Anatomy Of A Murder: Westerfield vs. Van Dams (A Mother's Story)

San Diego Online ^ | June 27, 2002 | Kevin Cox

[mommya]

I dunno - prescription drugs are too legit - if they found her od'd on them there wouldn't be as much of incentive to cover it up - other drugs maybe - but I think thier state of mind would have to have been really altered to cover up.

[Rheo]

Ecstasy makes the most sense in speculating....fits w/the lifestyle......I've read that DVD attended raves...was that rumor or where did that come from?

[connectthedots]

Dry is the opposite of humid. Mummification is more likely in a dry environment than a humid. Depending on the circumstances, cold weather could be much more conducive to mummification than warm temperatures, especially if there is no human involvement in the mummification process. Cold weather tends to prevent decay. Ever hear of refrigerators or freezers?

[Rheo]

Thanks....knew I'd have to go back and read about mummificaion....had it all backwards and screwed up.

[mommya]

Yes - the rave rumor we heard - maybe it wasn't completely true - but had some truth in it. The extacy speculation does make sense.

[GoRepGo]

I still have a nagging suspicion that her body was stored someplace else (fridge, warehouse, etc) and then taken to the Dehesa site shortly before the body was found. Especially because of the mummification that was present.

Not that the cadaver dogs used in this case have proven very reliable thus far - but has testimony revealed whether the cadaver dogs were used to go through the VD's and pizza-party-gang homes?

[BARLF]

If PDvD wanted to leave the house after putting the kids to bed he might have given Danielle or all three for that matter, a Zanax,just to be sure they wouldn't wake up while he was gone,not meaning to do damage to them,but something happened to Danielle because of it.Brenda admitted she took Zanex during the PH hearing so probable staple in the house.

Brenda to drug and boozed out to check on Danielle when she got home that night. PDvD got up at 3AM,not to let the dog out,lock the slider or go to the bathroom but to dispose of the dead Danielle. Doesn't take long to drive 25 miles one way to Dehesa. I think there is a road going to where her body was tossed. An hour,hour half would have been all the time he needed to dispose the body and return home,crawl in bed and wait for Brenda to find Danielle missing.

Could be the reason he wanted to be rid of the Van,couldn't bear the thought of driving it after using it to dispose of his daughters body. Possible Brenda doesn't even know this. All speculation on my part, of course.

Only thing is........I can't see how a stranger to that house could have done the deed without leaving some trace of their having been there. PDvD the most likely suspect in my mind,FWIW.

[mommya]

You know we all have been so suspicious of Damon in all this - but what if he wasn't the one? After all he didn't go out with the group. Brenda and party were the ones dancing sluttily - and when the gang arrived home Damon wasn't too thrilled. Barbara came up and into the bed on her own and intitiated the touching. Maybe he could see that they were all on the drug and wasn't into it - not being in the state of mind they were all in. So - similar scenario as before - but Damon was not involved till after the fact. Do you still think he would help cover things up if he wasn't really involved?

[Rheo]

I had thought he had taken the body to Dehesa also at 3:30...but now I'm wondering if it would have been to somewhere else...and where?.....I think someone placed her body in Dehesa later, due to Feldmans implications and also cannot see him, as a father, placing her there..in a dump site, naked, uncovered.....more of a non personal dumping than a father...IMO

[Rheo]

DVD fits more as he was the one with the children..he was the one up at 3:30..he was the one up first in the morning taking out the garbage and such.

I'm not sure BVD would have known what happened but only later realized something was not right and her changing stories and such is due to fear and family preservation??..or..

BVD and the pizza gang were told what happened when they got there and a group coverup began...to protect DVD....I see him as the ecstasy user......(she says wildly speculating.)

[mommya]

I don't think Damon did it then told the goup when they got there and they all are covering - no way. What would anyone but Brenda have to gain by covering for something Damon alone did out of thier presence without thier knowledge. I think for all to cover - all were there - somehow involved - even if only by being present at the time.

[demsux]

DVD fits more as he was the one with the children..he was the one up at 3:30..he was the one up first in the morning taking out the garbage and such.

Boy, I'd like to see what web pages he was searching Friday night...

[connectthedots]

Not that the cadaver dogs used in this case have proven very reliable thus far - but has testimony revealed whether the cadaver dogs were used to go through the VD's and pizza-party-gang homes?

the dog used on the DW MH was not a certified cadaver dog! Aside from that, I don't think a dog was used in the houses of the VDs or their 'friends'.

[spectre]

"He was the one up at 3:30am"

You know, Rheo, I don't even know if Damon or Brenda actually ever went to sleep that night...Again, they are their own alibi's.

sw

[Mrs.Liberty]

Re: cadaver.search dogs.....

Did any of the dogs ever search the VD home for DW's scent? It would seem to me, if he had been there at all, the dogs would have been able to pick up the scent.

[spectre]

AND furthermore, Brenda "showered" before she went out that evening, and "showered" again that morning. Could be meaningless, then again...maybe not.

sw

[BARLF]

I am fairly sure the FBI took a scent dog into the vD house. That according to Lt. Duncan, a dog with a "heck of a nose". But as was pointed out to me by another poster, "theirjustdue", I think, the dog was for cadaver not to find DW's trail. This last part is memory only and my memory is like a snowflake on a hot June day in MO.

[mommya]

I think they did. I remember something about the dog sniffing DW's shoe then searching for his scent - I don't think they found anything.

[Mrs.Liberty]

But don't you think, if he was in there hiding in the closet or the garage or in her room for any length of time, the scent dog would have found the scent?

[mommya]

yes I do.