Posted on 03/16/2002 12:09:40 PM PST by FresnoDA
Parents drug use, sex lives steal focus
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SAN DIEGO (Court TV) The parents of Danielle van Dam took the stand Thursday at a preliminary hearing for their daughter's accused killer and tearfully recalled the circumstances of the 7-year-old's abduction from her bedroom. Asked what she found when she went to wake her daughter on the morning of Feb. 2, a red-eyed Brenda van Dam replied, "an empty bed." But the girl's disappearance and murder quickly took a back seat to questions about her parents' drug use, drinking habits and sex life. Brenda and Damon van Dam acknowledged smoking marijuana and drinking alcohol the night their daughter vanished from her bedroom. A lawyer for murder suspect David Westerfield also repeatedly quizzed the pair about rumors they were "swingers," sexually involved with others.
Judge H. Ronald Domnitz precluded many of the questions as irrelevant, but Brenda van Dam admitted a female friend tried to grope her breasts in a bar that night. And her husband said he had a relationship with the same woman and had kissed and massaged her in his bed the night his daughter went missing. Westerfield, a 50-year-old engineer who lived two doors down from the van Dams, is accused of kidnapping the second-grader from her bedroom the night of Feb. 1 and killing her. Her body, too decomposed to determine a cause of death, was discovered in a trash-strewn lot Feb. 27. Spots of Danielle's blood were found in Westerfield's recreational vehicle and on his jacket, according to police. They said they also recovered child pornography from his home and suspect a sexual motive. At the close of the three-day hearing Thursday afternoon, Domnitz ruled there was sufficient evidence to try Westerfield for kidnapping and murder. He will be arraigned March 28. Prosecutors have not decided whether they will seek the death penalty. Brenda van Dam, who like her husband wore a picture of her daughter on her lapel, testified that almost all of her contact with Westerfield came in the week preceding her daughter's abduction. On Jan. 25, she said, she saw him at Dad's, a neighborhood bar where she had gone with two female friends. He bought her a cranberry and vodka cocktail, but she said she could not remember what they talked about and still did not know his name.
Several days later, she said, she, her son Dylan and Danielle went to Westerfield's home while selling Girl Scout cookies. Westerfield formally introduced himself and bought four boxes of cookies. While the children ran around his pool, she and Westerfield talked, she testified. He wanted to get to know her female friends, she said. "He said to tell them I had a rich neighbor to introduce them to," she testified. She said she told Westerfield that she and her friends might return to Dad's the next Friday if she could get a baby sitter. Her husband, she recalled telling him, would be out of town. As she left his house, Westerfield took her phone number and told her he "had adult parties and also barbecues" and planned to invite her and her husband to them, she testified. She said she found the comment so strange that she called her husband at work when she got home. "It struck me as odd that he mentioned adult parties. I didn't know what he meant by that," she said. On cross-examination, she denied Feldman's charge that she was tickled because "there were others in your neighborhood allegedly engaged in the swinging lifestyle." The van Dam's testified that on Feb. 1, Brenda and her two female friends planned to go to Dad's bar and Damon, his trip postponed, to stay home with the three children. Damon van Dam said he drank two beers with dinner and a third later. When the friends, identified as Denise Kamal and Barbara Easton, arrived, the adults went into the garage, locked the door and shared half a marijuana joint. The boys played video games while Danielle sat at the kitchen table writing in her journal. Brenda van Dam said she had smoked marijuana about 30 times before, and both testified they had the garage lock specially set to keep the children from happening upon them. Damon van Dam said he had one or two hits and Brenda said she had "three or four puffs." "Did it get you high?" asked defense lawyer Steven Feldman. "I did," she said. The women left for the bar, and Damon van Dam said he played video games with his sons and then put all three children to bed at about 10 p.m. Danielle, he said, was already in her four-poster bed when he entered the room to tuck her in. "I gave her a kiss goodnight," he said. He left her door and those of her brothers open about eight inches, he said. After watching television and walking the dog, he went to bed, he said. He testified that the dog, Leila, was raised with dogs who had their larynx removed and almost never barked. Brenda van Dam said that when she arrived at the bar, Westerfield was there with two friends and offered to buy her and her friends drinks. "He said, Ladies don't buy their own drinks and threw some money on the counter," she testified. She said that over the course of the evening, she had three cranberry and vodka cocktails and a shot of tequila. She said she did not know how many Westerfield bought because her friends just kept passing them to her. She also said she went to the parking lot with Easton, Kamal