On Monday, April 7th, an anesthesiologist pleaded not guilty after he was accused of attempting to kill his wife on a popular Hawaii hiking trail last month. The 46-year-old, Gerhardt Konig was charged with attempted second-degree murder after the Honolulu Prosecuting Attorney’s office said he bashed his wife’s head with a rock and attempted to inject her with a syringe with unknown substances.

Konig appeared via a video feed for his hearing from the Oahu Community Correctional Center, where he’s been held without bail. According to an ABC News article, “Gerhardt Konig’s not guilty plea is ‘a substantive response to the allegation that he tried to kill his wife,’ his attorney, Thomas Otake, said in a statement”(Murphy and Shapiro, April 7th).

Konig’s wife alleged she was on the Pali Puka Trail on Oahu with her husband to celebrate her birthday on March 24th when Gerhardt stood near the edge, asking her to take a selfie with him, according to court documents. According to a CNN article, his wife stated, “‘When I got close to Gerhardt, Gerhardt grabbed me by my upper arms and started pushing me back towards the cliff edge. He was yelling something to the effect of, ‘Get back over there, l’m so sick of you!’ and continued to push me. … If I had fallen off the cliff, I would have likely died'” (Miracle and Babineau, April 7th).

Konig’s wife wrote in a petition that he had grabbed his bag, attempting to inject her with a syringe containing unknown substances. During the struggle, she tried to grab ahold of the syringe to throw it out of his reach, but he had a second vial in his hand.

Three days after the attack, Konig’s wife made a petition for a temporary restraining order. A judge on Friday the 4th granted the temporary restraining order for the safety of her and her children.