Puna Killings: Police Arrest Man Suspected Of Killing 3 Elderly Men

A manhunt that had the community of Puna on the Big Island on edge came to an end on Thursday afternoon as dozens of police officers emerged from a heavily wooded area with the suspect shirtless and emaciated in handcuffs.

Jacob Baker is accused of killing three men over three days.

Baker had lived and worked at Josana’s Organic Garden in Pāhoa until two months ago.

He returned last Thursday and neighbors say Baker’s behavior was becoming increasingly erratic and aggressive, leading two women to file temporary restraining orders against him on Friday that were denied on Tuesday — after at least two of the men were already dead.

By Wednesday the Hawaiʻi Police Department launched an island-wide manhunt for Baker, with federal and state officials joining the search on Thursday.

Deborah Davis, a 65-year-old Seaview resident, witnessed the capture while driving along Kalapana-Kapoho Road near the third victim’s home.

She was returning home at about 2:45 p.m. after running errands in Pāhoa when she crested a hill to see several police cars along the road and a crowd of more than a dozen officers in the street.

Suddenly, a man ran from the side of the road toward her car then dove into a driveway and disappeared into the woods, chased by several officers.

“I knew, oh my God, this could be the guy,” she said. “They could be getting the guy.”