HONOLULU — The attempted murder trial for an anesthesiologist accused of trying to kill his wife during a cliffside hike near a popular scenic lookout point in Hawaii is getting closer, with closing arguments expected Tuesday.
The trial began last month, nearly a year after Gerhardt and Ariel Koenig took a hike on Pali Puka Trail in Honolulu, and ended with her bloodied and her screaming that he tried to kill her. Gerhardt Koenig has pleaded not guilty.
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Editor’s Note: This story includes discussion of domestic violence. If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233 in the U.S.
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The couple was on a weekend trip to the Hawaiian capital to celebrate her birthday in March 2025 while their two young sons stayed home on Maui. Near a lookout point offering sweeping views, Gerhard Koenig, 47, upset by his wife’s affair with a co-worker, tried to push her off the steep road, hit her head with a rock and tried to stab her with a syringe, prosecutors said.
The trial, with testimony broadcast live by Court TV, aired the couple’s marital problems that preceded the trip, along with their version of what happened on the road.
Gerhard König testified that his wife was having an affair, which he confirmed by unlocking her phone while she was sleeping. The relationship, which Ariel Koenig described as a “passionate affair” involving flirtatious messages with a co-worker, came to light during the trip.
Ariel Koenig testified that her husband grabbed her and moved her toward the edge of the cliff, but she threw herself to the ground in an attempt to hold on. She said he got into it and had a syringe in his hand, but she pushed it away. She said she bit his forearm and squeezed his testicles in an attempt to get him off her.
Her husband denied pushing her to the edge and testified that she hit him in the side of the face with a rock. He added that he wrestled with the rock and hit him twice in self-defense.
He denied the presence of any syringes on the mountain or any attempt to stab her. The defense attorney told jurors that no syringe was found at the scene.
Two hikers who heard Ariel Koenig’s screams helped her onto the trail.
Pali Puka, which means “perforated cliff” in Hawaiian, leads to a hole in a rocky ridge from which hikers can peer into the forest to see the ocean. The trail was closed because state officials deemed it unsafe, but hikers often enter through the small clearing, ignoring the warning sign that says: “Area Closed! Do not pass this sign.”
Gerhardt Koenig testified that as he watched his wife crawl away, he thought his marriage and career were over, and decided to jump to his death. But first he called his adult son from a previous marriage. The son told authorities that his father said he “tried to kill your stepmother” — a confession Gerhardt Koenig denied making.
He spent hours on the mountain before deciding to descend and surrender to the police.
His wife has since filed for divorce.