Danielle Nicole van Dam (22 September 1994 - c. February 1, 2002 ) is an American girl from Saber Environmental springs San Diego, California, who disappeared from his bedroom on the night of February 1-2, 2002. His body was discovered by a search on February 27 in a remote area. Police suspect a neighbor, David Alan Westerfield, of the murder. He was arrested, tried, and convicted of first-degree kidnappings and murders. He was sentenced to death and is currently imprisoned in San Quentin State Prison.
Video Murder of Danielle van Dam
Crime
On Friday night, February 1, 2002, Danielle van Dam's mother Brenda and two of her boyfriends went to the bar, Dad, in Poway. Danielle's father, Damon, lives at home with Danielle and her two brothers. Damon puts Danielle to bed at around 10:30, and she falls asleep. Damon also slept until his wife returned home around 2:00 am with four friends. Brenda noticed the lights on the home security alarm system lit up, and found that the garage side door was open. Sixth chatting for about half an hour later Brenda's friends came home. Damon and Brenda go to bed believing that their daughter is sleeping in her room. About an hour later, Damon wakes up and notices that the alarm light is on. He found the sliding glass door leading to the backyard open, so he closed it. The next morning, Danielle disappeared, and her parents called the police at 9:39 am.
Danielle became the subject of one of the largest search efforts in the country's history, with hundreds of volunteers searching deserts, highways, and remote areas for weeks. The Laura Recovery Center helped organize the search, and the Danielle Recovery Center was set up in the real estate office in Poway to coordinate the search. Finally, on Feb. 27, two seekers found her naked and partially rotted body near a footpath in Dehesa, California, a town unrelated to east San Diego. Several seekers have decided to search the Dehesa Road area, near the path, after the detective finds Danielle's blood trail in David Westerfield's motor home, because Dehesa Road is the route Westerfield might take to get to the desert. Because of the condition of the body, the coronary can not determine the cause of death or whether he is sexually assaulted, and must use the dental records to confirm his identity.
Maps Murder of Danielle van Dam
David Westerfield
Law enforcement officials interviewed van Dams neighbors on Saturday morning when Danielle disappeared, and found that one neighbor, David Westerfield, was not home. Westerfield (born February 25, 1952) is an entrepreneur as an engineer, 49 years old at the time, and holds several patents for medical equipment. He had no criminal record at the time, and was a divorced father of two students. He lives two houses from the Dams van, and has a luxury motor home. About three days before Danielle disappeared, Danielle and Brenda had sold the Scout cake to Westerfield, who invited them to her home. Brenda asks to see her kitchen because she has noticed that it is being renovated when they have sold the cake to her the year before.
On Saturday morning, Westerfield took home his motorcycle from another part of town, stockpiling it up, and left home at 9.50, minutes after Brenda called 911 to report that Danielle was missing. Westerfield then told police he had driven around the desert and beach in his motor home, and remained at a beach camp: this was later confirmed by witnesses, cell phone records, gas receipts and credit card records. Westerfield said he intended to go to the desert, but realized that he forgot his wallet, so he drove to the camp at Silver Strand State Beach. He paid up front for a two night stay. However, he decided that the weather was too cold, so he went home to find his wallet, after which he went to the desert. A witness at Silver Strand later testified that he saw Westerfield pull out his wallet while in camp. He goes to the desert, where he is trapped in the sand on a Sunday morning about a quarter of a mile from the road and needs help from a tow truck to get free.
On the way home on Monday morning, Westerfield, who looked like a sleeper and legs, stopped in his dry laundry and pulled down two blankets, two pillowcases, and a jacket that would produce Danielle's blood trail. When law enforcement first interviewed Westerfield, he did not mention going to dry cleaners, although he detailed almost every other stop on his streets.
From Monday morning, Westerfield became the main suspect. The law enforcement put him under 24-hour surveillance on Feb. 4, noting that he had given RV's cleanup when he returned from his trip, although he maintained it was normal for him to do so. Motorcycles, SUVs and other properties were seized for testing on 5 February.
Westerfield declared that he did not know where Danielle was, but said that she was in the same bar where Brenda visited Friday night, which Brenda confirmed.
Catching and testing
On February 22, police arrested Westerfield for the kidnapping of Danielle after two small blood stains were found in her clothes and in her motor home. Danielle's partially decomposed body was found on 27 February. Westerfield pleaded not guilty, and was tried on June 4, 2002. In the pre-trial movement, Westerfield's lawyers moved in for his statement to the police to be excluded, alleging that he was unjustly interrogated for more than a year. nine hours by detectives who ignore repeated requests to call lawyers, bathe, eat, and sleep. In the end, the two officers who opposed the defense led their complaints not to testify.
The forensic evidence presented by the prosecutor included Danielle's blood stain on Westerfield's jacket and on the floor of his motor home, Danielle's fingerprints at the motor home, the hair of the Dam van family on Westerfield's motor home bed, hair consistent with Danielle on her bed sheet, and Suitable acrylic fibers are found on Danielle's body and at Westerfield's home, among other evidence. A witness testified that he had left a side door in an open garage, and prosecutor Jeff Dusek theorized that Westerfield might have entered this path; He stressed, however, that the prosecutor had no burden to show how the abduction was done, only that was done .
