The Gerhardt Konig Trial Breakdown – Day 1 Commentary

Hey LaM fam. Editing Ky here. So today I decided to do something a little different and you’ll hear what it is when the episode begins. I came in here with this edit because this was only going to be a bonus episode. But I decided to put this first episode out for everyone in here as a preview and you can make an informed decision. Think of it as a taste of what’s coming for the next couple of weeks. And consider this your invite to be a part of this feature fictional LaM jury for this case happening only over in the Patreon patreon.com forward/11murder. Now, after you listen to this episode, if you enjoy it and you want to be part of the full experience where we’ll go day by day through this trial. Plus my unfiltered thoughts as usual, the facts and a chance to hand down your own fictional verdict at the end. Then you’ll definitely want to check out the ten dollar a month tier on our patreon patreon.com/loveandmurder, but for now, let’s get started. Hey LaMs. I did say that I was going to drop a Tuesday bonus for you, but then I saw that the Gerhardt Konig trial had started and so I thought to myself, what I can do for my lam Patreons is bring them day by day of the trial. Now don’t hold me to it. I probably won’t do it every day. I’m going to try my bestest, bestest. But if I skip a day, like for instance, if today I do day one, tomorrow I do day two, but then I skip the next day, then the following day I’ll do day three like this. So I don’t want to say I’m going to bring it to. I don’t want to promise that I’m going to bring it to you every single day. But I will try. My very, very best is best. But remember, I have other episodes to write, to record, to edit to everything like this. So I’m going to try my bestest best. So what I’m going to bring for you is day one, which is opening statements and also a reminder of this case. I’ll also post the case, the episode, uh, the show notes below. So if you forgot about that case, which I didn’t do it that long ago, so it should still be fresh in your memory. But just in case, I’m going to post the link to that case below and y’ all are going to get the day by day coverage of this trial and then when it’s Done and everything’s wrapped up. Then I’m going to post an update episode for the public. So I hope you all are happy with that. Let me get into it. This is the recap that on March 24, 2025, just after 10:00am um, and also this is going to be just raw. It’s 12024 in the morning. So I’m just going to record this, do very minimal edit into it. So if you hear me tripping up or anything like that, please forgive me. It’s a really minimal editing that I’m going to do. So this is technically a raw recording. So like I was saying, On March 24, 2025, just after 10am, two women started up a hike along the Pali Puka Trail in Oahu. Within minutes, they heard a woman screaming, help me. Help me. What they walked into moments later would become the center of attempted murder trial. Now this murder trial is happening in Hawaii. So that’s where the murder happened and that’s where the trial is unfolding. According to the state, when those witnesses turned the corner on the trail, they saw Gerhardt Konig on top of his wife Arielle, hitting her in the head with a rock. One of them would later describe seeing him strike her, while the other saw him holding the rock near the edge of a steep cliff. And if you remember from the initial episode, he was trying to get her to stand near the edge of the cliff because he was going to push her off and she didn’t trust him, so she didn’t do it. Then he just lost his shit. And that’s when he started beating her in the head with the rock. When the witnesses saw her, she was covered in blood with visible gashes to her head. And she was trying to, uh, crawl away while screaming, he’s trying to kill me. Call 911. So this is where the prosecution begins their case. On day one. Attorney Joel Gardner, speaking for the state, told jurors that this was not some random argument that spiraled out of control. He argued that Gerhardt made a deliberate decision that day. According to him, this trip to Oahu had been planned, including the hike itself. And what happened on the trail was intentional. He walked the jury through that morning that the couple had traveled to Oahu for Arielle’s birthday. Uh, Gerhardt had planned a trip. They went to the Pali Lookout and started the hike together. And at some point, Arielle became uncomfortable on the trail, like I told you, and then she wanted to turn around. I guess they were too far from people and he was acting all weird. Um, when they started heading back down. They were taking pictures along the way. And then that’s when Gerhardt wanted Arielle to stand at the edge of the cliff for a photo. And when she refused, like I said, you know, he lost his shit. And he pushed her backwards towards the drop. She fell, she grabbed onto him. You know, fight or flight. She’s holding on for dear life if, you know, you’re not pushing me off a cliff. And that’s when they began to struggle. And then the prosecution says that that’s when he got on top of her, straddled her, and continued the attack. Arielle, thankfully, survived so she could speak for herself. And she said that she saw a syringe during that struggle. And, you know, Gerhardt had brought that syringe with him. And none of these items, unfortunately, were ever recovered. As Arielle fought back and begged him to stop, she was reminding him about their children and their life together. You know, you don’t want to tell your children that their mother is dead. And Gerhardt just said, quote, I’m sick of this shit, before picking up a rock. And that’s when he started bashing her in the head. Then the prosecution told a jury that the only reason that he stopped attacking her was because these two hikers came around the bend. Then attorney, uh, Garner also said that the most important pieces of evidence in this case was that phone call that Gerhardt FaceTimed his adult son and told him, quote, I’m not going to make it back. I tried to kill Arielle, but she got away. He also told his son that Arielle had been cheating on him for