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Anatomy Of A Murder: Westerfield vs. Van Dams (A Mother's Story)
San Diego Online ^ | June 27, 2002 | Kevin Cox

Posted on 06/27/2002 6:47:45 AM PDT by FresnoDA

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To: FresnoDA
Fres, I just noticed you posted this. :)

Oh well ...

161 posted on 06/27/2002 3:42:09 PM PDT by BunnySlippers
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To: sbnsd
Congratulations on the perfect post - it is so good it needs to be posted again.

"Here's what Dusek said in his opening statement:

THE EVIDENCE IN THIS CASE WILL INDICATE THAT SOMEBODY SNEAKED INTO THE VAN DAM HOME THAT LATE EVENING FEBRUARY 1ST GOING INTO FEBRUARY 2ND; THAT SOMEBODY WAS ABLE TO GET UPSTAIRS TO DANIELLE'S ROOM; THAT SOMEBODY WAS ABLE TO GET HER OUT OF THE HOUSE. WE WILL SHOW YOU HOW THAT HAPPENED. THAT SOMEBODY KILLED HER, MURDERED HER. WE WILL SHOW YOU WHO THAT IS. AND THAT SOMEBODY DUMPED HER BODY LIKE TRASH ALONGSIDE THE ROAD DOWN IN DEHESA

I haven't seen any *SHOWING* of any of this. I know opening statements aren't facts, but it's an introductory outline of what he's going to be doing. I don't think he showed any of these. He showed stuff AFTER the abduction, but what he claimed he was going to show didn't happen.

My order of questions for his statements are:

How did DW sneak in?

How did he get upstairs?

How did he get her out of the house?

How did that happen?

How did they kill/murder her?

How did he dump her body?

I don't think I really saw any answers to any what he claimed to do.

BRAVO.

162 posted on 06/27/2002 3:45:16 PM PDT by mommya
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Comment #163 Removed by Moderator

To: All
I asked for my replies to be removed.. see ya
164 posted on 06/27/2002 3:51:16 PM PDT by Freedom2specul8
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To: cyncooper
Thank you. I was using my notes from the court testimony.
165 posted on 06/27/2002 3:53:50 PM PDT by shezza
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Comment #166 Removed by Moderator

To: spectre
Mistrial? I think we are headed in that direction. The only thing I enjoy about CTV is Dominick Dunne's new crime program on Wednesday nights. It's the BEST!

Mistrial? I've been at the office all day ... is it about the sequestration issue?

I wish my cable company would carry CourtTV. I miss it!

167 posted on 06/27/2002 3:57:45 PM PDT by BunnySlippers
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To: spectre
Everyone knows who's done what Spec... trust me....
168 posted on 06/27/2002 3:58:53 PM PDT by Freedom2specul8
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To: spectre
You would be surprised at how many of us have "stayed away" because of episodes like this.

I know that I quit posting to these threads some time ago because of the outright sillyness that they seem to spawn. I thought that adults could handle debate and opposing views without having to resort to "flame wars".

169 posted on 06/27/2002 3:59:41 PM PDT by CAPPSMADNESS
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To: FresnoDA
Ms. Westerfield first discovered her son had been arrested as a suspect in the van Dam kidnapping from television news reports, though she claims she had a premonition something was happening with her son the night Danielle went missing.

Hmmm ...

170 posted on 06/27/2002 4:03:34 PM PDT by BunnySlippers
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To: mommya; sbnsd
Adding to your questions:

How did he get her into his house?

When did he take her out of his house and how?

Was she alive when he took her out of his house?

If she was alive in the MH on his journeys, why did he go to so many populated areas?

Where was she when he went back to the neighborhood on 2/2 in the MH?

171 posted on 06/27/2002 4:06:49 PM PDT by Rheo
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To: shezza
You and Rheo have been great note takers. The motion wasn't in testimony so you wouldn't have heard it. I was reading the article and saw the reference then, so that's all I know about it.

Thanks for the notes so we can all follow along.

172 posted on 06/27/2002 4:14:37 PM PDT by cyncooper
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To: Rheo
....then why was DW prosecuted to begin with as they had the report also??

Because they had already stuck their collective heads in the noose. The DA had jumped onto a high profile case to benefit his re-election. The LE's got a tip (Brenda) and it looked like it could pan out. They thought some of his behavior/activity was suspicious, and that there was some possible evidence. SO, they jumped in totally. They were under pressure to find someone and quick, so they did. Then they were under pressure to make sure it stuck, no matter what. They couldn't back out, even if they wanted to.

