Posted on 03/11/2002 12:04:45 PM PST by lady reaper
Police lieutenant, medical examiner testify at hearing for Westerfield
By Jeffrey J. Rose
SIGNONSANDIEGO
March 11, 2002
SAN DIEGO – A preliminary hearing for David Westerfield, charged in connection with the kidnap and murder of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, opened Monday morning with testimony by a police lieutenant who described the scene where the girl's naked, blackened body was found off Dehesa Road.
"I saw the body of what appeared to be a young child, in an advanced stage of decomposition, on her back," said police Lt. James C. Collins.
Collins said that although parts of the unclothed body had decomposed so much that the tissue had disappeared, he noticed the body was wearing a plastic choker necklace and an earring in its left ear identical to those Danielle was wearing the evening she disappeared on Feb. 1.
There were drag marks in leaves on the ground near the body, Collins said.
"It looked like somebody had dragged it into the underbrush," he said.
Westerfield's attorney, Steven Feldman, asked Collins whether he was aware of blood found by forensic investigators on concrete in the stairwell and on concrete outside the van Dams' garage. Collins, who headed the investigation into Danielle's disappearance, responded that he was not.
Feldman also asked Collins about drag marks found near the van Dams' Sabre Springs home, and Collins responded that he was aware that drag marks had been found near a sidewalk there.
San Diego County Medical Examiner Brian D. Blackbourne, the next to testify, said a lot of the body had been destroyed by animals and the remaining parts were severely decomposed, with the skin "mummified."
Blackbourne testified that the condition of the body was consistent with having been dead for the 3½ weeks Danielle was missing.
Much of the body's tissue was missing, he said, as was its left foot. An autopsy found that the organs of the chest were mostly intact, and fluid and air were found in its lungs, he testified.
Blackbourne testified that in the autopsy he looked for evidence of sexual molestation but was hampered by the body's poor condition.
The cause of death could not be immediately determined, Blackbourne said.
"The deterioration of even the tissue that was there makes it difficult to determine a cause of death unless a major, major trauma was the cause," he testified.
Although he could not immediately determine a cause, Blackbourne said he could determine that the death was a homicide based on the circumstances of Danielle's disappearance and discovery of her body.
The body was found by volunteer searchers Feb. 27 about 25 feet from the north side of Dehesa Road, about a mile east of Singing Hills Country Club and about 1½ miles west of Sycuan Casino.
Westerfield, a 50-year-old neighbor of Danielle's, pleaded not guilty to murder, kidnapping and possessing child pornography at a court hearing Feb. 26. If convicted, Westerfield could face the death penalty.
The blue-eyed, 7-year-old girl was last seen when her father put her to bed in their Sabre Springs home the night of Feb. 1. She was discovered missing the next morning, spurring a hunt that involved hundreds of volunteers.
Investigators believe Danielle was kidnapped from her bedroom and taken to the Silver Strand near Coronado by Westerfield, who then drove sometime on Feb. 2 to the desert.
Posted: 8:12 a.m. PST March 11, 2002
Updated: 12:14 p.m. PST March 11, 2002
SAN DIEGO -- The preliminary hearing for a neighbor accused of abducting and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam is currently in recess.
Lieutenant Describes Danielle's Body
Watch The Hearing Live After Court Recess @ 1: 30 p.m.
The preliminary hearing is expected to last more than one day, at which time Superior Court Judge H. Ronald Domnitz will decide whether there is enough evidence to try Westerfield on the charges.
The victim's parents, Brenda and Damon van Dam, reported their daughter missing from their Sabre Springs home the morning of Feb. 2.
After weeks of searching, the girl's partially decomposed body was discovered Feb. 27 off a road in Dehesa.
Westerfield was arrested days earlier when police announced that lab tests had detected the child's blood on his clothing and in his recreational vehicle.
In addition, traces of DNA found on one of Danielle van Dam's garment in her room matched Westerfield's, police Chief David Bejarano said. He called the genetic evidence a "very, very strong link" between the defendant and the missing girl.
The chief offered little insight into what might have motivated Westerfield -- a divorced father of two -- to take Danielle van Dam from her home and family.
...FYI
Some wild speculation of mine. Just think about it.
(1) Dad is not babysitting like he should. He comes home from partying with female neighbor. Danielle is not in bed. Dad accidently runs over her pulling into drive.
(2) Mom and guests pull in at 2:30am, same scenario, accidently run into Danielle with car.
In either case, parents panic. Maybe they stash her body in Neighbor's RV.
(3)Neighbor coming home at 10:30pm accidently runs over Danielle, decides to get rid of the evidence.
Like I said, all speculation, but there is more to this than meets the eye.
What 'stairwell' had blood traces ? Basement, upstairs, what ?
Why was Danielle's body partially 'burned' ????
I think the biggest problem with this whole matter is the mystery surrounding the parents and their contradictive answers.
Or was Gary Condit a guest at their party ? (now I am really out there, huh!)
drowning?
sw
I'll add your questions!
you're welcome. THey are from the previous thread..and various freepers. :)
I do not know how a person could ever cope with something like this. I hope that the parents were not present, or had been warned in advance.
Rolling...wasn't it you that I was talking to about the ME using bugs to determine time of death? The ME just spoke about a forensic bug guy from the museum of national history assisting in determining the time of death..
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