Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - WIFE OF 'BELOVED' DR. FACES DEATH AT SHEER CLIFF EDGE ON ROMANTIC 'GETAWAY'

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

For her 36th birthday, anesthesiologist Gerhardt Konig whisks his wife, engineer Arielle, away for a romantic getaway. He secretly plans the trip, arranging for family members and a hired nanny to stay with their two sons. The couple decides to hike a popular trail along the Koʻolau Mountains, leading to Pali Puka, a rock formation framing the east side of Oʻahu.   Konig hopes the trip will ease tension after months of couples therapy following his accusations that Arielle had an affair. Arielle denies the claims and struggles to understand their origin. She wants to regain her husband’s trust, but his jealousy and abuse, including sexual assaults, have only escalated.   During the hike, Arielle wants to push forward but stops when she sees the final steep stretch. She chooses to wait while Konig completes the climb. When he returns, he takes a picture of her in a tree and suggests they take a selfie at the trail’s edge, overlooking Oʻahu. Arielle smiles for the photo but immediately asks him to step forward so she can move away from the edge.   As she follows him, Konig suddenly turns, grabs her arms, and shoves her toward the cliff, saying, “Get back over there. I’m so f***ing sick of you!”   At first, Arielle thinks he is joking, but he pushes her again, pins her down, and pulls a syringe and vial from his bag, attempting to fill the syringe. She knocks it from his hands, but he digs into his bag again, possibly searching for another. Instead, he grabs a rock and repeatedly strikes her head.   Other hikers hear Arielle’s screams and rush to help. Konig, covered in blood, flees into the woods and video calls his adult son, Emile. Shocked by his father’s appearance, Emile listens as Konig starts to explain but stops mid-sentence and says, “I just tried to kill Ari, but she got away.” He then tells Emile he wants to jump off the cliffs and kill himself. Joining Nancy Grace today,  Philip Dubé  - Court-appointed Counsel, Los Angeles County Public Defenders: Criminal & Constitutional Law; Forensics & Mental Health Advocacy Dr. Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst, Author: "Deal Breaker;" Featured in hit show: "Paris in Love" on Peacock; Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall, X: @DrBethanyLive Bill Hernandez - Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Detective, California Dr. Catherine Hannan - Chief of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at the Veteran's Affairs Medical Center Washington DC and owner of Washington Women Plastic Surgery; Instagram and Facebook @DrHannanDC Mahealani Richardson - Four-time Emmy Award Winning Anchor / Reporter at Hawaii News Now; Instagram @maheaTV, Facebook @MahealaniRichardson   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

You're listening to an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. The wife of a beloved doctor faces death at a sheer cliff's edge on a romantic getaway. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. After relocating from Pennsylvania to Maui, anesthesiologist Dr. Gerhard Koenig plans a romantic birthday getaway for his wife on the rocky cliffs of Oahu, Hawaii.

Facing death on a sheer cliff on a romantic getaway. Can you imagine the terror she felt that must have coursed through her body, looking down at a great height on a very narrow trail? Joining me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know now. But who are these people? Listen. Gerhard Koenig, an anesthesiologist and professor at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, falls head over heels for nuclear power plant project engineer Ariel. Despite their 10-year age gap, Gerhard and Ariel are married in 2018,

have their first baby boy in 2020, and another two years later. In 2023, the couple decides to follow one of Gerhardt's dreams and move from Pennsylvania to Maui, Hawaii. Gerhardt becomes a partner at the Anesthesia Medical Group and frequently works at Maui Memorial Medical Center, while Ariel retains her job at TerraPower. Again, joining us, an all-star panel to make sense of what we are learning, what happened on that narrow path, on the drop of a sheer cliff's edge. Straight out to special guest joining me, four-time Emmy award-winning anchor, investigative reporter at Hawaii News Now, joining us, Mahealani Richardson. Mahealani, thank you so much for being with us. First of all, tell me about this cliff, the sheer drop. You know, my husband is afraid of heights. He can't even look down. He can't ride a Ferris wheel, nothing. So tell me about this location. Well, this location is off the Pali lookout. It is one

