SAN DIEGO -- Just before Danielle van Dam's body was found, David Westerfield's lawyers were close to nailing a deal under which he would have avoided the death penalty by revealing where he had dumped her remains, it was reported Tuesday.

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

Discussions between the defense attorneys and prosecutors were still under way minutes before Danielle's body was discovered by volunteers Feb. 27, law enforcement sources told The San Diego Union-Tribune.

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The sources told the newspaper that defense lawyers Steven Feldman and Robert Boyce were negotiating for a life sentence for the 50-year-old design engineer, a neighbor of the van Dams in Sabre Springs.

The deal would have allowed Westerfield to plead guilty to murder and be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, the Union-Tribune reported.

Prosecutors were seriously considering the deal when Danielle's body was discovered off Dehesa Road that afternoon, nearly four weeks after she disappeared from her bedroom.

"The deal was just minutes away," one of the sources told the Union-Tribune.

Feldman and Boyce were at the downtown San Diego jail discussing the final arrangements with Westerfield when volunteer searchers found Danielle's remains beneath trees along Dehesa Road east of El Cajon, according to the sources.

When the lawyers left to meet with prosecutors, they noticed members of the news media gathering in the street and asked what was happening.

After being told a body had been found, they went directly to the nearby Hall of Justice and met with prosecutors. The defense lawyers were handed a copy of a Thomas Guide map of the Dehesa area on which a circle had been drawn indicating the location of the body, according to the Union-Tribune.

Feldman and Boyce took the map back to Westerfield and later telephoned to say they no longer "had anything to discuss regarding a plea bargain," according to the Union-Tribune.

There was no immediate comment from Westerfield's attorneys.

The same jury that found Westerfield guilty of kidnapping and murder in Danielle van Dam's slaying recommended Monday that he be put to death for the crime. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 22.