Jurors Recommend Death for Westerfield

By TONY PERRY

Sept. 17, 2002 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

SAN DIEGO — After five days of deliberations, a jury recommended Monday that David Westerfield be executed for kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, whose disappearance in February turned out to be the first in a string of high-profile child abductions this year.

Westerfield, 50, a self-employed design engineer, showed no emotion as the verdict was read. One of his lawyers leaned over and told him, “I’m so sorry.”

Danielle’s mother, Brenda, cried, and the girl’s father, Damon, shut his eyes. The couple left the courthouse without talking to reporters.

Superior Court Judge William Mudd set Nov. 22 to announce whether he will accept the jury’s recommendation or reduce Westerfield’s sentence to life in prison without parole. Only one death penalty in 10 San Diego cases has been reduced to a life sentence in the last eight years.

Two male jurors, who would not give their full names, told reporters that the most damning piece of evidence against Westerfield was the discovery of Danielle’s blood on his jacket. The same jury on Aug. 21 found him guilty of murder, kidnapping and possession of child pornography but were forbidden from discussing the case until Monday.

They said the horrific nature of the killing convinced them to recommend the death penalty, despite pleas from Westerfield’s children, friends and co-workers to spare him.

The two jurors said revelations about the Van Dams’ marijuana use and extramarital sex, raised by Westerfield’s attorneys, were considered irrelevant by the panel.

“I didn’t understand why it was brought out,” said one juror. “It didn’t have anything to do with the disappearance and death of a little girl. It was their choice. They’re adults. It was kind of silly to bring that up.”

Defense attorneys had attempted to persuade jurors that the “sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll” lifestyle of Danielle’s parents left her vulnerable to attack. The kidnapper, they argued, might have been someone who came to the home for sex or illegal drugs.

In his closing argument, lead defense attorney Steven Feldman had begged jurors not to hold his abrasive personality or controversial tactics against his client.

“I don’t think we put a lot of weight on Feldman and his likability,” said a second juror. “We really focused on what came out in court--the evidence.”

Feldman, in limiting his comments, told reporters, “We will not appeal this case on the streets of San Diego through the media.” By state law, the case will automatically be appealed.

Feldman had argued during the penalty phase of the trial that Westerfield was not the “worst of the worst” and did not deserve to be executed.

“Tragically, two killings will never justify one,” Feldman said after the jury was dismissed. “This is America. We are alienating ourselves from the [international] community through the imposition of the death penalty.”

San Diego County Dist. Atty. Paul Pfingst praised the jury for agreeing with his trial prosecutors--Jeff Dusek and George “Woody” Clarke--that Westerfield should be executed.

“Today, justice was done for Danielle van Dam, justice was done for her family,” Pfingst said. “No greater harm can be done to a community than to have a child stolen from the safety her own bedroom, abused and murdered.”

The two jurors who spoke to reporters said the jury was chastened by the gravity of recommending that Westerfield be killed.

“It was a group effort,” said one juror. “Everybody struggled with the decision.”

The other juror added, “Everybody had to come to peace with that decision: Everybody had to go through that step that, ‘Holy cow, this is real.’ ”

In the upscale Sabre Springs neighborhood where Westerfield and the Van Dams were neighbors, residents reacted with relief. Neighbors willing to speak to reporters said they agreed with the death penalty recommendation.

“We knew he did it,” Buddy Sabalaon said. “We feel a lot safer.”

“I’m happy,” said Jojo Trine, who lives across the street from the house where Westerfield lived. “That’s exactly right.”

There were indications that at least one juror held out until the final moment. At midmorning, the jury foreman sent Mudd a note saying that the jury was deadlocked. But when court convened in the early afternoon, the jury handed Mudd a unanimous decision.

The recommendation is consistent with other San Diego juries in past years involving the murder of children. In the last eight years, prosecutors have asked for and received the death penalty in four such cases. The Westerfield case is the fifth.

