BREAKING: BRENDA VAN DAM DANCED WITH WESTERFIELD: (Modern Day Westside Story?)7-9-02 Trial Watch

KFMB ^ | July 9, 2002 | KFMB

[FresnoDA]

WITNESSES SAY BRENDA VAN DAM DANCED WITH DAVID WESTERFIELD

(07-08-2002) - Three defense witnesses testified Monday that Brenda van Dam and David Westerfield, the man accused of murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, danced together the night before the girl was discovered missing.

"Mr. Westerfield and Mrs. van Dam were dancing," said Patricia LePage, describing the scene at Dad's Cafe and Steakhouse the night of Feb. 1.

Since the prosecution introduced hair and fibers found at the defendant's house and motorhome, the defense has tried to show the evidence could have been transferred in some other way, such as dancing.

The 50-year-old defendant would face the death penalty if convicted of kidnapping and killing Danielle van Dam, who lived two houses away in Sabre Springs. He is also charged with misdemeanor possession of child pornography.

In testimony near the beginning of the trial, Brenda van Dam told the court she did not dance with Westerfield.

But LePage said van Dam rubbed her hips and chest against Westerfield during several dances together, recalling the movie "Dirty Dancing." That was just part of what LePage described as "frisky" behavior exhibited by van Dam that night.

LePage said she was in a smoking lounge at Dad's with her daughter, Cherokee Youngs, when van Dam came in and struck up a conversation with the younger woman.

"Well, she did ask my daughter if she liked girls," LePage said when asked to describe the conversation. Van Dam, she said, asked Youngs if she wanted to come to her house for a party later that night.

Youngs testified about the encounter last week.

Duane Blake, a fisherman who said he goes to Dad's a couple times a week, said he caught a glimpse of the defendant dancing with van Dam.

Blake confirmed an interview with the District Attorney's Office, in which he described their dancing as, "huggy, huggy." He testified he even thought Westerfield might be trying to pick up on van Dam.

Earlier Monday, another woman testified she saw Westerfield dance with Danielle's mother.

Glennie Nasland, who began her testimony last week, said she was on the dance floor and saw the pair turn toward each other while dancing with other people.

Nasland, who described herself as a friend of Westerfield, said she watched them for 20 seconds before they turned away again.

In other testimony Monday, Dave Laspisa said that going to the desert to look for friends, and without bringing an all-terrain vehicle, was not an unusual activity for Westerfield.

The witness, a self-employed Poway man, said he's known the defendant for 15 years and has camped with him near the Imperial County community of Glamis for 10 years.

The witness was one of several people who testified as the defense began to move away from what happened at a Poway night spot the night before Danielle was discovered missing Feb. 2 to Westerfield's weekend wanderings.

Westerfield's attorney, Steven Feldman asked Laspisa to explain why someone would avoid Interstate 8 while taking a motorhome to the desert. Laspisa said high winds and black ice were common on that route, which traverses altitudes over 4,000 feet.

Heather Mack, a security guard at Coronado Cays, testified that she saw Westerfield drive his motorhome into the exclusive neighborhood in the afternoon or evening hours of Feb. 3.

Mack said Westerfield smiled and waved at her as he drove past her security kiosk, but she never saw him again.

The witness told Dusek that she originally told a police officer that she "vaguely remembered" seeing the defendant's recreational vehicle.

Glen Seebruch, an engineering manager at Nokia, testified earlier that Westerfield called him the morning of Feb. 1 and told him he planned to go to the desert that weekend.

Feldman, told Judge William Mudd that his case may be completed by the end of the week.

Insect expert David Faulkner is expected to testify about how long the victim's body may have been in the East County before volunteer searchers found it on Feb. 27.

Feldman has said Westerfield would have had no opportunity to dispose of the body because he was under constant police surveillance from Feb. 4 until his arrest Feb. 22.

