Union-Tribune
Susan L. describes her relationship to David Westerfield.Posted on 07/11/2002 6:47:45 AM PDT by FresnoDA
July 10, 2002
Union-Tribune Susan L. describes her relationship to David Westerfield. |
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."
"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."
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.
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."
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.
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.
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.
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."
Is that really necessary? I "get" it just fine, thank you.
I don't understand them either, but with everyone a little punchy, maybe we should just all cut each other a little slack, huh?
(07-11-2002) - During a drive in the desert to show detectives where he camped the weekend a neighbor girl disappeared, David Westerfield commented the area would be a "great place to dump a body," according to an affidavit released Thursday.
Later that day, when a detective said it would be nice to know where 7- year-old Danielle van Dam's body was located, Westerfield told him to just be patient and police "will get the information they need," the affidavit states.
When asked when that would be, Westerfield said it would be sooner than they think, according to the affidavit.
A total of five affidavits used to support search warrants during the investigation of Westerfield were released Thursday at the San Diego County Courthouse.
The release came at the beginning of an 11-day break in Westerfield's trial on charges of murdering and kidnapping Danielle, who disappeared from her Sabre Spring home the first weekend of February. She was found dead Feb. 22 east of El Cajon.
The warrants allowed for searches of Westerfield's computer equipment, other possessions within his house on Mountain Pass Road and cellular telephone records.
The judge in the Danielle van Dam murder case ruled today that her father will be allowed back into the courtroom where her alleged killer is on trial, providing that he refrain from staring at the defendant.
Superior Court Judge William Mudd said he would give Damon van Dam another chance because he was satisfied that "he's had enough time to think about this."
"You should know, Mr. van Dam, if I get one report of one incident, I will bar you from the courthouse," Mudd said.
Mudd was ruling on a motion by Van Dam asking to be reinstated as an observer in the trial.
"They want to be in court to provide emotional support for each other," said attorney Spencer Busby, representing Van Dam.
Saying he had "reached the limit," the judge barred Damon van Dam from the courtroom and third floor of the San Diego County Courthouse on June 25 on grounds that he was stalking and trying to stare down accused murderer David Westerfield.
"Mr. Westerfield's position is, he has no problem with their presence, but we do have safety concerns," said defense attorney Steven Feldman.
On Wednesday, the defense called its star witness, an insect expert, whose testimony was expected to create a time-line as to when Danielle van Dam's body was left in Dehesa.
The defense was hoping to show that the body was dumped during a time when Westerfield was under surveillance.
The expert, David Faulkner, says insects infested Danielle's body about 10 to 12 days before it was discovered. But the prosecution pointed out problems with the timeline, saying it's possible Danielle's body was covered.
"If the victim was dead longer and something was used to exclude entry by insects, it could have been there longer. I can't rule that out," said Faulkner.
Westerfield's ex-girlfriend also took the stand.
She says it wasn't unusual for him to sweat. And it was normal for him to shut his house up before leaving for a trip.
The trial is now in recess until July 22, while Mudd vacations with his wife.
You mean, like the bug guy, who said that the body was not dumped after the 16th, because of only one generation of fly larvae, and wasn't dumped much before the 16th because of the lack of beetle larvae?
But you can bet if he gave a plausible explanation as to how, when or why Danielle got in the MH it would not have been excluded.
Right, which is what happened. Testimony was given by the neighbors to show that the MH was often parked outside for several days before camping trips, and it was, on at least one occasion, left unlocked.
Swingers, sluts and creeps....Sure would be a great place to dump a body....nah..think I'll do it at a populated dump site near town instead.
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SABRE SPRINGS ---- Brenda and Damon van Dam are considering creating a foundation to help find missing children with $24,200 left over from donations to the search for their murdered daughter, a family friend said Monday.
"That is one of the possibilities," said Bill Libby, 45, of Rancho Penasquitos, adding that the couple has not made a decision.
Since Danielle van Dam was reported missing on Feb. 2, nearly $10,600 in donations was given to her recovery efforts. After the 7-year-old Creekside Elementary School second grader's body was found in Dehesa on Feb. 27, another $22,800 was donated by people across the country in her memory bringing the total to $33,400.
"It was all quite amazing," Libby said.
About $4,200 was spent on banners, fliers, buttons and other office supplies for the Danielle Search Center, he said. The center orchestrated thousands of volunteers who spent numerous hours scouring areas from Mexico to east San Diego and Imperial counties.
Another $5,000 was donated to the Texas-based Laura Recovery Center, which helped the family and volunteers organize the Danielle Search Center.
The rest of the $24,200 is in an account sponsored by the Community Bible Church of Scripps Ranch. Libby said only the church treasurer can access the account on behalf of the van Dams.
"When enough time has elapsed following the death of their daughter, the van Dams will turn their
attention to the appropriate use of those funds," according to a statement on the family Web site.
