Police arrest suspect wanted in connection with 3 killings in 2 days after manhunt

PAHOA, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow/Gray News) - After days on the run, the suspect in a triple homicide on Hawaii Island is in custody.

Authorities captured Jacob Daniel Baker, 36, at around 2:45 p.m. on Kalapana Kapoho Road in Pahoa.

Baker was arrested on allegations of murder, burglary, unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle, theft, criminal property damage and unauthorized entry into a motor vehicle.

Witness reported suspect hiding in field

Hawaii Police Chief Reed Mahuna credited the public for Baker’s capture. A tip was called in just after 2:30 p.m. from the Kaimu Cove area, he said.

“Hawaii Police Department officers received information that the possible suspect had been observed hiding within a grassy area in a field. Witnesses reported observing the male party ducking down as passing traffic approached,” Mahuna said.

Video surveillance captured Baker fleeing from property to property, Mahuna said.

Officers and detectives searched the area and found him hiding in a small cave. He was arrested without incident.

‘All hands on deck’

Both Mahuna and Hawaii Island Mayor Kimo Alameda expressed appreciation for the public, as well as officers and supporting agencies for working around the clock.

“This was truly all hands on deck,” Alameda said.

Mahuna said officers worked “long hours under intense pressure in very challenging terrain and difficult conditions” and thanked local, state and federal partners for assisting with the search, including the FBI, the Hawaii Department of Law Enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Honolulu, Hawaii, and Kauai police departments, the state Department of Defense, Homeland Security Investigations and the state Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement.

Mahuna said the department’s thoughts are with the victims and their families and that the investigation will continue.

“Behind every investigation, every search and every arrest, are real people whose lives have been forever changed. We will continue to do everything that we can to ensure that we support them and seek justice on their behalf,” Mahuna said.

Residents relieved after ‘intense couple days’

Residents said they are relieved the manhunt is over.

“Everyone’s been really scared,” said Puna resident Priya Surrago. “A lot of people around here, we just live very close in community and not even everybody even has locks on their doors.”

Surrago said she had met the suspect once when he was selling coconuts near the highway, and the encounter left her uneasy.

“He just had a creepy vibe,” she said.

Resident Aumrae McCarroll said he saw Baker being taken into custody.

“I just felt so much relief in my whole body,” he said.

McCarroll said the experience was “too close for comfort.”

“He broke into my friend’s house a couple nights ago, and it’s just like it’s all right here and it’s happening right in our backyards,” McCarroll said.

McCarroll said he had known two of the victims.

“My mother was friends with them and I grew up around them, and so definitely a heavy heart,” McCarroll added.

Resident Ariyah Barron also witnessed Baker’s capture.

“It’s very much a relief because it’s been an intense couple days for sure living in the area,” she said.

Barron said Baker was known to the community and described him as “intense.”

“I’ve definitely seen him angry. I have seen him verbally abuse people and I’ve kind of kept my distance from him,” she said.

McCarroll added, “It feels good and it feels good to know that he’s off the streets and that we’re safe. We can relax.”

Barron said she was concerned for some residents in the community, noting many older people live alone.

“I didn’t personally know the victims, but I know that they’ve been in the community for a long time,” Barron said. “It hits us all hard and there’s a lot of grief in that.”

Victims identified, autopsy results revealed

On Thursday, police also positively identified two of the three victims.

Robert Shine, 69, was found dead Monday night on Papaya Farms Road in Pahoa.

An autopsy indicated Shine was strangled, police said. The pathologist’s final ruling is pending standard toxicology results.

Police have not released the identity of the second victim, a 79-year-old man found Tuesday afternoon, about 400 feet from the first victim. But loved ones identified him as Chitta Morse.

Police identified the third victim, found at around 10 p.m. Tuesday on Kalapana Kapoho Beach Road, as John Carse, 69.

An autopsy performed Wednesday on Carse indicated he died of sharp force trauma, police said. The pathologist’s final ruling is pending standard toxicology results.

The third homicide occurred 19 miles away from the first two victims.

Police asked anyone with information regarding the investigation to contact detectives at 808-961-2383.