| David Alan Westerfield | |
|---|---|
| Born | February 25, 1952 U.S. |
| Charge(s) | murder, kidnapping |
| Penalty | capital punishment |
| Status | incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison |
| Occupation | self-employed engineer |
| Children | 2 |
David Alan Westerfield (born February 25, 1952), of San Diego, California was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder and kidnapping of seven-year-old Danielle Van Dam in 2002. He was a successful, self-employed engineer who owned a luxury motor home and lived two houses away from Van Dam. A divorced father of two college students,[1] he is currently incarcerated at San Quentin State Prison.
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On the Friday evening of February 1, 2002, Brenda Van Dam and a couple of her friends went out to a bar. Her husband Damon Van Dam stayed behind to look after their daughter Danielle and her two brothers. Damon put Danielle to bed around 10:30 p.m., and she fell asleep. Damon also slept until his wife returned around 2:00 a.m. with four of her friends. The six chatted for approximately a half hour, and then Brenda's friends went home. Damon and Brenda went to sleep believing that their daughter was safely sleeping in her room. The next morning, Danielle was missing. The couple frantically searched their home, but could not find her. They called the police at 9:39 a.m.
Law enforcement officials interviewed neighbors and soon discovered that Westerfield and another neighbor were not home that Saturday morning. Westerfield returned home at approximately 8 AM Monday morning. From that point on, he became the prime suspect. Westerfield stated that he did not know Danielle's location, and that he was at the same bar that Brenda had attended with her girlfriends on Friday night. Brenda was able to confirm this, but denied Westerfield's claim that they had danced together - however, two eyewitnesses testified to seeing them dance together. At the trial, Brenda said she could not remember if she danced with him or not .
Upon returning home, a haggard and bare-footed David Westerfield showed up at a dry cleaners to drop off two comforters, two pillow covers, and a jacket that would later yield Danielle Van Dam's blood. When law enforcement first interviewed Westerfield, he did not mention going to the dry cleaners.[2] Westerfield stated that he had driven around the desert and the beach, and stayed at a campground. Law enforcement put Westerfield on 24-hour surveillance on February 4,[3] noting that he had given his RV a cleaning when he returned from his trip. The RV, his SUV, and other property was impounded for testing on February 5.[4]
About three days before Danielle Van Dam's disappearance, Danielle and Brenda sold Girl Scout cookies to Westerfield who invited them into his home and chatted with Brenda .
On February 22, police arrested Westerfield for Danielle's kidnapping after two small stains of her blood were found on his clothing and in his motor home. Danielle's severely decomposed body was found February 27.[5] Westerfield did not have a criminal record. His attorneys suggested that the police were in a rush to solve the case, and declined to consider other suspects.
Westerfield pleaded not guilty, and went on trial on June 4, 2002. During the trial, Westerfield's lawyers, Steven Feldman and Robert Boyce, suggested that child pornography found on Westerfield's computer might have been downloaded by Westerfield's 18-year-old son, Neal. Neal denied this.[6] Part of Westerfield's defense focused on the lifestyle of Danielle Van Dam's parents. The defense suggested that the couple were known to have an open marriage, and claimed that this lifestyle might have brought the kidnapper to their home.[7] Westerfield's lawyers also charged that he was unfairly interrogated for more than nine hours by detectives who ignored his repeated requests to call a lawyer, take a shower, eat, and sleep.[8]
The trial lasted two months and concluded on August 8. On August 21, the jury found him guilty of kidnapping and first degree murder. He also received an additional misdemeanor charge for possessing sexual images of subjects under the age of 18 on his computer. Outrage ensued after the trial when evidence of prior plea talks (see below) surfaced in the media. Many people were concerned that Westerfield's attorneys misled the jury by fabricating the "unknown kidnapper scenario" when they clearly knew their client was involved in the crime because he knew the location of the body.
