Plea deal 'minutes away' when body found

San Diego Union Tribune ^ | September 17, 2002 | J. Harry Jones

[Bug]

Plea deal 'minutes away' when body found

By J. Harry Jones
STAFF WRITER

September 17, 2002

Minutes before Danielle van Dam's remains were found Feb. 27, David Westerfield's lawyers were brokering a deal with prosecutors:

He would tell police where he dumped the 7-year-old girl's body; they would not seek the death penalty.

Law enforcement sources told The San Diego Union-Tribune yesterday defense lawyers Steven Feldman and Robert Boyce were negotiating for a life sentence for the 50-year-old design engineer, a neighbor of the van Dams in Sabre Springs.

The deal they were discussing would have allowed Westerfield to plead guilty to murder and be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, said the officials, who spoke on condition they not be identified.

Prosecutors were seriously considering the bargain when Danielle's body was discovered off Dehesa Road that afternoon, nearly four weeks after she disappeared from her bedroom.

"The deal was just minutes away," one of the sources said.

It was aborted, but details were confirmed yesterday soon after a San Diego Superior Court jury recommended the death penalty for Westerfield.

The officials outlined this chronology:

Feldman and Boyce were at the downtown San Diego jail discussing the final arrangements with Westerfield when volunteer searchers found Danielle's remains beneath trees along Dehesa Road east of El Cajon.

When the lawyers left to meet with prosecutors, they noticed members of the news media gathering in the street and asked what was happening.

After being told a body had been found, they went directly to the nearby Hall of Justice and met with prosecutors. The defense lawyers were handed a copy of a Thomas Guide map of the Dehesa area on which a circle had been drawn indicating the location of the body.

Feldman and Boyce took the map back to Westerfield and later telephoned to say they no longer "had anything to discuss regarding a plea bargain."

Neither Feldman nor Boyce could be reached for comment last night.

Danielle was reported missing from her home the morning of Feb. 2, and Westerfield, who lived two doors away, quickly became the primary suspect. He was watched closely by police for weeks as authorities and volunteers searched from the Sabre Springs neighborhood to the Imperial County desert.

After DNA results linked Westerfield to the crime, he was arrested Feb. 22 and charged with kidnapping and burglary.

Three days later, even though Danielle's body had not been found, District Attorney Paul Pfingst announced murder and kidnapping charges would be filed that could carry the death penalty.

Many law enforcement officials feared Danielle's body might never be found. Then, on Feb. 27, volunteer searchers combing the Dehesa area, far from where police had focused, found Danielle's badly decomposed remains.

At that point, the official sources said yesterday, any opportunity Westerfield and his lawyers had to win a plea bargain evaporated.

---

J. Harry Jones: (619) 542-4590;

email

Copyright 2002 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

[Bonaparte]

"...I'm also a graduate of MIT class of 67, course XVI aero/astro. I worked for NASA from 67 to 94, put man on the moon, founded the Kennedy Space Center Artificial Intelligence Lab in 86, wrote over a million lines of code for the Space Shuttle and retired with a very nice income when I was 48. I use my real name so you can easy check me out. My thinking process is probably just as good as yours..."

I know I don't need to tell you who John Augustus Roebling was or where he stands in the pantheon of engineering. Here are some excerpts about him from The Great Bridge by David McCullough:

John Roebling was a believer in hydropathy, the therapeutic use of water. Come headaches, constipation, the ague, he would sit in a scalding-hot tub for hours at a time, then jump out and wrap up in ice-cold, slopping-wet bed sheets and stay that way for another hour or two... He drank vile concoctions of raw egg, charcoal, warm water and turpentine, and there were dozens of people along Canal Street who had seen him come striding through his front gate, cross the canal bridge, and drink water "copiously" -- gallons it seemed -- from the old fountain beside the state prison. ("This water I relish much," he would write in his notebook.) "A wet bandage around the neck every night, for years, will prevent colds..." he preached to his family. "A full cold bath every day is indispensable..." ...

...Not long after his first wife died, he had taken up spiritualism. There had been talk ever since of after-dark gatherings, of table rappings and the like, inside the big Roebling house. The old man, on top of his other acheivements, was now said to be on speaking terms with the dead.

True to form, when Roebling's foot was crushed in an accident, he believed he knew better than physicians, refused their advice, and died ten days later of tetanus. Like many other brilliant engineers, he was not so distinguished in other fields of inquiry -- not that you could ever convince him of that.

[CW_Conservative]

1. DW said he cut off his wife's underwear while she slept. (He explained that Officers Ott/Keyser had spoken with ex-wife Jackie and asked her if he had deviant sexual behavior. She had complained about this and other things.)

2. DW said his wife witnessed him coming in very late at nite with binoculars (the hint being he used them out in the neighborhood to spy).

