Military's handling of murder trial denounced

By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Navy's prosecution of a man who admitted murdering his wife and mother-in-law was plagued with incompetence and may have had a different result if the two women were not Muslim, a leader of a Muslim group and a relative of the women said yesterday.

Petty Officer 2nd Class David DeArmond was sentenced to 22 1/2 years on Monday. Advertiser library photo

David DeArmond also pleaded guilty to abusing his wife's corpse. A military panel Monday night sentenced him to 22 1/2 years in prison. He will serve his sentence at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

A Navy official declined to comment yesterday.

Abdullah said the sentence was an "outrage" and he was "disappointed in the obvious lack of justice." He accused the military of assigning two "junior" officers to prosecute the case, while placing three experienced officers to represent DeArmond.

Abdullah suggested that the selection of the lawyers may have been because the two women were Muslims from Singapore and not American citizens. He said the prosecution was not prepared and failed to question key witnesses.

"Religion did play a role in the case in both the prosecution and the defense," Abdullah said. "It seemed that the defense did a lot of character assassination and they did that based upon certain morals and values that Muslims hold dear."

Ahmad bin Kasti, whose sister and mother were murdered, says the 22 1/2-year sentence given to David DeArmond for the killings is "unbelievable, insane and incomprehensible." Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

"Because of the incompetence of the prosecution, it is hard to say if bias against Muslims was present in the prosecution of this case. It is clear that an American citizen who was only sentenced to 22 1/2 years in prison murdered two Singapore citizens," Abdullah said.

"The justice of the U.S. military court has shown a very dark side. It has shown one that protects their own, even when their own has done an injustice against another human being."

During the trial, DeArmond's lawyers portrayed him as a victim of child abuse who was "pushed over the edge" by his wife, who DeArmond said was cheating on him. Zaleha DeArmond threatened to leave her husband and take their children after seven years of marriage.

But bin Kasti said his sister's actions did not justify the murders. He said his sister decided to leave DeArmond after years of abuse, but she was killed by DeArmond, who also "slaughtered" their mother as she tried to protect her daughter.

The judicial panel "allowed the defense to turn the table and justify the two killings, as if the victims, my mother and my sister, deserved it," said bin Kasti, 37. "This sentence is unbelievable, insane and incomprehensible. I ask you, is 10 years for each bloody murder justice? Is two years for raping a body justice? It is not. This is a disgrace to the military justice system."

Bin Kasti said his sister had a restraining order against DeArmond, but said the military did nothing to protect her. He also said DeArmond would not have received the 22 1/2-year sentence if the murders involved the family of an officer.

"Would you have assigned the same individuals if she was a general's daughter and mother?" he said. Bin Kasti added that the plea agreement was reached without consultation with his family.

Bin Kasti, who also is from Singapore, is seeking custody of the DeArmonds' three children, ages 2 to 5, who are in foster care in Hawai'i. But Donald DeArmond, David DeArmond's twin brother, also is seeking custody.