SAN DIEGO -- A forensics specialist said Tuesday that she found short dark hairs on the nude, decomposed body of Danielle van Dam and the top of a gate at the 7-year-old girl's Sabre Springs home.

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

As the testimony turned toward an autopsy of the child's body, her mother, Brenda, hurried out of the courtroom.

David Westerfield 50, is charged with murder, kidnapping and misdemeanor possession of child pornography. The balding defendant, who has dark hair, could get the death penalty if convicted.

Dorie Savage , a forensics specialist with the San Diego police crime lab, told Deputy District Attorney Jeff Dusek that she collected "short dark hairs" that were tangled in Danielle's right hand. There was also a hair in her underarm, Savage testified.

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Analysis Of Dorie Savage's Testimony

She said that she found more while searching the side yard the night after the child was discovered missing.

"On top of the gate, I found a hair," Savage said.

Savage (pictured, right) also said that she collected possible blood stains from a stairwell landing, a beanbag chair and the threshold of a door leading from the garage to the side door.

Savage said she collected a choker necklace during the autopsy like the one in a photograph of Danielle on a widely distributed missing poster.

Brenda van Dam quickly exited as Savage began discussing her inability to take a scraping from under Danielle's fingernails during the Feb. 28 post-mortem.

In searching for evidence of skin from the child's assailant or fibers, Savage said the tissue was "too rigid." She said she had to use a razor blade to slice the fingernails off.

Monday's testimony included an employee at a Poway dry cleaning business. She testified that Westerfield appeared tired, distant and under-dressed when he left a jacket and bedding at the cleaners two days after Danielle turned up missing.

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Desert Campers, Dry Cleaners Take Stand

Julie Mills (pictured, left), a clerk at Twin Peaks Dry Cleaners, said Westerfield was usually talkative and smiling when he came into the store.

She estimated that Westerfield had been a customer for about eight years.

Mills' testimony represented a prosecution move toward introducing forensic evidence. Testimony last week centered on documenting the defendant's movements the weekend Danielle was discovered missing.

Mills testified that Westerfield came in around 7 a.m. on Monday, Feb. 4.

"He appeared tired, very distant, not wanting to talk very much," Mills said. "He would not talk to me. He would not look at me eye-to-eye. He was looking down."

She said that he was barefoot and wearing a thin T-shirt and boxer-style shorts, a style of dress she had never seen him display before.

"I remember it was very cold that morning," Mills said.

Mills said Westerfield left a jacket, two comforters and two pillow cases. Earlier in the trial, two San Diego police detectives testified that when they toured the defendant's house and motorhome, the beds were stripped to the sheets.

Authorities said earlier that the victim's blood was found on the green sports jacket.

Under cross-examination by Feldman, Mills said that she saw no sign of blood on the laundry.

Feldman focused on mistakes Mills made while dealing with what she called computer "printer problems" that morning.

She placed a couple of the items under another customer's name, so she was unable to retrieve them when the police came to investigate.

Westerfield came back later and dropped off a black t-shirt, black sweater and a black pair of pants, said Kelly Belom, another clerk.

"He asked if he could (have) then back that afternoon," Belom testified.

The clerk said that she told Westerfield he couldn't get the clothes back that quickly.