EXPERT LINKS PORN TO WESTERFIELD'S SON!: (Feldman's Message To "The Damon"; Don't Leave Town!)

KNSD NBC ^ | July 3, 2002 | KNBC

[FresnoDA]

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.

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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 bedroom used by Westerfield's 18-year-old son, David Neal Westerfield. The former Customs Service agent said that a detailed analysis of the files showed the pornography was downloaded at about the same time someone was accessing an email account belonging to the younger Westerfield.

David A. Westerfield, 50, is charged with kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam. He is also charged with misdemeanor possession of child pornography. Prosecutors have said the 80 or so images of child pornography taken from Westerfield's home indicate sexual interest in children.Defense attorneys are trying to show that the defendant is not responsible for the pornographic images -- including those of young children -- found on his computer equipment.

David A. Westerfield, a 50-year-old self-employed design engineer, is on trial for the kidnapping and murder of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.

Lawson told jurors that he examined copies of hard drives, zip disks and compact disks made by police and took numerous screen captures -- essentially photographs of what came up on the computer monitor at a given time.

Defense attorney Steven Feldman asked Lawson if there was a theme to the animations.

"A considerable number of the screen prints showed bondage -- where women were tied in ropes," Lawson said.

A screen print of an e-mail to a DNWesthotmail.com, as quoted by Lawson, said: "Thanks for joining anime.com."

Lawson also confirmed screen prints the defense entered into evidence last week, that a computer in the office of Westerfield's house was used to access pornography on Feb. 4 at 4:47 p.m., when the defendant was busy with detectives.

Feldman mentioned last week's suggestion that the clock on the computer may have been doctored.

"Did you see any evidence that that happened on any of the computers you examined?" Feldman asked.

"No, I did not," Lawson answered. He said there's usually signs when a clock has been tampered with, such as files being accessed before they were created. Nothing like that was apparent on Westerfield's computers, he said.

Tuesday, San Diego police Detective Johnny Keene testified that he collected Westerfield from his Sabre Springs home that Monday around 3:40 p.m. and took him to the Northeastern substation in Rancho Penasquitos. The defendant remained there until approximately 11:30 p.m.

[Rheo]

After the second trial, Superior Court Judge J. Morgan Lester accused police officers of lying on the witness stand and withholding evidence.

Is this Ott and Keyser?

[Rheo]

I'd love to do some freeping there. Sample signs: "What about the shell casing?", "Let's hear from Barbara", "Who belongs to the unID'd prints?"

That would be so great!

[nycgal]

I'd do it if I lived in SD. Unfortunately, I have commitments Mondays thru Thursdays and I'm an hour and a half away.

[Rheo]

You had the idea, maybe others will have the follow thru. :-)

[Freedom2specul8]

g'nite all! Rheo, freepmail alert..

[Rheo]

Here is Chris the searcher's testimony:

A: BECAUSE OF THE BLONDE HAIR. THE REASON, THE FACT THAT WE WERE SEARCHING FOR A GIRL WITH BLONDE HAIR. AND I ALSO NOTICED THE EARRING. HER TEETH STRUCTURE LOOKED A LOT LIKE THE PHOTO. SHE HAD A GAP IN HER TEETH AND RESEMBLED THE MISSING PERSONS PHOTO.

Her two front teeth were missing, the two next to those were missing prior, and one was missing from next to the missing one. (??)

Pretty darn big gap.

[Rheo]

Well, according to the neighbor's testimony...the VD's were allowed to go in the next morning and shower, the cleaning part isn't clear if she meant that day or a later day.

28 A. THEY WERE ABLE TO GO BACK IN IN THE MORNING TO TAKE SHOWERS.

2 Q. DO YOU KNOW WHETHER OR NOT THE POLICE RELEASED

3 THEIR HOME TO THE VAN DAMS?

4 A. I DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHEN THAT HAPPENED, BUT AT

5 SOME POINT I KNOW THAT IT DID, BUT I DON'T KNOW WHEN.

6 Q. HOW DO YOU KNOW IT HAPPENED?

7 A. THERE WAS A GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS WHO WERE ABLE TO

8 GO INTO THE HOUSE TO CLEAN UP THE FINGERPRINT DUST THAT HAD BEEN

9 LEFT.

10 Q. DID YOU HEAR ANY DISCUSSION BETWEEN THE POLICE

11 OFFICERS AND DAMON VAN DAM REGARDING THE ABILITY TO GO BACK INTO

12 THE HOME?

13 A. DAMON ASKED SPECIFICALLY ARE YOU SURE THAT YOU

14 COLLECTED EVERYTHING YOU NEED AND THAT WE CAN GO BACK IN?

[Rheo]

Guess we can add these people to possible spent shell casing droppers:

A. HE TOLD THE PEOPLE WHO WERE CLEANING THE HOUSE

28 "DON'T TOUCH DANIELLE'S ROOM. LEAVE IT CLOSED ANYWAYS. DON'T CLEAN IN THERE."

2 Q. THE PEOPLE HE WAS TELLING WERE WHOM, GENERAL

3 CATEGORY?

4 A. POSSIBLY NEIGHBORS, POSSIBLY A CHURCH GROUP, I'M

5 NOT SURE.

[Rheo]

or does this mean the gate was up before those cleaners got there...above post she says "leave it closed".

