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Westerfield On Trial (WEEK 1 Recap): Brenda Van Dam, Dad's Bar
KGTV 10 News-San Diego ^ | June 7, 2002 | KGTV

Posted on 06/06/2002 10:15:36 PM PDT by FresnoDA

Westerfield On Trial....WEEK 1 Recap....

 

Day 3: Brenda Van Dam, Dad's Bar

Mother Of Murdered Girl Breaks Down On Stand

Posted: 7:16 p.m. PDT June 6, 2002
Updated: 7:42 p.m. PDT June 6, 2002
SAN DIEGO -- No concerted effort was made between Brenda and Damon van Dam to withhold "lifestyle" information from police officers investigating the disappearance of their daughter, the mother testified Thursday.
Brenda van Dam was on the witness stand most of the third day of David Westerfield's kidnap and murder trial.

Westerfield, 50, is accused of abducting and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam and could face the death penalty if convicted. The child's mother reported her missing the morning of Feb. 2.

Brenda van Dam told prosecutor Jeff Dusek she disclosed to officers everything about her "open marriage" once they made it clear that it was important.

The mother said she didn't discuss her decision not to disclose information with her husband.

"I would have told (the police) anything they needed to get Danielle back," the mother said.

Video
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Video Summary Of Day 3
VideoAttorney Milt Silverman's Analysis Of Day 3
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Brenda van Dam said nothing else was taken the night Danielle was abducted.

"I wish they'd taken everything else but her," the mother said tearfully.

Earlier in the day, Brenda van Dam testified there were never any sex parties at her Sabre Springs home.

She later said that during a Halloween party last October, she and her husband had sex with a friend and her husband in the van Dam home.

Westerfield, a self-employed engineer, is accused of kidnapping the second- grader, killing her and dumping the body near rural Dehesa Road, where it was found more than three weeks after she disappeared.

Brenda van Dam broke down a minute into her testimony, when asked to name her children and give their ages, then later while testifying about a father-daughter dance Danielle was scheduled to attend with her father a week after she vanished.

Dusek asked the mother about the first of two "girls nights out" at Dad's Cafe in Poway with two girlfriends. Dusek asked if any men were invited to the Jan. 25 get-together at Dad's Cafe. Van dam said no.

"Was there a sex party at your house when you got home?" Dusek asked, hoping to pre-empt an anticipated defense attack on the mother during cross-examination.

"There's never been a sex party at my house," she responded matter-of-factly.

She also described previous contacts with the defendant -- she had said he bought her a drink at Dad's -- including a visit to his house with Danielle and her younger brother to sell Girl Scout cookies.

While the children were playing in his back yard, she said the twice-divorced Westerfield told her he was interested in her friend, Barbara Easton, who had caught his eye at Dad's.

On the second outing to Dad's, Easton walked right up to Westerfield and began talking to him, van Dam told the court.

Brenda denied dancing with the defendant on either occasion.

Earlier in the day, Medical Examiner Brian Blackbourne was asked about the cause and time of Danielle's death.

The girl's body was so decomposed when found by a volunteer searcher that it was impossible to establish a cause of death, Blackbourne had said Wednesday.

Thursday, he estimated her time of death at anywhere from 10 days to six weeks before the body was found Feb. 27.

Blackbourne also said it was possible that air temperature could be a variable in judging when she died. That led defense attorney Steven Feldman to suggest that especially hot days in late February could have accelerated the decomposition process.

In his opening statement Tuesday, Feldman told the jury that Westerfield could not possibly have dumped Danielle's body after Feb. 6, because he was under constant scrutiny by the police and the media.

"Is it your professional opinion (Danielle) could have been alive Feb. 6?" Feldman asked.

"Based on my observations? Yes," Blackbourne said.

"Feb. 7?"

"Yes."

"Feb. 17?" Feldman pressed.

"Possibly, yes," Blackbourne answered.

"Depending on the weather conditions, Feb. 22nd?" Feldman asked.

"That's pushing it for what I can accept," Blackbourne said.

He also testified he checked Danielle's body for signs of sexual assault but found none, primarily because of tissue damage from decomposition and animal activity.

Wednesday, the child's father admitted he lied to police about use of marijuana in the garage of his house the night of Feb. 1 -- hours before his daughter turned up missing.

He also told the court that on prior occasions he engaged in sex with both of Brenda's female friends.

A bartender at Dad's Cafe in Poway characterized Westerfield as a "people watcher," but termed a police report on the behavior of Brenda van Dam and two friends inaccurate.

Sean Brown said he was at work as a bar manager on the two nights that have come up in testimony in the case: Jan. 25 and Feb. 1.

It was Feb. 2 that the Sabre Springs 7-year-old was discovered missing.

Westerfield would talk to a regular customer, "hang out" and watch people as they drank and danced, Brown said. The bartender said he never saw the defendant dance or play pool.

Brown said Westerfield would drink 16-ounce rum-and-cokes.

"I believe David had a few drinks," Brown said of Feb. 1. "He was feeling good. He'd taken the edge off. I don't believe he was drunk."

He said the same about Brenda van Dam.

"I don't think she was drunk," Brown testified. "She was in good spirits but was in control of herself. She wasn't slurring."

Under cross-examination by co-defense counsel Robert Boyce, Brown said a police report containing his statements on the behavior of Brenda and her two friends was inaccurate.

Brown testified he warned prosecutor Jeff Dusek about the discrepancy during the lunch hour -- hours before he testified.

The statement from police indicated the women were "flirtatious toward males" and "partying hard."

Brown testified that the women were having fun as girlfriends do. He said he never saw them act inappropriately.