of the most popular destinations on the island of Oahu besides Diamond Head. And the reason being is on the island of Oahu, it is just 15 minutes away from downtown Honolulu. So the trail that they went on is up the Palipuka Trail. It is an off-limits trail. The state of Hawaii does not sanction people to go there, but it is still popular. And you can see those cliffs. It has a wide sweeping view of Windward O'ahu. And when people go up this very narrow, very dangerous trail, at the top of it is a puka, a hole. It is six feet wide and people can see through the mountain like a window to Windward O'ahu. And that's why so many people like to go there. Dr. Bethany Marshall joining us, high profile psychoanalyst out of L.A., author of Deal Breaker.

And you can see her now on Peacock. She's at DrBethanyMarshall.com. Thrill seekers. Why do they do it? But let me just say the wife did not want to do this. She did not want to do this. She did not want to go on that narrow trail. But what is it about thrill seekers? You know, Dr. Bethany Marshall, you and I talked about this when it happened.

We took the children to Gatorland to see old Florida. My son wanted to zip cord across very high up across a big lake full of gators. I mean, my head, it was going off like one of those arcade games. No, I didn't let him. And it's very hard for me to say no to John David. But the thrill, why do people want that thrill? You know, Nancy, there's a drive that we actually share in common with all mammals. And it's kind of like a foraging drive.

It's like when you want to go out, explore the world, have adventures, learn new and amazing things. And it's something that we all have. And some people are just able to switch that switch on and enjoy it and explore the world. But in this case, I look at this as a beautiful, beautiful setting. But gosh, I would be really careful a beautiful, beautiful setting. But gosh, I would be really careful on a trail like that, especially since the public is not even supposed to go there. Dr. Bethany, there is a big difference in me wanting to take the twins to see new and different things like Yosemite, the arch in St. Louis, the Lewis and Clark trail, the great confluence of the mighty Mississippi

and the muddy Missouri and risking your life, risking your life. I mean, you just heard Mayolani Richardson state that this is off limits, that the government, the state does not sanction anybody going on this trail. And here she ends up facing death on that narrow trail is exactly what they said. Don't do. But Nancy, now you're going to get me on my favorite topic, which is sociopathy. And if this alleged crime is true, I don't know completely what happened on that trail is that people who fall into this personality disorder have a lot of inner emptiness and boredom. So they seek out stimulating activities. They like to break the law. They like to have heights. They like, they won't just ski

down a mountain. They will helicopter ski. They'll jump out of a helicopter. So the more that they can push the limits, the more alive they feel. So I'm curious about this population who is actually trespassing and breaking the law and hiking in this particular spot. I wouldn't want to go there. And if I were the wife, I'd be quite suspicious of, you know, somebody who has a medical license, but is actually trespassing on public property. I've got a very strong feeling of Philip Dubé joining me, high profile defense attorney joining us out of the California jurisdiction. Philip Dubé, I don't think the beloved doctor dragged his wife up the side of that mountain in Hawaii just for thrills. So how can you look at a jury and say he was just adventurous? B.S. I can't wait to hear this. I'm not aware of any evidence that he took her off the trail.

This is a very heavily foot trafficked area where there are witnesses galore. You cannot believe how many people from all over the world are at the new Uwanapali lookout point. And it's not there just to craft a place to commit the perfect homicide, but rather it's a panoramic viewpoint that is available on every side. Please put him up. I cannot believe Dube just managed to work into the Senate's panoramic viewpoint. I agree with you. I don't think he dragged his wife up there to take her off the trail. I think he dragged her up there to throw her off the trail. I mean, can you look at me, Dubé, with a straight face and argue that was not his intent? She didn't want to go up there. She didn't want to take the trail.

She tried to hang on to a tree for Pete's sake, according to what we have learned. But no, he insisted on a selfie at the sheer drop at the edge of the path on a cliff up there in the clouds. Philip Dubé, she didn't want to go. Yeah, but somehow she managed to get up there. I sincerely doubt that they're going to be able to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he was holding her by the collar, by the back of the neck and just dragging her all the way up. I don't know how many thousands of feet just so he could knock her off diamond head there.

