Friday, April 10, 2026 - A top doctor has been found guilty of attempted manslaughter after he tried to push his wife off a cliff in Hawaii while attacking her with a rock.
Anesthesiologist Gerhardt Konig, 47, was convicted
Wednesday, April 8, of trying to kill his nuclear engineer wife, Arielle Konig,
37, on March 24, 2025, while on a cliffside hike in Oahu.
As the verdict was read at Oahu First Circuit Court,
Gerhardt was visibly distressed while members of the jury confirmed the
finding.
Gerhardt slowly bowed his head as his guilty verdict was
delivered, appearing to take in the conviction, which carries a maximum
sentence of 20 years in prison.
The jury convicted him of a lesser charge based on mental or
emotional disturbance after two days of deliberation.
Gerhardt previously pleaded not guilty to second-degree
attempted murde£r charges, claiming he acted in self-defense.
During the three-week trial, prosecutors claimed
that Gerhardt pushed Arielle near the edge of the Pali Puka Trail and
beat her multiple times with a rock on her birthday.
Gerhardt's lawyers claimed that Arielle attacked her husband
first. They said the incident was a case of 'he said, she said.'
Arielle said she had been trying to repair the couple's
marriage after Gerhardt found 'flirty messages' between her and a coworker.
She described the relationship as a three-month-long
'emotional affair' with her coworker.
'I was apologetic,' she testified. 'He was obviously hurt. I
was committed to my marriage, to rebuild. It felt like an affair to him. It was
an emotional affair to him.'
Arielle claimed that after her husband wrestled her to the
ground, he pulled out a vial and a syringe before attacking her with the rock.
The defense noted that police never found a syringe at the
scene or evidence that he tried to inject his wife with any substance.
She told the court that she screamed, 'Please help, he's
trying to kill me' as her husband attacked her.
The attack only ended when two female hikers heard her pleas
for help and called 911, the prosecution argued.
Gerhardt had fled the scene when the two hikers arrived, and
allegedly called his son, confessing to attacking his wife and saying he was
going to take his own life.
Arielle testified that she was treated for 'severe scalp
lacerations' following the incident and showed picture evidence of her injuries
during the trial.
A physician from Queen's Medical Center, though, claimed she
had suffered crushed tissue down to the skull.
Gerhardt told the court that the couple had gotten into an
argument over their affair and that she struck him with a rock first before
they wrestled one another to the ground.
He admitted to striking her with a rock but denied that he
had any syringes.
The court was shown photographs of the contents of his
medical bag, which included a syringe and a generic form of Propofol, the
powerful anesthetic that caused Michael Jackson's fatal overdose.
Gerhardt also dispelled accusations that he attempted to
push his wife toward the cliff's edge.
The estranged husband expressed remorse for the attack.
'I felt horrified about what I did to her, that I had caused
this to her, that I had resorted to violence against my wife, the person whom I
love the most in the world,' he said. 'And I just kind of felt hopeless in
terms of our relationship, too.'
Prosecutors claimed Gerhardt came up with a plan to kill his
wife to avoid a divorce amid their marital issues.
It was also revealed that Gerhardt stood to gain $250,000
from a life insurance policy in the event of Arielle's death.
Arielle filed for divorce in May 2025 and sought full
custody of the couple's young sons.
Gerhardt has been in jail since his arrest in March 2025,
roughly eight hours after he attacked his wife. His medical staff privileges at
Maui Health were revoked.
Arielle and Gerhardt married in 2018, two years after
meeting on a dating app.
His sentencing is scheduled for August 13.
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