I agree it should work that way but a large percentage of marriages don't survive a tragedy... especially one like this.
All of this show-boating in the trial is meant to inflame the jury.
As a juror, I'd be sitting there wondering where the evidence is...linking David Westerfield to the crime? They know the child is dead. The more the prosecution tries to make the van Dams appear "normal" the worse it looks for them, IMO.
sw