My comments of Damon Van Dam testimony
911 call:
Dispatcher: OK. And how old — you said she’s seven. What’s her date of birth?
Brenda: 9/22/94.
Damon Van Dam’s testimony:
Dusek: when was she born?
Damon Van Dam: she was born september 26th, 1994.
- According to Damon Van Dam, Layla, the Van Dam’s dog, doesn’t typically bark.
Dusek: was there something done to affect its ability to bark?
Van Dam: no, there wasn’t. but she was — the farm on which she grew up, the dogs had all been devoiced so they wouldn’t bark, so she grew up without barking dogs around her.
“The dogs had ALL been devoiced”. ALL except ONE: Layla. Why was Layla the ONLY DOG NOT DEVOICED on this farm? Where is this farm specializing in devoiced dogs?
- According to Damon Van Dam, on Friday 1st when he came back from work around 6:00 pm, his kids were alone at home. Brenda was out getting a pizza. Brenda came back later with the pizza and the family (5 people) had pizza dinner.
1) Van Dam: we went in and had dinner with the kids, had pizza.
2) Van Dam: Yes. got one beer, had some pizza, got another beer a little later, had more pizza with it.
3) Van Dam: Not particularly. they were talking to Danielle and may or may not have eaten some pizza. I think Denise might have given them some pizza, i’m not sure.
4) Van Dam: Back to the video games. I think at that point I got another slice of pizza, another beer and shared that with my son, Dylan, the youngest, and then got another slice of pizza and shared that with him.
5) Van Dam: they were at the kitchen table eating pizza and cookies. someone was heating up some pizza. and they had a thing of chocolate chip cookies out on the table.
**At this point even Dusek is wondering about the pizza***
Dusek: do you know if this was new pizza or pizza from you guys?
Damon Van Dam: pizza from noon.
What pizza can feed so many people? If the pizza was from noon where was Brenda when Damon came back from work at 6:00 pm? How could she possibility be getting at 6:00pm a pizza she had at noon (according to Damon)?
- According to Damon Van Dam, on Friday 1st, Danielle was seated at the kitchen table filling her journal
Van Dam: We didn’t have anything specific planned but we ended up playing video games that night. i played video games with the boys and Danielle did some reading and writing in her journal .
Dusek: Homework type stuff or just fun?
Van Dam: Just fun stuff. she liked to read and log things in her journal .
Where is Danielle’s journal now? What did she write in this journal? Did the defense ever see it? Did the police impounded it ?
- According to Damon Van Dam, he spent a good part of his time playing video games
1) Van Dam: We didn’t have anything specific planned but we ended up playing video games that night. i played video games with the boys and Danielle did some reading and writing in her journal .
2) Van Dam: I was playing video games with the boys and i went to the door and let them inside and said hello. Brenda was upstairs. I think that she had just finished her shower. she finished the shower and you could hear the water running from downstairs. i let them in, said hello, went back to playing video games with the boys and they sat down with Danielle in the table.
3) Van Dam: Back in to play video games with the boys.
4) Van Dam: the girls came back in, said goodbye. I think i got up from the video games again and said goodbye at the front door to them. they left and i went back to video games with the boys.
5) Van Dam: Back to the video games. I think at that point I got another slice of pizza, another beer and shared that with my son, Dylan, the youngest, and then got another slice of pizza and shared that with him.
[–]
Van Dam: Sometime after that Danielle had asked how to spell a few words, because as she reads a book and writes in the journal , she’s just learning to spell the words. So I helped her spell a few words, and she asked us to turn the tv down at one point because the video game was really loud . and at some point after that she moved to the chair, as I talked about earlier, in the other room. we played a little longer. At some time, a little before 10 o’clock, I asked that they go up and get ready for bed.
Obviously the sound was not turned down as Danielle had to move in the other room. How did Van Dam react to such interruption ?
- According to Damon Van Dam, when his wife and sexpals came back from the bar, Brenda and Barbara came upstairs. Barbara jumped in bed with him.
mr. Feldman: okay. so when you entered your residence, one of the first things you noticed was that light, was that correct?
Brenda Van Dam: yes.
mr. Feldman: that was about 2 o’clock, right?
Brenda Van Dam: yes.
mr. Feldman: what did you do?
Brenda Van Dam: I told Denise that i had either a window or a door open and i needed to find it.
mr. Feldman: where was Barbara when you did that?
Brenda Van Dam: she was in —
mr. Feldman: pardon me?
Brenda Van Dam: she was in the living room. she was just standing in the entryway area
mr. Feldman: okay. so Barbara stayed in the entry way area, and you and Denise then went to go look to try and find what it was that was causing the light to blink?
Brenda Van Dam: no. actually, I went upstairs to tell Damon that Keith and Rich had stopped by and asked him if he wanted to come down.
mr. Feldman: so you went upstairs alone. you didn’t have Barbara with you?
Brenda Van Dam: no, I did not.
mr. Feldman: and then you came downstairs alone and Barbara wasn’t upstairs, correct?
Brenda Van Dam: correct.
mr. Feldman: Barbara was downstairs when you came downstairs?
Brenda Van Dam: yes.
Feldman: where was Denise?
Damon Van Dam: she was downstairs.
Feldman: you don’t recall that Denise also came upstairs and went into the bathroom with Brenda?