and two male friends and smoked the rest of the joint. "How clearheaded were you," Dusek asked. "I think I was very clearheaded," she said. At one point, she and her friends played pool with Westerfield's friends. She said she noticed him watching them. She said she danced with her male friends and a male stranger and then with Kamal and Easton. Under cross-examination, she admitted that Easton and Kamal were dancing provocatively with each other, and that she told investigators Easton tried to grab her breasts. Brenda van Dam denied ever dancing with Westerfield, but before the hearing ended, the defense listed several bystanders who said they had seen the pair on the dance floor together. At 1:50 a.m., the bar closed and she drove Kamal and Easton back to her house. The two male friends also joined them. Damon van Dam said he had just returned to bed from taking the dog out again when his wife and friends arrived home. Brenda van Dam said as she walked into the house, the security alarm indicated a door in the garage was ajar. The alarm was not hooked up to a security company and did not sound continuously when a door or window opened. She said she closed it and then she and Easton went to the master bedroom. Easton, he said, got on the bed. "I put my arm around her and kissed her and rubbed her back," said Damon van Dam, adding that he could not remember whether his wife was in the room at the time, but she later left. On cross-examination, Feldman asked if he and Easton had a relationship with her and he said "Yes." Eventually, he and Easton joined the two men and Brenda van Dam in the living room. After eating pizza, the guests left and the van Dams went to bed about 2:30 without looking in on their children. Damon van Dam said that sometime during the night, he woke to use the restroom and noticed a flashing light on the alarm panel. He went downstairs and found the sliding back door slightly ajar. He closed it, thinking one of his guests had opened it, and returned to bed. At 9 the next morning, Brenda found Danielle's bed empty. "We started looking everywhere," she said. "What was your state of mind?" Dusek asked. "Frantic," she said. |
San Diego police Detective James Watkins testified that police copied the hard drives of four personal computers, including a laptop and a Palm Pilot, in Westerfield's home. They also seized three disks and three CD-ROMS found in an envelope on a bookcase in the house.
Westerfield's computer files were "highly organized" into various folders and subfolders, some with titles that made sexual references, said Watkins, a computer-forensics specialist.
Although police found thousands of pictures on the hard drives and disks, fewer than 100 were of a "questionable" nature, Watkins testified.
The latter category included pictures of young females engaged in sexual poses and acts with animals; minor females engaged in sexual poses or sex acts; and graphic animated cartoons depicting young girls being bound with rope or leather and sexually assaulted, Watkins said.
Westerfield's collection of computer photos also included pictures of his girlfriend's daughter in a bikini, Watkins said. The girl was in her "early to mid-teens" and was pictured in various poses that might be interpreted as sexually provocative, Watkins testified.
There is also a video of Watkin's testimony where he is asked about pictures and says:
There are pictures that appear to be girls under the age of 18. They appear to be in sexually explicit poses.
The lawyer asks:
Do they also appear to be engaged in sexual acts?
To which Watkins responds:
Yes sir.
It's possible; maybe when Brenda says to the media she "sells books to libraries", she is actually making the rounds of San Diego area houses of sleaze and Adult bookstores with her collection of amateur tapes. Are there any librarians down there that have done business with Brenda and throw some light on this?
Drug distribution can be far more lucrative, however.
when asked later about whether they were sexual poses and sexual acts, the detective had to pause and look at all of the pages before he added yes sexual acts...
the video does not show the cross exam which included statements attributed to Detective Armstrong who found no prepubescent pictures
from questions asked by defense on cross exam, I surmise that the females could well be 18 or over but some may look younger by fact of underdevelopment and other things that could be modified to make them look prepubescent....remember the Prosecution wants to paint a bad picture and it may well be bad but that remains to be seen...I can imagine someone being curious and looking a pics like that once but to keep them if they are real child porn is IMO unnatural, but not necessarily indicative of guilt of rape and murder
I have a hard time believing one time sexual/violence predators can risk everything for a sexual/violence urge, but apparently it happens...For someone to act on a sexual or violent urge and put their whole life, reputation and good things they have done at risk baffles me. Clearly anyone who molests and kills children (or adults) has a screw loose and should be delt with severely. For those that follow Darwin, does not self survival rank higher in priorities that survival of species?
I also recall the SD U-T reporting that the motor home was so full of clorox fumes that the dogs wouldn't even enter it.
