Murder Charge Likely In Missing-Girl Investigation (Danielle van Dam)

Union Tribune ^ | February 25, 2002 | J. Harry Jones

[FresnoDA]

Murder charge likely in missing-girl investigation

Authorities believe 7-year-old Danielle is dead, source says

By J. Harry Jones 
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

February 25, 2002

It is increasingly likely that a murder charge will be sought against David Westerfield – possibly as early as today – for the death of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, even though her body has not been found.

A law enforcement source close to the investigation told The San Diego Union-Tribune that "investigators and prosecutors are of the belief she is dead."

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the murder charge would include special allegations that could lead to the death penalty if Westerfield is convicted.

San Diego police Chief David Bejarano would not comment specifically on the source's claim, but said a decision on whether to bring a murder charge would be made today.

"We have been working with the investigators, the District Attorney's Office and the family throughout the weekend," Bejarano said. "Even if we do file the charges, there is always still the hope that she will be found."

Westerfield, who turns 50 today, is being held in isolation in the downtown jail without bail on charges of kidnapping and burglary in connection with the disappearance of Danielle from her Sabre Springs home. Danielle last was seen Feb. 1, when her father put her to bed, police say.

Westerfield, who lives two houses from the van Dams, is scheduled to be arraigned tomorrow.

He was arrested Friday, following a three-week investigation. Authorities said DNA tests found Danielle's blood in Westerfield's motor home and on a piece of his clothing. Additional evidence was discovered on a piece of the girl's clothing in her bedroom.

One reason for bringing the murder charge now is to avoid a possible legal entanglement, a source said. Theoretically, if Westerfield were to plead guilty immediately to the kidnapping and burglary charges, his attorney might be able to argue double jeopardy if a murder charge were brought later.

The decision to charge Westerfield with murder was discussed over the weekend with Danielle's parents, Brenda and Damon van Dam, the source said.

A spokeswoman for the van Dams last night said the couple would not comment on the case until after Westerfield's arraignment.

Westerfield became the main suspect within days of the girl's disappearance when he consented to, and failed, a polygraph test, several sources have said.

His Mountain Pass Road home had been under constant surveillance by detectives and members of the media covering what has become a national story. He was arrested at his attorney's office Friday.

Bejarano said during a news conference Friday that police "believe without question that DNA evidence links Mr. Westerfield to Danielle's disappearance."

Tests on additional pieces of biological evidence are pending.

Police started looking at Westerfield because he was the only neighbor away from home the weekend Danielle disappeared. He told police he socialized with Brenda van Dam and two of her friends the evening of Feb. 1 at a Poway bar.

He said he went home alone, then drove his motor home to the desert, where he spent the weekend by himself.

Authorities and hundreds of volunteers have searched eastern San Diego County methodically, hoping to find some trace of the girl.

Yesterday, 200 volunteers hiked through the Kitchen Creek area of the Cleveland National Forest, which is dissected by Interstate 8 – the freeway Westerfield likely would have driven to the desert.

Prosecuting a murder case without a body is difficult, but not impossible. Last year, a former Santee man was convicted of killing his estranged wife, Guadalupe Dailey, even though her body never has been found.

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

Hmmmm.....San Diego LE is moving very quickly.....is there a need to keep the Van Damned out of consideration in this matter???? How wide is the net Brenda cast for players in their SWING SET???

Darn't......I missed the press conference. But, I still think too many things don't smell right in all of this. My gut is very untrusting at this point. I hate to say that because I am very pro LE.

[spectre]

"It is you or your husband who swings with the Van Dams"

How low can you go, Luis?

sw

[Salvation]

Bump this story.

[FresnoDA]

LOL, a "You or your husband" BUMP!! FresnoDA

[pepsionice]

For those who don't get the legal part of this whole case. If you have no body, its difficult to get a conviction, particuliary in California. The parents want the body of the little girl back and I am sure that the DA will make a deal....confession and a location on the body and we give you a 30 year sentence...with parole in 18 years likely. Thats the standard California way of doing it.

[MeekOneGOP]

No, you don't need a body to prosecute someone for murder.

Thanks folks for your replies and info on #9 & 10. I tried to reply back earlier and apparently AT&T Broadband was having technical problems. . .

[Amore]

You've got to remember where John Walsh is coming from. He too was criticized for certain actions he took at the time (& no I don't remember what, but I remember that he was). This is not the first time he has acted this way (strongly defending the parents). It is understandable that he would do this, once the evidence points to an outside person as the killer. I don't blame him for it, though in this case I don't totally agree with it. I think the parents WERE negligent, but I agree with him that the reality is that the parents were not the killers.

[wimpycat]

Difficult, but not impossible. Anything's possible, especially in California. Don't worry, though, I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for a conviction, unless they find her body, or any part of her body.

[FresnoDA]

No problem, the posting of a mirror thread has diluted the discussion.  To bad.....this thread actually scooped the mirror.  Oh well, such is life in a Free Republic.  BTTT!

[merry10]

YOu can pretty much gauge the floor plans of a lot of these planned communities. I can call my floor plan of the house I'm moving into up on the internet. My developer built homes in Sabre Springs and they look very similar.

[Amore]

the posting of a mirror thread has diluted the discussion. To bad.....this thread actually scooped the mirror

Don't you hate when that happens? And it seems to happen a lot. The original post languishes, and the subsequent post takes off!

