Evening star., 1949-06-06
Seaman Admits KiIIinq
Washington Officer
On Pacific Island

butcher knife staying Of Ii. Ugl
Roger G. Devan. 23-yeaT old
Washingtonian. on remote Bikati
Island In the Gilbert Group. the
Associated Press reported from
Honolulu today.
Coast Guard headquarters q;
Honolulu. according to the dis
patch, named Seaman Dennis S
Dwyer. 81. of Queens Village, Long
Island. as the slayer. He had nc
accomplices. the Coast Guard said
Dwyer enlisted in the Coast Guard
at Honolulu on April l3 of this
year. He previously had served
four years In the Navy.
1t. Devan. a Woodrow Wilson
High School graduate whose fam
ily lives at 5000 Forty-third street
NV. was found dead in his bed
Saturday morning. He had been
stabbed over the heart with q
butcher knife.
The young officer was COM
mander Of the Coast Guards long
range navigation station on the
lonely Pacific outpost. The dozen
men in his command were re-
sponsible for sending out radio
waves to guide ships and planes
In the Pacific.
Findings Not Revealed.
The Coast Guard here said the
investigation of the death had
been completed on Kwajalein. but
the boards findings were not i'm
mediately made public. No motive
was given for the Staying.
Dwyer. who had been assigned
to the navigation station only May
IL was flown to Kwajalein in a
Navy plane in custody of 1t.
James w. CoSte. There he was
confined in the Marine brig.
1t. Devan's body was flown to
Kwajalein at the same time. The
Coast Guard said an autopsy would
be performed before the body is
flown back to the United States
for burial.
Since Bikati is in British ter
ritory, it was not Immediately
determined whether a Coast Guard
court martial or the British resi-
dent commissioner at Tarawa
would assume jurisdiction.
Bikati. one of the islets of the
Maxim atoll. is remote even for
that isolated section. $500 miles
of Hawaii. The atoll
was captured from the japanese
by American forces in November,
l943.
Called Problem Station.
The islet has been q problem
station because of its loneliness
Last November. two enlisted men
were removed from the island and
charged with insubordination.
The warrant officer in charge was
replaced by 1t. Devan.
1t. Devan's family here said,
however, the young officer seemed
to like his station. In his weekly
letters. he told Of his converse
tions with q Catholic chaplain on
another island and of making
with the natives clustered
on the southern end of the atoll
In his last letter. about a week
ago. he told how glad he was to
be back from KwajaleiR, wheae he
had gone for a physical examina-
ton. The physical made perma-
nent his new commission as q
lieutenant Junior grade.
He was looking forward to COM
ing home in the fall at the end
Of his years tour of duty on
Bikati to marry Miss Joanna
Swain Of Orange, N. j.. whom he
had met while at the Coast Guard
Academy. his family said.
Son of a Baptist minister. DR..
3. Arthur Devan. and Mrs. Devan.
the officer was born in Plainfield,
N. ]. While his father was chap
ain at Hampton Institute in Vir-
ginia, Rogert went to school there.
Attended Wilson High.
The family moved here in 194l
and Roger went to Woodrow Will
;on High School where he played
\ clarinet in the band. After his
from high school in
L942, Roger attended Dewitt Pre-
oaratory School for a year and
hen went on to the Coast Guard
Academy. where he was on the
soccer team and sang In the choir.
he graduated three years ago this
He served on a weather
patrol boat at Long Beach, Calf.
,efore going to Bikati.
DIR. Deyan is now employed in
he legislative reference division
If the Library of Congress. During
I945 and 1916 he served as an in
for the House Military
Affairs Committee and earlier was
director of the General Commis-
lion on Army and Navy Chaplains.
In addition to his parents. the
,fficer is survived by three