It's ridiculous. I think that when the jury has the opportunity to flesh out the facts, they're going to see that this is poetry in motion and that he's not an octopus. Whoa. Did you just call this poetry in motion? Did he say that? OK, you did say this is poetry in motion. Then how in the hay does she get her head totally bashed in? This is a yes, no. Did you just call this poetry in motion? Yes, with a capital Y.

Again, joining me in all star panel. Let me go straight out to Bill Hernandez, domestic violence, sex assault detective, California, never a lack of business in that jurisdiction. Bill, thank you for being with us. You know, very often, Bill, in situations like this, we see the wife going along with all the husband's harebrained ideas to placate the husband, right? This is an example, a true example I've given many, many times. This is not from court when I prosecuted felonies. This is from volunteer work at the Battered Women's Center. I had a very well-connected executive, a corporate executive, call home to his battered wife. She was also the perfect wife and tell her he was bringing people home to make Mexican food. She made tacos. He beat her into a coma

because she didn't make enchiladas. This woman would jump through hoops, whatever the husband wanted to avoid a beating, to placate him, whatever the demand or the request might be, just in order to keep the peace. They had children. She didn't want the children to see this. She didn't want the children to know what was going on. He would take the phones out of the cord, out of the wall very often when he would leave for work. And this was a very educated woman, much like the victim in this case, Bill Hernandez. So when the husband takes her for a romantic getaway, this wealthy doctor and his sis, they go on this trail together on the special day.

That day, of course, she went along. She didn't want to cause a scene or a problem. Have you ever seen that happen, Bill? Absolutely. It's all about course of control and power and control and that type of relationship. And quite often I see this on a daily basis. Whenever I'm doing my investigations is all this power and control that these people exert over their, you know, their spouses. And the spouses want to really make the home safe and calm and comfortable.

But yet, you know, they've got to do all these things in order to make this other person happy, which is seemingly never able to happen. You're right, Bill. It's never enough. It never makes the spouse happy. The partner. It's a circle. It's a circle. You have the blow up where the beating or the abuse occurs. It could be sex abuse.

It could be a marital rape. It could just be a regular old fashioned beating. Then there is the honeymoon phase where the attacker tries to make up, tries to assume normalcy. It's called the sweetheart phase. Then tension begins building, building, building, building. There could be verbal assaults, brooding, palpable anger in the air until the blow up and the next attack. And then it happens over and over and over.

Very complicated. Now, you know what's interesting? Straight back out to Mahealani Richardson joining us from Hawaii News Now. Mahealani, this victim has been called, was called, the perfect wife. Beautiful, a great mother, and just the icing on the cake. Isn't she a nuclear engineer? Yes, highly educated, Nancy. And that's why domestic violence experts are saying that this really defies stereotypes. That's what they've told me in interviews. Highly educated, both of them.

Their friends have told Hawaii News Now that they were completely shocked by this incident and to see this blow up on the news. Because what they had seen, especially their housekeeper who had just seen them the week before, she said that Dr. Koenig was pleasant. He was respectful. He was quiet. She thought that he was that way because he's a very busy doctor. And Ariel, a sweet woman, a lovely woman. They were both very gentle and kind to the kids. So what it seemed to be a perfect family. And that's why people cannot believe that this happened.

You know, another thing to the outside world, they appear to be a perfect couple. And all of the friends, their inner circle actually said that they weren't just happy, but that he outwardly doted upon her. What does that mean, Mahe Yolani? The domestic violence experts that we've talked to had said, this is why this is so unbelievable, because people have images and thoughts about doctors. They're supposed to be trusted. They take an oath to do no harm. And so that's why it defies all expectations. And as for Ariel, again, she is a highly educated woman. We know that she fought back during this incident. She refused to be pushed during this incident. She refused to be pushed off this cliff.

