( 06-05-2002 ) - In a San Diego court Wednesday, Damon van Dam calmly described meeting his daughter's accused killer.
Van Dam says he's never entered David Westerfield's home or had the man over to his home. He says he barely knew Westerfield, who lives two doors down the street.
Van Dam also admitted under oath that he initially lied to police about a few events at his home that led up to her disappearance.
Police asked him what had happened in the garage of his home that night when two friends of his wife, Brenda, arrived before a "girls night out" at Dad's Cafe.
The father testified that he initially didn't tell authorities that he had taken "a puff or two" from a marijuana cigarette the women were smoking.
"I didn't think it mattered," he said, "and I didn't want to get in trouble (for that)."
Much of the morning testimony in the David Westerfield trial today was designed to orient jurors to the layout of the van Dam house, by using a floor plan and photographs.
Police say Westerfield took 7-year-old Danielle from her bedroom sometime after she was put to bed February 1.
Volunteers found her remains along a rural road more than three weeks later.
Earlier Wednesday, Dr. Norman "Skip" Sperber, a forensic dentist, testified that four of Danielle's teeth were missing when he examined her mouth.
One eventually was found "way in the back of the mouth, where the gum meets the cheek," he said.
Under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Jeff Dusek, Sperber said it is not unusual for teeth to fall out during decomposition.
Photos of her disfigured and blackened corpse were shown to the court. A family friend bowed her head and another wiped away tears.
The trial started Tuesday and is expected to last until mid-July.
Westerfield has pleaded innocent to charges of kidnapping, murder and possession of child pornography.
He could face the death penalty if convicted.