Police have arrested a suspect in a triple homicide in Hawaii.
The manhunt began on May 25. Police in the district of Puna on the big island responded to reports of an unknown disturbance at a residence in the village of Pāhoa at 8:47 p.m. local time. They found a 69-year-old male victim, later identified as Robert Shine, deceased. There were no immediate indications of foul play, but detectives from the Area I Criminal Investigation Section investigated further and had an autopsy conducted due to suspicious circumstances. The autopsy revealed that Shine was strangled to death, though a toxicology report was still pending.
On May 26 at 12:39 p.m., Puna police responded to another call of a deceased male at a residence just a few blocks from the first homicide. The victim was a 79-year-old male who also presented with suspicious injuries. The victim has been identified but notification of next of kin was not done as of May 28; the investigation is still ongoing.
Then at 9:58 p.m. on May 26, Puna police responded to reports of yet another deceased male at a home some 19 miles away from the first two homicides. They found the victim, later identified as 69-year-old John Carse. An autopsy conducted on May 27 found that he was killed by sharp-force trauma, though a toxicology report was still pending as of May 28. That investigation is still ongoing.
On May 28, police received reports of a male matching Baker's description hiding in a vacant lot in the Kaimu area of Kalapana. Witnesses reportedly observed the subject ducking out of sight to avoid being spotted by passing traffic.
Surveillance video captured Baker at the lot, then fleeing onto another adjacent property. Officers responded to the scene. At 2:38 p.m., officers discovered Baker "concealed within a small cave on the neighboring property." He was taken into custody without incident.
Hawai'i Island police thanked the federal and state law enforcement agencies for their cooperation, and community members who offered information that led to Baker's arrest.