By B.J. Reyes
\nASSOCIATED PRESS<\/p>\n
8:03 p.m., May 5, 2003<\/p>\n
PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii – A sailor on Monday tearfully admitted to fatally beating his wife with an iron skillet and stabbing his mother-in-law to death at the couple’s home last year.<\/p>\n
Petty Officer 2nd Class David A. DeArmond, 32, pleaded guilty to charges of murder, voluntary manslaughter and abuse of a corpse in exchange for prosecutors dropping charges of premeditated murder, which could have resulted in the death penalty.<\/p>\n
DeArmond admitted having sex with his wife’s dead body.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors dropped charges of attempted rape and obstruction.<\/p>\n
“I just want to say I’m sorry for what I’ve done,” DeArmond said. “I accept responsibility.”<\/p>\n
The murder charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.<\/p>\n
A military jury will decide DeArmond’s sentence. That phase of his general court martial is scheduled to begin in early June.<\/p>\n
Attorneys declined comment after Monday’s hearing.<\/p>\n
DeArmond’s Singapore-born wife, Zaleha, 31, and her mother, Saniah Binte Abdul Ghani, 66, were found dead June 10 in the couple’s home in a Navy housing complex at Pearl Harbor.<\/p>\n
Witnesses testified at a pretrial hearing that the relationship between DeArmond and his wife was strained.<\/p>\n
At Monday’s hearing, DeArmond testified that he hit his wife with a skillet during a confrontation in the pre-dawn hours of June 10.<\/p>\n
He then testified that his mother-in-law tried to intervene and swung at him with a steak knife, which he disarmed her of and used to stab her.<\/p>\n
Though Hawaii doesn’t have the death penalty, murder can be a capital offense under military law depending on the recommendation of the presiding judge.<\/p>\n
Source: http:\/\/www.signonsandiego.com\/news\/military\/20030505-2003-navy-doubleslaying.html<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sailor admits to killing wife, mother-in-law By B.J. Reyes ASSOCIATED PRESS 8:03 p.m., May 5, 2003 PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii – A sailor on Monday tearfully admitted to fatally beating his wife with an iron skillet and stabbing his mother-in-law to death at the couple’s home last year. Petty Officer 2nd Class David A. DeArmond, 32, … <\/p>\n