Hawaii doctor accused of trying to kill his wife on a hiking trail denied bail

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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. 

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. 

Defence 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 defence 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.”