SAN DIEGO -- The jury foreman in the David Westerfield trial has told reporters that blood on the Sabre Springs resident's jacket is what led jurors to convict him.

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

Jurors Monday recommended that Westerfield be put to death for kidnapping and murdering 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.

It will be up to Superior Court Judge William Mudd to impose the sentence. A sentencing date has been set for Nov. 22 at 8:30 a.m.

Video

Hear Jury's Death Penalty Recommendation Courtroom Was Stunned By Day's Action Jury Foreman: 'It Was The Blood' Jurors Speak To Reporters Hear From Jeff Dusek, 'Woody' Clark DA Addresses Trial, Jury Decision Feldman: 'We're Very Disappointed" Analysis From Attorney Jan Ronis San Diegans React To Verdict

The decision came after a rather confusing day of deliberations. Earlier in the morning, the jury foreman sent a note to Mudd saying that they had reached an impasse.

"We are unable to reach a unanimous verdict at this time and would like further guidance. Thanks, Juror #10," the note said.

Mudd scheduled an afternoon hearing to discuss the stalemate, but shortly after the note was sent, the jury sent another note, telling Mudd that they were ready to deliberate further.

Then, 10 minutes after the second note, jurors sent a third note, telling the judge they had reached a decision.

That brought a protest from Westerfield attorney Steven Feldman, who suggested that the jurors had deliberated illegally after saying they were deadlocked, but Mudd said he would take the verdict.

Immediately after the death penalty recommendation was made, Juror No. 1 asked to leave the courtroom, apparently to compose herself.

"I can't take it any more, your honor," she said.

The jury's foreman, Tony (pictured, left), and Juror No. 6, Jeffrey, spoke to reporters a few hours after the recommendation was made. Both men offered only their first names.

"For me, it was the blood on the jacket. Where did it come from? How did it get there?," Jeffrey said, in explaining why he found the 50-year-old guilty.

But jurors took their time in coming to a decision, Jeffrey said, "because we had to make sure we were doing this right."

"Everyone had to feel good about the law, what we had to do with it, and be comfortable within themselves," he added.

Tony said that he didn't ever feel the jury would not come to an agreement.

"We tried to keep the discussion open as long as possible," he said. "There were certainly disagreements, but we didn't know until the end."

Jeffrey said bug evidence in the guilt phase of the trial was "subjective," and felt that a number of the bug experts called to testify were "just not trustworthy."

Tony said he gave some credence to the bug evidence but generally only paid attention to the testimony of David Faulkner (pictured, right).

Pornography evidence found on Westerfield's computer helped to establish a motive, Tony said.

Neither man felt that Brenda and Damon van Dam's lifestyle came into play when deciding Westerfield's guilt.

"I thought it was silly," Jeffrey said.

Throughout the case, Feldman had expressed concern that the jurors opinions were being tainted by extensive media coverage of the trial. But neither juror said the media created a problem.

"I got to watch a lot of movies," Jeffrey (pictured, left) said.

The foreman also said that jurors did not feel they had to fill in timeline gaps in order to convict Westerfield, but would have liked to have heard more of his side of the story.

"We really wanted David Westerfield to speak to us and give us some idea of what his state of mind was," Tony said.

Both Jeffrey and Tony told reporters that the penalty phase of the trial was an individual process.

"Each person had to come to peace with that decision," Tony said. "You enter into this thing possibly knowing that you're for the death penalty, but you've never been put to the test ... Everyone had to go through that step in their mind of, 'Holy cow, this is real.'"

Westerfield was arrested three weeks after Danielle was reported missing from her bedroom on Feb. 2. The girl's nude body later was found dumped along a rural road, too decomposed to determine how or when exactly she died.

Van Dams To Speak Tuesday

Brenda and Damon van Dam have announced that they will offer their reaction to Monday's death penalty recommendation from one of Danielle's favorite play areas.

The van Dams were in the courtroom when the decision was read. Brenda van Dam (pictured, right) cried gently and held onto her husband.

Upon arriving at their house in Sabre Springs, Brenda van Dam told reporters she was feeling "relieved," but asked that any other questions be held until a public announcement scheduled for Tuesday.

That announcement will be held at 9 a.m., at La Jolla Shores. The area was reportedly one of Danielle's favorite places to play, and served as the site for a rainy memorial service in March.

DA: 'Justice Was Done'

District Attorney Paul Pfingst said that jurors made the right guilt decision.

"Today, justice was done for Danielle van Dam. Justice was done for her family. The jury who heard this case reached the correct guilt verdict, based on the evidence they had before them," said Pfingst (pictured, left, with Jeff Dusek).

"The circumstantial evidence was powerful and, in our judgment, overwhelming. It was also a very difficult evidence for a jury to view and have to watch and have to consider."

"The sentence recommendation in this case by the jury was the correct sentence recommendation, based on the evidence the jury had."

"No greater harm could happen to a community than to have a child stolen from the safety of her own bedroom and taken, abused and killed," he said.

"I believe that this case was fairly tried. I'm extraordinarily proud of prosecutors, investigators and support staff in my office, who made this case come together on what was a very short period of time for such a complex matter."

Feldman 'Very Disappointed'

Feldman, clearly upset, made a brief statement to reporters:

"We said at the beginning that we would not try this case on the streets of San Diego. I say to you today, we will not appeal the case on the streets of San Diego, through the media.

"We're all very disappointed in the verdicts, of course, but we respect the decision of the jury.

"Tragically, two killings will never justify one. This is America, we're alienating ourselves from the international community by the imposition of the death penalty."