3. DW asked Officers Ott/Keyser to leave a gun in the room when they had to leave (so he could kill himself).

Too bad they couldn't oblige him.

Westerfield's involvement with Brenda Van Dam and her friends already proved he liked to be around fellow perverts. Nothing new here.

Too bad this tape couldn't be used in court, but that is what happens when cops refuse to let a suspect leave and then continue interrogation without reading him his rights.

Wonder why they feel the need to leak it to the media, seeing as everyone said they so thoroughly proved their case.

[John Jamieson]

Yes, alot of us are weird. I particularly remember Amar Bose and Doc Edgerton. Another prof used to come back from lunch and see the sign on his office door that said "Gone to lunch", and turn away to leave.

[Bonaparte]

"...no contact visits whatsoever -- even from family."

I don't think that's been true here since the consent decree 20 years ago, Amore. There's a visiting room and lots of people visit prisoners there, up to 2 hours, 4 days per week. Only inmates with attitude problems are denied this privilege. They are housed in the adjustment center, which has no visitors. Did you know that Richard Ramirez, the infamous "night stalker," got married while incarcerated on San Quentin's death row? That was on October 3, 1996. He even got to kiss the bride.

[Freedom2specul8]

That's not all...

LET IT BE KNOWN this is hearsay:

http://www.websleuths.com/dcf/DCForumID5/786.html
Jennifer L.'s mom just called in. Jennifer was the friend of##### L's daughter, who went camping. Rick pried and proded and she admitted that Dusek was very careful to protect the young girls and not everything that happened was let out. Apparently, Westerfield made some inappropriate comments to her daughter concerning her body. She is going to talk to Jennifer about calling in to Rick in the future.

---

David Godfrey of KFMB news is on now. Apparently they did an interview with Barbara Easton a few days ago, but not on camera.

Apparently they have been running promos of it and Barbara has been calling to try to get them to pull the story.

There will be a story on the KFMB website in about an hour.

She gives her insight as to why she thinks she was not called to testify. (she thinks the police believe she copped an attitude and she never returned Marian Passas' phone calls so she thinks both sides just didn't think she was cooperative)

We didn't call her for the same reason the defense didn't call her. There was nothing to be gained from her that we didn't already have," Dusek said shortly after the jury recommended a death sentence for Westerfield.

---

juror 13 on RR's show

It's #13. Alternate juror. She is in Rick's studio.
It really doesn't matter what she has to say because she was not in on the deliberations.

She said the photographs were horrendous and she hasn't had a good night's sleep since seeing them.

---

Juror #13 is still on Rick Roberts describing the tour of the motorhome. She said she is 5'5" and could barely reach the door. She said it was difficult to open, she could hardly open it.

She said it was very creepy being inside of there because inside it is small and compact. I guess they went in one at a time and she said she thought she got locked in and started to panic. She said one of the male jurors 1-12 was crying when he walked out.

Jennifer L. dressed like a stripper when she came into court. LOL(this is the 17 year old whose mother just called in)

She was bothered by why Barbara wasn't called.

Oh My! She is speaking to Westerfield. She called him scum. She said he sickened her. She said he is going to have his day.

[Bonaparte]

"...and turn away to leave."

I wonder how he ever got back into his office.

[CW_Conservative]

Juror #13 is still on Rick Roberts describing the tour of the motorhome. She said she is 5'5" and could barely reach the door. She said it was difficult to open, she could hardly open it.

She said it was very creepy being inside of there because inside it is small and compact. I guess they went in one at a time and she said she thought she got locked in and started to panic. She said one of the male jurors 1-12 was crying when he walked out.

I heard this juror on Rick's show, once he calmed her down enough to talk. Maybe she thought the studio was small and compact or that Rick was creepy, I don't know.

I do know she thought one witness looked like a character on the Simpson's. That was interesting.

She also didn't approve of how one defense witness was dressed. She seemed to pay more attention to the witness' T-shirt than her testimony. Maybe she owned the same one, or wished she did.

She also thought that the Van Dam's lifestyle "opened doors". She didn't find it silly, unlike that femi-male juror.

[truth_seeker]

The personal attacks were first and most often from the hang-Westerfield side.

I completely disagree. Early on during the trial, there was non-sense which was over the line of civility.

The fresno character slandered witnesses. His cheer squad gave him the attention he so desparately sought.

It was in horrible taste, yet anyone who surmised that Westerfield was guilty was ridiculed.

Don't take my word. Check facts, such as the fresno character getting banned for NUMEROUS violations of written rules, and personal warnings. He was on the side which forced the management to initiate the back room.

No, it wasn't equal on both sides; it was started and kept going by a group who from time to time called it "their thread."

Such is the legacy of the rude, unruly SaveDave gang. Most are probably out in the desert, reforming the group with Squeaky Fromme. I halfway expect them to appear at the sentencing with "Ws" carved in their foreheads, and chanting fresno's lyrics.