On what should have been a romantic birthday retreat, Dr. Koenig urges his wife, Ariel, to take a seemingly innocent selfie at the edge of the new Awanupeli lookout, but her gut tells her something's off. Couples therapy. We find out the two had been in couples therapy for months. There we see the first crack in the relationship that something is wrong. But you would think Dr. Bethany Marshall, if they're both committed to couples therapy, they want to save the marriage.

You know, not necessarily, because when I see couples like this in treatment, often the perpetrator will try to have power over me. So it's a very difficult treatment setting. You know, Nancy, she might have been so adept at making his world okay that they look like the perfect couple to everybody from the outside. She may have just been very good at pleasing him, not upsetting him. You know, women like this tend to have a sixth sense. They just know when the other person's going to get upset. So, you know, she, I think there could have been a type of passivity that he exploited, even though she was a very powerful person in her professional life. I don't know that it's a sixth sense, Dr. Bethany. It may be intuition, but I think when you've lived through so much abuse, we're now learning.

I don't know what led her to agree to go up the side of that sheer cliff where she looks down facing death and this after a brutal beating with a rock to her skull. You know, another thing straight back out to Philip Dubé, veteran trial lawyer joining us from the L.A. jurisdiction. Did you hear what we last reported? He had it all set up. The romantic vacation, having family members, the children, relatives stay away. This was a celebration for her 36th birthday. And he drags her up that cliff on her birthday, but he made sure nobody else was around. He wanted quality alone time translation, no witnesses do Bay. I mean, when my husband says, hey, let's go X. I want to take the children. I've been taking trips with him since college. I'm fine. We've been on plenty of trips. I want to be with the children. But no, he didn't want the boys to come along. Have you thought that

through, Dubay? Of course I have. But it's still a heavily visited lookout path and trail. You got people from all over the world there. And to suggest that merely because... I didn't ask you that. I asked you why didn't you want the boys to come? The reason why is because it's a weekend away. It's a date night, if you will, a date getaway weekend. So you don't want to have to deal with the kids.

They have a very fancy life. They can afford a nanny. They kids. They have a very fancy life. They can afford a nanny for a couple of days. And if they're trying to work on the marriage with the kids, let me ask you, Philip Dubay, do you have children? Not yet. Well, let me tell you, when you have children and you love your children, you want to be with them. I wish that happiness for you. You know, deal with them. This would be a great trip for the boys. But no, he wants to get her off to himself. You know what? I'm not going to get a straight answer out of you. Bill Hernandez, he's clearly isolating her

away from the family so he can get her alone and throw her off that cliff. It's so obvious. Absolutely. This was a planned, meticulously planned attack. It wasn't, appear to be a moment of rage. I mean, they arrived at the hike. There was a lot of dangerous cliffs. He planned it. He took her away from the family. He isolated her on this on this dangerous cliff. And it was there's more to it than that. In addition to the throwing off the cliff scheme, he also took with him, wow, what a coinkydink. He happened to have a syringe full of clear liquid with him. Yeah, that's not premeditated, But I want to focus on the fact that he isolates her away from her family, away from her parents, away from her children. The thing she loved the most gets her along on this cliff. Not the first time. What is it about a romantic getaway that inspires murder? Listen, Christy Chen and Robert Dawson married in February,

but waited five months to take the honeymoon of a lifetime in Fiji. The couple chose the luxurious Turtle Island Resort, an exclusive secluded locale with prices that run thousands of dollars a night. Resort staff said the couple drank and partied on the beach with other guests. But then the couple argued over Dawson's flirtatious dancing with someone else. The Dawsons then left the party, but their argument continued back to their private bungalow. Guests next door said they heard arguing, a loud scream, and then silence. Chen was found slumped in the tiny space between the toilet and the wall of the bathroom in their bungalow, covered in blood.

