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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

Posted on 07/11/2002 6:47:45 AM PDT by FresnoDA

Expert: Body dumped after defendant fell under suspicion

by Steve Perez
and
Greg Magnus
SIGNONSANDIEGO

July 10, 2002


Union-Tribune
Susan L. describes her relationship to David Westerfield.
An expert witness called by the defense Wednesday afternoon said he is "very confident" the nude body of Danielle van Dam was probably dumped off Dehesa Road near El Cajon more than a week after murder defendant David Westerfield came under police surveillance.

Insect expert David Faulkner testified he based his conclusion upon studies he conducted on larvae and insects recovered from the victim's body, discovered by volunteer searchers on Feb. 27.

Westerfield is accused of kidnapping 7-year-old Danielle van Dam from the child's bed and killing her five months ago. He could face the death penalty if convicted. This was the final day of defense testimony.

Based on Faulkner's studies, which use the life cycles of insects, the earliest the body could have been left there was Feb. 16 to Feb. 18, he said under questioning from Westerfield's defense attorney.

Earlier Wednesday, San Diego police detective Sgt. Bill Holmes testified that investigators placed a tracking device on Westerfield's car during the first days of the investigation. They tracked his movements until his arrest on Feb. 22.

Defense attorney Steven Feldman has said Westerfield would have had no opportunity to dispose of the body because he was under constant police surveillance from Feb. 4 until his arrest Feb. 22.

A medical examiner relies on three factors to make an assessment, Faulkner has said: the amount and distribution of rigor mortis, the change in body temperature and the degree of decomposition. But after several days, rigor mortis dissipates and the corpse assumes the temperature of its environment.

Insects can give more specific information because they have a definitive development period that can be meticulously measured, said Faulkner, who collected insects during Danielle's autopsy. Faulkner said the presence of specific fly larva and adults and the absence of beetle larva on the body helped him determine an approximate "post-mortem interval."

Faulkner said during normal daylight conditions flies can land upon a body and deposit eggs within 20 minutes of its death. He believed the body had been at its Dehesa location approximately 10-12 days before its discovery.

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."

Change of character

A woman who once lived with David Westerfield told prosecutors the defendant's character would change after drinking and he would become "forceful."

"Susan L." mother of "Danielle L.," and Christine Gonzales, both of whom testified earlier, lived with the defendant for nearly a year, beginning about 3 1/2 years ago. The woman's last name was not read into the court record because her daughter, a minor, testified Tuesday.

Before he was charged in February, Westerfield's criminal record consisted of a 1996 drunken-driving conviction.

The woman was called initially as a witness for the defense, during which she testified that the defendant had a problem with sweating, left his motor home unlocked on occasions, left a garden hose out in front of his home and became stuck in the sand in his motor home during trips to Glamis.

Prosecutor Jeff Dusek's line of questioning eventually led to the defendant's behavior after he began drinking.

"He would become very quiet," she said.

"What else," Dusek said.

"Sometimes he would become a little upset."

"Depressed?"

"Yes."

"Basically, you would see a change in character when he would drink."

"Yes."

After agreeing with Dusek that the defendant was much different while drinking than when sober, the prosecutor asked if it was one of the reasons she eventually left Westerfield.

"Because of the drinking? Yes," she answered quietly.

Dusek later provided Susan L. with a transcript of a statement to investigators in which she reportedly said that Westerfield would become "forceful," when he drank.

"I remember that occasionally," she said.

Westerfield told investigators he had been drinking the night he visited Dad's in Poway, the same night he encountered the victim's mother, Brenda van Dam, and her friends.

Earlier during Dusek's cross-examination, "Susan L." began crying on the witness stand, admitting that she still cares for the defendant.

"Susan L." testified that she had just broken up with the defendant when she saw on television that he was a suspect in the second-grader's disappearance Feb. 2.

Dusek asked her about the last time she had seen Westerfield.

"You still like him, don't you?"Dusek asked her.

"I care about him,"she said, sobbing.

The witness said she spoke with Westerfield the day after she had been out with a male friend.

Dusek showed "Susan L." a transcript of her Feb. 5 interview with police. The prosecutor asked the witness if she saw the defendant the night she went out with the other male friend.

