Police Beat
Advertiser Staff
Military hearing set in double slaying
A pretrial court-martial hearing is scheduled Tuesday for a Navy man charged in the June 10 murder of his wife and mother-in-law at a military housing complex near Pearl Harbor.
Hull Technician Second Class David A. Dearmond, who has been held at the Ford Island brig for the past 85 days, is charged with killing his wife, Zaleha K. Dearmond, and mother-in-law, Saniah B. Abdul Ghani.
Zaleha Dearmond died from a blow to the head with an iron skillet; her mother was stabbed to death.
The sailor also is charged with raping his wife and impeding the investigation by tampering with evidence.
Lt. Brian Summerfield and Lt. Matthew Kurek have been appointed by the judge advocate general's office to represent David Dearmond.
The pretrial hearing will determine the charges that Dearmond will face at his court-martial. If found guilty, the sailor could be sentenced to death or to life in prison.
Shuttle bus hits, kills pedestrian, 80
An 80-year-old woman died yesterday in Waikiki after being struck by a tour shuttle bus at the corner of Kalakaua and Kapahulu avenues.
The bus was turning left onto Kapahulu when it struck the woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene at 6:25 a.m.
The 6:05 a.m. accident forced the closure of two Kapahulu Avenue lanes to traffic between Kalakaua Avenue and Lemon Road for several hours.
Kona man's body found in truck
A body found in the bed of a pickup truck Tuesday in Kona has been identified as that of Carl E. Vasconcellos of Kona.
Preliminary results of an autopsy conducted yesterday indicate that Vasconcellos, 47, did not die as a result of foul play, police said. But the exact cause of his death will not be determined until toxicological tests are completed.
The decomposing body was found in the bed of a small truck on Lau'i Street in the Kona Palisades subdivision.
Vasconcellos was last seen alive Aug. 28, Neighbors said they saw the truck parked in the subdivision in North Kona two days later.
Anyone who knows of Vasconcellos' activities or whereabouts before Friday is asked to call Detective Gilbert Gaspar or the Kona Criminal Investigation Section at 326-4229.
UH dorm death still investigated
The city medical examiner's office is still investigating the cause of death of a 23-year-old University of Hawai'i student found in his campus dorm room last week.
The office identified the man as Jake Elmore He was found dead in his second-floor room at the Hale Noelani dormitory at about 5:45 p.m. Friday.
Elmore was last seen alive the day before.
The coroner's office said additional tests are being conducted.
