Free Republic

Witness firm on time line of bugs He suggests body dumped after surveillance started By Alex RothUNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERJuly 23, 2002A bug expert for the defense in the David Westerfield trial testified yesterday that Danielle van Dam's body couldn't have been exposed to flies any earlier than Feb. 12, a week after Westerfield was being watched by the police. The testimony of Dr. Neal Haskell supports the defense's argument that Westerfield couldn't have dumped the 7-year-old girl's body because he was under 24-hour-a-day police surveillance from Feb. 4 until his arrest Feb. 22. The second-grader's nude body was discovered Feb....

2nd Bug Expert Bolsters Westerfield Defense Expert Says Fly Infestations Show When Danielle's Body Was Dumped   POSTED: 6:58 a.m. PDT July 22, 2002 UPDATED: 2:28 p.m. PDT July 22, 2002  SAN DIEGO -- The trial of David Westerfield resumed Monday with more testimony about insects, as defense lawyers tried to show that their client was not the person who dumped Danielle van Dam's body along a two-lane road in East County. Before testimony began, Judge William Mudd warned jurors to ignore last week's murder of a young girl in nearby Orange County. Mudd said that the abduction, sexual...

EXCLUSIVE PICTURES OF VAN DAM RESIDENCE!!!A Little Girl LostOn the night of Feb. 1, 2002, 7-year-old Danielle van Dam was abducted from her bedroom in the Sabre Springs suburb of San Diego. After a massive search, her naked body was found in a trash-strewn lot 25 miles from her house. Her neighbor, David Westerfield, went on trial for the crime June 3.  The van Dam HouseDanielle lived in this four-bedroom stucco house on Mountain Pass Road with her parents, Brenda and Damon, and two brothers, Derek and Dylen.    In the KitchenThe evening before her kidnapping, Danielle sat at the kitchen table writing...

Never out of sightParents, experts on children agree this is the rule of the day  By Jane CliffordUNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERJuly 20, 2002Carolyn Burke answered the question even before it was asked: "I never let her out of my sight." It's the mantra of parents this week, following the abduction and murder of 5-year-old Samantha Runnion, grabbed outside her Orange County town house Monday.It's also the mantra of child-development experts who say that no child under the age of 6 should be playing unsupervised. They simply are incapable of making all the right decisions at the right time. And when...

Bug for bug: Prosecutors hire their own entomologist A forensic entomologist provided the strongest evidence yet for David Westerfield, left. By Harriet Ryan Court TV Prosecutors in the David Westerfield capital murder trial have hired a top national forensic entomologist in an apparent attempt to neutralize the defense's strongest argument for acquittal — insect evidence indicating the defendant could not have killed Danielle van Dam. M. Lee Goff, a professor of forensic sciences at Chaminade University in Hawaii, said that as of Friday morning, he is working for the San Diego District Attorney's office on the case. "[P]roviding testimony...

Defense has had no shortage of witnesses to make its caseBy Alex Roth STAFF WRITERJuly 14, 2002 A week ago, Janet Roehr, a neighbor of David Westerfield's, testified at his murder trial about some of his routines, including his occasional habit of parking his motor home in front of his house. Her testimony lasted 15 to 20 minutes, but what she said wasn't as important as what she did: She smiled at Westerfield. Roehr was among a parade of defense witnesses who consider themselves friends of Westerfield's and who seem to like him, even as he stands accused of kidnapping...

Judge allows Danielle's dad back in courtKIMBERLY EPLER Staff WriterSAN DIEGO ---- The father of 7-year-old murder victim Danielle van Dam will be allowed to attend the remaining days of her accused murderer's trial, Judge William Mudd ruled Thursday. But he warned Damon van Dam that one more incident will result in him being banned from the courthouse. Two weeks ago, Judge Mudd deemed Damon van Dam a "security risk" for repeatedly staring down his daughter's accused murderer, David Westerfield, in courtroom hallways despite several warnings from sheriff's deputies and prosecutors. Mudd then barred Damon van Dam from the third...

Testimony costs flight attendant her job Airline fires witness for admitting pot use By Kristen Green UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERJuly 12, 2002 Denise Kemal was fired June 28, more than two weeks after her nationally televised testimony, because the company has a zero-tolerance drug policy. Losing her job has ruined her life, Kemal said yesterday. "I've always wanted to fly," she said. "It took me years to get my job." She said she is appealing the dismissal because smoking marijuana "wasn't an everyday thing." While she waits for an answer, Kemal, 28 and recently divorced, watches the Westerfield trial from...