"Did you tell law enforcement that you saw (the defendant) sitting outside?"' the prosecutor asked. The witness later testified under questioning from defense attorney Robert Boyce, that it was something Westerfield had told her.

Dusek attempted to turn that statement against the defense, asking if Westerfield had contacted her the next day.

"Yes, he called me."

"After discussing what was discussed, you didn't feel comfortable with the defendant at that time, correct," Dusek said.

"At the time, yes."

Initial testimony

The woman, under direction examination by Boyce, testified that she met Westerfield through Glennie Nasland, another defense witness, at Big Stone Lodge in Poway "three-and-a-half, four years ago."

They started dating and she moved in with him about two weeks later, she said.

They camped often in the motor home, sometimes accompanied by her daughters, her daughter's fiance and Westerfield's son.

Their journeys woud take them to the Silver Strand, Anza-Borrego and Glamis. Sometimes, when the weather was bad, they would leave the Silver Strand and travel to Borrego intead, she said.

It wasn't unusual for them to arrive at night, or search for friends and not find them, she said.

Before the trips, she would help load the motor home, she said, leaving it parked either across the street or in the home's driveway and leaving its front door open.. The motor home would often sit there for up to two days before the trips, she said.

It wasn't unusual for a hose to be left out in the front yard or for Westerfield to walk around with cash in his pocket, she said.

The motor home also would become stuck in the sand during their desert trips, "Susan L." said. "He would try to dig out the sand from the out from under the wheels and fit a board underneath," she said.

She testified he would leave the wood behind.

Later, she testified that Westerfield's son, Neal, was familiar with computers and would often help his father with them.

She also said the defendant had a problem with sweating, often under his arm pits head and face, even during cold weather.

Prosecution witnesses have testified that they thought it was unusual for Westerfield to be sweating profusely when they first contacted him in February.

Routes not uncommon

Meandering journeys in a motor home -- such as the one described by Westerfield -- are not so uncommon, according to one enthusiast who testified today.

Eugene Yale, an East County attorney and motor home enthusiast, came to the attention of defense lawyers when he wrote a letter to the defense to point the meandering nature of motor home trips. He did so because he had read a newspaper article about testimony in the case and "didn't think it was accurate."

"I'm here because I think the truth should be out," Yale told Westerfield attorney Steven Feldman, at the end of his testimony today.

Yale described several meandering routes to Glamis, including one similar to the route Westerfield told investigators he took on the same weekend that Danielle van Dam disappeared from her bedroom in the middle of the night.

"One of the joys of having a motor home is you don't have to rely on rest stops, restaurants or Jack in the Box, though I seldom pass one by," Yale said. "You can take the back roads, look at scenic areas. My wife and I have a motor home because we like to see things, and not to get stuck by clinging to one standard route."

Prosecutors have made much of a roaming route that Westerfield took through San Diego and Imperial counties in his motor home the weekend of Feb. 2. Westerfield told investigators the solo trip took him to Silver Strand State Beach; then east across the desert to Glamis where he got stuck in the sand; then moving on to Superstition Mountain, Borrego Springs and back to Silver Strand, where he parked on a street overnight before returning home to Sabre Springs in Poway on Monday morning.

"The scenery on (Interstate) 8 and toward Jacumba and the desert is not the most appealing," Yale said. "An alternative route is go up through Ramona, San Ysabel -- that way."

Generally, Yale added, he would take one way heading toward Glamis and return by a different route "just for a change of scene."

Avoiding crowds

Yale further testified that when he traveled to Glamis, he avoids crowds. "I set up away from people," he said on direct examination.

It was also not unusual to keep windows closed at times, Yale said. "A windshield on a motor home is pretty big -- and I've logged over 100,000 miles in them -- people have a natural tendency to look in, see what's going on."

Sunlight also tends to damage interior furniture, he said. In addition, shades drawn on windshields and sides reduce glare for his wife and children who enjoy watching videos.

Motion denied

Before court adjourned on Tuesday, Superior Court Judge William Mudd denied a defense motion to acquit Westerfield on the charges, that possession of child pornography.

Mudd noted that the defense motion ``brings to the court the question of whether or not, in the best light possible given to the prosecution's evidence, is there sufficient evidence to go to the jury from the question of the guilt or innocence of Mr. Westerfield on charges he is facing?

