Criminal
Jun. 15, 2002
Cellular Records Dispute Westerfield's Whereabouts
SAN DIEGO - A cell-phone call made by David A. Westerfield, charged with kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam, shows that he was far from where he told police he was the evening of Feb. 3, one day after the second-grader's parents discovered she was missing.
The call was made at 7:33 p.m. and lasted 106 seconds, said Greg Sheets, a Verizon Wireless employee.
Reading from subpoenaed phone company records, Sheets said the tower that relayed the message was on Miramar Road in Mira Mesa, a community in northern San Diego.
Westerfield told San Diego police Detective Johnny F. Keene that he arrived in his 35-foot motor home at Silver Strand State Beach at 7:10 p.m. Feb. 3, just after the park gates were locked for the night. He told the same thing to Paul Redden, a civilian police interrogation specialist.
Sheets explained under questioning by Deputy District Attorney George W. Clarke that the radio signal from the cell phone tries to go to the nearest tower, which relays the message to a ground line for delivery to its ultimate destination.
On cross-examination by defense attorney Steven E. Feldman, Sheets said radio signals from a cell phone generally cannot travel more than 15 miles but have been known to travel hundreds of miles.
Other cell-phone calls made Feb. 2 and Feb. 3, when Westerfield left his home in the community of Sabre Springs hours before Danielle's absence was discovered, show a pattern of travel that appears to match closely the route described by Westerfield.
Westerfield, a 50-year-old self-employed engineer, told police he wandered in the motor home from the coast on Feb. 2 to Imperial County and finally back to the coast on the night of Feb. 3.
Danielle's nude body was found Feb. 27 on a rural road in east San Diego County. The road was not one that Westerfield said he had traveled.
Prosecutors say police found Danielle's fingerprints and hair in Westerfield's home and motor home. They also found Danielle's blood on Westerfield's clothing, they said.
Westerfield, who faces the death penalty if convicted, came under police suspicion because he was the only person in the van Dams' neighborhood who was not at home. After authorities received the owners' permission, police dogs searched the other houses.
Shortly after Westerfield arrived back at his Sabre Springs home the morning of Feb. 4, police contacted him, according to previous testimony. He agreed to let police walk through his house in search of Danielle and later let police dogs seek her scent in his home and motor home. In court documents, prosecutors say the dogs showed by their actions that they detected Danielle's scent in both places.
On Feb. 4 and Feb. 5, Westerfield constantly was accompanied by police. Then he was placed under surveillance 24 hours a day until his arrest Feb. 22. He has been held without bail since then.
Other witnesses Thursday were Westerfield's neighbors, who told about his usual pattern of taking apparently well-planned trips in the motor home. One camper testified that Westerfield immediately closed the curtains and blinds in his motor home after arriving at the Silver Strand beachfront park. He came out only once, the witness said, to talk to a park ranger, who informed Westerfield that he had overpaid the admission fee by $30.
Superior Court Judge William D. Mudd, who is presiding over what is expected to be a three-month trial, allows the lawyers a day off on Fridays if they remain on schedule. Testimony is scheduled to resume Monday.
Claude Walbert
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