SAN DIEGO -- A volunteer dog handler testified today that he sent an e-mail saying he "was bursting with pride" on the day David Westerfield was arrested in connection with the disappearance of 7-year-old Danielle van Dam.

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

Jim Frazee (pictured, below), who volunteers with the San Diego County Sheriff's Department, sent the e-mail to three friends on Feb. 22 -- 16 days after his dogs examined Westerfield's motor home at an impound lot on Aero Drive.

Frazee testified last week that one of the dogs, Cielo, gave an alert signal at the door to an exterior storage compartment on the passenger side of the vehicle while searching for the child's remains.

Under cross-examination by defense attorney Robert Boyce today, Frazee said he did not mention the alert in a report he filed because police investigators asked for the results to remain confidential.

"On Feb. 6, you don't recall telling anyone what the dog found?" Boyce asked.

"I don't recall what I told them," Frazee said.

The defense concentrated on the fact that, with no other report filed, the only evidence of Cielo's alert came from the e-mail after the defendant's arrest.

Boyce quoted Frazee's e-mail, which he said stated: "I wasn't sure, but I thought Cielo was giving his cadaver alert. I thought he may have been doing this just to please me. Today, however, came word of the suspect's arrest and that they found blood in the motor home."

Frazee said the arrest raised his confidence in Cielo's finding.

Frazee's supervisor, reserve sheriff's Lt. Rosemary Redditt, said she watched Cielo's search of the outside of the motor home and had no trouble recognizing the dog's alert at the storage door.

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Westerfield, a 50-year-old self-employed design engineer, could get the death penalty if convicted of kidnapping and murder. He also faces misdemeanor possession of child pornography charges.

Dr. Joy Halverson (pictured, left), a canine DNA specialist with QuestGen Forensics in Davis, also took the stand today.

Her looming testimony was the subject of a six-hour closed-door hearing yesterday. The defense had filed a motion to exclude her testimony, but the request was denied by Superior Court Judge William Mudd.

Mudd has told defense attorney Steven Feldman to be ready to call his first witness today. Feldman has indicated he should be able to conclude his case by July 15.

Feldman told the judge he plans to call insect expert David Faulkner to try to pinpoint the time of Danielle's death.

In his opening statement, Feldman said the child's nude body could have been placed off a road in Dehesa as late as Feb. 16, a dozen days after his client came under 24-hour surveillance by law enforcement.

Prosecutors theorize that Westerfield, a twice-divorced father, killed the Sabre Springs second-grader and dumped her body at the East County site shortly after she disappeared Feb. 2. Volunteer searchers found the girl's decomposing body on Feb. 27.