Posted on 03/15/2002 6:08:11 PM PST by The Right Stuff
Disquieting Disclosures -
The Unbearable Sadness of the Danielle Van Dam Story
by Jennifer King, Senior Editor
March 15, 2002
"The Heretical Housewife"
There should be no quarter given to those who abuse and defile the trust placed in them by an innocent child. Child molesters are heinous creatures, destroyers of the future who themselves deserve to be dispatched in the most hideous way possible. Whoever murdered Danielle Van Dam (right), whoever dumped her soft little body into dirty scrub brush by the side of the road to be mauled and desecrated by the fangs of wild animals, deserves to die an equally painful and inglorious death. And, Danielle’s parents, Damon and Brenda Van Dam, deserve our heartfelt sympathy for the disastrous loss of their little girl in such a horrid manner.
However, disquieting revelations have been floating around this case since Danielle disappeared on February 1st, 2002. First disclosed by radio talk-show host Rick Roberts, these rumors have been linked to an unnamed San Diego Law Enforcement Officer (LEO). The rumors alleged that the Van Dam’s were “swingers”, who had a special room set up in their garage - with inside locks - where eager participants had orgies replete with heavy drinking and pot smoking.
The Van Dam’s, on their appearances on Larry King Live and America’s Most Wanted, seemed evasive, dodging questions about their personal lifestyle. They also almost immediately hired a PR firm, whose spokesman likewise deflected this line of questioning without denying it outright.
Thursday, in court hearings, both Brenda and Damon Van Dam seemed to verify some of these allegations. At the very least, the Van Dam behavior and home life can be said to have been highly unusual.
Brenda Van Dam (left) gave some staggering testimony. Among the stunners were the revelation that she had left 7-year old Danielle alone, trying on clothes, in Mervyn’s, while she hunted down her 5 and 10-year old sons who were “at other stores” in the same mall. Then, Brenda admitted that she had noticed her neighbor, David Westerfield (right), the accused killer, at a Poway bar, “Dad’s”, the previous Friday, January 25th. Van Dam, who was with two friends, Barbara and Denise, admitted under questioning, that the three women had been dancing together, suggestively, with Barbara even attempting to fondle Brenda’s breasts.
According to testimony, the following week, Brenda Van Dam, Danielle and her brother went over to Westerfield’s house in order to sell him some Girl Scout cookies. Westerfield asked Van Dam why she hadn’t introduced him to her friends, who, he allegedly said, “looked really fun“. She also testified that Westerfield had told her that he often had “adult BBQ’s”, at which, according to Van Dam, he said, “He would provide the salad, but everyone had to bring their own meat.“ Van Dam testified that she told Westerfield to meet her and her friends at "Dad’s" the following Friday, and she would then introduce him to her friends.
On February 1st, the day Danielle would disappear, the following events transpired, according to Van Dam’s testimony. Brenda returned with the kids at approximately 5:30, then went out to pick up pizza for dinner, leaving the children alone in the house. After dinner, her two girlfriends, Denise and Barbara, came over and stayed about 15 minutes. The three women each had a beer, then they and Brenda’s husband Damon, met in the garage, where they smoked part of a joint (marijuana cigarette).
At approximately 8:30 p.m., the three women went to “Dad’s” where they met up with Westerfield. Westerfield bought them all drinks (Brenda testified that she had three cranberry-vodkas, one shot of tequila and one Red Bull). Westerfield says he danced with Van Dam, she initially denied it, but testified under oath that she “couldn’t recall.” She did admit to “slow dancing” with an older man, and testified that Denise and Barbara were “sexual dancing” with each other and with other women in the bar.
Van Dam also testified that the girlfriends met up with two men named “Rich and Keith.” Rich was alleged to be the pot connection, in later testimony given by Damon Van Dam. Supposedly, Keith was very interested in Barbara, and confided to Brenda that he had “popped a “V”, apparently referring to a Viagra pill. He allegedly asked Brenda to facilitate a tryst between the two.
At 2:00 a.m., when closing time was announced, the three women got in Brenda’s truck (allegedly taking hits from the same joint they had smoked earlier) and the two men drove in another vehicle to the Van Dam home. Damon, who was allegedly asleep in his underwear in his own bed, was awakened by Barbara, who climbed on top of the bed. Damon admits to “kissing” Barbara, and “rubbing her back”.
Brenda Van Dam came upstairs about 15 minutes later, informed the couple that they were being “rude” and that they should join the rest of the ensemble downstairs. Yet, after pizza, the remaining guests allegedly left. The Van Dam’s assert that they went to bed at approximately 2:30 a.m. They did not consider checking on their children then, and did not realize that Danielle was missing until approximately 9:30 a.m. the next morning.
Danielle’s naked and decomposed body was found by volunteer searchers on February 27th.
