Posted on 04/25/2002 9:15:24 AM PDT by FresnoDA
By J. Harry Jones
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
April 25, 2002
A San Diego Superior Court hearing has been scheduled for 9 a.m. today for David Westerfield, the Sabre Springs man accused of kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.
The attorneys involved in the case are prohibited from discussing it because of a gag order, but it is possible that prosecutors will announce whether they will seek the death penalty against the self-employed engineer.
His attorneys have insisted on Westerfield's right to a speedy trial, which is scheduled to begin May 17. He is being held in County Jail without bail.
After Westerfield's arrest Feb. 22, prosecutors filed special allegations in the case, accusing him of committing murder during a kidnapping, which gives them the option of seeking his execution if convicted.
District Attorney Paul Pfingst has a protocol on reaching a decision that usually takes several months; the case is reviewed by a panel of senior prosecutors. Defense attorneys also have the option of meeting with Pfingst.
It has been just over two months since the charges against Westerfield were brought, and because of the gag order it has not been possible to determine whether the panel made a recommendation or if Westerfield's attorneys met with Pfingst.
The district attorney makes the final decision. If he chooses not to seek the death penalty, Westerfield would face a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
Danielle's family lived two doors from Westerfield. Her parents reported her missing Feb. 2, and police quickly focused on Westerfield as the prime suspect.
Prosecutors said DNA testing proved that blood found on some of Westerfield's clothing and in his motor home was Danielle's.
Volunteer searchers found the girl's body Feb. 27 east of El Cajon in a stand of oak trees just off Dehesa Road. The cause of death has not been determined because of decomposition of the body, officials said.
Yet, as stated before, it would appear that Damon had a VERY EXTENSIVE FAMILIARITY with the area.
Seems like the Police, investigators have done a lot of jumping to conclusions as if they had ATLAS ROCKET BOOSTERS tied to their posteriors.
What the DA wants the public to think, is that they missed finding her body because it was under the trees, and off the road.
It just doesn't literally pass the "smell test", as gross as that sounds. Someone would have noticed the oder.
Jaded, I can't shake the feeling that DW didn't do it. I'm surprising myself with this...
sw
Garcia, Bill, private investigator who coordinated the 20 person volunteer group that searched the area of Dehesa road "on a hunch", finding the body of Danielle van Dam around 2:15 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 27 after another search party had checked the site on Saturday.
tonite, someone said in chat that they knew someone who sat in on the dp meeting , and that person said that they had all the evidence..
now, don't know how to take that, or to even beleive it, but in your best estimate, what would it take as far as evidence to make the da so damn sure of himself..
I just keep thinking that a video was made somehow...
I also think that dani was probably brought downstairs or went downstairs and I think that there were drugs involved.
. I think that somehow perhaps she was taken with damon's approval.
what are your gut feelings..cherry
Remember how most everyone was certain the child had been dumped and buried in the desert sand? Remember how there were whispers she would "never be found"? Remember how the odds were David Westerfield most certainly hid her body so well in the desert, she would probably never be found?
Fast forward to a long-shot search by the side of the road, which came up empty the first time, then BINGO, we have a body the second time.
{Go back and look till you find her!}
It isn't out of the question to ask if someone knew exactly where to look...not at all.
sw
I think it's smart to be skeptical of claims on the internet. On some boards, you get people who even claim to be on the DA's staff and know all sorts of things--probably it's some 14 year old giggling in front of his home computer. But some people might be genuine too. Hard to tell who is who sometimes, so I don't always give much weight to these "insider" claims. Especially with the gag order, which seems to include almost anyone in the defense attorneys' offices, the police dept. and the DA office.
I've read elsewhere that the DP had been considered from the beginning, and that current evidence might not have anything to do with this latest announcement. Others have said that surely they would not go forward with the DP unless they're extremely well-prepared. It might be that the prosecution is holding all the aces, or, depending on who's telling it, they're bluffing big time. Since I'm not an attorney, I don't know what to make of it--who's right on this, anyone know?
If the prosecution is holding a bunch of aces, I would think it would have to be something that could not be disputed in the jury room. I had never thought of a video tape. If one exists, it would certainly be difficult--ha! impossible!--to explain! Likewise finding Westerfield's DNA under Danielle's fingernails (the scratches on his arm don't look like fingernail scratches, but if there's skin under her fingernails, that would settle it), or possibly Westerfield's personal property or DNA in Danielle's bedroom would probably do the trick.
