1975 slaying suspect The former Marine accused of murdering Dawn "Dede" Bustamante 26 years ago in Kailua will be extradited to Hawaii, an Indiana judge ruled yesterday.
to face charges here
The man is accused of raping
and killing a 13-year-old in KailuaBy Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.comDelmar Jerome Edmonds Jr., 46, should arrive in Hawaii within the next 30 days to face murder and attempted-murder charges against him, said Deputy City Prosecutor Rom Trader.
"We're pleased that he's been ordered to return," Trader said. "It represents one additional step in the resolution of this case."
Honolulu police detectives and an investigator from the Naval Criminal Investigative Service in Pearl Harbor had arrested Edmonds July 17 in Indiana. Edmonds has been in custody in Indianapolis ever since, unable to post $500,000 bail.
On March 14, 1975, Bustamante, then 13, was abducted 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 for Edmonds, 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.
On the day of Edmonds' arrest, his attorney Marcel Pratt said Edmonds "vehemently" denied responsibility for the murder of Bustamante.
Last year, a Marine who had been assigned to the same company as Edmonds in Kaneohe sent an unsolicited e-mail to CrimeStoppers, telling them Edmonds had asked him and other Marines to lie about his whereabouts at the time of the slaying and that Edmonds had a handgun similar to the one described by the surviving victim. Two other former Marines corroborated the statement, police said.
Bustamante's sister Sheri McArthur got the call informing her of the extradition order yesterday morning. "I called all my family on the mainland and told them," McArthur said.
Edmonds' extradition hearing had been "postponed twice, so I was really worried that it might be postponed (again). I'm very happy. Once he's here the ball can start rolling."