HONOLULU — A Hawaii anesthesiologist facing murder charges for allegedly attacking his wife during a cliffside hike has been found guilty of the reduced charge of attempted manslaughter.
Gerhardt Konig, 47, was convicted Wednesday by a Honolulu jury following one day of deliberations. The conviction for attempted manslaughter based on extreme mental or emotional disturbance could result in up to 20 years behind bars.
Defense attorney Thomas Otake announced plans to file an appeal.
According to prosecutors, Konig orchestrated a plan to kill his wife Arielle during what was supposed to be a birthday weekend getaway to Honolulu in March 2025. The state alleged he attempted to force her over a cliff edge, tried to inject her with a syringe, and struck her with a rock before two passing hikers heard her screams and intervened.
Konig maintained during his testimony that his wife initiated the violence by hitting him with a rock first, claiming he responded in self-defense.
In closing arguments Tuesday, deputy prosecutor Joel Garner told jurors that Konig had developed multiple strategies for killing his wife during their birthday trip to Honolulu in March 2025. When his attempt to force her off the cliff failed, prosecutors said he tried injecting her with a syringe containing an unidentified substance.
“Every backup plan ends in Arielle’s death,” Garner stated while showing jurors the rock and photographs of her injuries.
The defense argued no such schemes existed, with Otake repeatedly questioning the credibility of Arielle Konig’s testimony. Gerhardt Konig entered a not guilty plea to attempted murder charges, maintaining he acted in self-defense against his wife’s initial attack.
Otake challenged the prosecution’s narrative, asking jurors why someone with access to a syringe in an isolated location would engage in a struggle before attempting to use it.
“You would use the syringe first,” Otake argued. “It makes no sense.”
The trial began last month, approximately one year after the couple’s hike on Honolulu’s Pali Puka trail ended with Arielle bloodied and shouting that her husband had tried to murder her.
The couple had left their two young sons at home on Maui during the trip. Prosecutors said Gerhardt Konig, angered by his wife’s relationship with a colleague, launched the attack near a scenic overlook. Only the intervention of two other hikers stopped the assault, according to Garner.
The proceedings, which were livestreamed by Court TV, revealed details about the couple’s marital troubles leading up to the hiking incident and conflicting accounts of what transpired on the trail.
During his testimony, Gerhardt Konig revealed he had discovered his wife’s affair by accessing her phone while she slept. Arielle Konig described the relationship as an “emotional affair” involving flirtatious text messages with a coworker, which became a topic of discussion during their hike.
Arielle Konig testified that her husband seized her and attempted to move her toward the cliff’s edge, prompting her to throw herself to the ground to maintain her grip. She said he positioned himself over her with a syringe in hand, which she managed to knock away. In her struggle to escape, she bit his forearm and grabbed his testicles, she testified.
Her husband disputed pushing her toward the edge and claimed she struck him in the face with a rock. He said he took the rock from her and hit her twice in self-defense.
Gerhardt Konig also denied carrying any syringes on the mountain or attempting to stab his wife. His defense team argued no syringe was recovered at the scene because none was ever present.
Otake portrayed Gerhardt Konig not as someone capable of attempted murder, but as a man grappling with marital infidelity and doing his best. The attorney read from a heart-shaped birthday card Gerhardt Konig had written to his wife, calling her “the heart of our family” and stating, “The kids and I hit the jackpot with you.”
Gerhardt Konig testified that after watching his wife crawl away, he felt his marriage and career were finished and contemplated suicide by jumping. Before doing so, he contacted his adult son from a previous marriage. The son later told authorities that his father confessed to trying “to kill your stepmom” — a statement Gerhardt Konig denied making.
Konig claimed he called his son to say farewell.
Garner noted that during that phone call, the defendant made no mention of striking his wife in self-defense.
He remained hidden on the mountain for approximately eight hours before deciding to come down, and even attempted to flee when police approached him, Garner said.
His wife has since initiated divorce proceedings.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story discusses domestic violence. If you or someone you know needs assistance, please contact the national domestic violence hotline: 1-800-799-7233 in the U.S.