[FresnoDA]

Greetings all....I am back from making huge amounts of revenue off my existing customer base...what did I miss!!! FresnoDA

[Rheo]

Having her hold up and describe the microscopic slides of the fibers.....need a microscope to see the fibers...so small.....3/10"?

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

This was collected last Tuesday, 7/2/02.

JUST COLLECTED?????? You can't be serious.

[cyncooper]

There were a number of fibers and she called them blue or blue/gray as she looked at each individual fiber. The fibers found on and around Danielle and in DW's laundry, which she is testifying are similar to these, also were called blue and blue/gray alternately.

[Henrietta]

The Side GARAGE DOOR to DW's HOUSE was open, and whomever opened it and got in , had access to DW's garage, washer,dryer, and clothes, blankets, etc. THey could take that blanket to wrap Danielle in, and then point the police at DW later.

Ooh, you're goood! (for real, no sarcasm intended). I never thought of this. This, if true, would explain all the fibers, yes?

[Rheo]

If you hold slide up to light...cannot really see fibers...she can cuz she knows they are there.

[John Jamieson]

2 mm =.080 inch not .3 inch, stupid mistake!

[Jaded]

It's his job to be a schmoe, and his job is on the line. So is the DA's.

Did they just forget about this? This is more absurd than the OJ trial.

[skipjackcity]

"Do I have to leap back onto the fence again? It sounds damaging to Westerfield to me, so far..."....Do you think he's cashed that cheque you made out to the DW Legal Defense Fund yet?

[Jaded]

Yes. Oh yes.

[Rheo]

She said the tape lifts were taken on 2/6....didn't examine until 7/2..??

[Jrabbit]

Well how fair is this? When did Feldman get to see the evidence so he could cross??

[FresnoDA]

I did not flame anyone. I did not break any rules. If its bandwidth you're worried about, seems to me your posts to me are doing the same. And, if I do say so myself, I made a darned good suggestion. I hope she will start her own thread tomorrow.

GREAT SUGGESTION MIZ....

Let's start side by side threads tommorrow....

I betcha that it will take til' Noon for kimbo to get a hundred posts....by then, "our" thread will be closing in on 500.....

Well, is it a duel kim???

LOL

[FresnoDA]

I also vote NO....

[Jaded]

Or just tested. I might be mistaken. Something happened with them on 7/2.

[Rheo]

I'm not sure.....what and where were they from 2/6 until 7/2??....the orange fibers were not done by microspectrometry...just visually??..not sure I heard that right.

[UCANSEE2]

The Side GARAGE DOOR to DW's HOUSE was open, and whomever opened it and got in , had access to DW's garage, washer,dryer, and clothes, blankets, etc. THey could take that blanket to wrap Danielle in, and then point the police at DW later.

Then bring the blanket back after dumping Danielle somewhere, and put it back in DW's washer.

Remember, IF (and of course it is a big if) Damon was molesting and somehow killed Danielle or not molesting but still killed Danielle, HE WOULD BE DESPERATE (recently described by the pizza partiers as SOMBER), and SCHEME A WAY to protect his ass.

If he moved her in the VAN, CAN ANYONE see that maybe CARPET in a VAN and CARPET in a MH might be made of the SAME MATERIAL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ALMOST THE SAME COLOR !!!!!!

[cyncooper]

This is where I have a real problem with the forensic specialists going from one crime scene to another.

Wasn't one of them in the MH, at the recovery scene and at the autopsy? Even if it was not on the same day, my guess is that at the very least, she likely wore the same shoes.

But if you posit that fibers were carried from one scene to the autopsy by an individual how would the fibers (several---not one or even just two) make it to the examining table to come to rest on the body sheet and within Danielle's hair?

Plus, in addition to the MH, DW's laundry, Danielle's hair and the body sheet,these fibers were also in the vegetation where she was found, making yet another place these fibers were found.

[Rheo]

Gonna need the transcripts for the testing stuff done and not done...missing it all.

[cyncooper]

I *thought* she testified that she had collected these tape lifts in February but didn't analyze them until last week.