Well, we have different perceptions on this. Brenda began reading their prepared statement and was unable to complete it, so Damon finished reading the statement.
I didn't read anything unusual into either of their behavior.
Brenda and Damon van Dam said they were prepared to accept either punishment for David Westerfield so long as he was found guilty of kidnapping and killing Danielle.
"In my eyes, love has conquered evil," Brenda van Dam said during a news conference at La Jolla Shores. "What mattered most is knowing that this monster could never again hurt another child."
A jury on Monday recommended death for David Westerfield, the 50-year-old neighbor of the van Dams who was convicted in August of killing Danielle.
Both Brenda and Damon van Dam said they were not aware that Westerfield had offered to plead guilty in February – just before their daughter's body was found on Feb. 27 – so long as prosecutors would not ask for the death penalty. The story was first reported in this morning's San Diego Union-Tribune.
They said they were not sure whether the offer was actually made.
"Just because it's in the paper doesn't mean it's true," Brenda van Dam said.
The van Dams said they held the 10-minute news conference at the sheltered beach because it was one of Danielle's favorite places. The family held a memorial to Danielle there in March.
"She loved this beach at La Jolla Shores," Brenda van Dam said. "We spent a lot of time here as a family, so on this day we remember Danielle fondly in her happy place."
Reading from a prepared statement, the van Dams thanked the citizens who turned out by the hundreds to help search for Danielle after her Feb. 2 disappearance and the police officers and other law enforcement employees involved in the investigation.
They reserved special thanks for the jurors.
"The evidence and images you were subjected to must have been heart-wrenching," Brenda van Dam said. "The only way we can possibly give back to you is to ask our angel Danielle to watch over you and your families. We don't know what power she has with her new little wings, but we know that she will take special care of you."
Asked later if there was anything she would want to hear from Westerfield, Brenda van Dam initially said, " I don't think I want him to tell me anything. I don't want to hear his voice."
But the discussion later turned to the enduring mystery of how and when Westerfield abducted Danielle from her Sabre Springs bedroom.
"If I ever have one question answered, it would be about how he did it," Brenda van Dam said.
The couple said it was painful for them when the focus of the case seemed to move away from Danielle, especially when they were questioned about their allegedly "swinging" lifestyle and their use of marijuana.
"It was difficult to actually answer all those questions, but we knew in our heart it was irrelevant to the case," Brenda van Dam said. "We wanted to get it out and get past it."
She also commented on the difficulty of sitting through the more gruesome parts of the trial, especially after Superior Court Judge William Mudd ejected Damon van Dam from the courtroom for allegedly threatening Westerfield.
"If Danielle was old enough and something like this happened to me, she would be there every day," she said.
Damon van Dam said he didn't blame the judge for acting on what the bailiffs told him had happened.
"What has been reported in the case of me being banned is being blown out of proportion," Damon van Dam said. "I did nothing other than to let (Westerfield) know I was there, but apparently the bailiffs think there was more to it than that."