[Amore]

Ah, finally someone's saying what I noticed! That juror Jeff appeared gay to me too, which would account for his vehement statement that the VD's lifestyle was not relevant. Clearly it WAS relevant in that their lifestyle had obviously attracted DW's attention and interest, plus it opened up other possibilities as to other people who had access to Danielle.

[John Jamieson]

First thing we have agreed on today!

[truth_seeker]

Maybe I just have a higher standard of "proof beyond a reasonable doubt" than most people.

Ever think that you are the one who is "unreasonable?"

[CW_Conservative]

This juror obviously had personal experience regarding "girls night out".

[John Jamieson]

No, I think the evidence supports my view, or I wouldn't feel that way. I think we convict about 1 innocent man for every 100 guilty ones. I'd like to see 1 in a thousand. Is it wrong to have high standards for proof?

[truth_seeker]

Did you know that Richard Ramirez, the infamous "night stalker," got married while incarcerated on San Quentin's death row? That was on October 3, 1996. He even got to kiss the bride.

I wonder which of the FR SaveDave groupies will decide to wed Dave? They were so impressed by his "nice guy" image, they often said.

[John Jamieson]

Come on, you guys say you want the attacking to stop. Please stop attacking us as a group and let us have our own opinions. Remarks such as these are designed to hurt people's feelings. You could gloat a little more quietly.

[sneakypete]

How the hell do you deduce that Bushbot=Westerfield defender?

What I wrote was that almost all of the Westerfield defenders were Bush-Bots,NOT that "ALL Bush-Bots are Westerfield defenders". There is a big difference between the two statements.

[sneakypete]

I pity Danielle. She is the only person in this whole sordid mess who deserves pity.

Even thinking about the horrors she suffered leaves a feeling in my chest like a lump of lead. Regardless of their lifestyle,her parents deserve a LOT of sympathy,too. After all,they lost a child to murder. As far as that goes, Westerfield's family is deserving of some sympathy,too. It's not every son who has a father who tries to blame HIM for the father's possession of child porn,or who tries to shift blame for the rape and murder of a child off on him.

[Greg Weston]

>>>who would call Westerfield a liar if he admited it and produced a video of the murder to back him up.<<<

LOL.

[CW_Conservative]

Plea deal 'minutes away' when body found

By J. Harry Jones

STAFF WRITER

September 17, 2002

Minutes before Danielle van Dam's remains were found Feb. 27, David Westerfield's lawyers were brokering a deal with prosecutors:

I loved listening to people on radio and TV trying to explain this article today. They had a hard time reconciling the part that states that:

Feldman and Boyce took the map back to Westerfield and later telephoned to say they no longer "had anything to discuss regarding a plea bargain."

With the ending of the article that says:

Then, on Feb. 27, volunteer searchers combing the Dehesa area, far from where police had focused, found Danielle's badly decomposed remains.

At that point, the official sources said yesterday, any opportunity Westerfield and his lawyers had to win a plea bargain evaporated.

How can any "opportunity" for Westerfield to plea "evaporate" when he already said that he no longer "had anything to discuss regarding a plea bargain."

This article is purposely misleading. It seems the Prosecution offered a deal and gave Feldman a map for Westerfield to locate the body on.

Feldman would have to report the offer of a deal to his client, after which Westerfield, having no knowledge of the location of Danielle, refused the deal.

It seems every media person in SD was aware of what they thought was a plea from Westerfield from before the trial even started. They were mislead by LE for the purpose of having it sway their reporting, which it obviously did.

The problem is that the media need LE for access to the good stories, violence, sex, drugs. Therefore, they are often times reduced to nothing more than whores for LE's version of the story.

This was one of those times.

[Ditter]

It doesn't matter *who* was offering the plea bargin ( I thought the procecuter always did the offering, but no matter) the key sentance here is that DW was moments away from *signing* it. If the body had been found later, even a short time later, we would not be having this discussion. The matter of DW's guilt would have been established before the trial.

As far as DW's not leaving any trace of having been in the house, so he couldn't have done it theory, neither did Elizabeths Smart's kidnapper leave any *physical* evidence in the house. Danielle could have gone outside & he got her there.

The dogs didn't smell her in there so she wasn't in there. DW cleaned *everything* with Clorox & the dogs scent was disturbed.

He couldn't have dropped her when the bug experts said because he was being watched 24/7. The bug guys didn't take into account the warm dry climate that dried her up & mummified her quickly.

WE can on on & on but the things I can't rationalize away are the blood/dna on his jacket & in the MH, her print in the MH & her hair in the drain & in his shorts in the house. None of those thing would have been there if he was innocent. NONE.

Why wasn't there more physical evidence? He was a tidy clean man & he cleaned it up, every engineer I have ever know was anal & tidy. DW fits that same profile for me.