Posted on: Wednesday, June 12, 2002

Sailor held in slayings identified

Advertiser Staff

Pearl Harbor sailor David Allen De Armond was identified by the Navy last night as the suspect in the killings of his wife and mother-in-law on Monday.

The victims were identified as Zaleha De Armond, 31, and her mother, Saniah Binte Abdul Ghani, 75 or 76 years old, a citizen of Singapore.

David De Armond, 32, a petty officer second class, remained in the Ford Island brig in pre-trial confinement.

The suspect, who has been in the Navy for 13 years, was assigned to the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard as a hull technician.

Navy Region Hawai'i spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Jane Campbell said last night that investigators and forensic specialists were reviewing the crime scene at the De Armonds' home in the Hokulani subdivision just outside Pearl Harbor.

Campbell earlier said De Armond walked into a Navy security office at about 11 a.m. Monday and told officers to respond to an emergency at his home.

When emergency personnel arrived at the home on Leal Place, they found the two women dead. The Navy believes the women died early Monday morning. Campbell said investigators removed suspected murder weapons from the home.

The couple's three children — two boys ages 2 and 5 and a 3-year-old girl— were not injured. They were trans-ferred to the state's Child Protective Services.

Because the deaths occurred in military housing, the case is being investigated by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, Campbell said. De Armond likely will face a court-martial and under federal law could receive the death penalty if convicted, she said.