This Doctor’s Being Accused Of Trying To Kill His Wife By Pushing Her Off A Cliff During A Hike
Gerhardt Konig, a 46-year-old anesthesiologist from Hawaii, has been charged with second-degree attempted murder after allegedly attacking his engineer wife, Arielle Konig, and trying to push her off a cliff during an Oahu hike.
According to a probable cause affidavit, 36-year-old Arielle was hiking with her husband on the Pali Puka Trail off the Pali Lookout, which is 1,200 feet high, on the morning of March 24. Gerhardt allegedly wanted to take a selfie with her close to the cliff’s edge, and she refused.
“Arielle expressed that she did not feel comfortable taking a picture with him that close to the edge, so she declined and began to walk back,” the affidavit reads.
At that point, Gerhardt allegedly began screaming at her to “come back,” and when she wouldn’t, he “pushed her into the bushes.” In a petition for a restraining order, which was filed after the attack, Arielle claimed that her husband grabbed her arms, shoved her toward the cliff’s edge, and yelled at her.
Initially, Arielle admitted to thinking Gerhardt was joking when he shouted, “Go back over there, I’m so [redacted] sick of you.”
“I quickly realized he was seriously trying to make me fall off the cliff,” she said in the petition.
Next, Gerhardt allegedly took a rock, repeatedly hitting her in the head about 10 times, grabbed the back of her hair, and smashed her face into the ground.
“Arielle indicated that she was yelling for help and heard two other hikers; she was able to crawl over to them,” the affidavit goes on.
She later told authorities that, at one point, Gerhardt took two syringes out of his bag. Arielle alleged that he tried to “use them on her, but she was able to get away from him.”
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A hiker was traveling along the same trail at approximately 10:30 a.m. when they heard Arielle screaming for help. They followed the yelling and, per the affidavit, found a woman “lying on her back in the grass with a man on top of her, hitting her on the head.”
The hiker allegedly saw Gerhardt holding a rock, and when he spotted the hiker, he supposedly stopped attacking Arielle and continued walking up the trail. Meanwhile, Arielle supposedly told the hiker, “He is trying to kill me. He is hitting me in the head with a rock.”
A friend of the hiker dialed 911, and the hikers remained with Arielle until she was taken to Queens Medical Center. In the restraining order, which was filed on March 27, Arielle alleged that Gerhardt FaceTimed his adult son from a previous relationship while “covered in blood” at some point after the attack. The restraining order claims he told his son, “I just tried to kill Ari, but she got away.”
Additionally, Gerhardt allegedly told his son that he was going to jump off a cliff and take his own life. Arielle reportedly learned about the FaceTime call amidst the investigation. However, it’s unclear how this information was obtained.
Arielle was transported in serious but stable condition, and Gerhardt was brought into custody later that same day.
Gerhardt has since been accused of abusing Arielle for months leading up to the attack, per her restraining order petition. In December, he reportedly accused her of having an affair and became very jealous.
The pair began attending both individual and couples therapy, yet “since then, he has attempted to control and monitor all my communications,” Arielle wrote.
Gerhardt was ultimately charged with second-degree attempted murder, and he has pleaded not guilty.
The restraining order against Gerhardt has also been granted, forbidding him from being in their house or contacting their kids.
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