Jacob Daniel Baker, a 36-year-old man on the Big Island, has been charged with first- and second-degree murder in the deaths of three people in the remote Puna district, the Hawaii Police Department said in a Saturday news release. Authorities apprehended Baker on May 28 after a multi-day manhunt across the island’s rural eastern flank. Police said Baker remained jailed without bond as of Sunday, and that his initial court appearance was scheduled for Monday. It was not immediately known whether Baker had retained an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
The charges come two days after Baker’s arrest, following a series of grim discoveries that began the previous week. Robert Shine, 69, was found dead Monday, May 25, partially submerged in a cement pond, police said. The following day, May 26, a second victim — a 79-year-old man later identified by friends as Chitta Morse — was located a few hundred feet from Shine. The third victim has not been publicly named by authorities.
The killings unfolded in the Puna district, a region of dense tropical foliage, lava fields, and off-grid homesteads on the eastern side of the Big Island. The area has long drawn residents seeking a communal, self-sufficient lifestyle far from the resort corridors of Kona and Waikoloa. Neighbors and friends of the victims told local news outlets that the deaths had shaken the normally tight-lipped community, where many residents live on large lots with limited contact with one another.
Baker’s arrest capped a search that police have described as a manhunt. Details of how the three men were killed and what evidence led investigators to Baker have not been released. The Hawaii Police Department said the investigation remains active.