TOW TRUCK DRIVER CLAIMS WESTERFIELD TALKING TO SOMEONE: Phone Records Trace Westerfield's Movements

KNSD NBC ^ | June 13, 2002 | KNSD NBC

[FresnoDA]

TOW TRUCK DRIVER CLAIMS HE HEARD WESTERFIELD TALKING TO SOMEONE!!!

Phone Records, Witnesses Trace Westerfield's Movements

Witnesses On Day 7 Show Movements

 

POSTED: 12:56 p.m. PDT June 13, 2002

UPDATED: 2:41 p.m. PDT June 13, 2002

 

SAN DIEGO -- The prosecution in the David Westerfield murder trial called on a cell phone company employee and several campers Thursday to verify the defendant's whereabouts the weekend Danielle van Dam disappeared.

A series of calls from Westerfield's cell phone in early February appeared to mirror his rambling motor home trip to the beaches of southern San Diego County and the Imperial Valley deserts, Verizon Wireless representative Greg Sheets testified.

But on cross-examination, Westerfield's defense attorney, Steven Feldman, sought to show that the cell phone calls were not a reliable record of Westerfield's locations that weekend. Under questioning by Feldman, Sheets admitted that the records don't give precise locations and don't identify the user of the phone.

Westerfield is charged with kidnapping and murdering Danielle. He could face the death penalty if he's convicted.

The prosecution also called a series of witnesses who were at Silver Strand State Beach on Saturday, Feb. 2. Westerfield said he drove his motor home to Silver Strand that morning.

Beverly Jean Askey of El Cajon testified that her family was already at the beach when a motor home that she later learned was Westerfield's pulled into a nearby space sometime before 10 a.m. It was a nice, sunny day she said, yet no one came out of the vehicle.

"He just pulled up, he pulled the front window closed and I never saw anyone again," Askey said.

Two other campers said they saw Westerfield's motor home and noticed that it appeared closed up.

Earlier, Angela Elkus, a resident of the Sabre Springs neighborhood where the van Dams and Westerfield lived, answered questions about the motor home. She said she had seen children playing around the vehicle three or four times when it was parked on the street, but she said they were mostly older children. She also talked about a visit to the van Dam home after Danielle disappeared.

  Elkus said she had never been to the home before, but she brought food over for the family on the Sunday after the little girl disappeared. She said that the family's dog appeared "scared, shy, confused and perfectly still" when she came in the house, and it did not bark, she said. Legal analysts say prosecutors want to convince the jury that a stranger could have come into the house and taken Danielle without the dog barking.

[FresnoDA]

DAY 7: TESTIMONY FROM SILVER STRAND CAMPERS

(06-13-2002) - Day seven of the David Westerfield trial focuses on where Westerfield went in his motorhome the weekend his neighbor, Danielle van Dam, disappeared.

Five witnesses have been called today, including a Sabre Springs resident, a cell phone representative, who testified about phone calls made from Westerfield's phone, and then three women who camped in Coronado where Westerfield first went that Saturday morning when Danielle was reported missing.

We know that David Westerfield was trying to reach people all weekend from his cell phone and that the calls were as scattered as his meandering trip from the Silver Strand to Glamis and back.

Three women who were at the Silver Strand campsite, where Westerfield went on Saturday morning, February 2, were on the witness stand today.

Beverly Askey of El Cajon was at the Silver Strand in her RV on that weekend. She said that it was a nice day out, but she did have to wear her jacket because it was cold. That testimony is consistent to Westerfield's statement, saying he left the Strand that Saturday afternoon because of the cold weather. But Askey did notice something about Westerfield's motorhome that caught her attention.

"He pulled in and just parked and closed everything up and never came out," said Askey.

"Are you able to estimate for us when it pulled in?" asked the prosecution.

"I think, not really. I think between eight and ten o'clock in the morning," she said.

"Why do you estimate that?"

"Well, eight o'clock in the morning the gates open. And ten o'clock the generators can go on and my daughter was waiting to dry her hair," replied Askey.

We also heard about Westerfield's cell phone use that weekend. Records presented by a representative from Verizon reported a total of ten entries from Westerfield's cell phone that day. They range from calls from the Chula Vista, Ramona, and Imperial County areas.

Looking at a map, the cell phone calls do correspond with the route Westerfield said he took that weekend in his RV excursion.

One witness, yet to be on the stand today, is the ranger from the Silver Strand, who says he returned money to Westerfield in his RV after he overpaid for the campsite.

[FresnoDA]

Duskek calls Tow Truck Driver, who claims he heard Westerfield talking with someone in the Glamis desert!!! 

BOMB SHELL???

[Mrs.Liberty]

ROFL...You need to write headers for the Enquirer!!!

[John Jamieson]

No, he didn't say that. He said he heard a voice.

[WIMom]

Please excuse this short interruption. As you know, the fundraiser is in full swing. We need your help. Please stop by the fundraising thread and give it a bump. And if you have a few bucks, we'd really appreciate a contribution to keep this site running. IMO, it's the best site on the internet for news and analysis.
Donate Here By Secure Server
Or mail checks to
FreeRepublic , LLC
PO BOX 9771
FRESNO, CA 93794
or you can use PayPal at Jimrob@psnw.com

Thank you for your support!