Q. DID YOU SEE WHETHER OR NOT ANY PART OF THE HOUSE

16 WAS SEALED UP?

17 A. YES.

18 Q. WHAT DID YOU SEE?

19 A. THERE WAS A BABY GATE OR DOG -- THEY USED IT FOR

20 THE DOG -- ACROSS HER DOOR AND HER DOOR WAS SHUT.

21 Q. WHOSE DOOR?

22 A. DANIELLE'S.

But then she was upstairs too if she saw this so she could have tossed it in??

[paix]

haven't been following this case very closely, but isn't it possible that DW came home from the bar and found that his SON had done this? Couldn't he be covering for Neal? Has it absolutely been proven that Neal was not at his father's home that weekend? Sorry for so many questions.

This has been discussed before, and is a big possibility.

Westerfield's son was there at his dad's house at some point. A couple of days ago a neighbor testified they saw him looking at all the confusion in the neighborhood from outside his father's house.

[fnord]

Do you know if a .22 cal weapon listed on any of the search warrants?

[sbnsd]

Pretty darn big gap.

Two things could be true. 1) the searcher who found her was correct. Her teeth were still there, but perhaps loose. 2) The searcher was wrong.

Since he was the first to find her, and he took pictures before everyone had gotten there, he could prove that he saw her teeth, or he would've realized he was mistaken. Maybe they fell out in transport because they were loose from "suffocation" or decomposition, or something. I'm not sure. How can someone mistake a gap from the missing flyers with 2 missing front teeth? Someone is wrong here. I wonder what the pictures prior to the LEO's arrival show.

[pinz-n-needlez]

Hmmmm.....

I wonder if Feldman will call back fiber people to support some theories of his own.

The orange fiber on her necklace could have come from the cookie sale. Those kids were not the type to stand still. Out to the pool (could DW have had his green jacket on the back of a chair poolside?), around the living/dining/kitchen area (afghans, orange hearthside rug, orange stuffed animal in a corner?), perhaps upstairs (DW hasn't lied about stuff, Mommie Dearest has told as little truth as she thought she could get away with).

Will Feldman track down testimony about BVDs sweater? What if Danielle was badly hurt after the partiers returned home and BVD held her to help or comfort her? Wouldn't that put a lot of red fibers from a hypothetical sweater on Danielle? Those Eyelash Yarn fuzzy sweaters are a biggie in the winter around the holidays. Maybe that's the sort of red, 'wanna pet it' sweater she was wearing.....

If DW was invited for a 'private' one-on-one party out in the truck sometime during the evening, that would account for a possible transfer of blue gray fibers. Does/did BVD keep a blanket in the back seat? But I suspect he would have 'fessed up about that (or bragged?). Wonder what Denise was wearing.....

What if she was wearing an outfit that was blue/gray? She was dancing and rubbing against DW. She could have helped hold or comfort Danielle if she was hurt. I won't even speculate about how or why she could have been hurt. But that is much more plausible than Stealth Ninja Dave.

I agree with whoever said the blood in the MH must have been very old. The dogs never found it. I want to see if Feldman will have Danielle L. testify about what she did and who she hung out with in the neighborhood...

[pinz-n-needlez]

You know, if DW put pine straw, or other baled mulch around his garden, that COULD account for orange fibers. And Danielle could have easily picked one up while rolling, playing, tumbling around his yard.

She doesn't look like a kid who was bathed too often, and in the winter, a fair-haired/fair-skinned child would have dry skin if she bathed or showered every day. A knot of hair could have held such a fiber from Wednesday to Friday.

Good catch. Wonder if Feldman will tell us about DW's gardening activities......

[pinz-n-needlez]

Makes you wonder if maybe he wasn't 'instructed' as to where to find the body, no?

[MizSterious]

I know at least one searcher testified, and maybe two. I distinctly recall one who actually took pictures of the body before the police got there, which I found very odd. Like a souvenir or something. Let me see if I can find their names and which day they testified.

[MizSterious]

Ahhh, I see you've found that part of the transcript already. Peculiar testimony, wasn't it? That, and the "I recognized her from her teeth" statement. So, were her teeth still intact when this man found her? Will his photos reveal that? If the teeth were still intact, why did the PD try to imply they had been knocked out during suffocation?

[MizSterious]

" Are you suggesting the cop who has the same former name of Barb, who may be her ex?"

Would you really need an ex, when you have Diane Halfman as your very good friend?

[MizSterious]

And--not to be gross--but someone on thre Refugee site brought up an excellent question. Where was the urine? Children lose control of their bladders when they're frightened. If he was driving her around in the MH, the thing should have smelled like a latrine. Carpet, mattress, closet or something should have been well-soaked--he was driving around, remember? And if she was in there somewhere, she was probably tied up. (Otherwise, people on the roads would have seen her in one of the windows trying to get help.)

When a person is killed, the bladder releases its contents. If she was killed in DW's house, something should have been soaked with it. He washed his bed linens, but his mattress was apparently dry.

Again, there should have been a lot of urine somewhere, no matter which scenario you choose.

So. Where is it? Not at DW's house. Not in his motorhome. Maybe in Danielle's bedroom, but they're blaming that on Layla. Dollars to donuts the carpet wasn't tested.

[MizSterious]

Wanted to add--the excellent fiber post you mention was Mommya's work, which I posted on the Refugee site. It really is one of the best I've seen.