Former Van Nuys Police Detective Arrested in Connection with 2006 Wife Slaying

A retired Los Angeles police detective who worked out of the department's Van Nuys Station has been arrested in Hawaii in connection with the 2006 killing of his wife, according to published reports.

Dan DeJarnette, 59, was arrested Monday night at his home on Hawaii's Big Island, the Los Angeles Times reported. Two days after his wife's death on Nov. 12, 2006, DeJarnette was booked on suspicion of murder after an autopsy showed she died of head trauma, but he was released two days later for lack of evidence. Yu DeJarnette, 56, was found by her husband lying on a lava bed 20 feet from the couple's home in Ka'u, according to The Times.

Her death was originally considered to be accidental. DeJarnette, who was indicted by a grand jury on charges of second-degree murder, appeared in Kona Circuit Court on Tuesday, according to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, which reported that his bail has been set at $200,000.

DeJarnette, who moved to Hawaii after retiring in 2003, worked out of the Los Angeles Police Department's Van Nuys station and investigated notable cases, including a 1990 Christmas night fatal shooting at an Echo Park pizzeria, a stabbing in 1993 that took the life of a pregnant woman and a 1981 cold-case murder by a serial rapist of a newlywed in Sherman Oaks, according to The Times. Investigators took a fresh look at the case in January and examined DNA evidence before prosecutors secured the indictment, The Times reported.

The arrest was made just three days after former LAPD detective Stephanie Lazarus was sentenced to 27 years to life in state prison for gunning down her ex-boyfriend's wife inside a Van Nuys condominium in a jealous rage more than 26 years ago.