Posted on 09/17/2002 11:45:39 AM PDT by Bonaparte
Parents of kidnapped girl thank jurors for convicting, recommending death for neighbor
Updated Sept. 17, 2002, 2:08 p.m. ET
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The parents of Danielle van Dam on Tuesday thanked the jury that found their neighbor guilty of kidnapping and killing the 7-year-old girl and said they hoped their "angel" would watch over the panel.
Speaking for the first time in months, Damon and Brenda van Dam said they were pleased with the outcome of the trial, which ended Monday with the jury's recommendation that David Westerfield be put to death.
"We feel that the justice system revealed the truth and that Danielle's murderer has been held accountable. ... That was our hope, that Danielle's death would not go unanswered," Brenda van Dam said, reading from a statement.
On the death sentence, she said, "What matters most is that this monster could never again hurt another child."
A gag order had barred the van Dams from speaking during the trial. The couple spoke to reporters at a seaside park that had been one of Danielle's favorite places.
The van Dams thanked jurors for taking on "an incredibly difficult job."
"We will ask our angel, Danielle, to watch over you and your families," Brenda van Dam said. "We know she will take special care of you."
Westerfield will be sentenced on Nov. 22, when Superior Court Judge William Mudd will either accept the jury's recommendation or impose a sentence of life in prison without chance for parole.
Under California law, all death penalty cases are automatically appealed.
The penalty verdict came after an unusual series of notes from jurors, who first told Mudd they were deadlocked, then asked for more time to deliberate, and finally, told him they had reached a conclusion.
"I think the verdict speaks for itself," the jury foreman, identified only as Tony, told reporters afterward. "There were people on both sides ... but then after discussing it further, we came to agreements.
Westerfield, 50, showed no emotion as the verdict was read. Westerfield's mother shook and cried as one of her son's attorneys tried to console her. The van Dams sat at the rear of the court with their arms linked, and Brenda van Dan cried as the verdict was read.
Danielle was last seen Feb. 1 when her father put her to bed in her second-story bedroom, decorated in her favorite colors, pink and purple. Just days before she had sold Girl Scout cookies to Westerfield, who lived two doors down from her house in the upscale San Diego suburb.
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 she had been sexually assaulted.
In the hours before the body was found, defense lawyers were brokering a plea bargain in which Westerfield would have avoided the death penalty in exchange for leading investigators to the girl's remains, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Tuesday.
The paper quoted sources as saying that Westerfield would have pleaded guilty to murder and be sentenced to life in prison. One source said the deal was minutes away from completion when the lawyers learned Danielle's body had been located and they dropped negotiations.
The van Dams said they were not aware of any such deal. Both prosecutors and defense lawyers declined to comment.
The slaying of Danielle preceded other frightening abductions this year, including those of Elizabeth Smart in Utah, Samantha Runnion in Orange County and Cassandra Williamson in Missouri. Samantha and Cassandra were killed; Elizabeth remains missing.
Westerfield was convicted Aug. 21 of kidnapping, murder and possession of child pornography.
The jury foreman said blood and other physical evidence linking Westerfield to Danielle led him to believe Westerfield was guilty, adding he was not swayed by the character testimony from the defendant's son and daughter.
Both he and another juror, identified as Jeffrey, said Danielle's blood on the defendant's jacket was probably the most compelling evidence in the two-month trial.
"Blood on the jacket. Where did it come from? How did it get there?" Jeffrey asked.
Defense attorneys sought to portray Westerfield as a family man who contributed to society through his patented design work on devices used in medicine and other fields.
The self-employed engineer had no prior felony record and played an active role in the lives of his children and close friends.
"He's a good man but for one three-day weekend of terror," his lawyer Steven Feldman said in court.
Westerfield did not testify during the trial, something the jury foreman indicated disturbed him and others.
"We really wanted David Westerfield to speak to us and give us what his state of mind was," he said.
Roger to that, CaptainK. Can't wait for the book.
Yeti [post 265]: "Since DW couldn't have dumped the body, DW didn't do it. Which means, like it or not, LE falsified evidence!"
John Jamieson [post 310]: "Dusek is sunk either way. He's toast."
John Jamieson [post 333]: "Westerfield will not be convicted."
John Jamieson [post 355, to Greg Weston]:"Lets put $25 on it. Loser sends the $25 to FR fund. I'll gladly risk it."
John Jamieson [post 418]: "'Probality' [sic] that DW could have have dumped Danielle at Dehesa between Feb 12 and 21st, undetected=0%."
It's me [post 459]: "The reporters who wanted Westerfield executed are seeing their case disintegrate right before their very eyes!"
the Deejay [post 465]: "Dusek is a piece of work and his lousy case is caving in on him."
Last two priceless quotations from the same thread --
bvw [post 917]: "All the evidence IS that this is indeed nothing but a mob sacrifice. Nancy Grace is the high priestess."
And yours isn't even vulgar!
In fact if you were to retrieve the old posts ... the hideous song parodys about Danielle's death, about swinging ... the incantations about "thread jackels" ... you'd have an amazing book about the psychology of the online world.
I'm certain it will go down in the annuals of FR. It wasn't just bitter, it was protracted and bitter. And it showed the absolute worst of people.
: And you are to be commended. ;-)
\ But I HAVE called the hold-outs the "Squeakies" ... after Squeaky Fromm.
And I still ponder our resident Westerfield groupies with little X's carved on their foreheads. I mean the visual is just soooo touching, man. :::sniff:::
Well, when you think that some of them registered after the murder. For instance FresnoDA registered after the murder and never posted anywhere on FR that wasn't a Westerfield thread.
Caveat: One exception: A thread bashing the moderators where he bashed them for the DW threads.
He ALWAYS struck me as a Liberal.
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