Hawaii manhunt ends with arrest after three elderly men are killed

A hidden cave in lower Puna became the last stop in a manhunt that had kept Hawaii Island on edge. Police said Jacob Daniel Baker was arrested at 2:38 p.m. on May 28 after officers spotted him ducking into a grassy area as traffic passed, then found him concealed in a small cave in the Kaimū-Kalapana area.

The arrest ended a frantic search tied to three killings of elderly men over a two-day span in the Puna district. Investigators said Robert Shine, 69, of Pāhoa, was the first victim. He died of strangulation. The second victim, identified by friends and family as Chitta Morse, 79, of Pāhoa, was found near Papaya Farms Road about 400 to 500 feet from Shine, and police said a weapon caused blunt-force trauma. The third victim, John Carse, 69, of Pāhoa, was later found at a residence on Kalapana Kapoho Beach Road, roughly 19 miles from the first two scenes, with autopsy findings showing sharp-force trauma.

That spacing mattered. Police said the first two deaths were close enough to suggest a tight cluster of violence, while the third expanded the case across lower Puna and deepened fears that the killings were unfolding in real time. Authorities warned the public that Baker was armed and extremely dangerous, though they also cautioned residents not to assume he was using a gun. The search drew in the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Marshals Service, the state Sheriff Division and DLNR DOCARE, with Chief Reed Mahuna saying every law enforcement agency in the state had offered support.

The pressure on the community was immediate. Residents in the area reportedly went into lockdown, and some businesses canceled events while police drones and officers swept the rural terrain. Hawaii County police and Mayor Kimo Alameda both urged residents to stay alert and report suspicious activity as the search moved through a remote part of the island, the largest in the Hawaiian chain.

The killings also carried a troubling prelude. Days before the violence, two women sought temporary restraining orders against Baker, alleging threats and harassment. A judge denied both applications on May 27 for insufficient evidence.

Police have not publicly identified a motive or said they know of any connection between the three men beyond the fact that the first two lived near each other. With Baker now in custody, detectives can begin tying the scenes together, reconstructing his movements and building the case that may finally explain how a small patch of lower Puna turned into a crime scene spread across miles.