Ex-Marine Edmonds An Oahu grand jury has indicted former Kaneohe Marine Delmar J. Edmonds with the 1975 murder of 13-year-old Dawn "Dede" Bustamante.
indicted in
Bustamante slaying
Awaiting extradition from
Indianapolis, he is accused of
murder and attempted
murder of 2 teenage girlsBy Nelson Daranciang
ndaranciang@starbulletin.comThe grand jury also indicted him for the attempted murder of a 13-year-old girl who was abducted with Bustamante.
Edmonds, 46, is awaiting extradition to Hawaii in the Marion County Lockup in Indianapolis.
An extradition hearing is scheduled for Aug. 28 in an Indiana state courtroom.
Hawaii officials have yet to submit a petition for Edmonds' extradition.
"Since we have the indictment, that is something we will supplement the petition with. It is significant information to include in the petition," said Rom Trader, deputy city prosecutor.
But he said the indictment will not necessarily speed up Edmonds' extradition.
The indictment charges Edmonds with murder and attempted murder under the provisions of state law in effect in 1975.
Maximum penalty for both crimes is life in prison with the possibility of parole or 20 years incarceration.
Honolulu police detectives and an investigator from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in Pearl Harbor arrested Edmonds on July 17 on a state of Hawaii warrant charging him with Bustamante's murder.
Edmonds has been in custody ever since he was unable to post $500,000 bail.
Bustamante was abducted on March 14, 1975, and taken to a secluded road in Kailua where she was raped and shot in the head. According to a police affidavit in support of the warrant, the other girl said she was hit on the back of the head, then choked, but was able to escape when her abductor turned his attention to Bustamante.
Edmonds was a Marine stationed at the Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station at the time.
Police twice questioned Edmonds in 1975 but did not arrest him.