Hawaii Nurse Recalls Seeing Hiker Hitting Wife w/ Rocks On Pali Puka Trail
Amanda Morris is a nurse in the adult intensive care unit at Kapiʻolani Medical Center for Women & Children in Honolulu, Hawaii, who witnessed Gerhardt Konig hitting his wife, Arielle, in the face with rocks while hiking on the Pali Puka Trail on O’ahu.

She was the first witness in Konig’s attempted murder trial last Thursday (March 19) in Honolulu Circuit Court on O’ahu.

The Konigs moved to Maui from Pittsburgh in 2023. Gerhardt was a licensed anesthesiologist and Arielle worked remotely in nuclear engineering.

Morris was hiking with her friend Sarah Buchsbaum when they saw the Konigs. Buchsbaum testified after Morris. (You can watch her testimony, and hear her 911 call, here: • Jury Hears Vacationing Nurse’s 911 Call Ab… )

Joel Garner, a deputy prosecuting attorney in Honolulu County’s Department Of The Prosecuting Attorney, questioned her in direct-examination.

01:25 the trail: “It can be pretty hazardous. Whenever you get up to the ridge, it’s pretty narrow, and it has a sheer drop off.”

02:02 “We were a couple minutes in, maybe midway between the start of the trail and kind of where the ridge is at. We started hearing someone scream for help over and over again.”

02:32 “We thought somebody had fallen. It’s not uncommon for someone to fall because of the ridge being so steep and narrow.”

02:52 “We quickly got to the top, just because we were worried someone was in danger.”

03:22 “when … we turned the corner to the left, we saw a man and a woman.”
“What was the position of the woman?”
“She was laying on her back.”
“What was the position of the man?”
“He was on top of her.”
“When you first got there did you see the man doing anything?”
“Yes, he was hitting her with a rock.”

04:33 “Could you please take a look around the whole courtroom, and if you see the male that you saw on that day hitting the woman with the rock, could you point him out and let us know an article of clothing he’s wearing?”
“Yes, this gentleman in the blue.”

05:21 “They both saw us, and he stopped and stood up.”

06:35 “Sarah and I started to take a couple steps back, because we were a little afraid for our own safety, since we were kind of close to the edge.”

06:49 “we kind of turned a little bit of a corner, and that’s when Sarah started to call 911…”

08:06 “Yeah, I asked her if she could stand, and she was not able to, so she was able to turn over onto her bottom and scoot herself down.”

09:54 “Does this photo fairly and accurately depict the woman’s injuries as you observe them on March 24, 2025?”
“Yes.”

11:45 cross-exam by defense attorney Thomas Otake

16:06 “And Gerhardt doesn’t say anything to you guys, correct?”
“Correct.”
“And he doesn’t, from what you saw, he doesn’t come down and try to stop Ms. Konig from crawling away, did he?”
“No.”
“He let her crawl down to where you guys were?”
“Yes.”

17:01 “During time period you were assisting Ms Koning, she did not lose consciousness, correct?”
“Correct.”
“She was awake and alive and scooting to you, yelling out to you guys, correct?”
“Yes.”

19:35 “Did you see any vials or syringes?”
“No, I did not.”

20:20 re-direct

20:39 “Was Arielle able to walk under her own power?”
“No.”

21:59 re-cross