[Alas Babylon!]

Yes, since he confessed to the rambling winnebago trip, why do they need the phone records for something he's admitted? My question is, who was he calling? does the presecution think that is relevant? Obviously, if Verizon knows where he called from and when, they know what numbers he called!

[John Jamieson]

If he had said he heard a "female" voice:

Barbara Easton lives in Ramona. He pasted through there on the way. Both 50. She could be is first wife or girlfriend from the early days. Barb is known sex maniac. Brenda didn't want her around Danielle. A lot fits.

[Mrs.Liberty]

I did not watch, only followed the thread, here. Did he not say, under direct or cross, that there were other MH's close by? And, if so, as voices carry in the desert, could he not have heard a voice from one of the other campsites?

[FresnoDA]

Ah...come on...DUSEK wanted a big closer, can't he have a big closer????/so!!! LOL

[FresnoDA]

THAT'S IT....BARB WAS ON BOARD!!!

NOW THAT IS A BOMBSHELL!!!

 

THE NEWS, NOT BARB OF COURSE!!!  LOL

[bvw]

A gentlemanly bump.

[John Jamieson]

Yes, and one of them was a $200,000+ Bluebird. Voices could have been from other's, or Westerfield mumbling to him self or to the dog. Engine and generator running. Lots of noise.

[FresnoDA]

Prosecution continues to trace Westerfield's travels-(More Cases of Motorhome Envy???)

SIGNONSANDIEGO

June 13, 2002

Prosecutors continued today to try to establish where accused kidnap and murder suspect David Westerfield's drove his motor home on the weekend 7-year-old Danielle van Dam disappeared.

Jurors heard a Verizon Wireless records custodian testify about when and where Westerfield's cell phone made contact with cellular telephone relay towers that weekend and heard campers testify to having seen Westerfield's motor home at the Silver Strand State Beach campground on Saturday, Feb. 2, the day Danielle was reported missing.

"It was all closed up," said Teresa Hastings, an El Cajon resident who was camping that weekend. "The drapes were all closed, the awning wasn't up. It was like there was nobody there."

Thursday was the seventh day of testimony in San Diego Superior Court. Westerfield, 50, is accused of the kidnapping and murder of Danielle.

On roam

Verizon Wireless records custodian Greg Sheets brought copies of records for phone calls made by Westerfield's two cellular telephones from Feb. 1 through Feb. 6.

One phone made no calls. Over the weekend, the other was used to make several calls and retrieve voicemail intermittently, while calls made to the phone were diverted to voicemail.

Sheets said company records also showed which cell phone towers the phone calls were relayed through, though he testified that the records didn't show how far away the phone was from the towers when the calls were made.

A cell phone will usually try to connect to the nearest tower, but if that tower is busy, it will try to contact the next nearest tower and can be bounced several towers away, Sheets said.

"So you can't tell us where the user actually was," lead defense attorney Steven Feldman asked Sheets during cross-examination.

"No," Sheets replied.

But he later testified that it's more likely for a call to be routed through the nearest tower on weekends because there is less overall cell phone usage on weekends than on weekdays.

Docile dog

A woman who brought food to the van Dam residence on Feb. 3, the day after Danielle was reported missing, testified that the family dog appeared docile.

Angela Elkus said the family dog, a "fairly young" gray Weimaraner, took little notice of her, though it was her first visit to the van Dam house.

"When I came in he was just standing there," she said. "He looked rather scared, shy, confused."

One of the nagging questions about the Danielle's disappearance is how anyone could have made his way into the home – which was occupied by the girl's parents, brothers, and dog – without the dog barking or creating some sort of noise.

The van Dam's have testified the dog was raised around others that had been "debarked."

[Karson]

Thanks for all your hard work! :) If I'm not already on your ping list, would you add me please?

[John Jamieson]

Barb is the logical aternate perp. Grabbed Danielle for lezbo lessons. Something went really wrong. Called Westerfield for help, went to desert with him. Far out, but not impossible.

[FresnoDA]

Yes, and one of them was a $200,000+ Bluebird. Voices could have been from other's, or Westerfield mumbling to him self or to the dog. Engine and generator running. Lots of noise.

With all due respect...Tow Truck Drivers have very astute hearing....as did some of the "hunters" in Deliverance!!!

[Rheo]

Description of Weimananer:

He should present a picture of grace, speed, stamina, alertness and balance.

Oh yeah, that is Layla all right!...

[Politicalmom]

Maybe he was on the cell phone again....

[John Jamieson]

The prosecution has called a lot of witnesses that have done little for their case, helped the defense in fact....but they know NOT to call ole' hand down the stranger's blouse...hi, I'm Barbara to the stand.

The defense may not call her either. Too explosive! They want to show that someone else might have done it, not that someone else might have started it and loyal ole' David might have helped clean up.

[theirjustdue]

Barb is the logical aternate perp.

Damon's my number one alternate, but I have to admit, if it's true BVD didn't want Barb near Danielle, I have to wonder if Barb hadn't expressed an interest "of some sort" in Danielle, to BVD, at some point.