Sailor made death threats
against wife since January

He is being held in the killing
of his wife and her mother

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By Debra Barayuga
dbarayuga@starbulletin.com

Pearl Harbor sailor David DeArmond had been threatening to kill his wife since January this year, according to court documents.

But it wasn't until May 3 when Zaleha DeArmond sought a court order that he stayed away from her and their three children.

On June 10, she and her mother were found dead at the couple's home at the Hokulani naval housing complex.

DeArmond, 31, was fatally beaten. Her mother, Saniah Ghani, 66, who was staying with them and was to returned to Singapore the next day, was stabbed to death.

Their bodies were found after David DeArmond turned himself in to naval authorities. He is being held pending an investigation.

"You are gonna pay for everything you did to me," and "Die, b----" were two of the threats he made to his wife just two days before she filed for a temporary restraining order on May 3.

According to the petition Zaleha DeArmond filed, her husband had a violent temper and believed everyone was against him. He abused her and threatened to get custody of their children, ages 2, 3 and 5.

The day before she sought the order, her husband trashed the dining table until it broke, threw away the Quran -- the Muslim holy book -- and threw their wedding photo in the toilet, she wrote.

He also accused her of being an alcoholic and unfit mother and took away the family car so she and the kids couldn't go anywhere, she noted.

The courts issued a restraining order on May 3. The couple appeared at a court hearing on May 16 and the judge ordered the restraining order in effect until Aug. 1.