Former marine arrested in 26-year-old murder case
| • | Sister never gave up hope for justice |
By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer
A custodian working in Indiana was arrested yesterday as a suspect in the 1975 murder of a 13-year-old Kailua girl, a case that startled the community with its brutality.
Delmar Edmonds, a former Marine stationed in Hawai'i and believed to be in his mid-to-late 40s now, was arrested in Indiana after a warrant was issued here charging him with murder in the death of Dawn "Dede" Bustamante, who was shot and killed after being abducted on March 14, 1975.
Dawn "Dede" Bustamante was abducted on March 14, 1975, then shot to death.
City Deputy Prosecutor Rom Trader said Edmonds is being held in Indianapolis awaiting extradition to Hawai'i. Bail was set at $500,000.
The time that passed between the crime and the arrest is one of the longest, if not the longest, ever in a murder case in Hawai'i.
Trader would not say specifically what led to Edmonds' arrest in the case more than 26 years after the slaying, other than to credit "good, old-fashioned police work."
He said police investigators "followed up on leads" and "obtained new information in the case." But he said DNA testing and other recent, high-tech crime-solving techniques were not used.
Three girls murdered
The Bustamante murder was one of three murders of teenage girls on O'ahu that year. Although one of the murders was later found to be unconnected, the randomness and violence of the crimes held the island in the grip of fear for months.
Bustamante and another girl, also 13, were waiting for a ride near Kalaheo Avenue and Kailua Road when a car pulled up alongside them. The driver, who had a gun, ordered the girls to get in the car.
The man drove around with the girls for about an hour and ended up in a deserted area behind the Pali Golf Course near the intersection of Kionaole and Auloa roads under the Pali Highway.
The gunman ordered the two girls out of the car and told them both to undress, at which point the girls ran in opposite directions. One of them made it safely to a house down the road, where the police and her family were called.
The girl told investigators she heard a shot or shots while running and later searched with police for the missing girl. Bustamante's body was found at about 10:30 p.m. in bushes off the side of the road where the two girls had split up and fled.
Yesterday, Trader said the girl who survived the ordeal "is alive and well." But prosecuting the case is fraught with a number of problems, he said, including locating other witnesses and getting them to testify.
"People move, some have passed away and even those you can find — their memories today may not be what they were 25 years ago," Trader said.
'Known' to police
Edmonds "was known" to police who investigated the case immediately after the slaying, Trader said.
Edmonds has been charged with a single count of murder under the section of Hawai'i law that was on the books at the time, Trader said. If convicted, he would face life in prison with the possibility of parole or a 20-year term, with the sentencing judge having the discretion as to which sentence to impose.
While the Bustamante case may have involved other crimes, such as kidnapping, sexual assault or weapons violations, the statute of limitations prevents those charges from being brought against Edmonds, Trader said.
There is no statute of limitations on murder.
The two other teenage girls murdered in 1975 were Margaret Hauanio, 17, and Barbara Seibel, 16. Hauanio's bound and severely beaten body was found in an abandoned Waipahu pineapple field. No one was ever charged in her death. Seibel, 16, was stabbed to death and found in a carport about half a mile from her Hawai'i Kai home. Her killer was acquitted by reason of insanity and remains at the Hawai'i State Hospital.
Trader said yesterday that Edmonds is not a suspect in any other Hawai'i homicide cases.
David Waite can be reached at dwaite@honoluluadvertiser.com or at 525-8030.
