Ex-LAPD detective sentenced to 20 years for beating wife to death
A former Los Angeles police homicide detective was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in a Hawaii prison for beating his wife to death, authorities said.
Dan DeJarnette, 59, pleaded guilty in March to manslaughter. The plea came shortly before he was to face trial in the death of Yu DeJarnette, 56, who was found in November 2006 on a lava embankment a short distance from the couple’s home in Ka’u, on the southern end of the Big Island.
The retired LAPD detective initially told police he woke up and found his wife outside the home suffering from injuries after falling over the embankment while hanging laundry.
An autopsy later determined that she died of two gaping wounds caused by blows from a tire iron. One left a scallop pattern consistent with the weapon, and paint chips were found in her hair. Yu DeJarnette also had scrapes from being dragged over lava rocks.
Her husband was arrested and booked on suspicion of murder. But citing a lack of evidence, prosecutors did not file charges and DeJarnette was released.
In January 2012, deputy prosecutor Linda Walton was assigned the case and undertook a thorough review. The follow-up investigation included additional blood evidence linking DeJarnette to the death.
The evidence suggested that DeJarnette used a bleaching-type agent to clean up blood in the bathroom, but he could not remove it completely. Subsequent tests showed his wife’s blood on items recovered from the home.
A Hawaii grand jury indicted DeJarnette, leading to his arrest on May 14, 2012.
At the LAPD, DeJarnette investigated rape cases in the Robbery Homicide Division-Rape Special Section of the Van Nuys Division. He worked 21 years in the department before retiring in 2003 and moving to Hawaii.
By 2006, his marriage was showing signs of strain. Yu DeJarnette told co-workers that she wanted to leave her husband. She had consulted with a divorce attorney on whether she would be entitled to half of her husband’s property and pension should the couple split.
DeJarnette took out an insurance policy on his wife a year before her death.
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