An engineer whose anesthesiologist husband is charged with attempted murder reportedly tried to escape him several times during his alleged attack atop a famous hiking spot in Hawaii, police say.
Arielle Konig, 36, survived the March 24 incident when her husband, Gerhardt Konig, allegedly tried to throw her off a cliff in Oahu, Hawaii, PEOPLE previously reported.
Arielle accused Gerhardt, her husband of seven years, of pushing her after she refused to take a photo with him during their hike on a trail at the Pali Lookout, a 1,200-foot peak, according to an affidavit obtained by PEOPLE.
While on the hike, Gerhardt asked to take a selfie with Arielle but, given how close to the edge Gerhardt was, she did not feel comfortable, she told investigators.
When she tried to walk away, Gerhardt yelled at her, she alleged. When she refused a second time, he allegedly “pushed her into the bushes” and a struggle ensued, the affidavit states.
Arielle initially managed to escape, but he allegedly attacked her again — hitting her on the head with a rock about 10 times, while holding her by her hair and “smashing her face to the ground,” the affidavit alleges.
As she screamed for help, Arielle heard two other hikers and crawled over to them, she told police.
Gerhardt then allegedly grabbed two syringes out of his bag and tried to inject her with them before she was able to escape him once again, per the affidavit.
One of the two witnesses told police she heard Arielle screaming for help and found Gerhardt allegedly on top of his wife hitting her head. He stopped when he saw her, the witness told police.
Arielle was eventually able to move away from her husband, as he fled up the trail, per the affidavit.
Honolulu Police Department
Gerhardt Konig
Gerhardt, an anesthesiologist from Pittsburgh, Pa., married Arielle, a nuclear engineer, in 2018, according to Allegheny County court records.
In a restraining order filed last week, Arielle alleged Gerhardt accused her of having an affair in December and was acting “extremely” jealous, the Associated Press reported.
The couple had been going through counseling.
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Gerhardt was charged with attempted murder and held on $5 million bail, per online court records, which did not indicate plea information as of the publishing time. Lawyers listed for him in court records did not respond to requests for comment from PEOPLE.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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