Jury Goes Home; Asks For More Evidence

SAN DIEGO -- The jury trying to decide the fate of accused child killer David Westerfield asked Friday to re-hear the testimony of San Diego County Medical Examiner Brian Blackbourne and bug expert David Faulkner.

WESTERFIELD TRIAL Judge William Mudd Issues Death Penalty Sentence Hear Jury's Death Penalty Recommendation Watch The Jury's Verdict Being Read Share Your Thoughts DANIELLE VAN DAM 1994-2002 Watch Danielle Video Montage E-mail: daniellevandam @yahoo.com Send mail to: P.O. Box 501515 San Diego, 92150

The jury finished deliberating Friday around 11:30 a.m., according to 10News.

Westerfield, 50, is charged with murder, kidnapping and misdemeanor possession of child pornography in connection with the death of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.

The twice-divorced, self-employed design engineer could face the death penalty if the jury convicts him of killing his Sabre Springs neighbor and finds true a special circumstance allegation that the second-grader's murder occurred during a kidnapping.

Brenda van Dam discovered her daughter missing from her bed the morning of Feb. 2.

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Jury Has Been At It For Seven Days

Blackbourne and Faulkner were among a group of witnesses who testified about how insects found on Danielle van Dam's body could help determine when she had been dumped off an East County road near Dehesa.

Faulkner, a forensic entomologist, found 14 different insect species on the girl's body when he examined it at the recovery site in the East County.

The witness testified that fly larvae first infested the body 10-12 days before it was discovered by volunteer searchers Feb. 27.

On cross-examination by prosecutors, Faulkner conceded that he could not give a maximum time Danielle's body was exposed to the elements. Blackbourne testified that the body was badly decomposed and that animals had been feeding on it.

He testified that Danielle died between Feb. 1 and Feb. 18.

Other experts testified that insects infested the body as little as four days before it was discovered to six weeks earlier.

Jurors have also asked for readback of the testimony of San Diego police criminalist Jennifer Shen, when she was recalled to testify about orange fibers that allegedly link Westerfield to the victim.

Shen testified that orange fibers found wrapped in Danielle's choker matched orange fibers found in Westerfield's laundry. More orange fibers were found on a pillow case in the defendant's master bedroom.

During her second time on the witness stand, Shen acknowledged that if she had known that witnesses at a Poway bar said Westerfield and Danielle's mother had been "dirty dancing," it would have influenced her evaluation of the fiber evidence.

Shen also told prosecutors that the amount of orange fibers found in Westerfield's SUV, home and motorhome made it unlikely the fibers were transferred from a third party.

Jurors also have reviewed the pornographic evidence in the case and asked to look at photographs that Westerfield had taken of his ex-girlfriend's teen- age daughter. Prosecutors told the jury that one photo of the daughter lying by the pool was sexually suggestive.

Jurors also listened again to a taped interview the defendant gave to a police interrogation specialist on Feb. 4.