months and said, quote, I’m at the end of my rope. Garner said. Attorney Garner said that there was a second phone call where Gerhardt asked if his son had told him anyone. So he told his son all this information. Then he’s like, hey, did you tell anybody what I told you? And when he found out that Arielle’s parents had been contacted, he said that he was going to go jump off a cliff. And then he ended that call saying, quote, I got to hang up so the police don’t find me. After that, Gerhardt disappeared into the forest above the lookout. And police ended up looking for him for about six to eight hours before they spotted him near the road, just before the sun went down. And, uh, when they called out to him, he ran. But they caught him and arrested him. This is everything that’s being told to the jury. Attorney Garner told the jurors, quote, the defendant consciously and intentionally made a choice. On March 24, 2025, to try to take a life. But the defense obviously came forward with a different story. Attorney Thomas Otaki stood up and told jurors that this case could be summed up in three unfaithful, unwilling, and untrue. From the defense perspective, this was not a planned attack at all. It was a relationship that had been unraveling for months. And what happened on that trail was a fight that just simply escalated. Attorney Otake said that Arielle had been having an affair with a married co worker starting in late 2024, and Gerhardt had discovered it in December. And the couple spent months trying to repair their marriage through counseling. He told jurors that the trip to Oahu, uh, wasn’t even Gearhart’s idea. It was Arielle’s idea. I mean, even though it was Arielle’s idea, that doesn’t mean Gerhardt couldn’t have been, well, you know, this is a good opportunity. You know, that’s just me saying that. The defense emphasized that the setting itself didn’t make sense for a planned murder. I mean, it could have been loosely planned out. A, uh, crowded hiking area in broad daylight near a parking lot. According to the defense, that alone should raise questions about premeditation. Um, anybody who’s willing to murder should raise questions about how much sense they have. So I don’t think that’s a good defense. Attorney Otake said the turn in point came during a conversation on the hike where Arielle told Gerhardt that she needed to resume working in person, which meant being around the man she had been involved with. That is what triggered an argument from there. Attorney Otake says Arielle was the one who turned physical first. Really? He told jurors that she pushed Gerhardt near the edge of the ridge and then continued, continued hitting and kicking him once they were on the ground. At some point, he says she picked up a rock and struck him. Are you serious? Are you kidding me? If you remember in the last episode, they were saying, ah, their whole, the defense’s whole thing was, you know, was it really even a big rock? It was just a little rock, you know, it was like a pebble. Now they’re trying to say she’s the one who started hitting him. And then she picked up a rock. Uh, is it the same pebble that you’re talking about? Only then, according to the defense, did Gerhardt grab the rock and hit her back. Now we’re saying self defense. Where are all these bruises? Because I know she had a bunch of bruises. Where are all these bruises from her hitting him with a rock? Attorney Otake told a jury, quote, it was a reflex, it was a reaction. Saying that this was not an intentional attempt to kill, but a response in the moment. Okay, so what do you say about the phone call? Oh, well, here it is. He pushed back against the prosecution’s claim about the phone call to Gerhardt’s son. According to the defense, there was no confession. Attorney Otake told jurors that Gerhardt never said his goal was to kill Arielle, only that he had hurt her. I mean, yeah, I guess technically that’s what he said, but then why would he call his son and say, oh, really, I fucked up. Like, why would he call his son and say that? The defense also focused heavily on the physical evidence, or what they say is missing. No syringe was ever recovered from the scene. I mean, it could have fallen off the cliff. They said no vial was recovered and no physical evidence to support that part of the state’s theory, except for the fact that he had all this mailed to him and he took it out of the office and he brought it to Hawaii with him. They also pointed to Arielle’s medical condition after the attack. According to attorney Otake, she had no skull, uh, fractures, never lost consciousness, and was discharged from the hospital the next morning. I mean, she was fighting him, so it’s not necessarily that he was able to really get a good hit off. She didn’t just sit there and let him bash her in the head with the rock. So the. She might not have lost consciousness. What is skull? Okay. He told jurors that while the injuries looked severe, medically, they did not meet the threshold for serious bodily injury or a substantial risk of death. He even pointed to details like Gerhardt having made dinner reservations for that same night and having a life insurance policy where Arielle was the beneficiary, arguing that those things don’t, uh, align with someone planning a murder. Did he just make her a beneficiary of the life insurance policy or that had been effect, in effect, for their entire marriage. So if you’re bringing that up, unless, like, the day before they flew out to Hawaii, he got that life insurance policy, then I could see you bringing that up, uh, as evidence. Other than that, why did you even bring that up? And of course he made dinner reservations. Let’s say this is all alleged. He. If he allegedly thought about killing her, maybe he was on defense, maybe he wanted the day to look normal, so of course he would make dinner reservations. Then the defense continued saying, and then there’s motive, which both sides approached very differently. The prosecution Points to jealousy and resentment, Specifically Gerhardt’s belief that Arielle had been cheating on him. They tie that directly into the alleged statements he made to his son and the escalation on the trail. The