It has been suggested that the kidnapper employed chloroform (CHCl3) to knock out Danielle during her abduction and subsequent captivity. It would be important to determine how long vapors would linger in an enclosed space after use of chloroform. Places to use chloroform would be Danielle's room, and at any time afterwards when she began to stir. Was anything unusual sniffed in the van Dam house on the morning of Feb 1st?
It was noted in Danielle's autopsy that fluid was found in the lungs. Was this a natural by-product of death and decomposition or exposure to a chemical irritant?
It appears that chloroform can cause "chemical pneumonia". In addition, the liver may be damaged and the eyes burned. In Danielle's case the eyes were gone and the liver partly gone. Chloroform is heavy relative to air and will settle in low and confined areas. Note that the Danielle's room door was found open as well as the sliding glass door the floor below - was this done to allow the vapors to leave the house?
Hazardous Material Report: Chloroform
Please also note from the coroner's testimony:
[13:43] body mummified [13:43] eyes gone [13:44] destroyed by animals [13:44] skin and muscles gone [13:44] legs gown to bone, foot absent [13:44] he put body in body bag and sheet [13:45] bagged hands, feet and head [13:45] I guess it was a good place to leave a body if you wanted it destroyed [13:45] hands were intact? [13:45] what of clothing? [13:45] no clothes [13:45] he said no clothes also [13:46] autopsy the next day [13:46] bug expert at autopsy [13:46] entolomogst on staff [13:46] photos taken - about 15 on scene - 30 at 4 hour autopsy [13:47] trace evidenc - like clipping fingernails and mouth swabs taken then [13:47] diagram made [13:47] open chest and abdomen [13:47] describe external exam [13:48] animal activity and decomposition [13:48] both earrings [13:48] hair and earring described [13:48] both earrings there - [13:48] plastic necklace [13:48] no clothes [13:48] the back was missing from the left one [13:48] face entact, mummiffied [13:49] skin of face intact but mummified [13:50] below ribcage, organs missing [13:50] bowel parts missing, from animals [13:51] chest organs intact [13:51] fluid in pleural cavity - taken for exam [13:51] heart and lungs seemed normal [13:51] though decomposing [13:51] bowel pulled from body [13:51] all genitalia missing [13:51] rectum partly there, severely decomposed [13:51] heart normal [13:51] lungs had some edema - better preserved than the rest of the organs [13:51] below the rib cage [13:51] missing rgans due to animal activity [13:51] liver part there - bowel part here [13:51] animals had been at her
They need to run for Congress
BUMP!!!!
I assume you are not a follower of God's laws or a believer in the Judeo-Christian belief system.
For those of us that are, who experience the same lusts and desires, and even on occasion partake of them, know in the end that there will be an accounting. We believe and return to the knowledge that a spiritual battle is waging around us and what may appear to be peace and safety is in fact a fool's paradise.
Brenda van Dam said she barely knew Westerfield, but as the story came out with her on the stand, she knew a bit more. She knew not only that his kitchen had been redone but that he was a "rich neighbor" interested in meeting her friends and that he was interested in adult parties. (Not "family affairs, please note - but ADULT parties) She had his name and number and expected he would be at Dad's on February 1st.
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Has Brenda been sexually intimate with Barbara? She was asked in court and obviously did not want to respond. That's OK, there was an objection made and she didn't have to answer - but her face told me that she is holding secrets and protecting people - and I think her priorities are screwed up.
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"He said, 'I have adult parties and barbecues,'" Brenda said under oath.
When she got home, she called her husband Damon.
She denied making the call out of disbelief because she didn't realize there were others in her neighborhood engaged in the "swinging" lifestyle.
"I called my husband at work because it struck me as odd that he mentioned they were adult parties and I didn't know what he meant by that," she testified.
Judge Domnitz stopped the witness from answering when Feldman asked her to explain a "swinging lifestyle." Instead, the judge asked her: "Do you know what a swinging lifestyle is?"
"Yes," she answered.
I think the woman was being less than honest in her testimony - and when Damon was asked about this conversation he couldn't remember much.
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I don't believe the van Dams told the SDPD about the marijuana right off - - and Brenda SURE didn't want to admit in court that Rich had supplied the grass that night.
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...at one point the group outside the bar to smoke the remainder of the marijuana cigarette in her truck, van Dam testified.
I don't think that's all they did. One marijuana cigarette for the whole night? In the garage Damon got 2 hits - each female 3 or 4. Then there were at least 5 people smoking off the rest of that joint in the parking lot? No 2nd or 3rd joint?
Nope - I don't believe it.
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Barbara and Damon had "a relationship". Not clear how long that had been going on.