May I ask why you think there might be a video? Just a hunch? Or have you heard something? Info junkies want to know!
SPDP reports indicate that one of the dogs hit on something inside David Westerfield's house and on the outside of his RV. Why was there NO hit inside the RV?
'Splain that. We know the RV wasn't cleaned. Even Febreeze wouldn't be that good. There was no indication that she was in the SUV, that we know of. Besides wouldn't SDPD have kept it if there was evidence. Who's car was used to transport her to Dehesa?
2-year-old left alone for few minutes; search is on
By Pauline Repard and Kevin Clerici
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
April 26, 2002
Police searched intensely last night for a 2-year-old boy who vanished from Balboa Park when his stepfather left him for a short time.
Tieray Jones, 23, told San Diego police he had taken the boy, Jahi Turner, to a playground near 28th and Cedar streets about 2:30 p.m. Jones said he walked to a nearby vending machine for a soda and returned 15 minutes later to find that the boy was gone.
A woman who Jones said had been at the playground with two other children also was gone, and, as of last evening, she had not been found, said San Diego police spokesman David Cohen.
The hunt, with dogs, helicopter, sheriff's search-and-rescue volunteers on horseback and foot, reminded neighbors of the intense efforts to find 7-year-old Danielle van Dam in February.
The girl's body was found in Dehesa three weeks after she disappeared from her parents' Sabre Springs home. A neighbor, David Westerfield, faces trial on charges of kidnapping and murder.
"It makes sense to think of it (Danielle's kidnapping)," said Carol Brown, who lives on 28th Street near the playground. "I'd never think about leaving a 2-year-old alone for a minute."
Jones told officers that he searched near the playground, at the eastern edge of Balboa Park near a golf course, for 15 minutes before calling police. Patrol officers arrived within 10 minutes and began searching restrooms, the golf course and a nearby eucalyptus grove.
Detectives began going house-to-house with a photo of the boy.
Jahi is described as a light-skinned African-American, weighing about 30 pounds, 30 inches tall, with black hair. He was wearing a blue, long-sleeved shirt with an embroidered image of Winnie the Pooh and possibly Tigger. He also wore blue nylon cargo pants with an orange drawstring at the waist and Michael Jordan sneakers.
Jahi turned 2 in February.
"Right now all we have is a missing child," Cohen said last evening as the sun set over the quiet neighborhood of large, elegant old two-story homes near the park.
"At this point, there are any number of things this could be. We have no reason to suspect the father's story."
Jahi's mother, identified by police as Tameka Jones, 18, is a Navy seaman and had been deployed on Monday for a weeklong sea cruise on the dock landing ship Rushmore. Navy officials said they put her aboard a small boat and took her to San Diego last night.
Cohen said the Joneses had taken an apartment on Beech Street, several blocks east of Balboa Park, about two weeks ago. Tameka Jones traveled to Frederick, Md., last weekend to get her son, who had been staying there with his grandmother. Mother and son returned to San Diego on Monday, before she joined her ship.
Late into the night, 53 police officers and about 60 sheriff's search-and-rescue volunteers gathered at a command post at 28th and Cedar, near the family's apartment, to plan their search patterns. They scoured nearby canyons, including ones near Grape Street Park. In the afternoon, the police helicopter had crisscrossed the area, broadcasting information about the missing boy.
Pauline Repard: (619) 542-4592;
Kevin Clerici: (619) 293-2895;
But your question raised yet another. Remember they found droplets of her blood (two I think) and fingerprints inside the motorhome. Wouldn't it be odd to find all of that, yet the dogs didn't indicate her presence inside? I wonder if anyone can explain how this could be? We all know the clorox story was just that--a story. So what else could cause this?
WHAT THE HECK KIND OF "FATHER" LEAVES A TWO YEAR OLD CHILD ALONE IN A PARK? Even for 15 minutes? A lot can happen in 15 minutes!
And Mrs.L--I've been to Balboa Park years ago, very pretty, and very much in the heart of the city. NOT a place I'd leave a 2 year old child alone!
The van Dams moved to SD aout 3 years ago from Florida. I wonder if anyone has checked into their lifestyle in Florida?
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