SAN DIEGO — Six neighbors of Danielle van Dam testified in quick succession Wednesday afternoon about what they saw — or in some cases didn't see — of her accused killer the day she vanished.

Jurors in the capital murder trial of David Westerfield, who lived two doors from the slain 7-year-old, have heard through two police witnesses how the defendant accounts for his whereabouts. But the string of homeowners from the Sabre Springs neighborhood began establishing an independent timeline of his activities, one that prosecutors hope will demonstrate ultimately that Westerfield is lying.

Much of Wednesday afternoon's testimony, however, was consistent with Westerfield's claim that he left his home on Mountain Pass Road Saturday morning for a weekend outing in his recreational vehicle and returned briefly to look for his wallet that afternoon before heading out again.

Prosecutors allege Westerfield stole into the van Dam's home sometime during the night of Feb. 1 and snatched her from her second-floor bedroom. Her naked body was discovered along a roadside 25 miles from the home Feb. 27.

Martin Franklin, a software engineer who lives on Oakview Lane, a street near both Westerfield and the van Dams, said he saw Westerfield standing by his RV at 9 a.m. Feb. 2 as Franklin drove his son and daughter to Saturday tae kwon do lessons. Westerfield, who he knew by face but not name, had a red hose and appeared to be draining something into the street, Franklin said.

Fifteen minutes later, Jon Stinebaugh, a cameraman for a local news station and a resident of Dapple Way, saw the RV exiting the neighborhood. Stinebaugh said he tried to cut through a side street to get in front of the RV so he wouldn't be late for work, but it beat him to the main road.

The driver, a man who fit Westerfield's description, gave Stinebaugh a "quick wave" as he passed, the cameraman said.

Stinebaugh's account had Westerfield departing his home slightly earlier than he told detectives. In one interview, he said he left at 9:50 and in another, he estimated the time between 9:30 and 10:30 a.m.

Three witnesses saw Westerfield or his RV in the neighborhood later that day. Lawyer John Meerchum, who lived across the street from Westerfield on Mountain Pass, said he spotted the motor home driving slowly down the street between 3:30 and 3:45 p.m.

Meerchum said he and some other neighbors were standing on the corner watching the police investigation and they began joking about how the RV would find a parking spot among all the media trucks.

"It appeared to be slowing and stopping and looking for a place to stop," said Meerchum.

Stay-at-home mom Barbara Crum also saw the RV drive up the street, but put the time at 4:15 p.m. She said several minutes later she saw Westerfield on Mountain Pass Road chatting with a neighbor. Still another resident, Ronald Woods, who had walked with his wife from their Dapple Court home, to "figure out what had happened" said he saw the RV at 4:30.

Westerfield told one officer he returned at about 3:30 p.m, checked for Danielle in his house and pool and then left the neighborhood to look for his wallet elsewhere.

The testimony also showed how Danielle's abduction shattered the routine of a Saturday morning in the suburbs. Crum returned from taking her son to his first Little League practice to find police cars and news satellite trucks massed on her street.

"The commotion had already started," she told jurors, noting that she immediately approached a police officer and volunteered to pass out fliers with Danielle's picture.

Alick Lau, an engineer from Dapple Court, a street behind the van Dams, didn't see Westerfield, nor his RV when he and his neighbor went on an hour and a half run that morning. But by the time he stepped out of the shower, a police helicopter was hovering above the neat stucco homes, blasting Danielle's description and urging residents to look for her.