deal.... Sometimes, we are suppose to just have some common ground without having to repeat the obvious over and over. See what I mean?

[Freedom2specul8]

meaning that we all know it's not been confirmed yet.

[Freedom2specul8]

I'm having a terrible time understanding what they're saying plus 80% of the time family and I are talking about stuff.

[UCANSEE2]

She was being satirical. My reply was in the same frame of mind. It was not hateful, it was also lighthearted.

[Freedom2specul8]

DW's on the way San Quentin as we sit here??

http://websleuths.com/forum/tm.asp?m=20485&p=1&tmode=1

[Freedom2specul8]

You forgot to post a little sarcastic grin at the end of your post. I thought she was getting chided again. :)

[UCANSEE2]

DW explaining about the park ranger searching him out to return an overpayment of camp fee. Noting to investigators that he wasn't hiding anything, that the ranger had come to the MH , that DW walked out and talked to him, etc.

So far, matches what the testmony and witnesses had.

Only 'damning evidence' so far has been Redden telling DW that he failed and showing DW how and when.

Other evidence, RR starting each segment, ending each segment with accusatory statements that don't hold up.

[UCANSEE2]

U iz RITE. I shudda done : )

[Freedom2specul8]

san quentin
http://www.cdc.state.ca.us/facility/instsq.htm

For those interested
http://www.cdc.state.ca.us/VisitInfo.htm
Visiting at CDC Institutions WILL continue as usual. However, the Visitor Center service will be temporarily suspended as of 9/1/02. It is operated by a contractor and will resume service within a few weeks of passage of the state budget. The Visitor Center normally provides such services as transportation, clothing exchange and child care.

Life on death row
http://ccadp.org/Sanq.htm

[UCANSEE2]

So, guess the RR show is over. Or the tapes session . All of a sudden we are in Mission Valley, talking sports.

[Valpal1]

Glad you caught yourself. I expect it to be proven by the end of the document dump.

Fact is several Media sources have claimed to have verified it and are sure of their claim and sources. Apparently many saw Feldman/Boyce walking up the steps and into the courthouse to the DA's office with a map book, only to find out the body had just been found.

Look, as far as I'm concerned, the tapes aired in the last two days conclusively show a guilty man who never asserts his innocence in any meaningful way (like repeatedly and loudly).

Danielle's blood cried out from DW's jacket, just as Abel's did from the ground. Much has been made of interpreting the LE statement that they were going to find Danielle's blood "no matter what" as indicative of a set up.

IMO, they were just reminding a perp that detection methods are very sophisticated and no amount of cleaning would get all of it. How many of us didn't realize that dry cleaning fluid doesn't destroy the DNA in blood.

[Freedom2specul8]

DW is going to be on death row with poll klaas's killer..richard allan davis.

[UCANSEE2]

I think it will take much time to digest such a large volume of information coming out so quickly. At the end, we will see. To the future, and whatever it holds!

[UCANSEE2]

So, is it like FAMOUS MURDERER'S ROW?