Let me ask you a question while I'm at it. Do you ever have trouble cutting & pasting from FR (like I just did with your quote above). Seems like I only have about a 50% success rate in doing so. About 1/2 the time the cut and paste doesn't "take" (control & C, then control & V) and I have to go back and do it again. It only happens here, and it drives me crazy!

[FresnoDA]

Yeah, I have experienced such a problem. It most likely has to do with bandwidth. I believe the FR server is on the edge of melt down, more times than not? IMHO

[Bigg Red]

I have had a funny feeling about the parents from the first time I saw them on tv. Could there have been some arrangement to let the suspect "borrow" the girl and then things got out of hand? I know, it's horrible to even contemplate a parent doing such a thing, but there is a lot of evil perpetrated against children sometimes.

[FresnoDA]

Van dams meet with Police to "review some things" Brenda tells reporters, "was just standard procedures"!

The van Dam family arrived for lunch at the Souplantation in Rancho Bernardo, after spending about three hours at San Diego Police Department headquarters. Brenda van Dam, Danielle's mother, said the visit was "standard procedure" and the police were "just going over everything. Reviewing everything."

Oh Really!!!!!!  HHMMMM........

 

An outpouring of concern: While many hunt for Danielle, others raise funds to help

By Sherry Parmet
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

February 25, 2002

RANCHO BERNARDO – While about 200 volunteers scoured the forest and desert for any sign of Danielle van Dam yesterday, classmates and friends of the missing 7-year-old assembled at a Souplantation restaurant to raise money to keep the search going.

The case has introduced many of the children to a side of life they would ordinarily be shielded from.

"My sister puts a dream-catcher by my bed so I won't be scared," (NEW AGE SOLUTIONS??? FDA) said Sarah Wintersteen, 7, a classmate of Danielle's at Creekside Elementary. "But sometimes when I look out the window I'm scared anyway, because you know that somebody can appear at night and come get you."

Tristan McClelland, 6, has been peppering her parents with questions about the case, which she hears about on the radio during the drive to school.

"I heard there was blood in the car," Tristan said, referring to news reports about a vehicle owned by David Westerfield, who has been arrested in the case.

The van Dam family arrived for lunch at the Souplantation in Rancho Bernardo, after spending about three hours at San Diego Police Department headquarters. Brenda van Dam, Danielle's mother, said the visit was "standard procedure" and the police were "just going over everything. Reviewing everything."

Westerfield, whose 50th birthday is today, has been charged with kidnapping Danielle, and a law enforcement source said he will soon be charged with killing her.

Brenda van Dam started crying when Danielle's classmates ran up and hugged her as she stood in the salad line. She hugged them back, one at a time.

Classmates and family friends had reserved a table where they were selling homemade beaded bracelets, key chains, pins and buttons with Danielle's picture for $1 each – everything in pink and purple because those are Danielle's favorite colors.

"Thank you guys so much," Danielle's father, Damon van Dam, told them. "This is great."

The children said school has been "weird" without their friend.

"We have numbers in school," said Taylor Tso, 7. "I'm 37, and she's 38. So it's kind of strange with her missing from the table."

Michelle Wintersteen, 8, said she felt reassured when Westerfield was arrested Friday. Westerfield lives two doors down from the van Dams on Mountain Pass Road in Sabre Springs.

"It's hard to think that this really happened and it's not just a bad make-believe fairy tale," Michelle said.

Many customers arrived at the restaurant with fliers they turned in so that 20 percent of the cost of their meal would go toward the search – people such as Heather and Bill McClelland who drove to the restaurant from Mission Valley.

Heather McClelland said she has been checking the Web site – www.daniellemissing.com – several times a day for updates. That's where she learned about the fund-raiser. She said the case hits close to home.

"My daughter is just a year younger than Danielle," she said of Tristan. "And it just seems like in a nice neighborhood like that you don't worry about those things happening."

Souplantation held the fund-raiser yesterday at the request of a van Dam family friend, Susan Wintersteen, a homemaker who has been helping generate media attention for the case.

"It's been like stepping into a full-time job for the last three weeks," Wintersteen said.

Souplantation manager John Yourk said the restaurant regularly holds fund-raisers for schools and nonprofit organizations. Sometimes a school football team needs money for uniforms or trophies, he said. The restaurant holds fund-raisers Monday through Thursday evenings. Typically, groups raise $100 to $200 or more, he said.

In this case, the event was held on a Sunday and ran all day because it's an important cause, he said.

"It's kind of a special thing because we knew the van Dams really needed the help," he said.

[Amore]

Thanks for updating us about the status of Capano's case in your #80 re: his latest death penalty argument. It’s worrisome, for sure. The U.S. Supreme Court not too long ago rendered a decision in Apprendi v. New Jersey, 120 S.Ct. 2348 (2000). The court held that, other than the fact of prior convictions, any fact which increases the penalty for a crime beyond the prescribed statutory maximum must be submitted to a jury and proven beyond a reasonable doubt. One could analogize that case to mean that the court will likewise decide that the jury must decide whether a defendant deserves the death penalty.

[Hillary's Lovely Legs]

Brenda van Dam started crying when Danielle's classmates ran up and hugged her as she stood in the salad line.

She was worried that they would be out of the Blue Cheese Dressing.

[Luis Gonzalez]

I have one question...how many FReepers, within driving distance of the sites, spent more time searching for Danielle that discussing Fresno's facts/rumours?

The few times those searches have gone on within one hour of my house, I've been there.