Damon Van Dam: no, I don’t recall that.
Dusek: and you did what when you entered the residence?
Denise Kemal: we came in, and we went directly upstairs.
Dusek: who’s we?
Denise Kemal: Brenda, me, and Barbara.
Dusek: what happened upstairs?
Denise Kemal: we went straight upstairs into Brenda’s bedroom. Brenda and i went to the left and went to the bathroom one at a time. and Barbara went over to the bed.
Dusek: did you see what she did over there?
Denise Kemal: she just laid across it and was talking to Damon .
Dusek: after you and Brenda completed your bathroom duties, where did you go?
Denise Kemal: downstairs.
Dusek: what happened to Barbara?
Denise Kemal: she stayed up there.
Interesting…
- According to Damon Van Dam, he woke up after 3:00 am, “I think it was after 3:00. and I don’t know what woke me up. it might have been because I had to pee, might have been a sound. but i noticed when i got up that one of the red lights on the alarm pad by the door of the master bedroom was flashing.”… “but i noticed when i got up that one of the red lights on the alarm pad by the door of the master bedroom was flashing.” He then went downstairs to check.
mr. Dusek: and how long — I think you’ve already answered that one. what’s the next thing that you recall happening after you got in bed and fell asleep?
Brenda Van Dam: i recall Damon getting up to do something with the dog.
mr. Dusek: did you wake up?
Brenda Van Dam: not fully. i just remember him getting up. Layla had chewed up her bed that night and it was in the — Damon threw it into the laundry room so she didn’t have a bed, so she was very edgy and she didn’t want to lay down anywhere and sleep.
mr. Dusek: did you say anything to your husband as he got up, whenever that was?
Brenda Van Dam: i don’t recall.
mr. Dusek: did you notice anything at that time regarding any alarm lights?
Brenda Van Dam: no.
This dog story had happened around 10:00 pm while Brenda was at the bar, not after 3:00 am.
- According to Damon Van Dam, “the sliding glass door, and it was open a crack six to ten inches, something like that. I know it was a small crack, like you could stick your arm through, but not you could walk through it. I don’t think it was wide enough that the dog could go through it either. “
Dusek: what did you do once you got to the door?
Van Dam: closed the door.
Dusek: did you go outside to check?
Van Dam: no.
Dusek: why not?
Van Dam: I didn’t think anything of it. THAT STATE OF MIND I WAS IN, i quickly will say if I made the assumption that someone — it’s like the cigarette ad or something, when everybody was sitting at the table.
What state of mind was Mr Van Dam in?
- According to Van Dam : “there is a locking mechanism on that. it’s key locked and because of smoking cigarettes, CIGARS and marijuana in the garage, we had turned that lock around on the door so the lock was actually on the outside, not on the inside.”
We know about cigarettes, we know about marijuana but WHO SMOKES CIGARS?
- Van Dam relating the garage access
Dusek: mr. Van Dam, I think when we broke before lunch you had just explained the locking mechanism on the door leading from the garage to the house had been reversed.
Van Dam: yes.
Dusek: where are you when you can lock that door?
Van Dam: in the garage.
Dusek: and by locking it in the garage, you can prevent the people from inside the house to entering into the garage because of the lock?
Van Dam: correct.
Dusek: now, someone were inside the house and still wanted to get outside, would they be able to get outside in any other way?
Van Dam: they could unlock the door with a key.
Dusek: to get into the garage?
Van Dam: to get into the garage. they could unlock the front door and walk out. it’s not a key lock. or they can go out the back door.
Why is the access to the garage more protected than Fort Knox? According to the parents’s testimonies none of their kids would have ever desobeyed any orders. If their kids were told NOT to go in the garage, why all these door security?
- According to Damon Van Dam, about everybody had access to his kid’s bedroom
Van Dam: everyone in the house that night had been in the house, all over the house, on prior occasions. in the kid’s rooms, in the backyard. they are all friends.
What prior occasions? What were adults doing in the kid’s bedroom and who exactly went in their bedrooms?
- According to Damon Van Dam “intimate relation” doesn’t necessarly mean SEX
Feldman: with regard to Denise Kemel, had you had intimate relations with Denise Kemal?
Van Dam: if by intimate relations again you mean sex, yes.
Feldman: I mean sex. So when you told mr. Dusek on direct examination that Denise and Barbara were your wife’s friends, you also meant to include the fact that they were your very close friends as well, isn’t that true?
Van Dam: yes.
What does “intimate relation” mean to Damon Van Dam?
- According to Van Dam it was not unusual for Brenda to have girls’ nights out
Feldman: on February the 1st, was that — was it unusual for your wife to have girls’ nights out?
mr. Dusek: objection. irrelevant.
The court: overruled. You can answer that.
the witness: not unusual.
What does “not unusual” mean to Damon Van Dam? A regular way of life?
Damon Van Dam: I didn’t check on the kids. I was tired and I didn’t think that the door being open was that important at the time.
Brenda Van Dam: when we first entered the home, and I told Denise that i had a door open i needed to find, [—] I went to the children’s doors and closed them. “did you check on your children that evening once you got back from Dad’s ?” no, I did not.
Is Damon Van Dam’s testimony ?
- Credible
- Not credible
- Don’t know
- A bunch of lies