The lid of the toilet cistern was cracked and broken. He immediately tries to leave the jurisdiction there at Turtle Island. I've been told it's one of the most beautiful places in the world. This after they're both drinking, get inebriated on the beach and she's dancing. And that makes him that angry. Dr. Bethany Marshall, I consider that just an excuse for anger. She didn't sleep with anyone. She didn't kiss anyone. She didn't hold anybody's hand. Nothing like that. Everybody was dancing and she was dancing. And that was his excuse to start beating her. They're only five months into the marriage for Pete's sake. But you know, Nancy, abusers are often very dysregulated, meaning that they will have some small perception like, oh, she's flirting with somebody else. And

then that turns into like a massive internal earthquake. And then they can't self-regulate. And it's like their brains go offline. So I'm not trying to say this isn't premeditated, but on the other hand, they are not to mix my metaphors, but they're always about to just boil over and they notoriously have very poor impulse control. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. You know, Bill Hernandez joining me, domestic violence, sex assault expert, detective in California. Bill, have you ever noticed, and I'm using men as the example because typically and by a large majority, they're the attacker. Have you ever noticed when the man in an abusive relationship is cheating, he then blames his wife, his partner of cheating

when she's not. It's kind of like a guilty conscience. And then they project that onto the woman and use it as an excuse to beat them. I see that happen quite often. They often project whatever they're doing onto their partner and then, you know, use that as an excuse for their outburst, whether it be violent or verbal.

I'm just trying to imagine what Arielle felt, what went through her mind after fighting off a syringe attack, we think. After being bludgeoned in the face and head with a rock, then looking at death on the edge of that cliff. Something about vacations and so-called romantic getaways. What about Kenneth and Christy? Kenneth and Christy Manzanares are living the American dream. High school sweethearts, they're married with three daughters. The Manzanares are joined by Christie's brothers and parents on an alaskan family cruise aboard the emerald princess cruise ship other passengers aboard hear screaming and see kenneth manzaneras running in the hall covered in blood at first passengers think the commotion is part of a murder mystery dinner taking place about the same time then one of the three manzaneras girls begs for help saying their

mom and dad had a fight christy manzanerasanares, also bloody, is dead. Kenneth Manzanares tries to drag the body to the ship's railing. A witness grabbed Christy by the ankle and pulls her back in the room. Kenneth told the witness she wouldn't stop laughing at me and told the FBI my life is over. Straight out to Mahealani Richardson joining us from Hawaii News Now. Mahealani, in this case that we just discussed, Kenneth and Christy Manzanares, she was laughing at something her husband did or said. And he used that as an excuse to begin beating her and kill her with the children in the next room on another romantic getaway. The children raised the alarm that night on the cruise ship. They were having a murder mystery dinner and witnesses thought this was part of the production, but it was a real murder. Then he tries to drag her body to the edge of the

cruise ship and get rid of it. Now, in that case, Kenneth Manzanera stated she wouldn't quit laughing at me. And that was his excuse for killing her. In this case that we're talking about now, the beloved doctor and the perfect wife, he accused her of having a sex affair, which I don't believe happened. Well, Nancy, that's what she says in documents. And what was really interesting is that she says that he accused her of having an extramarital affair. She also says that in the months leading up to this incident, that he sexually assaulted and abused her. And so we have been learning that there is a history of abuse, just bits of information, a history of abuse before this terrible incident. Ariel Koenig hesitates to take a selfie with her husband so close to the edge

of Hawaii's Nuwanu Pele cliffs. Her instincts prove right. As we go to air tonight, chilling details emerging about the day a so-called beloved and wealthy doctor lures his perfect wife to a sheer cliff in Hawaii over her objections. She did not want to go on the trail. Again, is it something about romantic getaways that inspires murder? The murder very often of someone's wife, the mother of their children, or is that part of the plan? For instance, Dr. Scott Roston. Dr. Scott Roston and his bride honeymoon aboard the cruise ship Stardancer.

