Hawaii doctor accused of trying to kill his wife on a hiking trail
denied bail
[May 14, 2025]
By JENNIFER SINCO KELLEHER
A judge on Tuesday denied a Maui anesthesiologist's request to be
released on bail while he fights an attempted murder charge on
allegations that he tried to kill his wife on a Honolulu hiking trail.
Gerhardt Konig previously pleaded not guilty. His wife wrote in a
petition for a temporary restraining order against him that they were
hiking in Honolulu in March when he grabbed her, pushed her toward the
edge of a cliff, attempted to inject her with a syringe and then bashed
her head with a rock. Konig suggested they go on the hike while the
couple were on a trip to celebrate the wife’s birthday, the petition
said.
In denying the motion for bail, Judge Paul Wong said there's evidence
that Konig hid from police, presents a serious flight risk and is a
danger to the victim.
She has since filed for divorce. An attorney representing her is asking
a judge to withhold the divorce case, filed earlier this month, from the
public to protect the privacy of the couple’s young children and because
of the “significant and arguably intrusive media coverage regarding the
underlying events which precipitated this divorce.”
The Associated Press does not name people who are victims of domestic
violence unless they consent to be identified or decide to tell their
stories publicly.
What is known as “Pali Puka” trail is closed because the route is
unsafe, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources said. Hikers
often enter through a small clearing near a popular lookout point that
offers stunning views despite a warning: “Area Closed! Do not go beyond
this sign.”
At one point, Konig grabbed her by her upper arms and started pushing
her toward the cliff’s edge while yelling that he was sick of her, she
said.
They began wrestling, and she screamed and pleaded for him to stop,
fearing for her life, the petition said. During the struggle, she said
he took a syringe from his bag and tried to inject her with something.
She said that she bit his arm in an attempt to defend herself.
He appeared to calm down, but then grabbed a nearby rock and “began
bashing me repeatedly on the head with it,” she said.
Konig’s wife suffered major cuts to her head — from the jagged,
softball-sized lava rock — and required surgery, prosecutors said.
While the couple were in Oahu, the two young sons stayed home on Maui
with a nanny and family, according to the wife’s petition filed in
family court. A judge signed an order saying Konig must stay away from
her and their children.
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Gerhardt Konig, charged with the attempted murder of his wife,
enters a courtroom in Honolulu on Tuesday, May 13, 2025. (Jamm
Aquino/Honolulu Star-Advertiser via AP)
Prosecutors, in opposing the bail request, said Konig “faces a
realistic prospect of life imprisonment." He tried to flee after the
attack and called his adult son, who he told he “tried to kill your
stepmom” and told him he would turn off his phone so that police
could not locate him, prosecutors said in a court filing.
He also hid in the bushes until nightfall, even though the attack
happened in the morning, and led police on a search, prosecutors
said.
When he was apprehended, he said, “Wait, she's not dead?" according
to prosecutors.
Defense attorney Thomas Otake called it a “very small rock” and
argued doctors said there wasn’t a substantial risk of death or a
concussion from the wife’s injuries.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joel Garner
said Konig was stashing lethal drugs at home, tried three different
ways to kill his wife and has ties to South Africa, where he was
born.
The petition for a restraining order said that in December, Konig
accused his wife of having an affair.
In a court document filed Monday, prosecutors said Konig was storing
at home syringes, needles and vials labeled anesthesia medication.
On March 27, a few days after the alleged attack and when his wife
was preparing to fly back to Honolulu for his grand jury
proceedings, she discovered a fanny pack belonging to her husband
that contained several syringes and several vials of what appeared
to be drugs, the filing said.
“That’s not unusual that a doctor who practices medicine would have
drugs,” Otake said, noting that none of the drugs were found on Oahu
where the attack took place.
Konig has been held without bail since his indictment on March 28.
In a motion seeking “bail at a reasonable amount,” his defense
attorneys said Konig, 46, has no prior criminal convictions.
In court, Otake suggested bail between $100,000 and $200,000,
arguing that while the divorce is pending he doesn’t have access to
marital assets.
Otake said his client intends to go to trial: “This is going to be a
‘he said, she said’ trial.”
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