Whether her parent’s lifestyle had anything to do with her death is debatable. Surely, the Van Dams love their children, aged 10, 7 (Danielle) and 5. Yet the Van Dams appear to have engaged in a lot of activities which could be directly and indirectly injurious to their family. There aren’t too many families, for example, where the mother leaves her young children alone while she runs out to pick up dinner. There aren’t too many devoted mothers who routinely spend Friday nights dirty-dancing at the local bar. Wise parents who exercise sound oversight do not partake in the heavy drinking and pot smoking which appear to have occurred on a regular basis in the Van Dam household.
And, most parents simply do not invite a group of drunken, pot-addled barflys over to their home at 2 o’clock in the morning, while their innocent children sleep only a few rooms away. One wonders whether either Damon or Brenda’s “friend” Barbara, ever considered what the children would think should they awaken and find their father with a woman who wasn‘t their mother rolling around on their parent’s bed.
Many dark theories abound as to what might actually have transpired between the Van Dams and David Westerfield. According to the defense attorney, witnesses have offered to come forward to testify that, not only DID Brenda Van Dam dance with Westerfield, but she did so exclusively and in a suggestive manner. Nevertheless, Westerfield may indeed be solely responsible for the murder of Danielle, and if he is found guilty than he should fry.
However, the Van Dam’s do appear to have fostered, at the very minimum, a home environment where the least suitable people would often be around their most precious assets. Their little girl, unfortunately, was the one who paid the price. ***
© 2002 Jennifer King
COPYRIGHT © 2002 BY THE AMERICAN PARTISAN. All writers retain rights to their work.
Hmmm.
Hmmm. I find a lot of discrepancies in the parent's stories, also I find it not implausible that those engaged in the aforementioned kinky acts might not engage their unwilling daughter in those unsavory activities.
Maybe I read too many "whodunit" novels.
I don't think anyone who's followed this case would rule out that possibility. And/or, if the VDs were into bizarre cult of some sort, which might go along with their lifestyle, Danielle might have been sacrificed in some evil ceremony. Yah, we both read too many novels, but truth is often stranger than....
Shame on the Van Dams for creating an environment where slugs like Westerfield can carry out their crimes.
Anxiety, worries grip missing girl's parents http://video.uniontrib.com/news/metro/danielle/20020207-9999_1n7girl.html February 7, 2002
***The nonprofit Millennium Children's Fund has offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to Danielle's safe return. The child-advocacy group is based in Beverly Hills. Douglas Pierce, who works with the fund, spent an hour in the house with the family yesterday.
"I visited Danielle's room and it was very emotional, very overwhelming," Pierce said. "There were all her favorite things waiting for her." The room is painted in Danielle's favorite colors, pink with purple trim. Alongside Danielle's bed was her favorite toy, a giant green frog that she hugged at night. A Barbie doll sat near a collection of stuffed toys. A journal was open to the last entry, penned last week about good will, Pierce said.
http://video.uniontrib.com/news/metro/danielle/20020228-9999_1n28girl.html
Danielle often wrote her parents letters. The last night she was seen alive, she hugged and kissed her father as he tucked her into bed.
Her parents reported her missing Feb. 2 after her mother went to wake her and she wasn't in her canopy bed.
Her friends' parents described her as strong-headed but obedient. She loved to go to sleepovers with her friends, and parents didn't mind inviting her over, said Paula Call, whose daughter Sara was a friend of Danielle's.
"It's a joy to have her come to your home," Call said in an interview soon after Danielle disappeared. "She's really a well-rounded little girl."
http://video.uniontrib.com/news/metro/danielle/20020217-9999_1mi17vandam.html
"She enjoys being a little girl," said family friend Paula Call.
Danielle's friends and her classmates at Creekside Elementary School describe her as a sweet, quiet girl who laughs a lot.
Danielle is an obedient, well-mannered child who asks her mother's permission to cross the street or get a snack from the refrigerator. She likes to color and play with dolls, and she recently started taking piano lessons. She's enrolled in a ballet class and loves reading and writing.
The night before her disappearance, she was reading and writing while her father and brothers played video games. Later in the evening, just before she went to bed, she was teaching her 5-year-old brother, Dylan, to read.
Nearly every day she jotted down her thoughts in a journal she kept at home.Danielle sometimes explored complex topics for a 7-year-old, like how she could change the world, Call said. Brenda, a stay-at-home mother, was the "cookie mom" for Danielle's Brownie troop and volunteers regularly in her children's classrooms. "She loved for me to be there," Brenda van Dam said. The mother and daughter are very close, said Call, the family friend. Brenda van Dam, who has referred to Danielle as her "best friend," often took her daughter with her to appointments at a beauty salon, and Danielle would sit in a massaging chair while her mother got manicures. Last year, she took Danielle to get her nails painted and her hair styled for a father-daughter dance at her elementary school. Yesterday, her mother hung ribbons at a park near their home to keep Danielle in people's minds.
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