The doctor accused of trying to murder his wife while on a scenic hike in Hawaii had suspected her of having an affair months earlier and allegedly told his adult son he “tried to kill” her in a phone call after the near-fatal attack, according to reports.
Gerhardt Konig, a 46-year-old anesthesiologist, was charged Wednesday with second-degree attempted murder after he allegedly attacked his wife, Arielle Konig, 36, at the Pali Lookout, a famous panoramic vista on Oahu.
The couple had been married for six years, but over the months leading up to the attack, their marriage had started to fall apart, Island News reported.
Arielle, a renowned nuclear engineer, filed a restraining order against her husband Thursday and told the court that he had become prone to “extreme jealousy” and “has attempted to control and monitor all of my communications.”
She claimed that her husband, whom she wed in 2018, had accused her of cheating on him in December.
In an attempt to salvage their marriage, Arielle said they had been “participating in both couples and individual therapy and counseling.”
The couple’s relationship started to improve from the therapy, she said, and they decided to plan a weekend getaway to Oahu to celebrate Arielle’s 36th birthday with just the two of them, leaving their two children, ages 2 and 5, at home.
The day after arriving on the island from their home in Maui on March 23, Konig suggested they hike the trail near Pali Lookout — where he allegedly flipped because his wife refused to take a picture with him.
He allegedly tried to push his wife off the trail, then punched her and hit her with a rock, and at some point, even tried to jab her with two syringes.
“I do not know what was in the syringe, but Gerhardt is an anesthesiologist and has access to several potentially lethal medications as part of his employment,” she wrote in the filing.
Konig was stopped when two women on the trail heard Arielle’s screams for help and intervened.
Arielle was rushed to the Queen’s Medical Center in critical condition with multiple facial and head injuries.
Konig was arrested later that evening near Pali Highway after a brief foot pursuit, cops said.
The nuclear engineer told the court that following the attack, she had learned that her husband had called one of his adult children from a previous marriage on FaceTime and allegedly confessed to trying to kill her, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported.
“I just tried to kill Ari, but she got away,” Arielle claims in the filing that Konig told his child.
Konig is being held at the Oahu Community Correctional Center.
His bail had previously been set at $5 million, but Arielle wrote to the court she is afraid for herself, her children, and the rest of her family if her husband is released, and a judge ordered him to be held without bail on Friday.
Konig, who previously worked as a University of Pittsburgh professor and UPMC anesthesiologist, was employed by an independent contractor to provide medical services as an anesthesiologist in Maui.
“Maui Health is committed to patient safety and upholding the highest standards of care,” Maui Health said in a statement last week.
“We have been made aware of the allegations against Gerhardt Konig, MD. Dr. Konig has been suspended from the Medical Staff pending investigation. Dr. Konig is employed by an independent entity contracted to provide medical services at various medical facilities on Maui, including Maui Memorial Medical Center.”
