Jury Re-Hears Westerfield Niece Testimony

SAN DIEGO -- The jury trying to decide the fate of child killer David Westerfield asked Thursday for readback of testimony from a 19-year-old woman who told authorities her "Uncle Dave" allegedly molested her when she was about 7 years old.

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 victim of the alleged molestation said her mother's sister was one of Westerfield's two ex-wives.

Shortly after their second day of deliberations began, jurors asked to hear readback of testimony from Jenny N,. her mother and a police interrogation specialist who said Westerfield brought up the incident during his initial interview.

The same jury that convicted Westerfield of kidnapping and killing 7-year-old Danielle van Dam is trying to decide whether to recommend death by injection or life in prison without parole.

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First Full Day Of Deliberations

Jurors deliberated for about 90 minutes Wednesday after a set of emotional closing arguments at the conclusion of the trial's penalty phase.

The 19-year-old accused Westerfield of molesting her during a family get-together at the defendant's home about 12 years ago.

The sophomore at San Diego State University testified she woke up to find Westerfield in the room in which she was sleeping with her younger sister and the defendant's daughter, Lisa.

"My uncle Dave had his fingers in my mouth," Jenny said. "He was kind of playing with my teeth."

She continued by saying the defendant had "a couple fingers in my mouth, rubbing my teeth or kind of massaging them."

She said she pretended to remain asleep as he did this, then watched as he moved to her sister, then back to her.

"He did it again, so I bit him real hard for as long as I could," Jenny testified.

Westerfield (pictured, left) then went over to Lisa, she said, and adjusted the shorts he was wearing before leaving the room.

Jenny said she waited to make sure he was gone, then went down to tell her mother.

Jeanne N., who followed her daughter to the witness stand, said she confronted Westerfield, who explained that Jenny was fussing in her sleep and he comforted her. The explanation sounded reasonable, Jeanne said, and the incident was never brought up again.

During cross-examination, both women admitted they were unsure how long ago the incident occurred. Jenny had earlier estimated she was 7, the same age as Danielle was when she was killed.

Jenny explained that she was scared when the events of that night came back to her. She only mentioned the part about the shorts to investigators after talking with her boyfriend and father.

Answering a question from prosecutor Jeff Dusek, Jenny said she never saw if the defendant was doing anything with his other hand.

Police interrogation specialist Paul Redden, who interviewed Westerfield the day investigators focused their attention on him, said the self-employed engineer told him the incident took place in 1994.

In a tape recording of the interview played in court, the defendant said he heard a commotion upstairs that evening, investigated and found one girl's foot tangled in the pants of her sister's pajamas. One of the girls became upset when he straightened the pajamas, he said, so he sent her to her mother.

Jeanne confronted him a week later, he said on the tape.

"I was upset about it at the time," Westerfield told Redden, because of the implication that he had molested young children.

Dusek told jurors they could use the incident as an aggravating factor toward recommending the death penalty if they found Westerfield's actions to be criminal.