A well-known doctor is accused of attempting to kill his wife, a nuclear engineer, by pushing her off a picturesque trail in Hawaii and hitting her on the head with a rock. Reports suggest the attack occurred because she declined to take a photo with him.

Gerhardt Konig, 46, a distinguished anesthesiologist, was taken into custody on Monday following the alleged attack on his wife, Arielle Konig, at the Nuʻuanu Pali Lookout in Oahu.

Law enforcement officials now tell Hawaii News Now that the assault came after Arielle, 36, refused to take a picture with her husband. 

She reportedly told officials Konig had assaulted her with closed fists and a rock before he tried to shove her off the hiking trail.

During the attack, Konig reportedly also produced two syringes and injected Arielle with them. The contents of the syringes remain unknown.

Following the attack, Arielle was brought to a local hospital in critical condition with serious head and facial injuries. 

Koning faces a second-degree attempted murder charge, pending review from the prosecutor’s office.

Police responded to the beauty spot around 10.30am Monday after witnesses called 911 to report that a man was beating a woman at the Pali Puka hiking trail.

Arielle was taken to the emergency room, where she told medical officials that her husband had attacked her – sparking a six-hour hunt to find the anesthesiologist.

Konig was ultimately located near the hiking trail after fleeing the scene on foot, law enforcement officials said.

‘HPD officers located Gerhardt Konig near Pali Highway and arrested him after a brief foot pursuit. Charges are pending,’ Honolulu police said in a statement.

‘Mahalo to the public for your assistance,’ it added.

The couple have been married since 2018, and live in a $1.5million home in Maui – but were visiting the beauty spot in Oahu at the time of the alleged incident. 

Konig was also previously married to another woman and has at least one child. 

His medical license, which Konig obtained in September 2022, is still in good standing as of early Wednesday morning, according to the state’s professional vocational licensing database.

Maui Health hired Konig through an independent agency and he worked at several medical facilities across the healthcare system.

His employment with the medical center has been suspended pending investigation.

‘Maui Health is committed to patient safety and upholding the highest standards of care,’ Maui Health told KHON2 a statement. 

‘We have been made aware of the allegations against Gerhardt Konig, MD. Dr. Konig has been suspended from the Medical Staff pending investigation.’

Konig previously worked as an Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology and Bioengineering at the University of Pittsburgh Schools of Medicine and Engineering.

He then took a partner role at the Anesthesia Medical Group in Maui.

Arielle earned her bachelor’s nuclear engineering from Penn State University and also had an MBA from the University of Pittsburgh, her LinkedIn account showed.

She is currently employed as a project manager at nuclear reactor design and development engineering company TerraPower.

Konig’s colleagues at Maui Memorial Medical Center – the island’s main hospital – told KITV that they were surprised by the reports that the ‘friendly’ and ‘quiet’ doctor allegedly tried to kill his wife.

A similar sentiment was echoed by the couple’s former friends and neighbors in Pittsburgh’s Mt. Lebanon neighborhood, KDKA reports.

Ben Brown, who lived near door to Konig for several years until the doctor relocated to Maui in pursuit of his alleged ‘dream job’, described the family as ‘friendly’ and said they were ‘good neighbors’.

While those who personally knew Konig and his wife were shocked by the allegations, advocates for domestic violence victims say the case highlights just how ‘prevalent’ partner abuse is. 

‘When they say they (domestic violence incidents) don’t discriminate, it’s absolutely true,’ Sanoe Ka’aihue, the executive director of Women Helping Women, told KITV.

Citing how both Konig and Arielle were ‘high income earners’, she argued that domestic violence incidents are reported across all socioeconomic classes and professions.

‘If the intent is there to harm someone, it’ll happen,’ she added, noting the advocacy service has received an increase in reports of premeditated domestic violence incidents on Maui in last few years.

Ka’aihue said the alleged acts of partner violence have recently become ‘more lethal’, noting how in the last few months at least two Maui women were allegedly killed by their partners.

• If you or someone you know is in crisis, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800.799.SAFE (7233) for 24-hour, confidential support.