David Westerfield found....

[Guest bob_barron]

Westerfield Guilty in San Diego Child Kidnap-Murder

Wed Aug 21, 2:54 PM ET

By Dan Whitcomb

 

SAN DIEGO (Reuters) - Neighbor David Westerfield was found guilty Wednesday of abducting and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, with a jury electing to consider putting him to death for the crime that frightened parents across the country.

 

The jury of six women and six men deliberated for nine days before reaching guilty verdicts on the charges of murder, kidnapping, possession of child pornography and a special allegation that could result in the death penalty for Westerfield, a 50-year-old engineer and father of two.

 

Westerfield, who lived two doors away from the van Dam household showed no emotion as the verdicts were read, although he blinked repeatedly and swallowed hard.

 

The jury was ordered to return to court next Wednesday to begin the penalty phase of trial, in which they will determine whether Westerfield should be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole or death by lethal injection.

 

The panel spent an estimated 37 hours behind closed doors and had 199 court exhibits and the testimony of 116 witnesses to consider. They announced that they had reached a decision shortly after arriving at the courthouse on Wednesday.

 

The jurors answered firmly "yes" as they were polled by the court clerk on their findings on each count.

 

"It is very, very important that you not discuss the case, your deliberations or offer any opinions .. until you are gathered together again," Superior Court William Mudd told the panel.

 

"The normal admonition that I give you every day is still in place with the added caveat that you are not to be contacted," Mudd added, referring to complaints by some jurors that they were followed during the trial by media and other trial watchers.

 

Prosecutors focused during the two-month trial on forensic evidence against Westerfield, including Danielle's fingerprints in his motor home and strands of her blond hair in his home and vehicles. A forensic expert testified at trial that certain fibers found on her body matched those retrieved from his car and his home.

 

Deputy District Attorney Jeff Dusek said during his closing argument in the case that a single drop of Danielle's blood discovered on Westerfield's jacket and confirmed as hers through DNA tests was the "smoking gun" in the case.

 

Westerfield's attorney, Steven Feldman, probed the lifestyle of Danielle's parents, Brenda and Damon van Dam and suggested that the little girl's killer could have come from their swinging circles.

 

That line of defense enraged the van Dams, their supporters and many in the close-knit community.

 

Danielle was snatched sometime after going to bed on the night of Feb. 1 and remained missing for nearly a month despite an anguished search. Her badly decomposed body, naked except for the plastic choker necklace she always wore, was found beside a back-country road on Feb. 27.

[Guest DragonflyKid]

In all likelihood he'll receive the death penalty sentence(Which he deserves) which doesn't mean anything here in California where all the death row inmates after endless appeals and such are very rarely put to death.

 

 

BTW, am I wrong for doing the RVD thump-pointing-at-self thing whenever I hear the Van Dam girl and her family mentioned?

[Guest Olympic Slam]

Good. Nice to see justice

 

And yes, I do feel a little bad when I do the RVD thumb thing. But not enough to not do it

[Guest gwf0704]

Well considering you are doing it because of the name and missing the point of a little girls ruthless murder then I would guess it sounds kind of childish.

 

And if you want him executed, have him tried in Texas where all of our convicted death row inmates get executed...

[Guest The Czech Republic]

I plead guilty to pointing to myself as they say "Danielle Van Dam"

[Guest Downhome]

I was somewhat suprised that he was found guilty by everyone like this. Don't get me wrong, I hope he burns in hell for doing it, but even I could realize that there was indeed "reasonable doubt" in his guilt.

[Guest Cancer Marney]

Right right, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for the hairs in his bedroom. He just took her up there to show her his etchings.

 

Feh. Reasonable doubt my cute little ass.

[Guest Downhome]

Right right, there's a perfectly reasonable explanation for the hairs in his bedroom. He just took her up there to show her his etchings.

 

Feh. Reasonable doubt my cute little ass.

Don't get me wrong, as I totally believe in his guilt and that he got what he deserved. As for the hairs...

 

...yes, there was a reasonable explanation as to how they got there. What few people know, is that David Westerfield was out dancing with the mom of the little girl not too long before she went missing. Now at first that wouldn't sound like anything, but it ends up they weren't just dancing, but were engaged in an extreme type of "dirty dancing". Now I don't know about you, but I'm sure the chances are good that the mom was around her little girl, the girls hairs got on her mom, and when the mom was dancing with David Westerfield, they could have easily been transfered to him, and then to his bed when they got home.

 

I'm not saying it's an excuse, but it DOES leave openings for doubt, that is all.

[Guest bob_barron]

There was a lot of DNA evidence and other evidence against him- based on what I saw on O'Reilly-

 

Jury should've convicted a long time ago

[Guest kkktookmybabyaway]

Although I don't point my thumbs everytime I hear D. Van Dam, I do get an image of Westerfield, as punishment, having to endure a ***** frog splash from someone who has to pay double when flying Southwest (?) Airlines...

[Guest TJH]

I don't know anything about this case, and therefore will not comment.

(This my contender for stupidest post ever)

[Guest danielisthor]

considering all the other dna evidence against him, including the girls blood (hair can be explained, but not blood, especially the amount) i am surprised that it took 8 days to convict him. I can only blame the jurors. He should of been convicted after only 1 day, 2 at the most.