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The Honolulu Advertiser

Posted at 12:10 p.m., Wednesday, October 12, 2005

Army man indicted on murder charge

By Ken Kobayashi
Advertiser Courts writer

A 21-year-old Army man was indicted by the O'ahu grand jury this morning on a murder charge of strangling his ex-girlfriend, running over her body with her car and leaving the body in an isolated area in Mokule'ia late Friday night.

If convicted of murdering Felicia LaDuke, Jeffery White would face a mandatory life prison term with parole.

Circuit Judge Derrick Chan confirmed White's bail of $100,000 after city Deputy Prosecutor Vickie Kapp said White's actions shows he's "extremely violent and dangerous."

Kapp said White lured LaDuke to the isolated area near Kaena Point, strangled her, ran her over and drove off in her car.

White was also indicted on a charge of unauthorized control over the car, a felony that carries a maximum five-year prison term.

The indictment sends the case to trial and cancels a preliminary hearing tomorrow for White.

White is scheduled to be arraigned next week in Circuit Court. He is expected to plead not guilty and get a trial date.

White, a Schofield Barracks soldier from Houston, is a truck driver who served a year-long deployment in Afghanistan. LaDuke, 22, was an Army specialist who had returned from a seven-month deployment to Iraq and had re-enlisted for three more years.

White and LaDuke had a 2-year-old, according to a police affidavit filed in court earlier this week. The two were involved in a custody dispute over the child, the affidavit said.