Brown was dismissed as a witness as the court day ended.



TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: vandam; westerfield
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To: demsux
Sorry... More recent...looking for "friends"... http://www.alwayssports.com/threads/view.cfm?MID=5806
121 posted on 06/07/2002 2:39:33 PM PDT by demsux
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To: MizSterious
I read in an early article,don't know where, the vDam's lived in Fl. At the time I read it I thought it meant they moved directly from Fl. to SD. Maybe a job transfer? With Qualcom(sp.?)I'm guessing they moved to SS April 1998. Wonder if this company has offices in Fl.?
122 posted on 06/07/2002 2:45:45 PM PDT by BARLF
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To: Jaded
Maybe someone can verify this, but it was my understanding that the man doing the polygraphs (not a policeman, by the way, but a civilian) questioned him and thought him untruthful, but no devices were connected to Westerfield. This appears to just be a questioning, not a polygraph test.
123 posted on 06/07/2002 2:48:42 PM PDT by MizSterious
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To: BARLF
I think I've heard Texas and Florida--how many years in each place, and when--about that I'm not sure. For instance, with my husband's Coast Guard career, we've lived in New Orleans three times for a total of 15 years, but not consecutively.
124 posted on 06/07/2002 2:50:57 PM PDT by MizSterious
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To: theirjustdue
No, perhaps I should. Actually I might look in to creating a web page through my isp. We could have categories:
Notes to self
Characteristics of the accused
Characteristics of the other characters

What say you? It could possibly relieve some of the stress.

This just gets more bizarre with each passing day. One would think that as parents their first concerns would be that full disclosure would aid the constabulary in finding their daughter. But no, the VDs seem to have this special insight that indicates differently. They make me nuts.

125 posted on 06/07/2002 2:56:18 PM PDT by Jaded
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To: Jaded
Well, if you do, I sure hope you'll post a link.
126 posted on 06/07/2002 2:59:24 PM PDT by MizSterious
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To: RnMomof7
Not to mention she SAYS she is a lawyer, but is too stupid to understand that the swinging is relevant because Demon LIED on the stand about # of times he slept with the women in the house that night, and Feldman is discrediting his testimony.

I am not a lawyer and I know that.

127 posted on 06/07/2002 3:00:33 PM PDT by Politicalmom
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To: MizSterious
Here's the band that was playing at Dad's on February 2. They have removed that date from their webpage, however it was there when I last looked.

Didn't one of the swingset have a friend in the band? link

128 posted on 06/07/2002 3:04:01 PM PDT by demsux
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To: demsux
Keith Stone, the Viagra man
129 posted on 06/07/2002 3:07:47 PM PDT by BARLF
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To: demsux
Ah, I could use some transcripts at times like this--I think I recall Brenda or Damon mentioning a band, and someone related to either Rich or Keith being in it. I just clicked on your link, and noticed that one person has left the band recently. Wonder if it might be that relative?
130 posted on 06/07/2002 3:08:07 PM PDT by MizSterious
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To: Politicalmom
That little newsbunny drives me nuts. Her voice alone is irritating, then if you listen to what it says--no doubt in my mind who she voted for last election. But most of Court TV is terribly biased. One of their guest attorneys tried to mention that although the doors are marked with these little pictures, it was dark in the hallway that night (per everyone's testimony) and no one could have seen it. However, she was not allowed to say it. I knew where she was going, and so did the anchorlady--not Bloom, but another--and she was cut off at the pass. (Haven't they figured out yet that if we do away with the trial and move right into the execution phase, a lot of attorneys will be out of a job?)
131 posted on 06/07/2002 3:12:00 PM PDT by MizSterious
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To: demsux
He is a risk taker..so it is no surprise to me

I think Ole Peter does alot to please himself!

132 posted on 06/07/2002 3:13:49 PM PDT by RnMomof7
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To: Jaded
Interesting Article on Judge Mudd: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/danielle/20020403-9999_2m3mudd.html
133 posted on 06/07/2002 3:14:27 PM PDT by John Jamieson
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To: demsux
Do you wonder how they afford this life on one paycheck? I know engineers make a good dollar..but the VD's live over budget me thinks!
134 posted on 06/07/2002 3:15:20 PM PDT by RnMomof7
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To: Jaded
Poly's are B.S. Good for interrogation, good pr tool for liars, bad for people who tell the truth or lie poorly.
135 posted on 06/07/2002 3:22:46 PM PDT by ethical
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To: BARLF
I read in an early article,don't know where, the vDam's lived in Fl. At the time I read it I thought it meant they moved directly from Fl. to SD. Maybe a job transfer? With Qualcom(sp.?)I'm guessing they moved to SS April 1998. Wonder if this company has offices in Fl.?

No, there are no QC offices in FL.
136 posted on 06/07/2002 3:31:35 PM PDT by sbnsd
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To: sbnsd
Thanks for answering that question. Do you happen to know Brenda's maiden name?
137 posted on 06/07/2002 3:33:43 PM PDT by BARLF
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To: RnMomof7
I understand some people sell pictures of their wife on the internet (Bonnie Blake?).
138 posted on 06/07/2002 3:35:26 PM PDT by John Jamieson
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To: John Jamieson
Some couples sell lots more than just stills on the internet, for that matter. And remember, Bonnie Blake did all her own selling. Gee, such nice people...(sarcasm mode: off)
139 posted on 06/07/2002 3:39:47 PM PDT by MizSterious
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To: John Jamieson
Has any one looked? I was considering a drug connection
140 posted on 06/07/2002 3:48:49 PM PDT by RnMomof7
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