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.

[Rheo]

I cannot understand her, little girl voice that is muffled.

[Jaded]

See my post #655. You'll laugh.

[Rheo]

She testified that they could share a common source or not share a common souce..that they are not an exact match..only that they could share a source or not.

[Rheo]

lost feed

[Mrs.Liberty]

She testified that they could share a common source or not share a common souce..that they are not an exact match..only that they could share a source or not.

Well that certainly clarifies things...NOT!!

[GoRepGo]

break time

[jacquej]

oh, skipjack, you know how quick we "wimmin" can change our minds...

I still have pen in hand, but will not make out any check till the jury is in... too much "loosy-goosy circumstantial evidence" to "hang im high" so far...

But, that is just my "ever-so-umble" opinion, as usual, and I know full well that others may flame me for not buying the "secution's case...whole-hog"...

Love to put thing in quotes, as you can tell. Also love colloquialisms... "much madness is divinest sense"! (Emily Dickenson said that first, but it holds today!)

[Rheo]

Sounds like there is a big discrepency in the methods used to test certain fibers and not in others....feed is still gone or they are at sidebar with no visual.

[Rheo]

Thanks..that explains no feed.

[connectthedots]

What could be the possible source of the blue fibers found on Danielle, at least as the prosecution claims?

[Politicalmom]

WOW... What a smoking gun...

(ROLLING EYES)

[Jaded]

Carpet or seat fibers from a BLUE VAN, that has since been disposed of.

[cyncooper]

Naw, I didn't laugh. When the info starts in and dates get mentioned it is easy to miss if it is only mentioned once

[bvw]

SF Chroncile today: (FR) Partner Swapping Comes Out of Closet

[FresnoDA]

"Yes, I own neck ties...Why do you ask?"

Annette Peer testifies about her DNA testing on various items of evidence in the David Westerfield trial, June 20, 2002 in San Diego. Peer is employed by the San Diego Police Department's Crime Laboratory as a DNA Analyst. Westerfield is on trial for the kidnap and murder of seven-year-old Danielle van Dam. REUTERS/Nelvin Cepeda-San Diego Union Tribune, 2002/POOL

[Jaded]

It woulda been okay if you did laugh. Sometimes it's healthful. Maybe I'll code shriek next time. This just so bizarre. It really makes the OJ trial look dull, except for the hair flicking and prancing. Could you imagine Dusek or Feldman prancing? Neither has enough hair to flick. Lock in that visual.

[Spunky]

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.

In a house the size of Westerfield's and VanDams, are they still putting the washer and dryer in the garage?

[kcvl]

It's his job to be a schmoe

He can't prosecute someone without being a jerk? The prosecutors that I'm familiar with aren't that arrogant. They can ask questions without sounding like a smart ass.

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

Okay......blue fibers in the MH and blue fibers on and around the sheeted body of Danielle. I have not heard the source of the fibers. Where is the "blue" object?

These are fibers we are talking about.......little tiny fuzzies, if you will.

If the criminalist carried fibers on her shoes and got very close to the body and then walked into the MH with the same shoes, she could be the source. It is important to hear where the blue fibers orginated.

If not.....they are just blue fibers and more than one LE person was in several of the scenes in question. I am not big on the contamination and transfer idea, but when only a few fibers are scattered here and there, the source could easily have an innocent explanation.

[FresnoDA]

These SWINGERS simply make me go...EEWWW!!!! And YYUUCCKKK!!!!

'TIME TO MODERNIZE IT'

"Before Lush, there were only house or hotel parties," he said. "Everything felt very left-over from the '70s and '80s. I thought it was time to modernize it. We wanted to bring in the club lifestyle, have house music, make it cool."

Visitors to Lush pay $80 per couple. Single men or women are not admitted. A dress code is enforced -- no jeans or athletic attire allowed. The mantra of swingers is "no means no." If a couple asks another to "play," a no is to be taken as politely as yes.

On a recent Saturday night at Lush, situated on a side street near the city's Civic Center, couples danced to house music spun by a disc jockey and chatted with other couples seated at tall cafe tables or on love seats nearby. There were no drugs or alcohol for sale, although some couples had brought their own bottles of wine and champagne. A white-tablecloth buffet was set up, offering chocolates, strawberries, sodas and mineral water.

Throughout the night, which began at 10 and wound down after 3 a.m., couples made their way from the dance floor to the dimly lit upstairs.

Some couples spent the evening clothed, walking hand in hand, watching the action. Most, though, became active participants. Lockers were available to stash clothes and bags.

Two rooms had gauze curtains, offering the guise of privacy. Couples streamed by, pulling back curtains to peer in. In one room, a couple from Sonoma waited for partners. The husband was dressed, the wife lay nude on her stomach. Mattresses were covered in white sheets. A hallway decorated with faux vines led to one large room, with bunk-bed-style tiers of mattresses.

Bowls were filled with condoms. The upstairs bathroom included a shower.

PING....OKCERIC dude or whatever his/her name is.....LOL