During the trial, Westerfield's lawyers suggested that the police rush to resolve the case and refuse to consider any other suspects. They suggested that child pornography found on Westerfield computers be downloaded by the 18-year-old son of Westerfield, Neal, at the time of the murder. In testimony, Neal denies this. Part of Westerfield's defense focuses on the lifestyle of Danielle van Dam's parents, whom they consider to have open marriages, are swingers, and smoking marijuana in their garage on a regular basis. The defense advised that because of this lifestyle, there might be others at home that night.
To assign an alibi to Westerfield, the defense counsel summoned three entomologists who testified that the first insect colonized Danielle's body around mid-February, long after Westerfield was under police surveillance. The prosecution entomologist testified that Danielle's body could be colonized as early as 2 February.
In the closing argument, Feldman argues that no evidence of Westerfield was found at the residence of van Dam or at the disposal site, and that the foreign hairs found under Danielle's body were not his. In his denial, Dusek argues that it makes sense for an intruder to enter the house without leaving a trace of evidence, especially if he takes appropriate precautions. Instead, Dusek argues, the traits and footprints of Danielle's tracks at Westerfield's home and motor home, and in his jacket, do not allow a plausible explanation other than guilt.
The trial lasted two months and ended on 8 August. On August 21, the jury found Westerfield guilty of first-degree murder, kidnapping, and child pornography.
During the sentencing phase, 19-year-old nephew Westerfield testified that, when he was 7 years old, his uncle entered the bedroom of his daughter, where his niece spent the night with his parents while attending the party, and woke to find him brushing his teeth. He said he bit his finger as hard as he could, then went downstairs to tell his mother. Westerfield was asked about the incident at that time by his brother-in-law, where he explained that he entered the bedroom to examine the children, and tried to comfort him. The incident was later forgotten.
The penalty phase ended on September 16 when the jury dropped the death sentence against Westerfield. In January 2003, Judge William Mudd sentenced Westerfield to death.
Aftermath
Westerfield is currently imprisoned in San Quentin State Prison while his appeal is pending. Due to the continuing moratorium on execution in 2006 in California, and a July 2014 decision on the unconstitutionality of the death penalty in California, it is not known when or whether Westerfield will face execution.
The van dam sued Westerfield, but the case was settled out of court. Dams vans are given $ 416,000 from several insurance companies that insure homes, SUVs, and Westerfield motor homes. This settlement also prevents Westerfield from benefiting from his crimes.
When the trial was over, the media, citing unnamed police sources, reported that Westerfield lawyers were just minutes away from bargaining negotiations when a group of private citizen seekers organized by Laura Recovery Center found Danielle's body. According to these reports, under the deal Westerfield will take the police to the location where his body is located, instead of a life sentence without parole. Both prosecutors and dissidents refused to comment on these reports. Many people, including Fox News commentator Bill O'Reilly, expressed anger at the disclosure, claiming that Westerfield's lawyers mislead the jury by proposing "unknown kidnap scenarios" even though their client says he knows the location of the corpse; However, legal specialists point out that defense lawyers are obliged to improve strong defenses irrespective of their own opinions about client error or innocence.
Within a few months after the trial ended, Westerfield's audio tapes interviewed were released to the media. During his first interview, he sounded asking an officer to "leave your gun here for a few minutes" with a suggestion that it appears that he wants to commit suicide. In one police interview he told investigators that he did not feel emotionally stable. In one interview he was told that he failed the polygraph test; Westerfield said he wanted a retest and that he was not involved in Danielle's disappearance.
At the end of 2003, the San Diego police received a letter from an outsider who admitted to Danielle's murder. The author claims to be James Selby, a man accused of sex-related crimes in five states, including in the San Diego area. Both the police and Dusek read the letter, and thought it was not credible; However, Dusek forwarded the letter to Westerfield's attorney's office, Steven Feldman, who declined to comment. Selby, who also claimed responsibility for the murder of JonBenÃÆ'Â t Ramsey, committed suicide pending a sentence in Arizona on November 22, 2004.
An episode of a forensic animal show on the US TV network Animal Planet is based on the belief that hair is consistent with Danielle's dog, found in Westerfield's laundry, in her RV, and on her blanket at the dry-cleaner, first enters her pajamas as she hugs a dog it, and then carried with pajamas to his home and RV in accordance with the principle of the exchange of Locard.
Legacy
A flyover on Interstate 8 at El Cajon has been named the Danielle van Dam Memorial Bridge. It was near where his body was found.
The local elementary school that Danielle attends dedicates part of her park and opens a public area for her memories.
The years after the killings have led to an increase in the level of crime awareness in the San Diego neighborhood as well as the funding and benefit agencies created in his honor. His family still lives in Southern California. They have formed the Danielle Legacy Foundation that serves to "promote volunteerism that will initiate positive change that will put our children's safety first."
References
External links
- Unresolved trial transcripts
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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