``The answer to that question is yes,'' Mudd said, answering his own rhetorical question. ``The motion is denied.''

Police criminalist Tanya DuLaney testified yesterday that blue fibers found in Westerfield's motorhome match fibers found around the body of the victim and on clothes in his washing machine.

DuLaney said she found a total of 46 blue fibers while examining the 1997 Southwind motorhome Feb. 6, four days after the second-grader was discovered missing from her Sabre Springs home.

Eleven blue nylon fibers were found on the headboard of the bed at the back of the vehicle, DuLaney said, with 31 discovered on bench seats, one on a front passenger seat and the rest on a couch.

Father wants back in court

Damon van Dam has filed a motion to be readmitted into the trial of his daughter's accused killer, Judge William Mudd said today.

The judge barred the father from the courtroom and third floor of the San Diego County Courthouse on June 25 because he said Damon van Dam was stalking and trying to stare down Westerfield.

At the time, Mudd said he had reached the limit with the father and told him to leave.

Mudd said he will consider Damon van Dam's motion tomorrow.

Baseball's 'sorry state'

The 7-7 tie in the Major League Baseball All-Star game Tuesday night prompted the judge to comment today on what he called the "sorry state of professional baseball."

Mudd was unhappy that Commissioner Bud Selig decided to call the game after 11 innings because the National and American league managers had told him that they had run out of players.

"It sure lets you know where the fans fit in," Mudd told jurors before testimony began.

The judge also reminded the jury that they would be off next week because Mudd had a prepaid and long-standing vacation planned by his wife of 30 years.

Mudd said the break would be good for jurors since the end of the case would be "intense."

"The pundits are telling me you're all a bunch of idiots," the judge said, referring to some criticism that the week-long break is going to leave jurors with an impression that the last witnesses who testify would be the best witnesses.

Mudd said the break would actually work to jurors' benefits.

"This actually is going to work out to your benefit."

"Get back to know your boss, your co-workers, spend time with your families," Mudd said. "Take a vacation. This is going to work to your benefit. It allows you a bit of a break before the end of the trial. The end of the trial will be intense."


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: 180frank; damonvandam; westerfield
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To: John Jamieson
Funny part is that it may be true.
421 posted on 07/11/2002 2:37:22 PM PDT by UCANSEE2
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To: All
The unsealed documents from today's hearing, does anyone know if they are online or will be?

Personally, I think it's a huge mistake for the judge to allow the Demon back in the courtroom.
422 posted on 07/11/2002 2:37:32 PM PDT by the Deejay
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To: oremus
Court is dark until 9am on Monday 7/22....judge is vacationing w/wife.
423 posted on 07/11/2002 2:37:34 PM PDT by Rheo
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To: oremus
9 more days of NO trial!
424 posted on 07/11/2002 2:37:34 PM PDT by John Jamieson
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To: John Jamieson
Feldman hasn't asked the defense witnesses (should I say the *other* barflies?) whether her red top was smooth or fuzzy. I only heard, "tight," in the testimony, and someone here said, "lowcut." My first guess would be that they are from Mommy Dearest.

When do you think Brenda *really* knew something happened to Danielle? I don't think she did it, but I think she did help plan the coverup.

I think today's little show in court provides a reason to think that Damon is an out of control little fart and could have hurt her in a way to cause her death.
425 posted on 07/11/2002 2:37:52 PM PDT by pinz-n-needlez
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To: John Jamieson
What are Neil's school colors?
426 posted on 07/11/2002 2:38:54 PM PDT by pinz-n-needlez
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To: pinz-n-needlez
someone from the bar said that her shirt was a blouse...don't remember who it was.

We need Barb to testify to that as she probably had her hand in it.

427 posted on 07/11/2002 2:39:09 PM PDT by Rheo
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To: UCANSEE2
Every line of it! Ick!
428 posted on 07/11/2002 2:39:41 PM PDT by pinz-n-needlez
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To: Rheo
The only way his client will ever have a life again if found not guilty...is for the real perp to be exposed or enough stuff comes out that the investigation has to be relooked at.(still hoping for the Perry Mason moment, I guess)

That is my feeling too. They have forever stolen that mans good name if he is innocent...

