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WASHINGTON — The news of federal agent Christopher Deedy’s arrest for murder in a Waikiki McDonald’s came as a surprise to his longtime Arlington neighbor, Michael Spires, on Tuesday morning.

“That’s just not him,” Spires told Civil Beat in an interview outside of Deedy’s apartment building Tuesday morning. “That doesn’t sound like him at all. He’s very level, very dependable… Chris is just not the kind of guy who goes around killing people. Oh my goodness, no.”

Spires, 68, said that he has lived directly below Deedy and his wife for about two years, and that the couple has lived in another building in the same gated condo community before that. All in all, Spires said he has known Deedy for nearly six years.

“He has cook-outs all the time, he and Stephanie, that’s his wife,” Spires said. “He’s very dependable, very well-liked around the building. He has nice friends who come over… They’re very social. Oh my God, it doesn’t make sense.”

Deedy, 27, was in Honolulu on a U.S. State Department assignment to help protect dignitaries attending the APEC conference when he was arrested in the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old Kailua man over the weekend.

Deedy has been charged with second-degree murder, and was released early Monday after posting $250,000 bail. The State Department has placed him on paid administrative leave.

“He’s so mature and so well-liked,” Spires said. “I live right below them, if there was any problem, I would hear it. One night, he had gotten his bowling ball out of the closet and dropped it. I said, ‘Chris, there was an atomic bomb over my head,’ he says, ‘That was me dropping my bowling ball.'”

The gated community in which Deedy lives is tree-dotted and peaceful. Residents stop to greet one another by name as they walk by. While a groundskeeper told Civil Beat that none of the units are rented, Virginia do not list Deedy as the owner of his unit.¹

Spires said he’d be comfortable leaving his three dogs in Deedy’s care in a “New York minute,” and that Deedy is a “family man” who cares deeply about the work that he does in the Bureau of Diplomatic Security.

“He has a very big area of responsibility in his job,” Spires said. “He waited a long time to get where he is. He didn’t talk about his job much. It’s part of the atmosphere there. It’s not something you do. All I know is he was excited when he got into the field. He’s a very responsible guy.”

Spires said he has never seen Deedy get angry or yell, and that his sometimes “stern” personality has more to do with his high level of maturity.

“He’s just an even-keeled guy, I’ve known him for a long time,” Spires said. “Chris will be fine. There’s an old saying: What goes around comes around. You treat people well, you’ll be treated well. I’m sure hope this works out for him. I’ll remember him in my prayers tonight.”

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