The military released information Friday on the soldier suspected of killing his 33-year-old wife from Singapore before turning the gun on himself in the couple’s Waikiki apartment in an apparent murder and attempted suicide.
The Honolulu Medical Examiner’s Office officially confirmed the identity of Monday’s apparent murder victim as Tara Isnin.
Honolulu police have indicated that there is only one suspect after classifying the case as a murder and attempted suicide: the husband, Leonardo Chavez of the Dominican Republic.
Chavez is still hospitalized with a gunshot wound to his right cheek. No charges have been filed.
The couple had been married for only two months but had been together for at least a year, according to friends in Singapore.
Although Chavez is assigned to the Pacific Command’s Special Operations Command, he is neither a Green Beret nor a Navy SEAL, said Lt. Col. Brad Doboszenski, Special Operations Command spokesman.
Chavez enlisted in the Army in December 1995 and has been stationed at Camp Smith for the past 19 months.
Doboszenski said Chavez served in Iraq for two months from late November 2009 to early February 2010.
Isnin died of cranial cerebral injuries caused by multiple gunshot wounds to the head, according to the medical examiner.
Friends said she was contemplating divorcing the 18-year Army veteran, whom she had just married in August.
The Army Criminal Investigation Command in Arlington, Va., declined to comment on the case except to say that it was working with Honolulu detectives.
According to the Chinese evening paper Shin Min Daily News, Isnin was a corporate communications manager with the global real estate company Savills.
The 19th-floor crime scene at the Ala Wai Townhouse condo has been described as gruesome, with blood splattered along the hallway, living room and bedroom. Isnin’s body was found on the sofa with multiple bruises. The murder suspect was found unconscious with a bullet wound to his right cheek.
Isnin’s friends in Singapore described Chavez as possessive, demanding that his wife report her every move to him. Friends said the couple got into a fight six weeks ago before Isnin returned to Honolulu.
Isnin had a 4-year-old child from a previous marriage with an Australian man, whom she married in 2006, the Chinese paper reported. The girl is living with her father in Singapore.
