David Westerfield, the man accused of kidnapping and murdering Danielle van Dam, received a rude awakening when he was booked into jail last week.
Even among the criminal population, suspected pedophiles and child-killers are held in contempt and officials frequently separate them from other prisoners to prevent physical attacks. When Westerfield arrived, he was greeted with shouted threats and curses.
While being escorted to his third-floor cell in the downtown San Diego jail last weekend – where he has been isolated ever since – some inmates screamed obscenities and said they wanted to kill the 50-year-old design engineer, who has proclaimed his innocence.
Sources in the Sheriff's Department said some of the inmates held up copies of The San Diego Union-Tribune containing his picture. On some of the papers, inmates had drawn a noose around Westerfield's neck. Other inmates had scrawled messages across Westerfield's photograph describing how much they wanted to see him die.
Officials said Westerfield appeared baffled and was taken aside by a senior deputy and told the facts of jail life.
"It was explained to him that the cows eat their own cud," one sheriff's official said, and that accused killers of children are considered the cud. "When you have an inmate like that, if that guy gets sentenced to life imprisonment, it could be worse than death," one official said.
"He would be living on pins and needles the rest of his life. There is honor among thieves. And child-killers are considered the lowest of the low, even in jail."
Westerfield, who lived two doors away from the van Dam family in Sabre Springs, has been held without bail since his arrest Feb. 22. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of murder, kidnapping and possession of child pornography. A preliminary hearing is scheduled March 11.
He is being held apart from other prisoners in a cell in which he is under almost constant observation for his own protection. Westerfield eats alone, showers alone and exercises alone in a small outdoor area, said jail Lt. Al Skoglund.
Westerfield has spoken very little since that first weekend, one of the officials said. Westerfield told jail clerks that he will accept visits from only his lawyers and members of his family. Jail officials wouldn't say whether members of his family have visited.
J. Harry Jones: (619) 542-4590; jharry.jones@uniontrib.com
