Posted on 03/01/2002 4:04:47 PM PST by FresnoDA
This entire issue in FR has been driven by facts that we don't have at this time.
But never fear, what facts weren't available were made up.
Still, indicative of casual neighborhood aquaintance, and that Westerfield was seeking contact with the Van Dams, rather than vice versa.
Daddy killed the girl and framed the neighbor.The wife has no clue what happened.
Hows that?
This applies equally to both or all opinions, Luis; even yours.
Here's a couple more that I've yet to see posted.
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Rev. Joseph Acton, an Episcopal priest and friend of Brenda and Damon van Dam, walks with 5-year-old Dylan van Dam, bother of Danielle, as they return to the Danielle search center in Poway, Calif., Thursday, Feb. 28, 2002. (AP Photo/Jack Smith) |
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Rev. Josh Acton of Saint Timothy's Episcopal Church leaves the home of Damon and Brenda van Dam Wednesday, Feb. 27, 2002, in San Diego after the family was informed that the body of child was found in El Cajon, Calif. Acton said he prayed with the family and consoled them. (AP Photo/Jack Smith) |
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28feb02
A NEIGHBOUR has been charged with the murder of seven-year-old San Diego schoolgirl Danielle Van Dam even though her body has not been found. David Westerfield, who turned 50 yesterday, also faced counts of kidnapping and possession of child pornography.
District Attorney Paul Pfingst filed a special circumstances attachment to the murder charge which means Westerfield faces execution if convicted. Danielle has been missing since February 1. Investigators believe Mr Westerfield abducted her from the bedroom of her parents' home and later killed her.
They revealed on Friday that DNA testing had uncovered traces of Danielle's blood on some of his clothing and in a campervan he took to the desert on February 2.
His fingerprints were also found in Danielle's bedroom.
"I must conclude that Danielle Van Dam is no longer living and was killed by her abductor," Mr Pfingst said outside court. The case has attracted national headlines in the US because Danielle's parents are "swingers" who belong to a partner-swapping club.
Reports said Brenda Van Dam was out with friends at a local pub on the night Danielle was taken. Her husband, Damon, was entertaining a friend at home.
The Van Dams have refused to talk about their sexual preferences, criticising the media for switching the focus away from the search for their child.
Westerfield has strenuously denied any involvement in Danielle's disappearance. But he has confirmed he was dancing and drinking with Mrs Van Dam at the pub on the night of February 1 and left before she did.
An extensive search that stretched from Mexico to the desert east of San Diego found no trace of Danielle.
Investigators became suspicious when he was the only neighbour of the Van Dams not present on February 2 for a wide search for Danielle.
It emerged he had gone camping and returned two days later.
The absence of a body creates a legal challenge, but the district attorney's office has successfully prosecuted four such cases, the most recent in August.
To try someone for murder without a body, prosecutors must establish a "reasonable probability" that the victim has died, said Justin Brooks, director of the California Innocence Project at California Western School of Law in San Diego.
"It's nowhere near as hard as proving something beyond a reasonable doubt, but it's a lot more than just showing blood stains," Brooks said.
Westerfield, a divorced father of two grown children, has a 1996 conviction for drunken driving but no violent criminal history, police said.
Freeper TXDeb menioned this article. Has ANYONE heard about Damon VD entertaining a friend at home while Brenda was out!!! UNBELIEVEABLE!!!!
Her husband, Damon, was entertaining a friend at home.
Do you think DW might have been framed for the child porn, too?
Use your imagination.
Only problem with that statement is that there are no national headlines in the US mentioning the fact that the van Dams are swingers.
Nope, imagination doesn't work in a court room when trying a killer.
The big time SD bailbondsman "King Stahlman", who put up a big chunk of the reward money, said that the husband of the wife who Damon was with called him with that information.
Just more grist for the rumor mill.
No, but that fact only adds to the evidence that he, like the van Dams, was into things that most of us consider disgusting. It doesn't automatically make him a murderer. It does make him an easy person to pin it on.
Don't get me wrong....I still think there's a good chance that he's guilty. I simply want to know the truth about the VDs and what they did that day, night, and the next morning.
I especially want to know what Damon was doing before the "bridge club" arrived. All stories leading up to that point are his and his alone. If he's proven to have lied about other things, all bets are off.
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