Expert: Body dumped after defendant fell under suspicionby Steve Perez andGreg MagnusSIGNONSANDIEGO July 10, 2002 Union-TribuneSusan L. describes her relationship to David Westerfield. An expert witness called by the defense Wednesday afternoon said he is "very confident" the nude body of Danielle van Dam was probably dumped off Dehesa Road near El Cajon more than a week after murder defendant David Westerfield came under police surveillance. Insect expert David Faulkner testified he based his conclusion upon studies he conducted on larvae and insects recovered from the victim's body, discovered by volunteer searchers on Feb. 27.Westerfield is accused of kidnapping 7-year-old...

Defense could pin hopes on insect life By Kristen Green STAFF WRITER June 30, 2002 In the first four weeks of David Westerfield's murder trial, jurors were schooled in scientific evidence such as blood and DNA, fingerprints and fibers. Now they'll get a crash course in the life cycle of flies. Westerfield's team of lawyers is expected to launch his defense this week, and lead attorney Steven Feldman has hinted that he will use insect biology to prove 7-year-old Danielle van Dam died after police and reporters began tracking his client's every move. That would mean Westerfield couldn't have killed...

New evidence implicates WesterfieldBy Steve Perez andGreg MagnusSIGNONSANDIEGO July 9, 2002 A police specialist says she linked 46 fibers from four locations in David Westerfield's motor home, in every way she could measure, to 19 blue fibers found in the sheet that was used to wrap the body of Danielle van Dam, recovered in East County. The witness, Tanya DuLaney, criminalist with the San Diego Police Department, was called Tuesday as the defense presented its case because she offered new prosecution evidence.DuLaney testified she recovered 46 fibers from four locations in the motor home that Westerfield took on a weekend...

Expert Links Porn Images To Westerfield's Son Defense Hopes To Show Child Porn Wasn't Downloaded By Defendant   POSTED: 12:15 p.m. PDT July 3, 2002 UPDATED: 2:55 p.m. PDT July 3, 2002  SAN DIEGO -- A computer expert hired by David Westerfield's defense team said that at least some of the pornography seized from his home was downloaded by the defendant's son. Marcus Lawson (pictured, right), president of Global CompuSearch of Spokane, Wash., testified Wednesday that he found two photographs of naked women and Japanese "anime" computer animations on the hard drive of a Gateway computer in an upstairs...

WAS IT ENOUGH??? Westerfield Defense Begins Presenting Its Case Defendants Neighbors Testify On RV And Children   POSTED: 12:06 p.m. PDT July 2, 2002 UPDATED: 6:43 p.m. PDT July 2, 2002 SAN DIEGO -- The defense in the David Westerfield murder trial began presenting its case Tuesday. The defendant's neighbors testified Westerfield did not follow his typical routine with his motorhome the weekend 7-year-old Danielle van Dam disappeared. Janet Roehr, who lives across the street from Westerfield in Sabre Springs, said Westerfield typically left the 35-foot motorhome at his house overnight before leaving for a trip. He usually unloaded...

Westerfield attorney's begin defense By Jeff Dillon and Steve PerezSIGNONSANDIEGO July 2, 2002 A recovery dog behaved normally during an inspection of the motor home of murder defendant David Westerfield, a police investigator testified at the outset of the defendant's case this afternoon. Prosecutors rested their case Tuesday morning against the man accused of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, but the judge said there is an unspecified witness the prosecution may call before the trial ends. Attorneys for Westerfield began calling defense witnesses this afternoon. Dog's behavior recounted San Diego police homicide investigator James Tomsovic was the...

A LOOK BACK AT THE PROSECUTION'S CASE(07-02-2002) - The prosecution began its case with emotional testimony from Brenda and Damon van Dam. "I asked that the room not be cleaned. So we put one of the dog gates up and put a 'do not enter' sign on the door," said Damon van Dam as he talked about Danielle's room. "Do you need a moment, or are you able to continue?" asked prosecutor Jeff Dusek on the second day of the trial. "I'll try. I'll try," replied Damon van Dam as he began to get choked up. Brenda van Dam then...