Meanwhile, Libby said, Danielle's parents are still in the early stages of mourning their daughter's death.
"No enough time has passed," Libby said. "They are still working on the grieving."
Damon van Dam did, however, return to his job as a software testing engineer for Qualcomm on a part-time basis during the first week of March, according to Libby.
------------------------------------------------------------
3/26/02
From Millennium Children's Fund
Please stop the ill-gotten money!
van Dam Family Trust
c/o Community Bible Fellowship
Church member: Bill Libby
Bank Accounts: As of 03-28-2002
Wells Fargo Bank
Branch Number #6417
Account Numbers #2091-94054, #2091-94052
MCF is thankful for your caring member Bill Libby and the faith based institution mentioned. We respectfully ask you to disassociate from van Dam Family. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The transcript
21 A YES, IT WAS A LITTLE BIT LATER. 22 Q AND WHERE DID YOU GO? DID YOU GO ANYPLACE 23 OTHER THAN DAD'S? 24 A NO. 25 Q WAS THIS ALSO A GIRLS' NIGHT OUT? 26 A YES. 27 Q AND HOW MANY GIRLS' NIGHTS OUT PER WEEK DO 28 YOU GENERALLY HAVE, MA'AM?
Page 589 1 MR. DUSEK: OBJECTION; IRRELEVANT.
2 THE COURT: SUSTAINED.
3 BY MR. FELDMAN:
4 Q IS DENISE KEMAL AN HONEST PERSON?
5 MR. DUSEK: OBJECTION; IRRELEVANT.
6 THE COURT: SUSTAINED.
7 BY MR. FELDMAN:
8 Q ON THE 25TH, HOW MUCH DID YOU HAVE TO
9 DRINK, IF YOU RECALL?
10 A I DON'T RECALL.
11 Q HOW MANY DRINKS DID DAVID WESTERFIELD BUY
12 FOR YOU, IF YOU REMEMBER?
13 A I DON'T RECALL.
14 Q ON THE EVENING OF THE 1ST OF FEBRUARY, DID
15 YOU INVITE BILL LIBBY TO MEET YOU AT DAD'S BAR?
16 A I DON'T RECALL. I MAY HAVE.
17 Q AND IS BILL LIBBY A FRIEND OF YOURS?
18 A YES.
19 Q AND IS HE A PERSON WHO SPENT THE NIGHT AT
20 YOUR HOUSE BEFORE?
21 MR. DUSEK: OBJECTION; IRRELEVANT.
22 THE COURT: SUSTAINED.
23 MR. FELDMAN: ACCESS.
24 THE COURT: HOLD ON. OVERRULED MYSELF.
25 OVERRULED. YOU MAY ANSWER THE QUESTION.
26 BY MR. FELDMAN:
27 Q IS BILL LIBBY A PERSON THAT HAS STAYED AT
28 YOUR HOUSE BEFORE?
Page 590
1 A NO.
2 Q BILL LIBBY HAS NEVER SPENT THE NIGHT AT
3 YOUR HOUSE; IS THAT CORRECT?
4 MR. DUSEK: OBJECTION; IRRELEVANT, VAGUE AS TO
5 TIME, 352.
6 THE COURT: OVERRULED.
7 HAS HE EVER SPENT THE NIGHT AT YOUR HOME?
8 THE WITNESS: NO.
9 THE COURT: NEXT QUESTION.
10 BY MR. FELDMAN:
11 Q WITH REGARD TO BILL LIBBY, YOU CALLED HIM
12 ON THAT FRIDAY, MEANING THE 1ST OF FEBRUARY, AND
13 TOLD HIM THAT YOU WERE GOING TO MEET SOME OF YOUR
14 FRIENDS AT DAD'S BAR; IS THAT CORRECT?
15 A YES.
16 Q AND YOU SUGGESTED THAT HE COME BY AND MEET
17 YOU SINCE HIS WIFE WAS OUT OF TOWN; ISN'T THAT
18 CORRECT?
19 A I ASKED HIM IF HE WOULD LIKE TO JOIN US. I
20 DON'T RECALL HIS WIFE BEING OUT OF TOWN.
21 Q FOR THE LIMITED PURPOSE OF REFRESHING YOUR
22 RECOLLECTION, BILL LIBBY TOLD VESTIGATOR --
23 MR. DUSEK: OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR. I'D ASK THAT
24 SHE BE SHOWN THE DOCUMENT.
25 THE COURT: YES. THIS TIME YOU SHOW HER THE
26 DOCUMENT. WE'RE NOT GOING TO HAVE A QUOTE --
27 MR. FELDMAN: CAN I APPROACH?
28 THE COURT: -- FROM EVERYBODY THAT TALKED TO THE
Page 591
1 POLICE.
2 OF COURSE YOU MAY.
3 MR. FELDMAN: COUNSEL, 497.
4 BY MR. FELDMAN:
5 Q MA'AM, YOU'LL SEE HIGHLIGHTED ON THIS PIECE
6 OF PAPER A PARAGRAPH WHICH I'M NOW CIRCLING.
7 THE COURT: FOR THE RECORD, WHAT PAGE IS IT IN
8 THE DISCOVERY?
9 MR. FELDMAN: I THOUGHT I GAVE IT, YOUR HONOR.
10 497.
