Slain woman filed Zaleha DeArmond had planned to leave her husband because he was "abusive." But the 31-year-old slain wife of a Navy petty officer changed her mind, fearing she would jeopardize the welfare of their three children, her brother told the Singapore Straits Times.
abuse complaints,
brother says
She wanted to leave her Navy
husband but feared for their 3 kidsBy Gregg K. Kakesako
gkakesako@starbulletin.comDeArmond was found dead Monday in the couple's home in the Hokulani naval housing complex near Pearl Harbor. She was bludgeoned on the head with a blunt instrument, an autopsy report said.
Her mother, Saniah Abdul Ghani, 66, also was found dead in the home on Leal Street. She was stabbed repeatedly, the autopsy report said.
Both women were natives of Singapore, but DeArmond was a naturalized American citizen.
Their bodies were found after DeArmond's husband, David, a 13-year naval veteran and a hull technician at the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, turned himself in to Navy authorities. He was arrested and remained in custody this morning while investigators continued their work. He could face the death penalty if convicted of the double murder.
"The husband was an abusive man and I believe my sister had lodged police reports against him," The Singapore paper quoted DeArmond's brother as saying yesterday. It identified him only as Ahmad.
The Navy did not have immediate comments this morning but was looking into whether DeArmond had ever complained to authorities.
DeArmond's brother told the Singapore newspaper his sister, who loved to travel, was the youngest of three children and met her husband on a trip to the United States. The couple married in California in 1996 after dating for a year.
Ahmad said he has never met his brother-in-law but heard from his mother that "there were squabbles" between the couple. His mother had been staying at the couple's home since December and was to have returned to Singapore on Tuesday.
Ahmad's 90-year-old father also had been living with the couple until he returned to Singapore in January. The two men plan to fly to Oahu this weekend to make burial arrangements and care for the couple's three children.
The children -- two boys, ages 2 and 5, and a 3-year-old daughter -- were found unharmed on the first floor of the home. They have been turned over to the state's Child Protective Services.
Ahmad also told the Singapore Straits Times that he has been in shock. "My world has been shattered," he said.
"One moment it was all bliss and contentment with the World Cup, and now it's all gone. I have not been able to sleep since that phone call. I am worried about my father and how he is taking the news... But we Muslims believe life must go on."