Expert: Body dumped after defendant fell under suspicion (SO WHO DUMPED DANIELLE VAN DAM'S BODY??)

Union Trib ^ | July 11, 2002 | Steve Perez/Greg Magnus

[UCANSEE2]

? Are there any other likely suspects?

You wanta list?

[Jaded]

That to some degree is what happened here. How many times did they go back? It took SDPD 2 weeks to decide that MAYBE the doors might be useful. 2 weeks in a released crime scene, a contaminated crime scene at that.

Do you keep coming back until you find the unrelated item that works for you. Maybe it will work sort of like Dusek boring the jury in to a guilty verdict or suicide.

[UCANSEE2]

Just added vollmond to my killfile

[ItsOurTimeNow]

Really? Tell me more of this refugee board you speak of...

[MizSterious]

Oh, upun my soul! ROFL!! Does someone feel a song coming on? Doesn't "Dusek" rhyme nicely with "insect"? Songwriters, paging all songwriters!

[Lanza]

Thanks go to you and Fres for the pings. I can't believe no trial for 10 days, when it was just starting to get VERY interesting.... (actually it hasn't been dull to start with, but yesterday was a mind blower!)

[EllaMinnow]

What's the killfile?
I hope I'm on it!

[vollmond]

I said that a retrial would have to be based on "conclusive" new evidence. It doesn't allow for unlimited do-overs. There would have to be a greater burden of proof on new evidence in a future pre-trial hearing in order to permit the new trial to even occur. It would also permit a retrial based on examination of the original evidence with new technology, as long as the findings are conclusive.

A number of innocent people have been freed from jail because of this, shouldn't the opposite be permitted?

Now that I reflect further on it, though, most juries would cop out and return a Not Proven verdict rather than be brave enough to take the extra step to Not Guilty, leaving the defendant forever tarnished. So, while I think the idea has some merit, the end result is not worthwhile.

[YaYa123]

I'm following the trial on CourtTV too, and mananged to catch part of the entomologist's testimony & cross overnight replay.

Have I missed a discussion on the possibility that maggots and larvae found in the body during autopsy, were 2nd & 3rd generation? I mean, wild animals would have ravished the body on more than one occasion, (they could have been scared away by sounds, etc., and returned, even on different days/nights). Animals coming upon the scene at later times would have opened up more tears and rips in the body, hence creating more areas of opportunity for insect infestation.

Is that possible?

[billbears]

They need to be able to decide that a case is Not Proven, which leaves open the possibility for a retrial if additional conclusive evidence or testimony is uncovered

I agree!! Let's just throw out the 5th Amendment altogether. Heck why not the whole Bill of Rights? What kind of nation do you want to live in? The Constitution according to vollmond?

[MizSterious]

Back in the usenet days, we used to call them twitfiles. It excludes certain screen names from your daily reading, so as to keep your bloodpressure down. There's talk of implementing that feature here--something I would welcome. My own twitlist is fairly small, but the ones on it are highly annoying.

[shezza]

BUG-ALERT! No breakfast-eaters allowed!
Dear GW-Bug:

There are a few things that are "bugging" me about this case. Notice, for instance, the quotes from the news article above:

He admitted under cross-examination by prosecutor Jeff Dusek that weather conditions for February were "extremely abnormal" and could have affected the amount of insects available to find the body.

"There was very warm temperatures in February and no significant rainfall for most of the winter," Faulkner said. "The insect population in general was much lower."

Abnormal conditions affected entire region, not just a few square feet of space around Danielle's body. There was a dump full of fly-attractors, a housing area less than a mile away (complete with garbage, animal droppings, food spills) to attract and encourage insect growth and normalcy, at least for that particular area. But Faulkner was puzzled by the evidence presented to him, for there was the usual bug activity in her torso and genital area, but there were NO fly eggs, no maggots, no larvae in the other usual openings to the body which are more likely to show bug activity: ears, eyes, nose, mouth. No evidence of bug activity on the brain.

I saw arguments on these threads yesterday that suggested her body was already mummified, and thus unattractive to flies. But if sweet little Danielle were killed and dumped at Dehesa Road on 2/1 or 2/2, her body would not yet be mummified and would be fresh and attractive to flies. Okay, assume fly population at critical-low. So why were there NO bugs or any sign of bug activity in her head area, yet there were all the normal signs in her abdomen? If no bugs went to the usual spots, because, as Dusek would have us believe, there just weren't many bugs around in February, I would think there would be no bugs in ANY spots.

So what do you think?

Signed,
Sleepless in Cyberspace

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

Are there any other likely suspects?

I suppose an investigation that was legit would take a good hard look at the people and the habits around the VD house to start with. I don't believe that was ever done and Diane Halfman is largely the reason.

I would also look to see if anyone in LE was involved in the same swinging circles and may want to do anything to prevent exposure.

You tell me if it makes sense that these freaky perverts were cleared in record time. I have said it's like finding a murder victim with Jack the Ripper, the Boston Strangler and the Nightstalker living in close proximity. Look right past them and go for the quiet guy up the street with absolutely no relative history. It makes no sense to me.

Westerfield was zeroed in on too quickly and likewise others were ruled out in a foolishly rapid manner. As a result, we may never know the whole truth of what happened that day or night.

Remember that Damon is the only one who has to vouch for himself for a number of hours. Add to that the fact that he was overheard telling Brenda in a radio interview not to talk about the timeline. Need I go on?

[YaYa123]

And another question..... did I hear the body had mummified?

How long does that take?

[Illbay]

Yes, that's why I asked.

[demsux]

bump, for later

[nothingnew]

This entire case and this thread really BUGS me!

FMCDH

[Illbay]

You cannot "retry" someone based on "More conclusive evidence." That is known, if you didn't know it, as "double jeopardy," and is specifically forbidden by the Constitution.

This is based on the axiom "better a guilty man go free than an innocent man be punished."

[MizSterious]

Dear Sleepless,

As I stated above, while the weather seemed cool to the locals (they're used to much warmer I suspect), it was warm enough for flies to proliferate. And even in remote areas, flies do just fine. I hope Mr. Feldman brings this up. There are rumors he might have a second "bug man" waiting in the wings to clear some of these issues up.

Signed,

Sleepy in Oklahoma

[UCANSEE2]

If you go back to the previous thread, I posted my thoughts on what the bugman said.

I was transcribing the bugman's testimony, so, (1) I listened very closely, and (2) I was doing so with an open mind.

Instead of just hearing what I wanted to , then ignoring the rest, or chatting online, I was forced to listen and type only. It gives a better picture.

Anyway, my conclusion was similar to yours, and some other posters.

He said the BODY couldn't have been there any later Than about Feb 16th, due to fly evidence. He also said they were 1st generation flies. More evidence it hadn't been there or exposed to the elements long.

He also said, due to LACK of beetle grubs, that there was a HIGH PROBABILITY it wasn't there BEFORE Feb 16th.

He said it WAS UNUSUAL, not finding ANY beetle grubs on the body, and not finding any MAGGOT MASS in the BRAINCASE.

This, was unexplainable, to him.

There were factors brought up (such as was the body contained for a while after it was dumped, which prevented the maggots,beetles, etc from invading), that could have affected his conclusions. The LE's and Examiner said there was NO EVIDENCE the body had been COVERED.

SO, bottom line, looks like the body was there after Feb 16th, but this guy is basing this on the fly EVIDENCE, and the LACK of beetle evidence. SO, proofwise, it is still not %100 percent.

The jury , depending on how open minded they are, could have taken the bug guy's info either way.