A 36-year-old Pahoa man apprehended by Hawaii Police Department on Thursday for allegedly killing three older men earlier in the week has been charged.

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According to a police log, Jacob “Jake” Daniel Baker was charged today with first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree murder, plus first-degree burglary, first- and fourth-degree theft, first-degree unauthorized entry to motor vehicle, first-degree unauthorized control of a stolen vehicle and two counts of fourth-degree property damage.

Baker, well-known in the area for selling coconut and fish on the roadside, is accused of killing 69-year-old Robert “Bob” Shine, 79-year-old Chitta Morse and 69-year-old John Carse, all Pahoa residents living in coastal lower Puna.

Shine’s body was found Monday evening at 8:47 p.m. after Puna patrol officers responded to a Papaya Farms Road residence for a report of a dead man. The body was reportedly found partially submersed in a rain catchment tank, and an autopsy found he was strangled to death.

Morse’s body was found at 12:39 a.m. Tuesday with after police responded to another Papaya Farms Road home. An autopsy found Morse died as a result of blunt-force trauma.

Carse’s body was discovered at 9:58 p.m. Tuesday by officers responding to a report of a dead man on a Kalapana-Kapoho Beach Road property. An autopsy on Carse indicated he had died as a result of sharp-force trauma.

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All three were older than 60 — the legal threshold to be considered elderly as a crime victim.

Baker, who was nabbed after a two-day multi-agency manhunt based on tips provided by the public, is scheduled to make his initial appearance Monday in Hilo District Court.

Bail for the non-murder charges is listed at $193,000. The murder charges are without bail, which means Baker won’t be released prior to his court date even if he can post the bail on the non-murder offenses.

The first-degree murder charge — a rarity in Hawaii — is because there is more than one homicide victim. If convicted on that charge, Baker would face a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. A conviction of second-degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole.

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Email John Burnett at [email protected].