BREAKING: BRENDA VAN DAM DANCED WITH WESTERFIELD: (Modern Day Westside Story?)7-9-02 Trial Watch

KFMB ^ | July 9, 2002 | KFMB

[FresnoDA]

WITNESSES SAY BRENDA VAN DAM DANCED WITH DAVID WESTERFIELD

(07-08-2002) - Three defense witnesses testified Monday that Brenda van Dam and David Westerfield, the man accused of murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, danced together the night before the girl was discovered missing.

"Mr. Westerfield and Mrs. van Dam were dancing," said Patricia LePage, describing the scene at Dad's Cafe and Steakhouse the night of Feb. 1.

Since the prosecution introduced hair and fibers found at the defendant's house and motorhome, the defense has tried to show the evidence could have been transferred in some other way, such as dancing.

The 50-year-old defendant would face the death penalty if convicted of kidnapping and killing Danielle van Dam, who lived two houses away in Sabre Springs. He is also charged with misdemeanor possession of child pornography.

In testimony near the beginning of the trial, Brenda van Dam told the court she did not dance with Westerfield.

But LePage said van Dam rubbed her hips and chest against Westerfield during several dances together, recalling the movie "Dirty Dancing." That was just part of what LePage described as "frisky" behavior exhibited by van Dam that night.

LePage said she was in a smoking lounge at Dad's with her daughter, Cherokee Youngs, when van Dam came in and struck up a conversation with the younger woman.

"Well, she did ask my daughter if she liked girls," LePage said when asked to describe the conversation. Van Dam, she said, asked Youngs if she wanted to come to her house for a party later that night.

Youngs testified about the encounter last week.

Duane Blake, a fisherman who said he goes to Dad's a couple times a week, said he caught a glimpse of the defendant dancing with van Dam.

Blake confirmed an interview with the District Attorney's Office, in which he described their dancing as, "huggy, huggy." He testified he even thought Westerfield might be trying to pick up on van Dam.

Earlier Monday, another woman testified she saw Westerfield dance with Danielle's mother.

Glennie Nasland, who began her testimony last week, said she was on the dance floor and saw the pair turn toward each other while dancing with other people.

Nasland, who described herself as a friend of Westerfield, said she watched them for 20 seconds before they turned away again.

In other testimony Monday, Dave Laspisa said that going to the desert to look for friends, and without bringing an all-terrain vehicle, was not an unusual activity for Westerfield.

The witness, a self-employed Poway man, said he's known the defendant for 15 years and has camped with him near the Imperial County community of Glamis for 10 years.

The witness was one of several people who testified as the defense began to move away from what happened at a Poway night spot the night before Danielle was discovered missing Feb. 2 to Westerfield's weekend wanderings.

Westerfield's attorney, Steven Feldman asked Laspisa to explain why someone would avoid Interstate 8 while taking a motorhome to the desert. Laspisa said high winds and black ice were common on that route, which traverses altitudes over 4,000 feet.

Heather Mack, a security guard at Coronado Cays, testified that she saw Westerfield drive his motorhome into the exclusive neighborhood in the afternoon or evening hours of Feb. 3.

Mack said Westerfield smiled and waved at her as he drove past her security kiosk, but she never saw him again.

The witness told Dusek that she originally told a police officer that she "vaguely remembered" seeing the defendant's recreational vehicle.

Glen Seebruch, an engineering manager at Nokia, testified earlier that Westerfield called him the morning of Feb. 1 and told him he planned to go to the desert that weekend.

Feldman, told Judge William Mudd that his case may be completed by the end of the week.

Insect expert David Faulkner is expected to testify about how long the victim's body may have been in the East County before volunteer searchers found it on Feb. 27.

Feldman has said Westerfield would have had no opportunity to dispose of the body because he was under constant police surveillance from Feb. 4 until his arrest Feb. 22.

[Politicalmom]

I think it is just Brenda "dirty dancing" with DW.

[BunnySlippers]

If you could play god and strike down everyone about to abuse a child to make a porno film, you would not change the life of the average misserable child one bit.

