David Westerfield - The Crime

The Crime

On the Friday evening of February 1, 2002, Danielle's mother Brenda Van Dam and a couple of 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. Damon did not turn on the home's alarm system. The six chatted for approximately a half hour, and then Brenda's friends went home. Damon and Brenda went to sleep thinking 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 a.m. Monday morning. From that point on, he became the prime suspect. Westerfield stated that he did not know Danielle's location, but 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 and that Brenda was intoxicated. At the preliminary hearing in March, Brenda alternated between saying she didn’t dance with him, and didn’t remember doing so.

On his way home on Monday morning, a sleepy-looking and bare-footed David Westerfield stopped at his regular dry cleaners and dropped 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. 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, 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.

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..