A Honolulu jury convicted Gerhardt Konig, a Maui anesthesiologist, of attempted manslaughter on April 9, 2026, following a trial in the First Circuit Court of the State of Hawaii [1]. Prosecutors had charged Konig with attempted murder in the second degree, stemming from an altercation with his wife on the Pali Puka Trail cliff on O'ahu [1]. The attempted murder charge survived pretrial proceedings and went to the jury as the primary count.
At trial, Konig's defense raised an affirmative defense under Hawaii law recognizing extreme mental or emotional disturbance as a mitigating factor [1]. The jury accepted that defense, which under Hawaii's criminal code reduces an attempted murder charge to attempted manslaughter rather than serving as a complete bar to conviction [1]. Deputy Prosecutors Joel Garner and Franklin Donald Pacarro presented the prosecution's case, while Thomas Otake represented Konig [1].
The emotional disturbance finding carries significant sentencing consequences. Attempted murder in the second degree in Hawaii exposes a defendant to a potential sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole, while the attempted manslaughter conviction caps Konig's exposure at a maximum of 20 years [1]. Judge Paul B.K. Wong scheduled sentencing for August 13, 2026 [1].
No post-verdict motions or appeal filings were reported in the available sources as of the verdict date.
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