Posted on 07/22/2002 3:02:31 PM PDT by FresnoDA
Westerfield's trial had been in recess since July 11 so the judge could take a previously scheduled vacation.
Westerfield, 50, lived two doors from Danielle, who vanished after her father put her to bed the night of Feb. 1. Searchers found the girl's nude body on Feb. 27 along a rural roadside east of San Diego.
A forensic entomologist, testifying Monday for the defense, said Danielle's body could not have been dumped at the roadside before Feb. 12, according to his analysis of flies and larvae collected during an autopsy. The blow flies that were found on the body typically descend on a cadaver shortly after death, but it can take longer in cooler temperatures, entomologist Neal Haskell said. Based on his analysis of the temperatures in the area at the time, Haskell (pictured, right) put "the time of colonization" likely at Feb. 14 and no earlier than Feb. 12.
Prosecutors challenged the defense's weather data.
Haskell's testimony puts the time the body may have been dumped several days earlier than suggested by a previous defense witness, entomologist David Faulkner. The defense has seized upon the time of death, which could not be precisely determined, to suggest that the body was dumped at a time when Westerfield was under constant police surveillance.
Westerfield was put under observation soon after Danielle disappeared, according to police testimony. He was arrested on Feb. 22.
During Haskell's testimony about insects devouring Danielle's body, the girl's parents, Brenda and Damon van Dam, stared at the floor as they sat in the back row of the courtroom. It is the first time that Damon van Dam has been in court since Judge William Mudd banned him from the proceedings almost a month ago as a security risk. Mudd restored his trial privileges just before going on vacation.
Lawyers for Westerfield have said they expect to offer two to three more days of testimony.
Why ? If he had an accomplice is not guilty ? I don;t get it. If I rob a bank and someone else drives, I must be acquited ?
I would agree. The violent (apparently)death of little girl can cause very tense emotions to be displayed.
Those that locked onto DW as GUILTY from the beginning and (for whatever reasons) refuse to change their mind NO MATTER WHAT, are usually people with very strong religious and/or moral convictions. They think that any OPEN-MINDED RATIONAL person that has gone to the trouble of spending time to SEE FOR THEMSELVES the truth of this case, MUST BE RELIGIOUSLY or MORALLY DEVOID, because they believe DW might not be guilty.
It is a wall that probably cannot be torn down.
They are right in that a person that would do that should get the worst punishment.
Those that have doubts about DW's guilt are right in that they want the REAL KILLER to be punished, and not someone that didn't do it.
I wonder what certain people would say if evidence came forward that totally cleared DW? Do you think the DW is GUILTY BECAUSE I JUST KNOW SO AND I WILL NEVER CHANGE MY MIND crowd would admit their mistake? I know the DW doesn't appear guilty, hasn't been proven crowd have already stated if proof enough was produced in court, they would admit to misjudging.
Second entomologist bolsters defense |
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A second forensic expert testified Monday that insect evidence indicates murder defendant David Westerfield was already under police surveillance when someone dumped Danielle van Dam's body along a San Diego roadside. The expert, Indiana forensic entomologist Neal Haskell, testified that the age of the flies and maggots found on the 7-year-old's body indicate that the girl was likely left along the highway between Feb. 12 and Feb. 21. Van Dam was kidnapped from her bedroom the night of Feb. 1 and police began constantly monitoring Westerfield, her 50-year-old neighbor, four days later.
The conclusions of the two entomologists are the defense's strongest evidence for Westerfield's innocence. Defense lawyer Steven Feldman told jurors during opening statements that "science" would rescue Westerfield by proving it was not physically possible for him to be at the site at the precise time her body was dumped. Haskell was the second witness for the defense to testify that forensic evidence showed Danielle's body was dumped after police put Westerfield under surveillance. Entomologist David Faulkner testified earlier in the defense case that infestation likely occurred between Feb. 16 and Feb. 18. "He had a narrower time frame than me," Haskell said when pressed on the disparity by prosecutor Jeff Dusek. "I was being more conservative." Infestation can occur as soon as 20 minutes after death, but could take longer depending on the climate and whether the body has been covered, experts say. Prosecutors, who have amassed a pile of other forensic evidence linking Westerfield to the kidnapping and murder, are taking the entomological challenge to their case very seriously. They have hired at least one insect expert, M. Lee Goff of Hawaii, to reanalyze the evidence. In his cross-examination, Dusek suggested Haskell did not take into consideration the strange weather in San Diego in February when making his calculations. Faulkner testified that hot, dry and windy conditions reduced the fly population to the lowest levels ever noted, but said flies were still present. Haskell largely downplayed the abnormal climate, saying the insect life recovered from the body proved flies were still abundant at the scene. At one point, Dusek asked Haskell if he had considered whether Danielle's dead body might have become mummified while driven around hot desert areas in Westerfield's recreational vehicle for a day and a half before being dumped along the road. Haskell admitted that the body might mummify slightly in such a scenario, but "not to the extent that it would inhibit the blowflies." Before testimony began, Judge William Mudd warned jurors that the abduction and slaying of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion in Orange County had nothing to do with the case they were hearing. "Other matters in other locations are of no relevance to the case," said Mudd. |
Mensa types are said to be good at probability calculation and are certainly aware of the likely penalty for murder in the first degree of a little girl. So, sure, it's possible to do what you describe, but I'd say the risks are a bit large of being observed as well as of inadvertently leaving physical evidence for the criminalists to find. And, anyway, if DW has such an aptitude for spiriting away little children without leaving behind tracks or witnesses, then why is he up for Murder I in the first place?
http://www.uniontrib.com/news/metro/danielle/20020223-9999_1n23wester.html SNIP A published report said that Westerfield is a member of Mensa, an organization of people who score high on intelligence tests. Both the national office and the San Diego chapter said they did not have Westerfield listed as a member.
The other, hinted point was that just as shifting gears is deterministic and so, despite the odds, quite expectable -- so, too could the hair have gotten into the drain as the deterministic and expectable result of someone putting it there, in the last place they would look after THEY DIDN'T FIND ANY EVIDENCE.
Well yes. Unless someone made an effort to clean up and dispose of them.
"The lack of finger prints by Danielle if she did play in there, there should be more. Especially in that so many un I'd prints were found."
But if she was in the MH over the weekend wouldn't there be more fingerprints?
Not if she was told to stay in one place.
YEs, of course Do you think he let her roam around?
No.
Or did he have her gagged and tied up?
Apparently there is no sign of this. He could have kept her in place by threats and fear.
If DW had her in the MH for however long the prosecution thinks, wouldn't there be more trace evidence of a murder?
If he was dumb enough to kill her there. I doubt he killed her inside.
She had to be in there for awhile, why didn't the dogs smell her?
Cleaning, aired out ?
If he killed her before he placed her in the MH
Doubtfull based on the evidence.
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