Damon Van Dam Testifies Tearfully, Fends Off Lifestyle Attack:Day 3 of Westerfield Trial

CourtTV ^ | June 6, 2002 | CourtTV

[FresnoDA]

DAY 3: Westerfield On Trial

[spectre]

Cryptic?

Maybe Westerfield left with somebody he had SEX with, and he was satisfied with that for the rest of the night...?

sw

[Hildy]

Has anyone ever thought that maybe Danielle walked out of the house herself and Westerfield was outside trying to catch a peek at what was going on inside and it was then he snatched her?

[Southflanknorthpawsis]

Could be ???????

[RnMomof7]

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pimps

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pimps,

Thats no costume thats how the men come every time

[MizSterious]

It was a "come as you are" party. :)

[Freedom2specul8]

Correct, the prints are fingers...the blood--in the vd's driveway or was that proven incorrect too?

[FresnoDA]

Tearful Testimony From the Mother of Danielle Van Dam

			SAN DIEGO — Brenda van Dam wept as she began testifying in the murder trial of David Westerfield, the neighbor accused of kidnapping a murdering her 7-year-old daughter. Brenda van Dam, 39, teared up as the prosecutor asked her questions about herself, her children and her home, where she said she has lived four years.

She regained her composure and began to testify about visiting defendant David Westerfield's home with Danielle and one of her brothers to sell Girl Scout cookies, and about Westerfield buying her and friends a drink at a bar early on the morning of her daughter's disappearance. She said she smoke marijuana before leaving home. She came to the stand after a medical examiner, Dr. Brian Blackbourne, testified that he could only estimate the time of death as 10 days to six weeks prior to the autopsy. Blackbourne also said he concluded the girl's death was a homicide from the position of the body, its location far from her home and because searchers had been looking for her for three weeks. Under questioning by the defense, Blackbourne said there was no evidence the girl was strangled and there was no evidence of sexual assault. On Wednesday, the girl's father acknowledged smoking marijuana the night his daughter disappeared and of having sex with women other than his wife, but he said that behavior was irrelevant to the 7-year-old's kidnapping and killing. Damon van Dam testified that while he did not immediately reveal to police his marijuana smoking or the fact he had sex with other women, he has since been completely open about his personal life. "Realizing the magnitude of the situation, I have opened up my private life and given every possible detail in order to get my daughter back and now to get justice for her," he said. Westerfield, who is charged with kidnapping, murder and possession of child pornography, could be sentenced to death if convicted. The 50-year-old engineer, who lived two doors from the van Dams, came under suspicion early in the investigation because he was at the same bar as Danielle's mother and two of her girlfriends the night Danielle disappeared. He also took off on a long, meandering trip in his motor home the next day. Investigators said they found Danielle's blood, fingerprints, and hair in the motor home and have other forensic evidence that links Westerfield to her disappearance. That disappearance sparked an intense search that ended with the Feb. 27 discovery of her nude body along a rural road east of San Diego. Defense lawyer Steven Feldman has sought to discredit the van Dams by suggesting they were not honest with investigators and that their "risque" behavior opened their home to other potential suspects. Damon van Dam, 36, acknowledged he kissed and "snuggled" in bed with Barbara Easton when she returned from the bar with Van Dam's wife, Brenda, and another woman the night of Danielle's disappearance. He also admitted that he once had sex with Easton in his bedroom while Brenda and Easton's husband were in the room and that he has had sex with the other woman who was in his home the night Danielle disappeared. He also said he and his wife smoked marijuana with the two women earlier in the evening but didn't tell police right away. "I didn't think it mattered and I didn't want to get in trouble," van Dam said in response to a question from prosecutor Jeff Dusek. The night of Danielle's disappearance, van Dam recalled he woke up sometime after 3 a.m. to find a sliding glass door open downstairs. He said he closed it without giving it much thought and returned to bed. Danielle was discovered missing later that morning. Van Dam said he only had a few casual interactions with Westerfield over the nearly four years they were neighbors. Photos of Danielle's corpse were displayed in the courtroom, showing her face, blackened and disfigured by decomposition. A friend of the van Dam family who was in court bowed her head, apparently to avoid seeing the photos; another friend wiped away tears. Copyright © 2002 KABC-TV and the Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

[let freedom sing]

don't recollect hearing

[RnMomof7]

It was a "come as you are" party. :)

LOL

[Freedom2specul8]

Have you had too much caffeine flamin fres? lol

[Freedom2specul8]

You realize that #534 was not about the VD's? Sometimes fres gets carried away..

[Freedom2specul8]

I think we view him as david but neighbors etc know him as dave

[FresnoDA]

DAY THREE: BRENDA VAN DAM TESTIFIES

When asked if Westerfield had ever been to the Van Dam home, Brenda said "no," and also denied having ever danced with the defendant at Dad's Café the weekend Danielle disappeared. She also said that she and Damon never had the so-called "sex parties" at their home.

Brenda's body language changed dramatically during cross-examination this morning as she glared at Westerfield and appeared irritable at times when Defense Attorney Stephen Feldman asked about her drug use.

[FresnoDA]

Feldman:    When you went upstairs, did you talk to Damon?

Brenda VD:    Yes, I asked him, are the kids OK, did they ask for me?

Damon VD:    Kids are fine, they did not ask for you!!!

OUCH......Mommy Dearest......San Diego Style....

[Freedom2specul8]

I think in the course of some of the threads the word "source" was used, but I don't remember by whom. It was decided at some point that unless it was in print by the unimpeachable UT, or NCT that it was reduced to "gossip". I don't remember the specific dates these decisions were arrived at. 509 posted on 6/6/02 4:40 PM Central by Jaded

Would you remind me which post you are referring to

[FresnoDA]

BRENDA AKA EDWARD SCISSOR HANDS

Feldman:    Do you recall touching the officers and detectives while you were talking to them?

Brenda VD:    I don't know?

Feldman:    Did you remember if a detective asked if you touched Westerfield while you were talking to him?

Brenda VD:    I may have, I don't remember.

Feldman:    After reviewing your testimony, does this recall your memory if you touched the detectives and officers?

Brenda VD:    I could have?

Feldman:    After reviewing your testimony, does this recall your memory if you touched David Westerfield that evening?

Brenda VD:    I could have...

Feldman:    Did you shoot pool with Westerfields friends?

Brenda VD:    Yes

Feldman:    Do you recall when Mr. Westerfield left the bar?

Brenda VD:    NO

Feldman:    Was it at the bar, or pool table that you talked about going to Italy?

Brenda VD:    Bar

[Freedom2specul8]

WOW....Brenda is really "putting out" a lot of information....(sorry for the pun!!!) FDA Let me think..you're not spinning right?

[Freedom2specul8]

That's awful, touching people especially with their clothes on, right fres? WINK WINK.

[Politicalmom]

Do you know ANYTHING about this case? It was TEN in the MORNING!!! I would send my son out to neighbors at TEN in the MORNING as well. You are being completely rude, and you don't even know what you are talking about!!!

[RnMomof7]

Was that while he was kissing Barb?