Sailor admits killing wife, in-law

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

As part of a plea agreement guaranteeing him no more than 30 years in prison, a Pearl Harbor sailor yesterday admitted killing his wife by repeatedly hitting her with an iron skillet, and then fatally stabbing his mother-in-law when she tried to intervene.

Hull Technician 2nd Class David DeArmond

Zaleha DeArmond

Saniah Abdul Ghani Advertiser library photos

DeArmond, 32, will be sentenced by a jury on the reduced charges of manslaughter and murder the week of June 2. He also pleaded guilty to sexually abusing his wife's corpse.

"I want to say I'm sorry for what I've done," DeArmond, who stared down at the defense table for most of the pre-trial hearing, said in a low voice to military judge Navy Capt. Michael D.M. Hinkley.

Zaleha DeArmond had obtained a restraining order against her husband, saying in court documents that he had a "violent temper," and a conviction in San Diego for choking his first wife.

Co-workers and supervisors testified at an Article 32 hearing in November — a proceeding similar to a civilian grand jury investigation — that DeArmond feared his wife was planning to leave him and take their three children, ages 2, 3 and 5, to Singapore.

In a Saturday e-mail to Zaleha DeArmond's brother in Singapore, Ahmad Kasti, Navy prosecutor Lt. Cmdr. James Lucci said the agreement "is very advantageous for us, the government as well as the defense."

The manslaughter charge applies to Zaleha DeArmond's death, while the murder charge applies to her mother's.

"We are now guaranteed a conviction for murder, which removes the uncertainty and chance associated with any contested trial," Lucci said. "It also ensures that HT2 DeArmond will spend many years in prison."

In the e-mail, Lucci said that he intends to call several experts to testify at sentencing about the physical aspects of the crime. Family and friends of both women will be asked to convey how the loss has affected them.

Procedure requires that the sentencing jury of five or more individuals, which has to include at least one-third enlisted personnel, not be told until after the sentencing that a plea agreement has been reached.

Instead, the panel would be told of the maximum sentence for the murder conviction — life in prison — and be tasked with handing down an appropriate term.

In this case, speedy trial concerns for DeArmond, who has been in the Ford Island brig for almost a year, prompted the plea agreement now, followed by sentencing several weeks later, officials said. Normally, the two would be conducted in tandem, the Navy said.

If the panel arrives at a sentence greater than 30 years, the term will be reduced to the plea-agreement length of 30 years, Navy officials said. If the term handed down by the jury is less than 30 years, that term will stand.

"... The U.S. government has used every resource in order to get the best result in this case," Lucci said in the e-mail.

However, friends of Zaleha DeArmond yesterday criticized the plea agreement.

"To not let this go to trial with those (capital) charges is really bad," said Rashid Abdullah, who lives in 'Ewa. "It's unjust that he is only going to receive (a maximum of) 30 years."

DeArmond, who has been in the Navy for 14 years, was charged with premeditated murder in the deaths of his wife and mother-in-law, attempting to rape his wife and abusing her corpse, and impeding an investigation by destroying, moving and tampering with evidence.

At yesterday's hearing, DeArmond admitted in terse replies to killing his wife and mother-in-law, who was visiting from Singapore. He said he was aware of forensic evidence that he had hit his wife on the head with an iron skillet four to five times.

Asked by Hinkley how he knew she was dead, DeArmond said, "She stopped moving and breathing." He said he wanted to "get her away from me."

Although Hinkley noted that DeArmond discussed self-defense with his lawyers, DeArmond admitted he was not acting in self-defense. Rubbing his forehead as he spoke, the Navy man also said "an ordinary person wouldn't understand" why he sexually abused his wife's corpse.

DeArmond said he stabbed Ghani after she slashed at him with a knife, and he took it away from her. Hinkley said the 66-year-old woman was stabbed five times in the stomach and upper mid-section, and on her right side.

"After you disarmed her, was she a threat to you anymore?" Hinkley asked. DeArmond replied no.

"But you took the knife and you stabbed her anyway?"

"Yes, I did, sir," DeArmond said.

DeArmond's three military lawyers and the two prosecution attorneys declined to comment about the case and plea agreement, which was accepted by Hinkley as the presiding judge.

In early May of last year, Zaleha DeArmond filed court papers saying her husband was physically abusive and "very capable of causing harm." Zaleha DeArmond, a Muslim, had said in the court filings that her husband went on a rampage "throwing/thrashing dining table till broken, threw away the Quran, threw away our wedding photo in the toilet bowl."

On June 10, DeArmond turned himself in to Navy authorities and told them there was an emergency at his Leal Place home. Emergency personnel found the women's bodies on the second floor.

Abdullah, the information officer for the Muslim Association of Hawai'i, said he became acquainted with Zaleha DeArmond when he was asked to teach David DeArmond Islamic prayers.

A family in the Muslim community is caring for DeArmond's three children, he said. Abdullah said a family here in Hawai'i, David DeArmond's twin brother in Georgia, and Ahmad Kasti are seeking custody of the children.

After sentencing, DeArmond would be transferred to the military prison at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., and serve his time there, or be moved to the federal prison system, officials said.

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-5459.