Posted on 01/08/2003 9:24:19 AM PST by 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.
She didn't want him to leave, so "reluctantly" agreed to have sex w/him and friends...on a few occasions. She said she didn't like it etc..
Poor Brenda, what a pathetic justification for her deviant lifestyle. And a Mother of three young children to boot.
Brenda made sexual advances toward Keith Stone but Stone turned her down because she was a married woman.
Guess Stone has some principles,huh?
Twas eerie to say the least..
One would that a smart man, especially one who is not guilty..would recognize his own need for sleep..and actually just sit back, and shutup.
Oh my gosh....you know what... If that is true, and I have no reason to doubt at this time....this guy really did live to "act out fantasies".
They don't know for sure if she's actually dead, or just badly injured and slowly dying somewhere. Fact is, Danielle could have died of slow internal hemorrhaging/exposure laying nude and unconscious in the cold February weather. The cops don't know and miracles can happen, if they could just get DW to talk ASAP.
What about Keyser and Ott's "visit" to the jail to interview DW on Feb. 28th? They certainly knew Danielle was dead by then.
According to the transcripts of the May 8th pretrial hearing, Keyser states that he was only visiting DW on the 28th to inform him that Danielle had been found. It seems DW had requested he be told and good old Keyser and Ott were simply doing as Dave had requested.
When asked if Keyser knew DW had already been to court and been arraigned previous to their visit he replies, " I know I was not personally aware of that".
I do not believe it credible that one of the arresting officers is unaware of DW's arraignment, nor do I believe they went to the jail to simply notify DW. Ott had a tape recorder.
They are both liars, which is why they didn't testify at trial.
That's not heard to believe at all. I know girls who've been accosted more than once or worse just once. I'm sorry to hear about her terrible ordeals.
What about it? It's hardly in the timeframe of the interviews from the 4th, when they were desperately trying to find Danielle, when there was still a very slim, slim chance of a live recovery. Your "point" is completely beside the point and a waste of bandwidth.
– Ott testified that he and Keyser received clearance from their supervisor, Sgt. William Holmes, before they attempted to visit Westerfield in jail on Feb. 28, a day after volunteer searchers found Danielle's nude body in rural east San Diego County.
During a May 13 hearing, Ott testified that he and Keyser didn't want to question Westerfield. They simply wanted to let him know they'd found Danielle after all.
"I guess my emotions got the best of me, and I just went down there to put a little bit of closure into the investigation, let him know we found her body," Ott testified.
Holmes, who also testified May 13, denied ever giving the two detectives permission to visit Westerfield in jail. Holmes has since been reassigned from homicide to robbery.
Lt. Jim Duncan said Monday that Holmes' transfer had nothing to do with the controversy surrounding the jail visit.
"He's been in homicide for 10 years, and he's handled some really high-profile cases and it takes a toll on you," Duncan said. "It was obvious he needed a change of scenery."
Duncan wouldn't comment on the reason for Holmes' transfer or whether it was voluntary.
So who is the liar, Ott or Sgt. Holmes? Or does it matter?
Boy, the two lead detectives are unfit to testify and their supervisor is reassigned because he "needed a change of scenery".
Kim! I was on my H.S. debate team, too! And we did have to alternate pro and con. (I remember fossil fuel vs. non-fossil fuel debates. Scintillating stuff! LOL)
A perfect illustration is my post #670 where I'm listening to River on the radio tell what is in the documents and UCANSEE2 posts a hysterical reply in #676 ranting on about this post and he has clearly misunderstood what I wrote.
My post clearly said that in the docs Ott describes what Westerfield said to him, Ott.
UCANSEE2 goes on a tear thinking River is telling about something Westerfield said to her.
This was just the latest in a long line of examples of something being twisted out of all recognition.
Sigh.
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