I must tell you that if his defense does not turn up the perp..I do not believe the cops will every try to find the killer..DW will have served their purpose . The cops will be like OJ looking for his wifes killer and that is how they will treat it..and those that wanted cover have got it...nice neat finish huh?

429 posted on 07/11/2002 2:40:39 PM PDT by RnMomof7
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To: the Deejay
Beth Carras had a copy of them on CTV a bit after 3:00 (noon PDT) so they're out there in the ether somewhere.
430 posted on 07/11/2002 2:41:01 PM PDT by pinz-n-needlez
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To: Rheo
"Not once, have any one of the posters who feel him guilty from the start, responded to the questions."

The best we ever see is someone whining, "but there's bloooooooood somewhere...."

I think it's part of the Transcript Reading Disorder syndrome.

431 posted on 07/11/2002 2:41:10 PM PDT by MizSterious
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To: pinz-n-needlez
"I think today's little show in court provides a reason to think that Damon is an out of control little fart and could have hurt her in a way to cause her death."


Damon has been "my" suspect since I watched the prelim. It was just an instinct I had & it keeps getting stronger. Since the trial itself started, I'm seeing a lot of people that agree with my instincts.

432 posted on 07/11/2002 2:42:12 PM PDT by the Deejay
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To: the Deejay
I'm looking for the unsealed documents too. If you find them first, post a link please?
433 posted on 07/11/2002 2:43:30 PM PDT by Karson
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To: pinz-n-needlez
As all know my original take is that the VDs staged all this to cover up an accidental death, possibly to avoid an autopsy that would have shown she was being molested.

I now believe that Damon intentionally, at some point and for some reason he felt sufficient, killed his daughter.

434 posted on 07/11/2002 2:44:04 PM PDT by crystalk
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To: pinz-n-needlez
Don't know!

But mine were "blood on the sidewalk"
435 posted on 07/11/2002 2:45:09 PM PDT by John Jamieson
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To: RnMomof7
Some people say I'm obnoxious and lazy, I'm uneducated, my opinion means nothing.

But I know I'm a real good dancer, don't need to look over my shoulder to see what I am after...

436 posted on 07/11/2002 2:45:36 PM PDT by ThreeYearLurker
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To: RnMomof7
I think Feldman knows something....the poison oak..the date of the 16th, the phone call, the van ride of DVD and friend.

If poison oak is contracted on the 16th..how long until symptoms?...the one short sleeved pic of DVD was right after the disappearance IIRC, were any pic spotted after the 16th?

437 posted on 07/11/2002 2:45:37 PM PDT by Rheo
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To: pinz-n-needlez
3. One hair in the MH sink that was Danielle's. But she had been at his house 3 days earlier, and could have been tracked in on his shoe from the house.

Don't forget that Brenda danced with DW and a hair from Danielle could have easily been transferred from Brenda to DW and wound up in the motor home, especially if DW went into the MH before changing clothes after being at Dad's.

438 posted on 07/11/2002 2:45:38 PM PDT by connectthedots
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To: pinz-n-needlez
Thanks! I don't watch CTV during this trial. I've seen enough posts about *them* and don't need the aggrevation of the snippy twit heads. LOL! I tuned in today to see the hearing, because I couldn't get it on webcast. However, I muted the tv until they went back into the courtroom.

Maybe the unsealed documents are available on the CTV website.
439 posted on 07/11/2002 2:45:51 PM PDT by the Deejay
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To: the Deejay
He scared the snot out of the security people at the courthouse. They're the ones who asked that he be barred.

Did you hear that he and Brenda are yelling profanities at real estate agents and their clients when they try to show Westerfield's house?

The judge had Dusek talk to him, and then reported that Damon's response was that he wouldn't stop. That's why he was kicked out in the first place.

Feldman reported that Brenda called a defense witness an 'a$$hole' when they were finished testifying. Dusek disputes that, but not the rest.

These people are dangerous and stupid! Perfectly capable of letting loose on a 7 year old who is beginning to questions limits, and perhaps, sadly, setting them for Daddy.
440 posted on 07/11/2002 2:46:19 PM PDT by pinz-n-needlez
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