Lawyers to ask for delay in Edmonds extradition

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

The lawyer for accused killer Delmar J. Edmonds said he would ask an Indiana judge today to delay Edmonds' extradition hearing for several weeks.

Former Marine Delmar Edmonds is accused in the 1975 murder of 13-year-old Dawn "Dede" Bustamante. Advertiser library photo

Pratt said he had received a brief summary of the charge against Edmonds, but had not seen the 12-page affidavit supporting his July 17 arrest in Indianapolis, or any other documents. Edmonds' family also needs time to decide how to proceed, he said.

"It would be difficult to make a decision at this point," Pratt said. "We don't know what's before us yet. We have not been given anything at this point."

The affidavit recounts police interviews with four former Marines, three of whom said Edmonds made incriminating statements just after the killing in Kailua.

One Marine said Edmonds told him that a girl "made me mad, so I shot her," and that he said he had to kill her because she had gotten blood on the back seat of his car, according to the affidavit. Edmonds allegedly raped Bustamante in the car before shooting her in the head as she tried to run away.

Two others said Edmonds had asked them to back up a false alibi. Edmonds, who was questioned by police within days of the crime, maintains that he is innocent, Pratt said.

But police say Edmonds admitted owning a gun like the one a surviving victim said was used to kill Bustamante. Three of the Marines said they saw Edmonds with such a gun; one said Edmonds threatened him with it. The survivor of the attack, a 13-year-old friend of Bustamante's, picked Edmonds out of a police lineup after the killing but could not positively identify him.

The extradition hearing is scheduled this morning in the Marion County Criminal Court in Indianapolis. If Edmonds chooses to fight the proceeding, prosecutors will have to prove his identity and show reasons why he must be brought to Hawai'i to stand trial, and that could delay the case for months.

But Nixon Medina, a special investigator with the Hawai'i attorney general's office, has said suspects rarely resist.

"Typically, most people don't fight extradition," he said. "They say, 'OK, you got me.' I will waive my rights and go back to the state and face the music."

The Marion County prosecutor's office will represent Honolulu in today's proceeding.

Advertiser staff writer Mike Gordon contributed to this report. You can reach Johnny Brannon at jbrannon@honoluluadvertiser.com