Danielle's mother takes the stand
By Jeff Dillon June 5, 2002
Brenda van Dam broke down in tears several times during questioning that covered topics such as the length of Danielle's hair, her handful of encounters with the suspect and her discovery of Danielle's disappearance from her bedroom on Feb. 1. "I have an emergency. My daughter's not in her bed this morning. She's only 7," Brenda van Dam is heard telling the dispatcher in an audiotape of her 911 call to police. The dispatcher asks for more details, then assures van Dam: "Think positive thoughts and everything will be OK." Cross-examined by lead defense attorney Steven Feldman, van Dam acknowledged that Danielle occasionally walked to other locations in the neighborhood and that Westerfield had parked his motorhome on the street for such long periods of time that she and others considered it an eyesore. Danielle's hair and fingerprints were found in the motorhome after her disappearance, Dusek said in his opening statement on Tuesday. Feldman has argued that Danielle could have gotten into the motorhome on other occasions. Brenda van Dam also acknowledged that she and friends drank and smoked marijuana at her home the night before Danielle disappeared, but she denied that she and her husband had ever hosted "sex parties" that could have let strangers become familiar with the layout of their house. Disputed time of deathBrenda van Dam's testimony came after Feldman challenged the county medical examiner's estimate of when Danielle van Dam died.Dr. Brian Blackbourne testified that he estimated Danielle had been dead for at least 10 days – and potentially up to six weeks – before her body was found. "Just looking at the body, it was clear to me that she had been there for a considerable period of time," Blackbourne said, based on the degree of mummification and putrifaction of the body found off Dehesa Road on Feb. 27. Danielle disappeared Feb. 1. But Feldman questioned Blackbourne's minimum 10-day estimate because the medical examiner had not checked weather reports to find out whether warm weather could have accelerated the decomposition process. "To say that she was dead on the 17th of February, you would have to speculate, wouldn't you?" Feldman asked. "Well, I have evidence on the body, so that's not really speculation," Blackbourne replied. Insect evidence?Blackbourne also acknowledged that forensic entomologist David K. Faulkner from the San Diego Natural History Museum had collected insects found on Danielle's body to help estimate the time of her death.Feldman suggested more evidence would show Danielle hadn't been dead as long as Blackbourne had estimated, proving his client's innocence by showing that she had been killed and her body dumped in Dehesa while Westerfield was under surveillance by police. Blackbourne was testifying on the third day of the murder trial of David Westerfield, the 50-year-old neighbor accused of kidnapping and killing Danielle. Cause of death not establishedBlackbourne testified Wednesday that no cause of death could be established because the body was so badly decomposed and ravaged by animals.He said he ruled that the manner of her death was a homicide – as opposed to a suicide or natural causes – based on the position of her body, how far it was away from her home and the fact that searchers had been looking for her for three weeks. Under cross-examination by Feldman, Blackbourne said that he couldn't find any signs of traumatic injuries. Blackbourne also testified Thursday that decomposition prevent him from determining whether or not Danielle had been sexually assaulted before her death.
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SAN DIEGO – A day after her husband, the mother of slain Danielle van Dam took the witness stand Thursday morning in the murder trial of David Westerfield.