3 a.m., Roston reports his wife has gone overboard. At first, he says she has been blown off the jogging track. He then says he recalls Karen falling overboard as he tries, without success, to catch her. Ship's crew report Rostan has triangular gouges on his face and a four-inch scratch. When Karen's body is found 30 miles southwest of San Diego, there are signs of hemorrhage in her neck and eyes, and her neckbones have evidence of manual strangulation. Rostan tries one more far-fetched explanation, saying Israeli agents killed Karen because of a book

he published. Rosten has been convicted in Karen's death. Good gravy. Philip Dubay. First, he says his wife, and this is on their honeymoon, was, quote, blown off the cruise ship's jogging track. First of all, then he says Israeli agents killed her because of a book he published. What defense attorney told him to say that? Well, did it ever occur to anybody that it's true? Have you ever been on a cruise ship? No. Of course not. It never occurred to me that Israeli agent killed her because of his book.

No, that never crossed my mind. Of course not, because you want to give the defense the shaft. That's why. But did it ever occur to you that truth is stranger than fiction at times? If that's his defense, let him put it on. I'm starting to believe it right now. Well, I mean, let's let a jury decide rather than exclude it. Yes, it might be.

They did. They convicted him. But sometimes that's all you got. And in the defense world, you're just glad they even have something to say at times. And if that's what he said, the jury didn't buy it. Then you let the chips fall where they may. Unfortunate. I can't believe it.

You actually spoke the truth, DeBay. Sure. I guess even a dumpster gets a stake once in a while. Now, wait a minute. Did you start your explanation by asking me, have I ever gone jogging on a cruise ship? Or just been on a cruise ship. Let me tell you what, you're on that topic. Many, many times.

Specifically, Disney cruises. You get some pretty powerful winds. You get some powerful winds. You get some powerful winds. Yes, I've jogged and walked on a cruise ship on their jogging trail with my daughter, who weighs about 80 pounds. And never once did I fear the wind was going to blow her overboard. What, like Mary Poppins just take off with an umbrella? And you know, nor did I fear Israeli agents were going to shoot us dead. I understand. And I'm telling you, it was a fantastical fact pattern.

And whether or not a jury buys it, that's the issue. And he lost. I understand that. But it's not to say that a person could not relate, particularly those who have been on cruises before, that there are strong, heavy winds on the top deck. Remember that scene from the Titanic? You see the couple out there holding their arms out. That's not real. That was a movie. Oh, of course. Nothing is real if you need it in real life. OK, but it's certainly based on what that meant. Nothing's

real if you need it in real life. P.S. We researched and it came out at trial. The winds were five miles an hour. OK, well, not really a nor'easter. You can be impeached with an almanac. Yes, you can. But see, you've got it bass-ackwards. The defense said that, not me. They did, and they were impeached. You know what? I'm not getting anywhere with you. Let's go to Emily Jean Schwartz, just 22. Emily Jean Schwartz, 22, is reported missing after her husband, Joseph Ferlazzo, returns from the couple's anniversary trip without her. Ferlazzo says he and Emily argue and she storms off. After a lengthy police interrogation, Ferlazzo admits that while Emily is lying on the bed in their converted travel bus, he grabs his Glock handgun and shoots her in the head twice. Ferlazzo then uses a handsaw

to dismember the body, placing parts in garbage bags in the camper. Jube, did he think nobody would notice that they go on an anniversary trip and he comes back without her? It's like Brian Laundrie. Yeah, where's Gabby? What? She was right there in the Ford Transit when we took off across the country. What happened? Yeah, he's going to have to come up with some kind of a story as to how she came to her demise at the hands of somebody else or by accident or natural causes. But not once will he point the finger at himself, but he will have some type of an explanation. And what could it be? Who knows?

Maybe she took off on her own, you know, or maybe she slipped and fell and lost her life somehow. Or maybe he, in fact, had a hand in it. But is that proof beyond a reasonable doubt that he snuffed her out? It's not enough evidence. You know, I'm very curious about why these attacks on wives, spouses, girlfriends happen on romantic occasions like the anniversary, like the honeymoon. But joining me right now, before I throw that to our renowned shrink, Dr. Bethany, a special guest now joining us, Dr. Catherine Hannon, Chief of Reconstructive Plastic Surgery at Veterans Affairs Medical Center in D.C. Now, I guarantee you she's seen a lot of reconstructive surgery at Veterans Affairs.

