Attorney Steve Feldman asked a number of pointed questions of chief police investigator Lt. Jim Collins that appeared to be laying the groundwork for discrediting police methods and casting suspicion on Danielle's father, Damon van Dam.
Danielle was reported missing from her family’s Sabre Springs home on the morning of Feb. 2. Westerfield, 50, is accused of kidnapping the second grader from her second-floor bedroom and killing her. The child’s badly decomposed body was discovered by volunteer searchers nearly four weeks later off a two-lane road in rural East County.
Lt. Collins was the first witness called by prosecutors in Monday's hearing. He testified about what he found when he went to the site where Danielle's body was discovered. He said he observed the nude body of a white child lying face up. He said the body was in an "advanced state of decomposition" and missing one foot.
When Feldman cross-examined Collins, his line of questioning implied that Collins wasn't in full control of the investigation. At one point, he asked Collins about blood stains that police found on the stairs in the van Dam home. Collins said he was not aware of the stains.
"Is it fair to say that the first time you are hearing of blood spots on the stairwell is today?" Feldman asked incredulously.
"I believe so," Collins answered.
Feldman asked if Collins knew about possible blood stains that investigators found outside the home on the pavement. Again, Collins said he was unaware of those details.
Feldman also asked Collins if he was aware that Damon van Dam had been vacuuming the house on the morning that Danielle was reported missing. Collins said that he was shown the vacuum cleaner when he arrived at the home, but he couldn't say what happened to the contents of the clearner or if it had been taken by police for analysis.
At one point, Feldman asked Collins if the police had ever considered Danielle's parents as suspects in the girl's disappearance. The judge would not permit Collins to answer that question.
During the hearing, prosecutors pointed out that Collins wasn't responsible for every detail of the investigation and that the evidence in the case was handled by another police lieutenant assigned to the investigation.
The next witness was San Diego County Medical Examiner Dr. Brian Blackbourne. He testified that he was able to determine that the manner of death was homicide because of the circumstances in which the body was found. But he said he was unable to determine the cause of death or whether Danielle was sexually assaulted because of the state of the corpse.
The hearing was adjourned for lunch until 1:30 p.m.
Westerfield, a self-employed design engineer, lives two doors away from the van Dam home. He became the early focus of the police investigation after he told police that he left the neighborhood for a weekend trip to the beach and desert on the morning that Danielle’s disappearance was discovered. He was arrested days before the girl’s body was found after police said that Danielle’s blood was detected by DNA tests on his clothing and inside his motor home.
In addition, traces of DNA found on one of Danielle van Dam's garments 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.
So far, investigators have not said what they believe might have motivated Westerfield -- a divorced father of two -- to take Danielle van Dam from her home and family.
Westerfield has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, which include murder with special circumstances. Prosecutors have not decided if they will seek the death penalty if Westerfield is convicted.
