Suspect accused of killing 3 elderly men in Hawaii charged with murder

The suspect accused of killing three elderly men in Hawaii has been charged with murder, along with almost a dozen criminal offenses, authorities announced on Sunday.

Jacob Baker, 36, of Pahoa, Hawaii, faces one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder for the alleged triple homicide in a remote part of Hawaii’s Big Island. He has also been charged with multiple counts of burglary, criminal property damage, theft and unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle, according to the Hawaii Police Department. 

Baker is being held without bond on the murder charges, police said. He was arrested Thursday following a manhunt that involved state and federal authorities. They described him as “armed and extremely dangerous.”

The suspect was charged in connection with the three killings that took place over the span of two days, according to authorities.

Police identified the victims as Robert Shine, 69, John Carse, 69, and a 79-year-old man whose name has not been publicly released. All three of the men were found dead at residences in Pahoa, police said.

Authorities previously said Shine’s body was found partially submerged in a cement pond, just a few hundred feet from where they located the deceased 79-year-old, the Associated Press reported. Carse’s body was found about 19 miles away, police said.

Baker was apprehended in Kalapana, about 10 miles from Pahoa. Police said they located him after receiving reports that video surveillance had captured footage of a man resembling the suspect, who was hiding in a vacant lot in that area. Witnesses also reported seeing the man “repeatedly ducking down as passing traffic approached,” according to police.

Authorities ultimately found Baker hiding in a small cave on a property adjacent to the vacant lot, Hawaii Police Chief Reed Mahuna said at a news conference, AP reported. The police chief did not share details about how Baker was identified as the suspect or what his motives for allegedly carrying out the killings may have been. 

Mahuna said investigators have not found connections between the three victims, outside of the fact that two lived near each other, AP reported.