The science of entomology was a major focus during the trial. Three entomologists were consulted by the defense, and all testified that flies first laid eggs on Van Dam's body sometime in mid-February, long after Westerfield was under police surveillance.[9] However, cross-examination by the prosecution demonstrated a lack of consensus among the entomologists on several fronts. Entomologist David Faulkner conceded that his time estimate was based mostly on the fly larvae, and that his research could not determine the maximum amount of time Danielle's body was outside and subject to decomposition. Entomologist Neal Haskell used a weather chart prepared by forensic artist James Gripp, stating that the warm temperatures made it likely that insects immediately colonized Danielle's corpse. The third entomologist, Dr. Robert Hall, estimated that initial insect infestation occurred between February 12 and February 23, but acknowledged that the insect infestation of the corpse wasn't "typical" because so few maggots were found in the skull. The prosecution brought in a fourth entomologist, Dr. Madison Lee Goff, who testified that the infestation may have occurred between February 9 and February 14, but stressed that other factors may have delayed insect arrival.[10] He explained that a covering such as a blanket might have initially kept flies at bay; however no covering was found, and Goff contended that the longest delay by such a shroud would be two and a half days.[11]
Some of the computers and loose computer media in Westerfield's office contained pornography, although his attorneys argued that the police originally reported not finding child pornography.[12] According to the prosecution computer expert, James Watkins, 100,000 images were found, including 8,000 to 10,000 nude images and 80 that could be considered child pornography.[13] The materials included brief movie clips that featured an underage girl being raped by one man while another man restrained her. These clips, including the sound of the girl struggling, were played in the courtroom.[13] In all, two sets of movie clips, six animated cartoons, and 13 still images taken from computers, zip disks, or CD-Roms in David Westerfield's home were shown, each featuring underage girls.[13]
In 2003, after Westerfield's conviction, James Selby wrote to the police confessing to the Van Dam murder. Selby was wanted for kidnapping a 9-year-old Oklahoma girl from her bedroom in the middle of the night and raping her in 1999, for raping women in San Diego and sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl in Sparks, Nevada in 2001; however police did not believe that he murdered Van Dam. Prosecutor Jeff Dusek also read Selby's confession, and deemed it not credible. Selby - a divorced father of three - worked as a handyman and machinist and traveled often between San Diego and Tucson. It is believed that he was in the Tucson, Arizona area when Van Dam was kidnapped in February 2002. Selby is believed to be responsible for a series of rapes in Arizona from October 2001 to May 2002. He had a prior rape conviction in Colorado. In addition, Selby claimed responsibility for the slaying of JonBenét Ramsey.[14] According to Deputy County Attorney Bradley Roach, "It was an aspect of his personality to confess to something to see what other people would say." Selby committed suicide in his jail cell on November 22, 2004.[15]
In January 2003, a California judge sentenced David Westerfield to be executed. He was transported to San Quentin State Prison. He is currently enrolled in the Handicraft program at San Quentin State Prison. The Van Dams sued Westerfield, but the case was settled out of court. The Van Dams were awarded $416,000 from several insurance companies who insured Westerfield's home, SUV, and motor home. The settlement also prevented Westerfield from ever profiting from his crime.[16]
When the trial was over, the media, quoting unnamed police sources, reported that Westerfield's lawyers were just minutes away from negotiating a plea bargain when a private citizen's group, started by the Laura Recovery Center and concerned local citizens, found Danielle's body. According to these reports, under the deal, Westerfield would have taken police to the site where she was located in exchange for life without parole.[17] Both the prosecution and the defense declined to comment on these reports.[18][19]
During the penalty phase of the trial, Mr. Westerfield's nineteen-year-old niece testified that, when she was seven years old, her uncle entered his daughter's bedroom, where the niece was spending the night with her parents while attending a party, to check on the kids, and woke up finding him rubbing her teeth, and said she bit his finger as hard as she could. She went downstairs to tell her mother. Mr. Westerfield was questioned about the incident at the time by his sister-in-law, where he explained that he was trying to comfort her. The incident was then forgotten.[20]
In the months following the end of the trial audio tapes of Westerfield being interviewed were released to the media. In one police interview he tells investigators that he doesn't feel emotionally stable. He is told that he failed a polygraph test. Westerfield tells him that he wants a retest and that he was not involved in Danielle's disappearance.[21]
In the interrogation video tape made at the time of his first interview (02-05-2002), near the end of the interview Westerfield, who is given a momentary pause in the interview while one of the two officers leaves the room, puts his head down on the table. At 18:51:40 (timecode on the video tape) the remaining officer asks him, "Want to be left alone?" to which Westerfield replies, "No, it's okay." He then lifts his head and looks directly at the officer, pats the table beside him with his left hand and says, "If you wanted to leave your gun here for a few minutes, I'd appreciate it" in a seemingly sincere request to commit suicide if only given the opportunity. When the officer decries the choice as "silly," Westerfield makes a brief comment and then lays his head back down on the table.[22]
It was recently revealed in an animal forensic show from US TV network, Animal Planet, that the girl's dog played a huge witness to the crime. The dog, a weimaraner, was said to have rubbed and played a lot with the young girl and the fur was transferred from her pajamas to the interior of Mr. Westerfield's automobile. Also, clothing and other areas of location including above said bed sheets and comforters contained dog fur. Hinted in the show too, was the evidence of blood and a hand print matching that of Danielle were located within Mr. Westerfield's automobile. Mr. Westerfield is currently still sitting on death row awaiting execution.
The following years after the murder have led to higher states of awareness in San Diego's neighborhoods as well as the institution of funds and benefits made in her honor. The local elementary school that Danielle attended set up a portion of the park/open public area to be dedicated to the child. Her family still lives in Southern California and are active speakers for stricter guidelines for sexual predators and early warning signs.