173 posted on 06/27/2002 4:23:57 PM PDT by UCANSEE2
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To: FresnoDA
I'm sorry, I cannot bare to wade through the many uploading pages of this thread, but I have 1 single question to ask of all the "former federal prosecutors turned 'commentators' currently plying thir schtick on our local news/court outlets: why is it OK to demand that the police check out all of the people who have had any access at all to the Smart household (i.e.,handymen, real estate folks, milkmen, you name it), but it's NOT OK to tell the VanDam jury about all the strangers of shockingly questionable credentials that this nutty couple trolled for at sleazy bars in the middle of the night & invited into their home for group sex? What's the difference? (Warning: if I ever see that repulsive freak Nancy Grace again, I'm not responsible for the damage I do to this thread.)
174 posted on 06/27/2002 4:29:27 PM PDT by leilani
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To: spectre
Interesting the Prosecution has not given it's theory how DW is supposed to have entered the house, kidnapped Danielle and disposed of the body?

They will tie it all together in closing statements. Dominic Dunne (I'll try to catch his show on Wed. nights) said the closing in the Skakel trial was brilliant.

The prosecution presented the evidence at trial, but nothing really stood out as the actual testimony was given. Then at closing the prosecutor wove the evidence together to tell the story. That is what I am anticipating here. They may or may not pull it off here as the team did in the other case.

(Of course, I think there are several items of evidence in this case that already stand out, but the gist is the pulling together that I'm getting at)

175 posted on 06/27/2002 4:32:42 PM PDT by cyncooper
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To: leilani
Oops. "I cannot bare?" Yeah, well that too. Actually, I cannot bear much of anything about cable FFP commentators who are inconsistent about their "legal" opinions.
176 posted on 06/27/2002 4:33:37 PM PDT by leilani
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To: leilani
why is it OK to demand that the police check out all of the people who have had any access at all to the Smart household (i.e.,handymen, real estate folks, milkmen, you name it), but it's NOT OK to tell the VanDam jury about all the strangers of shockingly questionable credentials that this nutty couple trolled for at sleazy bars in the middle of the night & invited into their home for group sex? What's the difference

Because if someone is ever arrested in the Smart case and that person goes to a trial by jury, the evidence against the defendent will be presented and not the whole investigation of who they looked at and disgarded as suspects.

177 posted on 06/27/2002 4:37:50 PM PDT by cyncooper
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To: All
Earlier there was a post about Danielle taking a bath.

Something that would fit the evidence more closely would be this:

Damon and boys playing video games, Danielle writing.

Bedtime, all kids to bath,bed.

Damon goes up and Danielle has taken her clothes off, and put on her PJ's and is in bed,didn't take a bath. (you guess why)

Damon makes her get out of bed, take off her PJ's and march to the bathroom. She gets in tub and takes a bath.

NOW, there are 2 versions from this point on. One involves Damon reading something in Danielle's diary that makes him mad. The other is that he goes into the bathroom while Danielle is taking a bath, because he does this often, which is why Danielle didn't want to take a bath.

Regardless, Danielle is knocked down while in the tub, falls and maybe her teeth are knocked out. She hits her head hard enough to cause a fatal concussion, or Damon simply drowns her.

He wraps her up in a red sweater that is laying in the bathroom (Brenda's) and possibly an orange towel.

He takes her out to the van, and finds a place to dump her body.

This explains why she was naked, why the fibers. I know, another FAR OUT explanation. Since the VD's seem to be hiding something, and especially Damon has never acted like parents that lost their child (except when convenient) I find reason to try and come up with different scenarios that FIT the PUZZLE that this case has been.

Out of all the CRAZY FAR OUT scenarios that I have come up with, most of them make MORE SENSE than the current one proposed by the POLICE against DW.

And for those that keep asking "what about the blood on his jacket" , I already had a scenario for how that could have occurred. I believe I posted on yesterday's thread.

Funny again, how the police do not do any testing on anything that doesn't support DW as the perp. We heard about the BLUE PAINT, and it would appear there are several places this could have come from that would provide a lead, but as far as we know, the police DON'T WANT THAT LEAD. Why can I say this? Well, if the blue paint didn't mean anything, then I believe they would have said, "We checked that out, but it didn't lead anywhere." By the paint being evidence on the body, and not a word about by the Prosecution, it must mean they didn't attempt to do any analysis of it at all.

WHY should they. They have already convicted DW in their minds.

178 posted on 06/27/2002 4:45:31 PM PDT by UCANSEE2
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To: Pagey; discostu; Gurn
Pagey, yes, I do play a little teensy bit (though not bass, if you must know), or else why would I have even posted? Music posts are the only thing that keep me coming back to FR, for heaven sake!Tho I don't play B, I truly do believe that bass players (good ones) are the foundation of any decent band. I AM NOT denigrating Entwistle or minimizing him in any way. I am responding to all the folks posting who were essentially memorializing JE by citing the achievements of Pete T. That's all. Which is really, when you think about it, an INSULT to the dead. Like I said, keep it in perspective.
179 posted on 06/27/2002 4:48:55 PM PDT by leilani
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To: UCANSEE2
Something that would fit the evidence more closely would be this:

Not one bit of your proposed scenario fits the evidence.

180 posted on 06/27/2002 4:50:12 PM PDT by cyncooper
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