On the night of the murder, they were on his bed together necking and petting until Brenda told them to stop being rude and to join the party. I will note Brenda did NOT bring the others upstairs to join the fun. I personally don't think Brenda was as into the "swinging" idea as Damon was. JMO.
Damon van Dam admitted under questioning by Feldman that he had not told investigators about those events until after Barbara was questioned separately and the investigators came back to him.
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Then we have a mother who says she is very careful - - but we know she leaves the kids home alone - alone in dressing rooms and stores. Are we really to think she KNOWS that Danielle never was in DW's RV when it was parked in his yard? I don't believe for a minute that Brenda can swear to that.
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There are other things that will come out - - the lies came from the van Dam house. I think that is important to note.
Fresno might have it archived.
POWAY BAR SUFFERS FROM VAN DAM 'SWINGERS CLUB' RUMORS
( 03-16-2002 ) - The city of Poway isn't universally known for its bar scene, but in the aftermath of the Danielle van Dam kidnapping and murder, one of its local watering holes is getting some unwanted attention.
Dad's Cafe is the bar where Brenda van Dam shared a few drinks with David Westerfield the night her daughter disappeared. Westerfield is the van Dam's neighbor in Sabre Springs who is currently on trial for the kidnapping and murder of seven-year-old Danielle.
The owner of Dad's Cafe has not allowed media to enter his establishment since the Danielle van Dam story began, but he said that he was tired of rumors that his establishment was a swingers club.
And locals said that it is also a restaurant, and that many families are often patrons.
"Dads is and has always been very comfortable, very relaxed, and welcoming," said one Dad's patron. "It makes me mad when I hear people call it a swingers place."
Brenda van Dam testified in court this week that she and two female friends were at Dad's the night Danielle was kidnapped, as was Westerfield. Her testimony also revealed that the women danced provocatively and smoked marijuana in the bar's parking lot.
Danielle van Dam was first reported missing on the morning of February 2. She was last seen when her father, Damon van Dam, tucked her into bed at approximately 10 p.m. Friday. Her body was later found after Westerfield was arrested.
Memorial for slain San Diego 7-year-old girl
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![]() By Leonard Novarro REUTERS March 16, 2002
Nearly 400 people braved heavy winds and a brief downpour to attend the memorial service at a park overlooking the Pacific Ocean that was one of the blond, blue-eyed child's favorite places to visit. "We will always cherish the time we spent with her," said her father, Damon, who broke down during the ceremony when reading a tribute to his daughter. "Her favorite places were the school, the park and especially the beach." The 50-minute memorial, which ended with the release of dozens of pink and purple balloons into the partially overcast sky, came two days after the 50-year-old neighbor charged with abducting and murdering van Dam was ordered to stand trial. David Westerfield, a self-employed engineer who lived two doors away from the van Dams, has pleaded innocent to possession of child pornography and to charges of kidnapping and murdering Danielle. Her badly decomposed body was discovered in a rural area outside San Diego on Feb. 27, a month after she was snatched from her suburban bedroom in the middle of the night. Westerfield, who is twice divorced, became a prime suspect early on, in part because he took a trip to the desert the day after Danielle vanished and cleaned his motor home upon returning. Some in the crowd cried and hugged each other during the ceremony during which several of Danielle's friends and classmates read tributes to the girl and visitors signed a children's blanket. The Rev. Joseph Acton, the van Dam family pastor, tried to explain why Danielle's abduction and murder affected so many people. "We all feel like Danielle was our own child," Acton said from a podium flanked by two large portraits of the little girl. "Some deep wound in us has been opened by her being taken away." |
The Rev. Joseph Acton, the van Dam family pastor
No Comment!!!!
That poor little girl.
Ditto....they are now saying that it was their "personal life"...BRAVO SIERRA...
the VD's must be held accountable for the facts known..
KNOWN DRUG ABUSERS
KNOWN TO DRINK AND DRIVE
KNOWN TO CONDONE AN "OPEN MARRIAGE"
All are great libertarian values.....
But one would question not a very safe (AS IS OBVIOUS) environment for children.....
Where is the San Diego County CPS agency??? Is POWAY exempt from their jurisdiction??? (sarcasm/off)
NONSMOKER
Does not smoke. If used in personal ad means only those who do not smoke are sought for swinging purposes.
Hey, it's okay if you swing from the chandeliers with any Tom, Dick or Harry, but just don't be a smoker!
Yeah, smoking is disgusting!
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