Man charged in deaths of 3 men on Hawaii’s Big Island

Police ended a multi-day manhunt on Hawaii Island by arresting Jacob Daniel Baker, 36, of Pāhoa, after investigators said witness information and surveillance footage led them to a small cave in the Kaimu-Kalapana area. Baker had been described as armed and extremely dangerous before his capture, and the search drew help from state and federal authorities, including the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Authorities said Baker now faces a murder case tied to three killings in the Puna district, a remote part of the Big Island spread across more than 4,000 square miles. Police said the violence unfolded over two days in an area where roads are sparse, distances are long and neighbors often know one another by name. Investigators said they have not identified a motive and have found no known connection among the victims beyond the fact that two lived near each other.

Police said the first victim was found partially submerged in a cement pond. The second was found nearby with blunt-force trauma injuries. The third was discovered about 19 miles away during a welfare check. Two of the victims were identified as Robert “Bob” Shine, 69, and John Carse, 69. A friend identified the third victim as Chitta Morse, 79.

Baker was charged with one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder, along with burglary, theft, criminal property damage and unauthorized motor vehicle entry charges. Officials have not said whether the added counts are tied to evidence recovered during the manhunt or to events at the homes where the victims were found.

The case has also drawn scrutiny because Baker had recently faced allegations from two women who sought temporary restraining orders against him, saying he threatened and harassed them at a farm. A judge denied both requests for lack of sufficient evidence. The timing has intensified questions in the community about how warning signs are handled in isolated parts of the island and how quickly residents can be alerted when violence appears to cross property lines and spread across a rural district.

Residents described being on edge until the arrest, and relatives have begun to grieve publicly. Friends and family also started a GoFundMe for the Shine family to help with memorial and immediate expenses, a sign of how the killings shook the tight-knit off-grid community that surrounds Puna.