SIGNONSANDIEGO
June 13, 2002
A tow truck operator believes he heard a voice around a motorhome owned by murder defendant David Westerfield that became stuck in the sand near Glamis on the weekend his alleged victim disappeared.
Daniel Conklin of Glamis said a motorcyclist told him of a 35-foot motorhome stuck in the sand near an area called Wash 14 about mid-morning on Feb. 3.
While working to free the motorhome toward its rear, Conklin testified he believes Westerfield was digging on the other.
"I thought he made some comments to me," Conklin said.
"Did you know he was talking to you?" prosecutor Jeff Dusek asked.
"I didn't know he was talking to me," Conklin said.
The tow truck driver repeated that he "just heard what I thought was a voice and it would have been him because we were the only people there."
When he walked over to acknowledge Westerfield, the defendant "shook his head."
"I dont' remember the exact words, but it was 'I wasn't talking to you or I didn't say anything.' " Conklin said.
"You thought you were the only two people there," Dusek said.
"We were the only two people there," Conklin said.
"But you never went inside that motorhome," Dusek said.
"No," he said.
After freeing the motorhome, Westerfield drove out. Conklin noticed the defendant had left the levelers behind for his RV.
David Westerfield produced a wallet during his visit to Silver Strand State Beach on the weekend Danielle van Dam disappeared, the same wallet he told investigators he had lost.
The wallet was seen by park volunteer Donald Raymond, with whom Westerfield argued after money the defendant overpaid was returned.
Westerfield appeared agitated over the issue, Raymond testified on Thursday during Westerfield's murder trial.
"I've never seen someone agitated for getting too much money back," he said, a statement that drew laughter from the jury.
Raymond testified Westerfield told him that he had just been to an ATM, opening the wallet to show him he only had $20 bills.
The issue of whether Westerfield had a wallet is one of a number of inconsistencies prosecutors say points to his guilt in the murder of the 7-year-old girl.
Westerfield left the state beach shortly after being contacted by a ranger who returned the overpaid cash.
The 50-year-old design engineer is also charged with kidnapping, along with misdemeanor possession of child pornography. He could face the death penalty if convicted on the felony counts.
Westerfield told authorities he originally intended to go to Anza Borrego to camp in his motorhome, but decided to go to Silver Strand instead because he had disovered his wallet was missing and he did not have enough cash to finance a longer trip.
Westerfield also told Detective Johnny Keene that was one of the reasons he left the Silver Strand.
The workers at the park testified that Westerfield overpaid camping fees by $30
Prosecutors have spent the last two days mapping out the travels of Westerfield in his motorhome the weekend the child disappeared from her home in Sabre Springs.
Ranger Brian Neill was among a number of witnesses who said the blinds in Westerfield's motorhome were drawn down.
No furniture was set up outside, either, he said.
`"It didn't look like anyone was there,"Neill said. "The curtains were drawn. It was all locked up." Neill said he knocked on a door and waited for nearly a minute -- and was actually backing away toward his vehicle -- before the occupant answered. The man, who he identified as the defendant, stepped out, denied he made the overpayment, but then accepted the money.
Neill also testified that Westerfield didn't say anything to him after taking the money and did not go back inside until he left.
Ranger Olen Golden, described how he cut open envelopes campers left with their payment. He said Westerfield's was marked for two nights at $24, but he found a $50 bill and four $1 bills.
Various campers at the park testified they noticed the motorhome because there was no activity around it.
`"We were all curious about why the curtains had been drawn except for the one in front," Joyce Rodgers, an El Cajon resident, said about seeing the vehicle come into the campground.
"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."
Rodgers, there with several family members, said they decided the driver must either have a girlfriend or need a rest.
Prosecutors also attempted to try to establish where Westerfield drove his motor home.
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
Thursday was the seventh day of testimony in San Diego Superior Court. Westerfield, 50, is accused of the kidnapping and murder of Danielle.
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, testified that a telephone belonging to Westerfield's account communicated with one of the numbers five times and the other four times. One of the numbers belongs to Westerfield's company, Spectrum Design, based at his house. The other, called by City News Service this morning, was answered by a woman who refused to give her name. Sheets said two calls were made from the woman's number to the defendant.
Sheets testified that the calls were routed through cellular transmitter sites in Chollas Creek and downtown Chula Vista the morning of Feb. 2, then in the early evening through sites in Carmel Mountain Ranch, Mount Woodson and Ramona. A roaming call that night was made from somewhere in Imperial Valley, but Sheets said he did not have a record of the specific location involved. Records showed the only call made the next day was at 7:33 p.m., using a transmission site in Mira Mesa. Under cross-examination by defense attorney Steven Feldman, Sheets said signals from cellular phones can sometimes travel 15 miles before a usable transmission site is found. 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.
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."