GALENA, Ill. -- The ex-wife of a man on trial for murder said her family was harassed as authorities investigated the disappearance and then death of the girl who lived across the street.

Cathy Damm, who divorced David Damm after Donnisha Hill's body was found in Illinois, took the stand as part of the prosecution's case Friday.

Authorities said David Damm hired friend Bruce Burt, 59, to kill Hill, 13, to keep her from testifying about sexual abuse allegations.

Burt said he killed her Oct. 27, 2006, and received $2,000 in cash as part of a promised $5,000 deal.

After suspicions fell on David Damm, people began driving by the house where Cathy Damm lived with her young grandson.

"That's when I realized what was going on. … Our lives were being threatened," Cathy Damm said under cross-examination by defense attorney Stephen Richards.

She described herself and her family as "sitting ducks" and noted she kept the child home from school.

She didn't testify as to who was targeting her.

Cathy Damm said her then-husband missed a family member's musical recital on Oct. 28, 2006, because of an argument over the situation.

On Oct. 29, 2006, police told her and the child to leave so they could serve a search warrant at the home, Cathy Damm said. They weren't allowed to live there again until Thanksgiving, she said.

Call prompts question

Vincenzo Chimera with the Illinois Attorney General's Office asked Cathy Damm about a phone call she received from the mechanic at the used car lot where David Damm worked at about 5 p.m. the day Hill disappeared.

The employee told her David Damm would be late for dinner because he was looking for a Suburban he wanted to repossess.

Earlier, Burt, the alleged hired hit man, testified that he met David Damm north of town shortly after 5 p.m. that day, and Damm delivered Hill to him.

Cathy Damm also told jurors David Damm had left the house on the evening of Oct. 11, 2006, to pick up and then return food at the Wishbone Restaurant.

This was the day Hill's father spotted the girl getting out of David Damm's van near Ferguson Fields Park. The incident ultimately led to the molestation probe.

Chimera asked the ex-wife if David Damm had any reason to carry large amounts of cash the weekend following Hill's disappearance. This was an apparent reference to Burt's testimony that he received $2,000 on Oct. 28, 2006.

She did say many of the customers at the automobile sales lot paid in cash.

She said her ex-husband used to bring as much as $300 to the casino but had quit gambling about a year prior because he lost interest.

Cathy Damm described Hill as a neighbor and friend of the family.

She also said her ex-husband no longer looks like the man he was two years ago before he was placed in jail pending trial. She noted he now weighs much less than his earlier 225 pounds.

David Damm suffers from a painful arthritic condition that caused him to hunch over and keeps him from moving his neck, she said. She said he was able to walk and dress himself.

Phone records presented

Employees from Qwest and AT&T Mobility walked jurors through phone records involving numbers registered to David Damm and Burt in the days leading up to Donnisha Hill's death.

Phone records showed Eastside Motors, where Damm worked, received calls from numbers registered to Hill's friends Oct. 11, 17 and 26, 2006.

The friends had earlier testified Hill used their phones to make calls, and one friend said Hill told her she planned to meet Damm Oct. 27, 2006, following one of the phone conversations.

The Eastside Motors phone was used to call Burt's phone Oct. 26, 2006. There were also four phone calls between Burt's phone and Damm's cell phone the afternoon of Oct. 27, 2006, according to records shown to jurors Friday.

Records also showed a few calls from Burt's cell phone to a phone at his own house around 4:45 p.m. Oct. 27, 2006, when Burt had testified he asked acquaintances to bring him a hammer and knife.

Defense attorneys pointed out that most of the calls on Burt's phone lasted less than two minutes, and none were anywhere near 15 minutes. This was apparently to dispute Burt's earlier testimony that he had a lengthy and involved phone conversation with a female friend while he was driving Hill to Illinois.

The defense also asked questions about the auto shop's call records for Oct. 15, 2006.

When the company official said those records hadn't been requested as part of the case, the prosecution and defense stipulated that the shop received two calls from the Minneapolis area, but the significance hasn't been explained.

Also on Friday morning, Investigator Scott Lake with the Waterloo Police Department told jurors that officers found three drawings in a desk drawer while searching Eastside Motors Oct. 29, 2006.

Two of the works had been earlier identified as having been drawn by Hill.

Contact Jeff Reinitz at (319) 291-1578 or jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com.