‘He tried to kill her’: Son testifies father confessed to attack on stepmother at Oahu trail

Emile Konig testified his father confessed to trying to kill his stepmother during a FaceTime call following an alleged attack at the Pali Puka Trail on Oahu.

Emile Konig, who was 19 during the incident, took the stand as a key prosecution witness against his father, Gerhardt Konig. Last March, Emile was living with his father and stepmother, Arielle, and two half-siblings in Kahului, Maui.

He referred to his father as the defendant, and said he had not spoken to his father since that day.

Emile testified that after the alleged attack, Gerhardt made a video call to him on FaceTime. He saw blood on his father’s shirt.

“He would not be making it back to Maui and to take care of the younger kids and that Ari, my stepmom had been cheating on him and that he tried to kill her,” Emile said.

Emile described emotional moments where his father wanted to harm himself.

“During that call, the next plan that he said was to jump off the cliff,” he said.

Deputy prosecutor Joel Garner asked how he reacted.

“I told him not to,” Emile said.

He testified his father did not say anything about self-defense. In opening statements, Konig’s defense attorney, Thomas Otake, said Arielle attacked first.

During cross-examination, Otake questioned Emile about the FaceTime call.

Otake asked if Emile saw blood on his father’s shirt.

“Yes,” Emile said.

Otake asked if Gerhardt told him it was Arielle’s blood.

“Yes,” Emile said.

Otake asked if Gerhardt explained that Arielle had been cheating on him for a couple months.

“Yes,” Emile said.

Otake asked if Gerhardt told him the blood was from her head.

“Correct,” Emile said.

Otake asked if half an hour earlier everything seemed fine.

“Yes,” Emile said.

During testimony, Gerhardt sat in the courtroom showing no emotion. Emile’s grandparents also watched stoically.