Hmmm ...

[Rheo]

Sounds like it is going to be about.. should the defense be able to talk about the VD lifestyle..after shocking revelations that the mother may have dirty danced with the man accused of murdering her daughter....per Hannity teaser

[UCANSEE2]

Even though you won't really answer my questions, I will answer this.

Do you think child porn should be illegal?

Absolutely without a doubt.

[UCANSEE2]

LOLOL!!!

[Valpal1]

No birth certificate required, age of consent in country of origin not germane. The US has its own laws and we go by them, not some third turd country's. The jury, as the trier of fact gets to decide if what they are looking at is indeed minor children. Not the judge or the appeals court.

BTW, right now he is charged under state law, a misdemeanor. He can be tried again under Federal law for felony posession.

[spectre]

I think FOX reads Free Republic...:~)

sw

[Rheo]

It seems that what the jury heard and saw and we heard were TRUE screams of kids under 11yrs

We also heard Markus Lawson testify that in his experience...a large amount are produced sound tracks by actresses.

[bvw]

I think that's pertinent -- how many people in the whole swing set -- yet the Judge has refused to allow it. And I am pretty sure Damon has his own collection of porn, which includes "child" porn. Why? Because porn is a part of that lifestyle.

[Beach_Babe]

Better yet, their stadium blanket...

[Yeti]

I assure you, you do not know what is in his mind. You don't know if HE EVER watched that particular file. He may have watched it and vomited for ALL YOU KNOW.

An important point, even if it's not salient to the trial right now. I have heard really large estimates of the number of people who have intentionally viewed child porn on the internet. "LOLITA" is one of the most common words typed into any search engine.

If the correlation between viewing and acting were even close to one percent, nearly everyone would have been molested by now. Many people have watched movies with murder and mayhem, millions of people have watch 'Faces of Death' but there has been no vast, nationwide bloodbath.

Most people are probably curious to see if there really is such a thing. Some people just like gross stuff. There are probably people who were molested as kids and look at it for hours and hours when they get depressed, crying, staring at the kids' faces, wishing they could have been there to stop it, and hating the perpetrators with all of their hearts.

You just never know.

[Jaded]

Kim you mean the dark brown boots found in his closet that would look black in a dimly lit bar?

[jacquej]

Oh, bolthead, you and many of the rest of us as well...

we do our best to recover and refute, but are still left totally "quackless" at some of the idiotic "blabble" we find here...

Quackeggling here (cross between quacking and giggling)

[Angelique]

I don't think you are flip at all. I have been on continuous threads following all the posts, articles, etc., then someone comes in out-of-the-blue.

[Spunky]

The colors of Damon's alma mater, the University of Florida, are blue and orange...

Pictures you posted: Dodge Ball is a killer isn't it. ;-)

[UCANSEE2]

Raising my hand for the ping list, please. Thank you.

You are already on my ping list. Or did you mean you want someone to PING everyone, or,... well, now I am just lost.

[BunnySlippers]

Kim you mean the dark brown boots found in his closet that would look black in a dimly lit bar?

The Danish lady testified about the boots being black. She had seen DW only once at Dad's but dozens of times at what she described as a "country club". :)

[spectre]

They are "shocked" to learn that Brenda was "dirty dancing" at the bar with the accused child abductor, David Westerfield.

Should the parents be in anyway held accountable for the fate of their daughter, based on their association, with the disappearance of their daughter?

Defense attorney is questioning "what was their involvment and wouldn't you as a parent feel some level of guilt?"

Wendy Murphy, (A GREAT Clinton Defender), is of course letting the Mother's actions off the hook without question.

sw

[cyncooper]

and how the defense has something they are holding back on that's as good as a confession.

Kim, my understanding is the defense wants that info kept under seal even through any appeals if there is a conviction. Doesn't strike me as exculpatory evidence for DW.

[hoosiermama]

I accidentally typed in WHite house. com instead of WHite House.gov and got all kinds of porno spam. Who know he may have saved it so he could bring charges against someone for sending it to me. The thought crossed my mind until I figured out why I was getting it.