Gerhardt Konig told the Oahu courtroom that Arielle Konig tried to push him from a trail near Honolulu on March 24, 2025 — her birthday — after they had an argument about an emotional affair she’d had with a co-worker.

His account differed sharply from Arielle Konig’s testimony about the alleged attack last week.

They scuffled after the attempted shove, and his wife grabbed him by the testicles and hit him in the head with a rock, Gerhardt Konig said. He said he eventually wrestled the rock away and hit her with it twice.

She scooted toward two hikers on the trail, Konig said, and told them he was trying to kill her.

In a daze, Konig said, he continued up the trail and called his son on FaceTime. During the conversation, he said, he told him that he planned to take his own life.

In sometimes emotional testimony, Konig, 47, an anesthesiologist, said he felt horrible that he’d hurt his wife. But he said he’d acted in self-defense.

Konig denied having planned the trip from their home in Maui to kill his wife and said he’d been trying to do something nice for her birthday.

Gerhardt KonigGerhardt Konig on trial.KHNL

Prosecutors charged him with second-degree attempted murder and accused him of pushing Arielle Konig toward a cliff on the Pali Puka Trail before he attacked her with a syringe and a rock.

In his testimony Wednesday, Gerhardt Konig denied having had a syringe with him. And he denied telling his son during the video call that he’d tried to kill Arielle Konig. Emile Konig, 19, testified Tuesday that his father had said as much.

Gerhardt Konig acknowledged the word “kill” might have come up in the conversation but said it wasn’t a confession.