The doctor accused of attempting to kill his wife while hiking in Hawaii pleaded not guilty on Monday to a second-degree murder charge and insisted he should be allowed to post bail due to his previously clean criminal record.
Dr. Gerhardt Konig, 46, appeared before a judge via closed circuit TV during a brief, two-minute-long pretrial hearing.
A trial date was tentatively set for June 9 as Konig remains in jail, though he’ll ask the court to set bail.
“As the court is aware, it’s pretty commonplace in attempted murder and murder cases over the last 10 years, that some degree of bail would be set,” defense attorney Thomas Otake said.
“We see no reason why this case would be any different, especially given the fact that Dr. Konig has no prior record record.”
The near-fatal attack allegedly unfolded on March 24 when Dr. Konig and wife Arielle Konig were on Pali Puka Trail in Honolulu. authorities said.
That’s when the Maui anesthesiologist asked her to take a picture of them, but the victim didn’t want to because they were too “close to the edge, so she declined and began to walk back,” according to court documents supporting his arrest.
Konig then pushed Arielle into bushes, picked up a rock and struck her on the head about 10 times “while also grabbing the back of her hair and smashing her face into the ground,” authorities said.
The suspect took “out two syringes from his bag and attempted to use them on her, but she was able to get them away from him,” according to the police declaration.
The attack only subsided when other hikers heard screams of “Help! Help me!” and intervened, officials said. Dr. Konig fled before he was caught hours later after a short foot chase.
“Dr. Konig’s not guilty plea this morning was not just a formality, but a substantive response to the allegation that he tried to kill his wife,” Otake said in a statement on behalf of his client.
“There are two sides to every story, and thus far only one side has been shared. The other side to this story will be shared within the court process at the appropriate time.”