79
A Camp Smith soldier accused of killing his wife and turning the gun on himself is charged with murder.
An Oahu grand jury returned an indictment Tuesday charging Leonardo Chavez with the murder of his wife Tara Isnin and using a firearm to do it.
State Circuit Judge Richard Perkins set Chavez’s bail at $1 million.
Chavez, 40, from the Dominican Republic, remains hospitalized with a gunshot wound to his right cheek.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner says Isnin, 33, from Singapore, died from brain injuries caused by multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
City ambulance workers responding to a call at the couple’s Waikiki condominium Oct. 28 found Chavez and Isnin inside. Chavez was bleeding and Isnin was on a couch. Chavez told one of the emergency medical responders that he had shot himself.
Fellow residents of the Ala Wai Townhouse said they heard multiple gunshots the weekend before the couple were found.
The Honolulu Police Department has declined to say who made the 911 call or what the caller said. HPD spokeswoman Michelle Yu said the department has submitted the recording of the 911 call as evidence in Chavez’s prosecution.
The department, however, has said that Chavez is the only suspect.
Friends in Singapore said Isnin was contemplating divorce. They said she and Chavez were married for just two months but had been together for at least a year.
An Army spokesman said Chavez, an 18-year Army veteran, had , at the time of the shooting, been been stationed at Camp Smith for the past 19 months and assigned to the Pacific Command’s Special Operations Command.
