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

(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.

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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.

John Walsh, host of "America's Most Wanted."

Video

John Walsh summarizes the case and reveals a possible clue.

Danielle -- the new JonBenet?

February 08, 2002

Could DANIELLE VAN DAM be the next JONBENET RAMSEY?

The seven-year-old second-grader from San Diego, who has been missing since Feb. 2, will have her story broadcast across the nation this Saturday night on " America's Most Wanted ."

"It's a heartbreaking case, I think every parent's worst nightmare -- your little seven-year-old daughter taken out of your home in the middle of the night," AMW host JOHN WALSH told ET.

"So far we're all at a dead end. A neighbor was a suspect. Police haven't completely eliminated him as a suspect, but they're not holding him right now. And the heartbreaking thing is the not knowing -- it's almost been a week."

Danielle was last seen on Friday night by her father, DAMON VAN DAM. He had put her to bed at approximately 10 p.m. in her bedroom on the second floor of their suburban family home. She was discovered missing Saturday morning when her mother, BRENDA, went to wake her and found her gone. Police are treating Danielle's disappearance as a kidnapping.

"In other cases like the JonBenet Ramsey case," says Walsh, "the parents didn't cooperate with police and didn't go in for polygraphs. That always creates innuendo and speculation. Danielle's parents have gone through hell. They've cooperated with the police from the beginning. They both passed polygraph tests. They're not suspects."

Brenda van Dam said she does not believe her daughter could have run away. And since the family is not wealthy, she does not think that anyone would have taken her daughter for ransom. Walsh believes the police need to look in the van Dams' own backyard.

"Right in [the van Dams'] wonderful middle-class neighborhood, where everybody thinks they're so safe, there are 13 registered sex offenders. The cops've got a lot of work to do -- they've got to check out every one of these sex offenders."

Danielle is described as four-feet tall, weighing 58 pounds with blue eyes and dark blonde hair. She may be wearing blue pajamas with small flowers.

"We're going to feature Danielle on ["America's Most Wanted"] Saturday night," reports Walsh. "We've been lucky enough and blessed enough to get 24 stranger-abducted missing children back alive, so when a child's face goes on "America's Most Wanted," millions of viewers see that child's face. We're praying for that one break. All we need is that one tip and maybe we can get Danielle back alive."

Police officials and family members have asked anyone with information on Danielle's whereabouts to call (619) 531-2000 or visit www.daniellemissing.com . The family also has set up a hotline for tips at (888) 664-6664 and the Millennium Children's fund is offering a $10,000 reward for any help leading to the safe return of Danielle.

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