defense doesn’t deny the affair. Instead, they lean into it. They argue that Arielle’s actions, including the affair and the breakdown of the marriage, created a volatile situation that led to a fight, not a planned attack. They also suggest that Arielle has her own reasons for how she’s telling the stories, including divorce proceedings, custody of their children, and financial considerations. According to attorney Otake, within days of the incident, Arielle had retained an attorney, dismissed, um, restraining order instead of testifying, filed for divorce, and sought full custody. Everything, uh, we talked about in the previous episode, and they had a reason for all of those. Quote, you will see how she is using the claims in this case in the divorce to get everything he told a jury. Then came the witnesses, and their testimony is where things start to narrow. Amanda Morris, an ICU nurse, testified that she and her friends were only about five minutes into the hike when they heard the screams. When they reached the scene, she saw a man on top of a woman, and she saw him hit her in the head with a rock. She also made it clear she did not see how the altercation started. She described Arielle as covered in blood with large gashes to her head and said she was not able to walk on her own, instead moving down the trail with assistance. On cross examination, the defense highlighted that Amanda only saw one strike and confirmed that Arielle never lost consciousness. What does losing consciousness have to do with the price of tea in China? You keep pointing to that somebody could allegedly attempt to murder you and you’ll never lose conscious. That didn’t mean that the person didn’t attempt to murder you. Allegedly. And of course, she only saw one strike because that’s when Gerhardt looked up and saw them and he stopped. The second witness, Sarah Bushesbaum, I think. I don’t know how to say her last name. Anyway, she told a similar story about, uh, sorry, um, uh, I’m messing up. She told a similar story as Amanda about hearing the screams and running towards them. She said she saw Gerhardt near the edge of the cliff holding a rock while Arielle was already on her stomach crawling towards them. She testified that Arielle was saying, help me. He’s trying to kill me. Call 911. And described making eye contact with Gerhardt, calling his expression, quote, a cold, motionless stare that made her feel uneasy. Like Amanda, she acknowledged that she did not see how the incident even Started. Police testimony was then brought in. Officers canvassed the area for hours, mapping out the trail and searching for evidence. They recovered the rock and found blood on the surrounding bush. But they did not find a syringe, a, uh, vial or several of the personal items the prosecution says was present during the attack. So at this point in the trial, everything comes down to how the jury interprets what happened in those moments on the trail. Now we’re going to play, you know, our little fake LaM jury here. I’m going to say fake because I’m not trying to get in trouble. So pretend that you’re on the jury for this trial and as I bring information every day, you’re going to, at, ah, the end, give your verdict. So you heard the initial case and this is day one where the state is arguing intent. They’re saying it was planned, that Gerhardt brought items with him, attempted to push Arielle off a cliff, and then tried to kill her with a rock when that didn’t work. And the defense argues that this was just a fight between two people in a failing marriage. And it escalated and what happened was not an attempt to kill, but a reaction in the moment. So don’t make any decisions yet, just take all the facts in and I’m going to bring you day two tomorrow. Gerhardt has been held without bail since this incident and faces attempted murder in the second degree, which means that if he is convicted, he could be looking at life in prison. The trial is expected to continue for several weeks, which is why I said I probably won’t be able to bring it to you every single day. But I won’t skip a day of the trial. I may skip a day in the recording, if you understand what I’m saying. But I’m going to bring you every single day of the trial and then we’re going to make our verdict at the end and we’re going to see if it aligns with what the jury actually comes out with. And during the trial, both Arielle and Gerhardt’s son is expected to testify, which will likely become, uh, some of the most critical testimony in the entire case. And that is all I have for you for day one. And I’ll see you tomorrow for day two. Let m me know if you’re interested in this and I’ll continue it. If you’re not, and you would just rather wait for the update which tells you everything that’s happening all in one episode, then let me know that and you know, I’ll just do that and you’ll get the update episode the same time as everybody else. So I want to do whatever you want me to do, so just let me know in the comments below. In the meantime, look in the show notes below if you don’t remember all of the facts of the initial case and you could hear all of those facts and you could put it together with day one and moving forward throughout the case. All right, thank you so much for being part of the lam fam. Thank you so much for your support and I’ll see you in the next episode. Bye.

Past Cases Mentioned in this Episode:

“Wait, She’s Not Dead?” Maui Husband Allegedly Attempted to Murder Wife on Cliffside | Gerhardt Konig
https://murderandlove.com/wait-shes-not-dead-maui-husband-allegedly-attempted-to-murder-wife-on-cliffside-gerhardt-konig/

Sources: (what the sources say)

https://www.courttv.com/news/hi-v-gerhardt-konig-trouble-in-paradise-trial/

https://www.kitv.com/news/crime/live-updates-maui-doctor-faces-trial-for-allegedly-attempting-to-kill-his-wife-on-oahu/article_a2ea5cb1-ae0d-4e34-a1a1-68f1fa5decb2.html

https://www.crimeonline.com/2026/03/24/gerhardt-konig-trial-watch-live-dr-tries-to-push-wife-700-feet-from-oahu-cliff-during-birthday-hike/

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2026/03/20/maui-anesthesiologists-attempted-murder-trial-underway-after-oahu-trail-attack/