Key witness in '75 case was murdered in 1986

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

A former Marine who could have been a key witness against accused killer Delmar Edmonds was murdered 11 years after Edmonds allegedly raped and killed 13-year-old Dawn Bustamante in Kailua.

Tyrone Vaughn was one of two Marines who heard Edmonds say in 1975 that he had shot a female that night because she had angered him and gotten blood in his car, according to a police affidavit filed in connection with Edmonds' arrest.

Vaughn was shot to death in East St. Louis, Ill., in 1986, records show, but prosecutors believe they still have sufficient evidence to convict Edmonds of the Bustamante murder.

"With the passage of time some people have passed away, and if they had information that was able to help the case it does have an impact, but we feel we have enough evidence to proceed," deputy prosecutor Rom Trader said.

The other Marine, Steve Parker, is expected to testify against Edmonds.

Some legal experts believe the 26-year-old case may be hard to prove without an eyewitness to the killing or DNA evidence showing Edmonds was the man who raped Bustamante. Trader declined to discuss any additional evidence.

Edmonds insists he is innocent and has refused to voluntarily return to Hawai'i to stand trial. He faces an extradition hearing in late August.

Parker said he saw women's clothing in Edmonds' car when Edmonds gave Parker and Vaughn a ride back to the Kane'ohe Marine base after telling them about the shooting, according to the affidavit supporting Edmonds' July 17 arrest in Indianapolis.

Vaughn later told Parker that he "really thought that Edmonds had killed that girl," and that he considered Edmonds crazy and had decided to stay away from him, Parker told police.

Parker said he had been a close friend of Edmonds, who was also known as "Curly," and that Edmonds had owned a silver revolver like the one described to police by a second 13-year-old girl, who was abducted at gunpoint with Bustamante but later escaped.

Three other Marines also told police that Edmonds had owned such a gun; one said Edmonds had threatened him with it. He and one of the others said Edmonds had also asked them to support a false alibi the night of the killing.

The surviving girl described Edmonds' car and picked him out of a police lineup days after the killing but could not positively identify him.

Indiana State Police say Edmonds is not a suspect in any unsolved homicides in that state.