Damm Takes the Stand, Defense Rests

Tools

Damm Takes the Stand, Defense Rests

By Katie Wiedemann, Reporter

By Katie Wiedemann

GALENA, IL - The defense rested its case in David Damm's murder trial.
That's after Damm testified in court today. The Waterloo man is accused of hiring Bruce Burt to kill 13-year-old Donnisha Hill.
Hill's body was found in rural Jo Daviess County in October, 2006.

Prosecutors say Damm hired Burt to kill the girl because he was afraid D.N.A. testing would indicate Damm sexually abused her. But in court Wednesday Damm said Burt took it upon himself to actually kill her.

For the first time since the trial began David Damm took the stand. He admitted he hired Bruce Burt to take Donnisha out of town, but says he never intended for Bruce to kill her.

Damm says Donnisha would often visit him at his shop, Eastside Motors in Waterloo.

He said she often talked about running away. He said he took Donnisha to Bruce Burt to get her out of town.

He told jurors in October of 2006 he had not been faithful to his wife and he was getting sexual favors from other women, like clients or customers of his business.

He says that is the reason there was a paper towel napkin that had his semen on it.

Damm's attorney asked him, "Are you aware Donnisha could still be alive right now had you not dropped her off with Burt?"

That's when Damm started crying and said quote, "she's gone, her family is hurt, this didn't have to happen.”

Prosecutors then re-called Investigator John Korth to the stand.

He said, when he first interviewed Damm, he did not mention Bruce Burt's name until he told Damm Burt was also being questioned.

Damm admitted to initially lying to police out of fear of retaliation from Donnisha's family.

Closing arguments are set to begin Thursday.
View comments

The following comments do not necessarily represent the views of KCRG-TV9. Users have agreed to these terms and in doing so accept full responsibility for their comments. Moderation is limited.

Thursday, Oct 9 at 12:36 PM To 11:18AM wrote ...

I agree. I in now way wish death on her, however the past story has proved that she was doing things taht she should've not been doing. Especially as a 14 y/o. I hope that he gets correctly punished, and young women learn from this!

Thursday, Oct 9 at 11:18 AM ,,,, wrote ...

Yeah, this didnt have to happen had her parents been paying attention. I will say it again - i dont believe that she should have been killed, but her parents sure should have punished her for her behavior!

Thursday, Oct 9 at 8:49 AM Old Guy wrote ...

I hope he gets the death penalty and a slow one at that. /These are A moral people. What that poor little angle had to live through. It is just not right. No child should have this happen to them. I see he has fear though. Well big guy get ready for God, you cant lie to him about what you did. Judgement day is comming for you and i dont mean the courts either.

Add a comment

Name:

Comment: 500 Characters Left

By submitting a comment to this web site, I affirm that I have read, understand, agree to and shall abide by the following rules and regulations as a term and condition of all comments which I may post. As terms and conditions of using this KCRG web site, I agree that I am fully responsible for the contents of all statements which I make. To the best of my knowledge, all such statements are true, fair, and accurate. I shall not post any statements which attack a person’s integrity or moral character, expose a person to public hatred, contempt or ridicule, deprive a person of the benefits of public confidence and social dealings, or injure a person in the maintenance of that person’s business. I shall not knowingly post content that violates the copyright, trademark, patent or other intellectual property right of a third person. I shall not post content that is false, liable, defamatory, obscene, abusive, that violates a person’s right to privacy, that otherwise violates any applicable local, state, national or international law or that is otherwise inappropriate. I acknowledge that if I post a comment which violates this policy that an offended person to whom comments are directed may have a right through judicial process to determine my identity and make a claim against me for damages. I agree that I shall indemnify KCRG, its employees, agents, representatives and affiliates from any and all expenses KCRG may incur as a result of comments I post which violate this policy, claims and/or damages, including but not limited to reasonable attorney’s fees and costs. KCRG is not responsible for the contents posted or anything arising out of the use of the contents or other interaction and has no obligation or duty to monitor or control any posting but does reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove, or edit user generated comment.

I have read and agree to the terms

Hide comments
Athlete of the Week
This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.
More On Demand

What's On KCRG

7:00
Good Morning America:
8:00
This Week with George
9:00
Ethical Perspectives
9:30
Alliant Powerhouse