SAN DIEGO (AP) -- A neighbor was convicted Wednesday of kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, whose disappearance was the first in a series of high-profile child abductions that have horrified the country this year.
David Westerfield, a divorced self-employed engineer, was convicted after a lurid trial in which the defense suggested that the swinging lifestyle of Danielle's parents put her at risk. Prosecutors, however, said drops of the victim's blood on Westerfield's jacket were a DNA-backed "smoking gun" that jurors couldn't ignore.
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David Westerfield |
The Superior Court jury convicted Westerfield, 50, of murder, kidnapping and possessing child pornography. He faces a possible death sentence.
The six-man, six-woman jury, which returned its verdicts on the 10th day of delibations, was ordered to return Aug. 28 to begin the penalty phase.
Westerfield sat at the defense table, his eyes panning the jurors. He did not physically react when the verdicts were announced.
Danielle was last reported alive on Feb. 1. Her father said he put her to bed and she was missing the next morning. Her nude body was found nearly a month later along a road outside the city, too decomposed to determine the cause of death or whether Danielle had been sexually assaulted.
Westerfield, who lived two houses away from Danielle, was placed under surveillance early in the investigation after authorities learned he was at the same bar as Danielle's mother and two of her girlfriends the night the girl vanished. He also left on a long, meandering trip in his motor home early the next day as police and volunteers searched the neighborhood.
He later retraced his RV trip with police and made the unsolicited comment that "this would be a great place to dump a body," according to court documents.
The girl's blood was found on one of his jackets and her hair inside Westerfield's home. Investigators also found Danielle's blood, hair and fingerprints inside Westerfield's motor home.
The defense said there was no motive and suggested it was improbable that the 6-foot-2 suspect could have slipped into the girl's home in the dark and snatched her away without leaving any evidence of his presence.
Defense lawyer Steven Feldman also noted that Danielle and her mother had once been in Westerfield's home for about 15 minutes as the girl sold him Girl Scout cookies, suggesting that's why her hair was found.
Feldman suggested that someone else was the killer, noting that a fingerprint found in the van Dam home and a hair found on the girl's body were never identified.
The defense also argued that the lifestyle of Danielle's parents, which included marijuana use and spouse-swapping, exposed their home to people who might have been responsible for the girl's disappearance.
The case captivated much of San Diego, with local television and radio stations broadcasting gavel-to-gavel coverage and talk-radio programs delving into the details.
Damon van Dam, 36, testified that he kissed and "snuggled" in bed with one of his wife's friends the night his daughter disappeared. He also said he and his wife smoked marijuana with her friends earlier in the evening.
Other witnesses said they saw Brenda van Dam and Westerfield "dirty dancing" and being "huggy huggy" at the bar that night. One said van Dam rubbed her hips and bosom against Westerfield as he giggled. Brenda van Dam denied she danced with him.
The van Dams said their lifestyle had nothing to do with their daughter's abduction and slaying. Brenda van Dam wept as she testified, and both she and her husband sometimes gazed downward when their lifestyle was brought up during the rest of the trial.
Prosecutors called experts who described the DNA link between Danielle and the blood on Westerfield's jacket. One said the odds that another person would have the same DNA were at least 1 in 130 quadrillion.
Julie Mills, a clerk at a dry cleaner, testified that Westerfield came to the store two days after Danielle vanished, arriving in his motor home to drop off the bloodstained jacket, two comforters and two pillow covers.
She said it seemed odd that -- on a cold morning -- he was barefoot and wearing only a T-shirt and shorts. Detectives later came to the dry cleaner and confiscated the items for testing.
Danielle's slaying preceded other frightening abductions this year, including those of Elizabeth Smart in Utah, Samantha Runnion in Orange County and Cassandra Williamson in Missouri. All but Smart were killed; the Utah girl remains missing.
Chronology of events in the case of Danielle van Dam:
Feb. 1, 2002 -- Danielle van Dam is last seen when her father puts her to bed about 10 p.m. in her family's suburban San Diego home.
Feb. 2 -- Danielle's parents report her missing. Volunteers begin searching for the 7-year-old.
Feb. 2-3 -- David Westerfield spends weekend traveling around San Diego County in his motor home, stopping in the desert east of the city.
Feb. 5-6 -- Police search Westerfield's home twice and impound two of his vehicles, including the motor home. The search turns up child pornography.
Feb. 22 -- Police arrest Westerfield for investigation of kidnapping after Danielle's blood is found on an item of his clothing and in his motor home.
Feb. 26 -- Westerfield is arraigned on charges of murder, kidnapping and possession of child pornography. He pleads innocent.
Feb. 27 -- Volunteers discover the nude body of a girl 25 miles east of San Diego.
Feb. 28 -- An autopsy confirms the body is that of Danielle.
April 25 -- Prosecutors announce they will seek death penalty in case against Westerfield.
May 17 -- Jury selection begins in trial of Westerfield.
June 4 -- Trial begins.
Aug. 8 -- Jury begins deliberations following two months of trial and two days of closing arguments.
Aug. 21 -- Jury returns its verdict on its 10th day of deliberations.
8/21/02