Owner of Washington Women Plastic Surgery. Well, hold on. Dr. Hannon, you were there when the attempt occurred? I was on spring break with my family on Oahu, actually staying on the North Shore. And I didn't know about the incident at the time, but received some text messages from concerned friends when they heard that there was an incident with an anesthesiologist attacking his wife. And my husband happens to be an anesthesiologist.

So fortunately, I was able to allay everyone's fears that I was OK. But it's such a devastating story. I'm still in shock that this could happen. Dr. Hannon, people actually thought it was you? Well, they knew. Friends and family knew. I was on vacation on Oahu, and my husband is an anesthesiologist. Wow. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. crime stories with nancy grace dr katherine hannon joining us a renowned plastic surgeon i wanted to ask you about the case we just discussed about the honeymoon attempt where dubay valiantly tried to defend the husband who claimed that

Wins had blown his wife off the deck and or Israeli agents had killed her because of a book he published. How would he explain triangular gouges on his face and a four inch scratch. I want to ask you about those triangular gouges on his face, but also the hemorrhage in her neck and eyes and neck bones. What that means because her body was found many, many miles away. But what, let's start with the victim. What does that mean regarding hemorrhage in her neck and eyes? What is that? So it's pretty significant and consistent with asphyxiation. There's usually other patterns too, like you can look for finger marks on the neck.

You don't know if he used other instruments to try to strangulate her. But that pressure on the neck, the blood can't flow to the brain from the heart and back down. So oxygen ceases to the brain and you get little blood vessels breaking all over the place. Dr. Hannon, what about the triangular gouges on his face? I guess the Israeli agents did that, too. My assumption is it's fingernails. There are all kinds of I don't typically do my nails with acrylic or anything like that, but they can often be pointy shaped and be consistent with that kind of defense move. If she's trying to get him, if he's on top of her, she's trying to push

him off. That can certainly be one of the etiologies of how that happened. Dr. Katherine Hannon, I want to focus just one moment on the fact that not only did the so-called beloved doctor in this case come at his wife with a syringe full of clear liquid. She fought that off. We have now deduced in addition to dragging her to the edge of the cliff. We also know we are now learning by physical examination that he bludgeoned her in the head and face with a rock before the cliff. Have you noticed, Dr. Hannon, that very often women are disfigured, either their genitals, their breasts, or their face in attacks?

I do see that. I have seen quite a few, unfortunately, victims of domestic violent, intimate partner violence. It's often bruises from, I assume, hand fist punching. Sometimes those don't leave permanent marks, but we do see permanent scars on the face. I don't see as much of the genital violence. I think more emergency room doctors and gynecologists see that. But yes, there is an attempt to take that beauty away. It's a control issue is all I can assume. At first, Ariel thinks Gerhardt is playing around.

But when he shoves her toward the edge of the cliff again, fear sets in, Ariel now believing her husband is trying to kill her. Ariel dives to the ground away from the edge, and her husband is immediately on her, pinning her down. The anesthesiologist pulls a syringe and a vial from his bag and attempts to fill the syringe to inject her. Ariel manages to knock the syringe from Koenig's hands and the doctor briefly digs in his bag again, possibly looking for another. Then he changes his mind, instead reaching for a rock. Koenig bashes his wife in the head repeatedly. To Dr. Katherine Hannon, what have we learned about the injuries to her skull and face before she's dragged to the cliff's edge? My understanding is that she has she's bleeding. There was evidence that the hikers that notified police saw lots of blood.

So the scalp, the face bleeds excessively, as anyone who knows who's ever gotten a small cut even. So we know that it probably was some facial lacerations. It could have been scalp. And then oftentimes if you're defending yourself, you can get injuries to your hand as well. So I don't know if she actually had a brain injury at that time that would have impaired her ability to fight back further as he dragged her. You know, it's amazing to me, May Helani Richardson joining us from Hawaii News Now, that she actually was like clinging onto a tree, yet he lures her, then says, quote, get back over there. I'm so sick of you. He says that to her. Then she realizes this is real. What more have we learned about that syringe that he had conveniently in his bag? Well, Nancy, it's important to remember that before that she gets up into the tree, he has her bag and cell phone.

