{"id":318,"date":"2026-05-29T10:05:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T10:05:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=318"},"modified":"2026-05-29T10:05:56","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T10:05:56","slug":"this-is-a-horrible-tragic-thing-homicides-rattle-puna-residents-and-their-sense-of-place","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movingtohawaiiguide.com\/?p=318","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This is a horrible, tragic thing\u2019: Homicides rattle Puna residents and their sense of place"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Before the manhunt for a Pahoa man suspected of killing three elderly men in Kapoho and Kalapana earlier this week ended on Thursday afternoon, Puna residents reacted to the grisly homicides with a mixture of fear, sorrow and frustration.<\/p>\n

Read more Visitor accused of hurling rock at monk seal pleads not guilty<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Before the manhunt for a Pahoa man suspected of killing three elderly men in Kapoho and Kalapana earlier this week ended on Thursday afternoon, Puna residents reacted to the grisly homicides with a mixture of fear, sorrow and frustration.<\/p>\n

Police reported at 2:45 p.m Thursday they had arrested Jacob \u201cJake\u201d Daniel Baker, 36, \u201cwithout incident\u201d for allegedly committing the crimes.<\/p>\n

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Baker is suspected of killing Robert Shine, 69, and Chitta Morse, 79, in the Papaya Farms Road area of Kapoho over the course of Monday and Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Shine\u2019s body was discovered floating in a rain catchment tank by police and concerned neighbors on Monday night around 8 p.m. at a residence along Railroad Avenue, police said.<\/p>\n

According to residents interviewed by the Tribune-Herald, Morse\u2019s mutilated body was found Tuesday morning at a residence by one of his employees, with police arriving just after noon. According to police, the victim exhibited \u201cclear, suspicious injuries\u201d from \u201cblunt force trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n

The third victim, John Carse, 69, of Pahoa was found late Tuesday evening by police officers conducting a welfare check at a residence along Kalapana-Kapoho Road near the Kalapana Transfer Station.<\/p>\n

Baker allegedly killed Carse after stealing a vehicle and driving 19 miles to Kalapana. An autopsy determined Carse died as a result of \u201csharp-force trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police said Wednesday they were not aware of a motive for the crimes, and the only connection between the victims was that the first two lived near one another and were found about 500 feet apart.<\/p>\n

The killings have rattled Puna. Prior to the news breaking Thursday afternoon that Baker had been caught, some of his former acquaintances had gone to extreme lengths to protect themselves, fearing he might return.<\/p>\n

Ann Kobsa, 64, is a biologist and community activist with the Pahoa-based environmental nonprofit Malama O Puna, and let Baker stay on her property along Papaya Farms Road for three months several years ago.<\/p>\n

Kobsa said Baker was a hard worker while staying on the land, helping her hunt pigs and harvest fruit. She claimed Baker had a daughter with a girlfriend while living in the community, but roughly two years ago his partner returned to the mainland with the little girl \u2014 who would be around 3 years old now.<\/p>\n

Rumors have swirled about Baker\u2019s drug use, with some Kapoho residents claiming he was high on methamphetamine when he allegedly committed the homicides. Kobsa said she never saw him do hard drugs, but recalled when he lived on her land that he sometimes acted strangely.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know of him doing anything but a lot of pot \u2014 like, a lot of pot,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I attributed a lot of his weird behaviors to being really stoned and kind of spacey. Burning things \u2014 I\u2019d be talking to him, and the things are boiling over on the stove and burning. He was just, you know, scattered.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kobsa implied that having his girlfriend and daughter leave him could have been a factor in him finally snapping and going on a violent spree.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a psychotic break somehow,\u201d she said. \u201cI don\u2019t know if it was drug-induced, or if it was just being left by his family and feeling unloved.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Kobsa said she had taken steps to arm herself while doing chores around the farm Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m carrying my gun around,\u201d she said. \u201cI went up on the roof to do some work up there for an hour or two, and I thought, what if he shows up while (I\u2019m) up there? Then (I\u2019m) trapped. I took the gun up there. That\u2019s not so unreasonable, is it?\u201d<\/p>\n

Railroad Avenue resident Kevin Fray said in an email to the Tribune-Herald on Thursday that he lives a quarter-mile away from where Shine\u2019s body was found, and that he was frustrated with what he characterized as inaction by law enforcement.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday afternoon while police were at Morse\u2019s property evaluating the scene, Fray said he spoke with officers for \u201cseveral hours\u201d and attempted to provide them with evidence of Baker\u2019s whereabouts in Kalapana.<\/p>\n

\u201cI lost my temper with the police at Chitta\u2019s,\u201d he said. \u201c(I was) explaining all the evidence to them on Tuesday afternoon and yet hearing that they were not going to send any cops to Kalapana to look for him while they had 15-plus agents there looking at Chitta\u2019s body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fray said it was likely that had police acted immediately on the information he was providing, they would have been able to arrest Baker on Tuesday afternoon and \u201cprevent the third \u2026 death.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe exact moment I was telling my frustration to the cop was literally the exact time people were seeing him in plain sight in a main intersection of Kalapana walking on foot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Ryan Collins, 31, works as a bartender in Pahoa, and told the Tribune-Herald on Thursday that the tragedies in Kapoho and Kalapana have made residents question the safety that typically comes with Puna\u2019s rural, laid-back atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is a horrible, tragic thing, but one thing that I hope comes from it is people maybe understanding that this is just any other place to live,\u201d Collins said. \u201cIt could be Chicago, it could be L.A., it could be Seattle, it could be Honolulu, you know what I mean? These things happen in places, and I think people live here with a very high delusionment \u2014 because of the rainbows and the sunshine and the fresh air and the beaches and this and that \u2014 that like bad things just don\u2019t happen here. You hear it all the time: \u2018Oh, we live in paradise.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked what locals could do to prevent tragedies like this in the future, he said it comes down to strength in numbers.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s time for the community to get together and for us to do mob mentality,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen (stuff) like this happens, you know, or you see (stuff) happening, get four or five people, and just stand behind a brother or sister as they need to say something to someone. You know what I mean? That\u2019s all that needs to happen most of the time. I\u2019ve seen it happen \u2026 you don\u2019t even have to say anything, you\u2019ve just gotta stand behind the person and be an energetic presence for what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Collins was on his way to work Thursday, and said he was nervous about leaving his wife at home alone with an alleged killer still on the loose at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, my wife is house-sitting, and I\u2019m gonna be at work,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have two dogs, a bunch of cats at home \u2026 it\u2019s just one of those things where it gets you nervous about leaving your house because you\u2019re just like what the f*** is happening?\u201d<\/p>\n

A middle-aged Kapoho man was visiting Kobsa at her property Thursday morning and spoke on the condition of anonymity, saying that the facade of peace and serenity in the neighborhood had been shattered.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo me, it\u2019s just like as a community, we are freaking out because the big bad world has beaten down our door and is inside our house now,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have been sheltered. You know, s*** hits the fan here and there, but it\u2019s just the outside world is where all of this happens. We\u2019ve been kind of like a little bubble. There\u2019s always drama and politics in communities \u2026 but this is our first. It\u2019s home now, it\u2019s inside our house.<\/p>\n

Read more Dodgers\u2019 revamped batting order pummels Rockies 15-6<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe monsters are now living with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Email Stefan Verbano at stefan.verbano@hawaiitribune-herald.com.\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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