Police Chief David Bejarano issued a prepared statement saying that he “hopes that it [the verdict] brings some closure to the Van Dam family.”

Deluged with requests for interviews, the Van Dams, through a spokeswoman, said they will speak Tuesday at a grassy park in the La Jolla Shores section of San Diego. It was the site of a memorial service for Danielle after her body was discovered.

Danielle’s disappearance, the frantic 25-day search and the eventual discovery of her body Feb. 27 riveted much of the nation.

The slaying preceded other high-profile abductions this year, including those of Elizabeth Smart in Utah, Samantha Runnion in Orange County and Cassandra Williamson in Missouri. Samantha and Cassandra were killed; Elizabeth remains missing.

President Bush mentioned Danielle and Samantha last month in a speech announcing a Sept. 24 conference to find ways to stem “a wave of horrible violence” against children.

Samantha, 7, was kidnapped from outside her Orange County home and killed. “The kidnapping or murder of a child is every parent’s worst nightmare,” Bush said.

After 10 days of deliberation, the jury on Aug. 21 convicted Westerfield on evidence linking him to the abduction and murder.

Danielle’s blood was found in his recreational vehicle and on his jacket. Her hair was found in the RV and the bedroom of his home, and fibers found on her body were identical to fibers found at the home.

Danielle disappeared from her bedroom Feb. 2.

Westerfield, who lived two doors from the Van Dam family, had come under suspicion almost immediately because as other neighbors sought to help in the search, he took his recreational vehicle on a trip to the beach and desert.

Danielle’s nude body was found along a rural road that he could have used to travel between the desert and the beach.

Prosecutors alleged during the trial that Westerfield tried desperately to clean up “his evil, evil crime” by scouring his home and RV with bleach and taking bedding and clothing to the dry cleaners after returning from his weekend trip.

Days before the abduction, Westerfield had bought Girl Scout cookies from Danielle. On the Friday night of Feb. 1, the twice-divorced Westerfield bought drinks for Brenda van Dam and two of her girlfriends at a bar where they had gone for a night of drinking, dancing, smoking marijuana and shooting pool.

Just what moved Westerfield to leave the bar, go to the Van Dam home and kidnap Danielle may never be known. He did not testify.

Prosecutors believe that Westerfield entered the home as Damon van Dam, Danielle and her two brothers slept. He also may have been in Danielle’s bedroom when Brenda and her friends returned from the bar about 2 a.m.

Westerfield made a fatal mistake thinking that he could talk his way out of trouble with police, prosecutors said.

Telling him they only wanted to talk to him briefly so that they could clear him and move on with the case, police persuaded Westerfield to be interviewed Feb. 5.

Westerfield’s interview with a police interrogator was played for jurors during the trial and penalty deliberations.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dusek noted the inconsistencies in Westerfield’s description of his movements. He also used the word “we” to describe his trip to the desert although he insisted that he was alone in his 30-foot recreational vehicle.

A tow-truck driver who helped pull the RV from the sand of Imperial County on Feb. 3 thought he heard a voice from inside the vehicle, suggesting that Danielle was still alive.

The medical examiner testified that he was unable to pinpoint either the time or cause of Danielle’s death.

Prosecutors alleged that she was alive when Westerfield took her from her home and remained alive for several hours, at least until Westerfield put her into the recreational vehicle. He then dumped her body “like trash” along a rural road either the night of Feb. 2 or on Feb. 3, Dusek said.

In the penalty phase, Dusek theorized that Westerfield molested Danielle, although there was no forensic evidence to support that contention.

Dusek said Westerfield’s pornography showed that he harbored fantasies about young girls. He kept binoculars in an upstairs bathroom that would let him spy on Danielle in her backyard, Dusek said.

Westerfield is expected to be housed on Death Row at San Quentin prison. California has 610 prisoners awaiting execution.

Times staff writer Jessica Garrison and special correspondent John Flink contributed to this report.