So she doesn't have belongings anymore. As for that syringe, we have learned that she didn't know the substance inside the syringe. And so she feared because he's an anesthesiologist that he has access to potentially lethal medication. So she fears for her life. And during this struggle, we've learned that he allegedly reached into his bag. He already had another vial in his hand and he allegedly reached into his bag and she feared it was another syringe. Now, as you're taking a look at the so-called perfect couple, it all comes crashing down when the two on her 36th birthday, leaving the children behind, go to a sheer cliff's edge.

Dr. Bethany Marshall, Philip Dubé cannot explain his way out of this. The syringes the doctor took with him, that's clear premeditation. Nancy, he was he was planning to do this alleged crime. But I think that there's a type of clumsiness too. I mean, putting her on a tree and then pushing her to the cliff's edge and then trying to use a syringe. It's like the doctor had this illusion of complete power, like he has over his patients when he does anesthesiology, when he anesthetizes them, he thought he could kind of anesthetize her too. So the illusion of power slipped when she had a dawning of realization, she knew what was

happening, and she started to protect herself. Bill Hernandez, why the attack to her face and skull? I've seen that so many times. By the time I would get a Dom Reel domestic relations attack, it would be a felony such as aggravated assault, aggravated battery, where the victim loses use of a limb or an eye, or they can't hear where you actually lose use of part of your body or a murder. And I would always see facial attacks where the hand is totally bashed in. The face is disfigured. Why? I'm sure you've got a theory. Well, a lot of times it is to disfigure them so that other people will not find them attractive. But in this case, I think he was also trying to knock her unconscious so he could throw her off the cliff and making it appear as if she accidentally fell off the cliff.

And it was an accidental death. So making it a staged homicide in this case. Ariel struggles against her husband's vicious attack and tries to shield her face with their hands. Koenig tries swinging, crushing Ariel's thumb with the rock. Ariel starts screaming for help and a pair of hikers rush up the trail after hearing her cries. The hikers approach and start shouting at Koning, who immediately stops hitting Ariel, drops the rock and takes off down the trail. Ariel weakly crawls toward her rescuers, sobbing, he tried to kill me, as they dial 911. After this brutal attack, we learn so much more about what happened behind closed doors. Take a listen from our friends at KHON2.

When you walk into their home, you felt the happiness. You felt the love in the atmosphere. Like I said, it's just shocking. Ariel's petition for a restraining order against her husband reveals the harrowing details of Koenig's attack on his wife and the mother of his children. Ariel says she has no idea what was in the vial Koenig tried to inject her with but fears it was deadly medication stolen from his workplace. Ariel also claims Koenig told his adult son that he tried to kill her just minutes after the attack. Ariel has little explanation for why Koenig tried to kill her, theorizing it stems from his belief she had an affair. Ariel writes in her filing that her

husband has recently physically and sexually abused her. From our friends at KHON2, straight out to Mahealani Richardson joining us, Emmy award-winning anchor, Hawaii News Now. Mahealani, we're learning so much in that restraining order, for instance. Well, Nancy, in that restraining order, we learned that during this alleged violent attack that Dr. Koenig, she says that he tried to bash her, not just repeatedly, but she uses a number 10 times and she fought back. She threw herself to the ground, knowing that she could potentially be thrown off this cliff. And in this struggle, he's on top of her. She's on top of him. There is a struggle. She's grabbed by the hair, according to the documents.

He pushes her face into the ground. And in her attempt to fight back, she bit his forearm or what she thought was his forearm. In the last days, we learn the so-called good doctor tries to hide his face from view. I wonder why. We also learn in those court documents that she, Ariel, accuses her husband, the doctor, of viciously beating her over and over and sex assaulting her during the marriage leading up to that sheer cliff drop. If you know or think you know anything as the state builds its case, please dial 808-955-8300. Repeat, 808-955-8300. Nancy Grace, signing off. Goodbye, friend. You're listening to an iHeart Podcast.