Hawaii doctor who bashed wife over head with rock at beauty spot tells attempted murder trial she hit him first, as he tries to use her affair with co-worker as excuse
A Hawaii doctor on trial for the attempted murder of his wife claimed he acted in self-defense after a fight over his wife’s alleged affair with a co-worker.
Gerhartdt Konig, 47, admitted to hitting his wife Arielle, 37, in the head with a rock at a beauty spot in Oahu in March 2025, but claimed he attacked her first, his lawyer said in opening statements Monday.
The renowned anesthesiologist broke down in tears as his trial began this week and jurors played a call to his son in which he told him he was going to kill himself after the incident at the Nuʻuanu Pali Lookout hiking trail.
The court was also shown a photo of Arielle after she survived the alleged attack, with blood oozing from her head and face after apparently hitting a rock.
Konig’s attorney, Thomas Otake, said his injuries were not as bad as they appeared in the picture and said he only suffered a small laceration to his eyebrow, arguing that the case should be a case of assault, not attempted murder.
Otake told jurors that Arielle first attacked Konig: ‘She picks up a rock and hits him in the face and Arielle reacts quickly, the human reaction is, she grabs the rock, hits him twice and stops.’
But prosecutors allege the man tried to push his wife off a ledge in the road and stabbed her with a syringe before beating her with a pointed rock.
‘He takes that stone and starts hitting his head over and over again. Assistant prosecutor Joel Garner said Arielle said the words “Help, help, help” as the defendant hit her. Honolulu Star Advertiser.
Garner said Arielle will take the stand next week on the one-year anniversary of the alleged assault and will admit to the court that she had a three-month relationship with co-worker Jeffrey Miller.
Gerhartdt Konig, a 47-year-old Hawaiian doctor, claimed during his attempted murder trial that he hit his wife with a rock in self-defense after they were fighting over her relationship with a colleague.
The celebrity anesthesiologist is accused of trying to push his wife, Arielle Konig, 36, off the hiking trail at Nuʻuanu Pali Lookout on Oahu
Garner said Arielle had previously admitted to her infidelity and believed she and her husband had moved on.
She’ll tell jurors they went to couples counseling, planned a romantic trip to Oahu for her birthday and thought they were “getting back on track,” Garner said.
But Otake said Arielle withdrew $130,000 without her husband’s permission, which led Arielle to file for a divorce before seeking couples therapy.
Prosecutors allege Konig suddenly attacked his wife at the cliff edge of the picturesque hiking area before two other hikers spotted them during the fight.
One of them, Sarah Buchsbaum, took the stand at Konig’s trial this week and said she and a friend saw the doctor on top of his wife.
Jurors heard a 911 call from the scene, with Buchsbaum saying: ‘There’s a man trying to kill her. There is blood on his face.
We heard him shouting “Help, help, help me, help” and then we saw a man on top of him, then he crawled out with blood on his face. “He tried to kill her,” he said on the phone.
Garner said in his opening statement that Konig meticulously planned the trip to Oahu for his wife’s birthday, including researching the cliffside hike.
The court was shown a photograph of Arielle after the alleged attack, with blood streaming from her head and face after she was hit by a rock.
The couple had been married since 2018 and owned a $1.5 million home in Maui.
Witness Sarah Buchsbaum took the stand at Konig’s trial this week and said she and a friend saw the doctor on top of his wife on the walking path.
Prosecutors allege Konig tried to push his wife off a cliff and hit her in the head with a jagged rock on the Nuʻuanu Pali Lookout hiking trail
He said there was a cliff of several hundred meters at the top of the road and Arielle sent a photo of herself to her family with the caption ‘Don’t look down’.
Moments later, Konig allegedly grabbed his wife and tried to throw her over the edge, which led to a fight on the ground.
“The defendant gets on top of him, straddles him,” Garner said, claiming Konig then pulled out a syringe and tried to stab him.
Konig’s lawyer argued that police did not find a syringe or evidence that he tried to inject any substance into his wife.
The doctor then allegedly picked up a sharp-edged rock and hit his wife in the head several times, an attack that only ended when two female hikers heard her plea for help, prosecutors said.
As Arielle sped away, Konig took a break and ran into the forest.
He FaceTimed his 19-year-old son Emile and confessed to hitting his wife and said he was going to kill himself.
As audio of the conversation was played in court, Konig told his son: ‘I’m not coming back. I tried to kill Ari, but he escaped. He has been cheating on me for the last few months. ‘I’m at the end of my rope.’
Konig’s arrest followed a lengthy manhunt in the Oahu forest
Police arrested Konig, 47, after a short pursuit on foot near the hiking trail.
‘I’ll jump,’ he added. ‘I have to hang up so the police can’t find me.’
An eight-hour manhunt began in dense forest.
Immediately after the search was called off for the night, three police officers spotted Konig running from the woods. The police tracked him down and arrested him.
Konig’s trial is expected to last until mid-April. He pleaded not guilty.
