Posted on 06/10/2002 10:17:56 PM PDT by FresnoDA
Westerfield, 50, is charged with murder and kidnapping in the death of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam. The defendant also is charged with misdemeanor possession of child pornography and could face the death penalty if convicted.
The victim's parents, Brenda and Damon van Dam, discovered their daughter missing from her bed the morning of Feb. 2.
Denise Kemal, a friend of Brenda van Dam, testified Monday that she had gone to Dad's Cafe the night of Feb. 1 with Brenda and Easton.
Kemal testified that Brenda introduced Westerfield to her when they arrived at the bar and restaurant.
"I believe she said, 'This is my neighbor, Dave,"' Kemal testified.
Kemal testified that she had noticed Westerfield leaning against a partition at Dad's, watching her, Brenda, Easton and three others playing pool next to the dance floor.
The witness testified that the band had started playing -- that was at 10 p.m. -- when she saw Westerfield.
She told jurors Westerfield just stood against the partition after buying a round of drinks for her, Brenda and Barbara.
"I said to myself, 'Wow, that's creepy,"' the witness testified.
The testimony elicited by Deputy District Attorney Jeff Dusek appeared intended to show that Westerfield was spurned by Brenda van Dam and her friends in the hours before he allegedly kidnapped Danielle van Dam.
Kemal said she was called by Damon the next day and told that Danielle was missing. On her way to the house, she ran into Westerfield, who lived two doors down and across the street, as she pulled up to the van Dam home.
"He said, 'I can't believe what happened,"' Kemal testified. "I said, 'I know."'
"He said, 'Well, I left at 9 o'clock."'
Kemal told defense attorney Steven Feldman she had sex with Damon, and her husband Andy had sex with Brenda van Dam during a Halloween party at the van Dam home in October 2000.
Kemal said the van Dam children were not home that night.
"Later in the evening, you engaged in sexual relations, did you not, with your husband and Brenda van Dam and Damon van Dam, correct?" Feldman asked.
"No, that's not true," Kemal responded.
"So you never engaged in sexual relations with Brenda and Damon van Dam?" the attorney asked.
"Yes, I did, but with Damon," Kemal testified. "It was more of a 'swap.' Andy was with Brenda and I was with Damon."
Keith Stone, who joined the three women at Dad's, denied that he ever asked Brenda to "make something happen" with Easton.
Stone's friend, Rich Brady, Westerfield friend Garry Harvey and a friend of Harvey's, Yvette Wetli, also testified about the Feb. 1 "girls night out."
Last week, Brenda said "yes" when asked by Feldman if Stone had indicated he was "hyped up and excited" and really wanted to be with Easton.
"I had an interest," Stone confirmed Monday. "There was some bantering going back and forth between us."
He added that, when the women went outside the restaurant to smoke marijuana and listen to music, he kissed Easton once or twice.
He denied having taken Viagra, saying the subject came up during "barroom banter."
Both the prosecution and defense have concentrated on the outing to the Poway Road restaurant in an attempt to either build or destroy the credibility of Brenda and those who were with her.
In earlier testimony, it was determined that Brenda took Easton and Kemal to Dad's, where they ran into Stone and Brady. Eventually, the five of them returned together to the van Dam home.
Brady conceded that he gave Brenda an envelope containing a small amount of marijuana. The drug was smoked by the women on two occasions the night of Feb. 1. He said Stone never expressed interest in Easton to him. Harvey, a truck driver who lives in Fallbrook, revealed that he learned of Danielle's disappearance four days later. He said his property was searched twice the next week.
(06-11-2002) - On Monday, two friends of the Van Dams' testified about the night seven-year-old Danielle disappeared.
Twenty-eight year old Denise Kemal told the jury she was close friends with Brenda van Dam, so close in fact, that they once swapped husbands two years ago.
"So you never engaged in sexual relations with Damon and Brenda van Dam?" asked Defense Attorney Stephen Feldman.
"Yes I did, but with Damon. It was more of a swap," replied Kemal. "And it was with Brenda and I was with Damon."
"Okay, I'm sorry. You swapped?" confirmed Feldman.
"Yes," said Kemal.
Kemal and Brenda van Dam went out partying at Dad's Cafe in Poway with another friend, Barbara Easton, on February 1, the night 7-year old Danielle disappeared.
It was one day after Kemal had signed her divorce papers.
Brenda van Dam introduced Kemal to David Westerfield, who bought all three women a round of drinks.
"He was standing to the side. He was very quiet and weird. He was creepy. He didn't talk at all," said Kemal.
The women eventually met up with two other men at Dad's that night, Rich Brady and Keith Stone.
Brady testified that he provided the women with marijuana.
"The marijuana that was smoked that night, was that marijuana that you had provided to Brenda?" question the defense.
"Yes," replied Brady.
Rich Brady |
"How much did you provide for her?"
"It was a small amount," said Brady.
"Was it in a baggy?" asked the defense.
"No," said Brady.
"Do you recall how it was packaged?"
"It was in a small envelope," he said.
In the meantime, David Westerfield continued to drink alone.
Westerfield watched the women play pool, and was still at the bar around midnight, according to a friend who was there at the time.
"I'm not sure exactly what time it was. It was 11:30, 12:30, somewhere around there," said Garry Harvey.
Brenda van Dam and her friends returned home around 2 a.m. That's when they noticed an alarm light blinking and a garage door open.
It wasn't until the next morning that Denise Kemal found out Danielle was missing. She rushed back to the Van Dam home and noticed David Westerfield standing in his driveway.
"He said hey. And I said hey. And he said I can't believe what happened. I said yeah I know, well I'm going there now. And he said well I left at nine o'clock," said Kemal.
"About what time did you last see him at Dad's?" asked Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Dusek.
"Well the band didn't start until ten, and it was after that that I noticed him leaning on that wall. So, he couldn't have left at nine o'clock," said Kemal.
The trial of David Westerfield resumes this morning, and the mystery woman, Barbara Easton, has yet to take the witness stand.
Suspect Described 'Creepy' by Van Dam Friend |
Man who Supplied Van Dam's with Marijuana to Testify |
Denise Kemal testified that David Westerfield bought drinks for her, Danielle's mother, Brenda van Dam. |
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SAN DIEGO The man accused of killing Danielle van Dam was described Monday as "creepy" by a friend of the girl's parents, who saw him at a bar hours before the 7-year-old disappeared. Denise Kemal testified that David Westerfield bought drinks for her, Danielle's mother, Brenda van Dam, and another friend on Feb. 1, but then stood off to the side and did not speak to them. |
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Probably to pin down what time Westerfield left the bar.
I don't think the DA realizes how shabby the girls & boys at the "pizza party" appear.
sw
26 posted on 6/11/02 6:57 AM Pacific by FresnoDA
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Posted on 6/11/02 8:27 AM Pacific by Southflanknorthpawsis
(HTML CODE SHRIEK ADDED FOR EMPHASIS)
Apology wait begins.....0940 hours....
FDA
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