Westerfield On Trial (WEEK 1 Recap): Brenda Van Dam, Dad's Bar

KGTV 10 News-San Diego ^ | June 7, 2002 | KGTV

[twigs]

Danielle's eyes were green?????? Past tense?

I missed that! Oh, my goodness! I have been sitting on the fence regarding whether I think a VD or Westerfield killed this little one. Methinks BVD knew something here? Somewhere I also read that sometimes Danielle walked in her sleep. If I were a parent, that would be my first thought. It did not seem to be Brenda's, as though she knew something. I have also been disturbed that no one even knew Danielle was missing until a neighborhood child dropped by and wanted to see her. I wonder how long otherwise it would have taken for her disappearance to have been reported?

[Karson]

She just commented on the email she has received today. Notice how the only email she actually read to us was one that supports her position? Go figure.....

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

Wow !! When I go back over and both listen to and read the 911 conversation it gets weirder and weirder.

Way, way too much information volunteered. It sounds much more like an attempt to get all the story set up with the mentioning of key points.

Look at them:

1. Brenda: Just now. I thought she was in there sleeping and I went in there because someone came over I was babysitting and she's not there.
2. Brenda: She has brown short hair, we just had it cut,
3. Brenda: Um, they were green.
4. Brenda: Well, last night when I came home, cause I went out with my friends...
5. Brenda:...There was a door opened on the house and I couldn't figure out which one it was and it was our side garage door. But, but, um, I didn't check the bed and um..
6. Brenda: I came home about 2. And my husband was home with them. He was home. And he said the lights were on and I guess he went to sleep. The back door was cracked, he said. The back door and the side garage door, he found the back door cracked.
7. Dispatcher: Have you checked with the neighbors since...to see if she's possibly?
Brenda: Not yet. Not yet. I haven't.

So much of it sounds/looks like a way to make sure the gate, door, haircut, lights, friends, etc. are all on the tape.

Then add to it the fact that she and Damon are standing together by the phone and haven't even checked with neighbors yet.

Sorry.......big "F' on the smell test.

[BARLF]

Um, they were green.......were, past tense. Isn't that a strange way to say it? How could Brenda know they were not are? Why not say......She has green eyes? I don't understand these people at all!

[Karson]

I was responding to post # 58 where the transcript says Brenda told the dispatcher that Danielle's eyes were green.

[MizSterious]

Karson and all, you folks can re-check for yourselves--go to post #41 on this thread. Fresno put up a link to the portion of the broadcast that played the 911 call. I just listened again, and it did sound like "were" to me, but I might have a bad connection, too. I would guess that those with DSL or cable would get the best sound?

[MizSterious]

I guess the question that I will always ask is, Why would parents supposedly frantic about their daughter lie to everyone from the police to the press? And then even on the stand? If Westerfield is guilty, if he did this thing, don't they realize the jury might just cut him loose on the basis of the lies alone? Why risk that? The only answer I can come up with is not a pretty one.

[MizSterious]

The height I found odd--what mother doesn't know the height of her children? My mom used to measure us frequently, growth was kind of a big deal. She knew down to the 1/8 inch how tall we were at any given time. Also--I had thought the child's eyes were BLUE?? Anyone have any early reports with her description?

[MizSterious]

Didn't Norman Vincent Peale write that one?

[bvw]

Sounds like she's still a bit high. A joint to sleep, and one on waking to take on the day.

[RnMomof7]

Did you hear her condemn drunk driving as one of the worse crimes? But drunk (and high) parenting is OK I guess huh?

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

Brenda: I came home about 2.

Is this a realistic response from a mother who is panicked after discovering her daughter missing? Could you even think about precise times? Wouldn't it be more likely to say you got home late?

Remember Damon's concern about the timeline???????? Maybe Brenda was thinking a lot about establishing it right off the bat.

[RnMomof7]

Right on ..in counseling we called it "premature disclosure"

[bvw]

Considering a psychological word-replacement would leave one to ask of the "friends", who is tall, a girl of 6' even.

[spectre]

Ditto's to the e-mail you sent to Lisa Bloom.

She has DW with the needle in his arm, even before she has heard a shred of evidence against him.

Usually, she is followed by Catherine Crier, who makes up for Lisa's totally biased opinion.

BVD's body language is easy to read. She is defensive, sarcastic, and extremely guarded. When she gets frustrated, and doesn't want to answer a question, she will look at the Prosecution and then at Judge Mudd for as if to signal "help me".

So far, Judge Mudd is, IMO, doing a fair job on the bench.

sw

[John Jamieson]

Sure would be nice to have more background information on these people. What were DVs doing before being married about 10 years ago? What's Westerfield's history, any trouble with the law? DV's ever in trouble with law? There is alot still being hidden here. I suspect heavier and harder drug use on the VDs part. I also suspect that Westerfield has a pretty clean past, based on the pressure to make him look bad.

[MizSterious]

These are my impressions about the tape.

1. She did not sound distraught. Some of it sounded scripted.

2. The children in the background did not sound panicked, but rather like any children might sound when Mom is on the phone.

3. The dog barked loudly. That is not a barkless dog. That is not a dog who can only whimper or whine. That is a dog that has a powerful bark.

4. The descriptions of her missing child stretch credibility to the limits. Six feet tall? Eyes "were" green? (And weren't they actually blue?)

5. And as someone else has mentioned, it sounded much more like she was already setting up alibis and stories. When you report a missing child, all they need to know is she's gone and that she shouldn't be--that's what most mothers would say. When the police arrive, then the particulars are reviewed.

Maybe I should ask again--someone tried to keep the 911 tapes out of the trial. Does anyone at all know which side it was, pros. or def.? I'm betting prosecution, but I've lost a few bets before.

[geege]

These people sounded like whore masters.....not that their daughter deserved to die...but to raise a child in that environment.....it sounds like they just open house for anyone.....

[spectre]

I just clicked in America's Most Wanted, not affiliated with John Walsh's site, and they described Danielle's eyes as "BLUE"...

sw

[MizSterious]

SF--just a minute while I zip up my anti-flame suit--it appears to me, from what we know so far, that it's not impossible that they knew the child was either missing or dead much earlier, and everything else was designed to provide them with an alibi and a cover story.

Other oddments: Damon's early morning vacuuming (denied by him on the stand, but then again, he has a little "truth" problem), the ever-changing time-lines, the way Damon told Brenda not to get into the timeline at one of the press conferences--of course there's lots more, but these are some of the early warning signals that sharp police should have caught. Why didn't they?