11 THE COURT: YOU MAY HAVE. THANK YOU.
12 WOULD YOU READ THAT, PLEASE. THANK YOU.
13 BY MR. FELDMAN:
14 Q I'M JUST ASKING YOU TO READ THIS TO
15 YOURSELF.
16 A OH.
17 Q HAVE YOU HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO REVIEW THE
18 DOCUMENT?
19 A YES.
20 Q DOES REVIEWING THE DOCUMENT REFRESH YOUR
21 RECOLLECTION AS TO WHETHER OR NOT YOU SAID TO BILL
22 LIBBY "WHY DON'T YOU COME BY DAD'S AND MEET ME"
23 SINCE HIS WIFE WAS OUT OF TOWN?
24 MR. DUSEK: SAME OBJECTION. WHETHER OR NOT THE
25 DOCUMENT REFRESHES HER RECOLLECTION.
26 THE COURT: EXCUSE ME. OVERRULED.
27 GO AHEAD.
28 THE WITNESS: NO, IT DOESN'T.
Page 592
1 THE COURT: NEXT QUESTION.
2 MR. FELDMAN: I'M GOING TO TRY TO REFRESH HER
3 RECOLLECTION ON THE SAME SUBJECT. ONLY THIS TIME I
4 WISH TO USE A DIFFERENT PIECE OF DISCOVERY,
5 PAGE 499.
6 THE COURT: IF YOU WANT TO DO THAT, WALK UP TO
7 HER, SHOW IT TO HER, AND ASK HER IF IT REFRESHES HER
8 RECOLLECTION.
9 BY MR. FELDMAN:
10 Q I'M SHOWING YOU ANOTHER DOCUMENT WHICH IS
11 AN INTERVIEW, AND I'M TRYING TO DIRECT YOUR
12 ATTENTION TO THE BOTTOM PARAGRAPH, MA'AM, AGAIN IT'S
13 HIGHLIGHTED. READ ANY PARTS YOU WISH JUST TO GET
14 CONTEXT.
15 THE COURT: THIS IS AN INTERVIEW OF THIS WITNESS
16 BY THE POLICE; IS THAT CORRECT?
17 MR. FELDMAN: NO. THIS IS A WITNESS OF -- BY
18 THE POLICE, YOUR HONOR, OF BILL LIBBY.
19 THE COURT: I UNDERSTAND.
20 I DON'T WANT A DESCRIPTION OF WHAT YOU
21 SAID. I DO NOT WANT A DESCRIPTION OF WHAT HE SAID.
22 BY MR. FELDMAN:
23 Q MA'AM, HAVE YOU HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO
24 REVIEW THE DOCUMENT?
25 A YES.
26 Q DID READING THE DOCUMENT REFRESH YOUR 27 MEMORY AS TO WHETHER OR NOT YOU WERE AWARE -- STRIKE
28 THAT.
Page 593
1 DOES REVIEWING THE DOCUMENT REFRESH YOUR
2 RECOLLECTION AS TO WHETHER OR NOT YOU TOLD BILL
3 LIBBY THAT HE OUGHT TO COME TO DAD'S BAR THAT
4 EVENING BECAUSE HIS WIFE DOLLY WAS OUT OF TOWN?
5 A NO, IT DOESN'T.
6 THE COURT: ALL RIGHT, COUNSEL. HOW MANY MORE
7 OF THESE ARE WE GOING TO HAVE?
8 MR. FELDMAN: NOW, I GOT HER STATEMENTS. I'M 9 MOVING THERE.
10 THE COURT: HER STATEMENTS ARE CERTAINLY FAIR
11 GAME.
12 MR. FELDMAN: YES.
Is that really necessary? I "get" it just fine, thank you.
Your comments suggest otherwise. If you "get" that she wasn't in the MH that weekend, and wasn't in the SUV, then why do you persist in your belief that DW killed Danielle?
During a drive in the desert to show detectives where he camped the weekend a neighbor girl disappeared, David Westerfield commented that the area would be a "great place to dump a body," according to an affidavit released Thursday.
Later that day, when a detective said it would be nice to know where 7- year-old Danielle van Dam's body was located, Westerfield told him to just be patient and police "will get the information they need," the affidavit states. When asked when that would be, Westerfield said it would be sooner than they think, according to the affidavit
A total of five affidavits used to support search warrants during the investigation of Westerfield were released at the San Diego County Courthouse.
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