March 27, 2026

COP WHO SHOT COP TAKES STAND — BOTH SIDES REST; HAWAII DOCTOR'S WIFE TESTIFIES ON HER BIRTHDAY

COP WHO SHOT COP TAKES STAND — BOTH SIDES REST; HAWAII DOCTOR'S WIFE TESTIFIES ON HER BIRTHDAY

Garret Fisher covers the stunning conclusion of the Kelsey Fitzsimmons bench trial in Massachusetts — three days of testimony, both sides rested, and now a judge decides whether a postpartum crisis or an assault on a fellow officer happened in that North Andover home. Then: Arielle Konig takes the stand in Honolulu — on her birthday, exactly one year after her husband allegedly tried to kill her on a Hawaiian hiking trail — and delivers testimony that includes a syringe, a birthday card, a rock, and the words "nobody's coming to save you." Gerhardt Konig is an anesthesiologist who knew exactly what those syringes did. He packed them for a birthday hike.

Join our new FB groups page here. Take the poll!

Join the Daily Crime & Justice community on social media! We're building a passionate group of true crime enthusiasts who love diving deep into the most shocking cases in America.
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram by searching "Daily Crime & Justice" on either platform.


You'll get exclusive behind-the-scenes content, breaking news updates on cases we're covering, and early alerts when new episodes drop. Our social media is where Garret Fisher's hottest takes live, including reactions that don't make it into the show.

But more importantly, it's where YOU come in. Share your theories, debate the verdicts, and connect with fellow listeners who are just as obsessed with justice as you are. Did the jury get it right? What questions do you still have? Your comments and insights often shape future episodes.


We cover the trials that matter, but our community makes the conversation unforgettable. Come for Garret's signature cynical commentary, stay for the incredible discussions with thousands of true crime fans who get it.

WEBVTT

1
00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:13.160
Kalaroga Shark Media. Good morning. I'm Garrett Fisher. Friday, March

2
00:00:13.199 --> 00:00:16.480
twenty seventh, twenty twenty six. We have two cases today

3
00:00:16.679 --> 00:00:18.640
and I'm going to be honest with you about both

4
00:00:18.679 --> 00:00:21.879
of them. The first one doesn't give me a clean villain.

5
00:00:22.160 --> 00:00:23.920
It gives me a woman who may have tried to

6
00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:26.960
kill herself and an officer who says she pointed the

7
00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:29.800
gun at him, and both of them testified under oath

8
00:00:29.839 --> 00:00:33.079
this week, and the trial is over and a judge

9
00:00:33.159 --> 00:00:36.280
is now going to decide which one is telling the truth.

10
00:00:36.799 --> 00:00:40.880
The Kelsey Fitzsimmons cop on cop shooting trial three days,

11
00:00:41.560 --> 00:00:45.000
both sides rested. We'll walk through all of it. The

12
00:00:45.039 --> 00:00:48.200
second one gives me a very clear picture. Gerhard Koenig

13
00:00:48.280 --> 00:00:52.479
is an anesthesiologist. He knows exactly what syringes do. He

14
00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:54.719
packed them in a bag before taking his wife on

15
00:00:54.759 --> 00:00:57.520
a birthday hike to a cliff side lookout in Hawaii,

16
00:00:57.840 --> 00:01:00.399
and this week, one year to the day after that hike,

17
00:01:00.799 --> 00:01:03.560
his wife sat in a Honolulu courtroom and told a

18
00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:06.480
jury what happened up there on that trail. Let's get

19
00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:15.799
into it. Case one state versus Kelsey Fitzsimmons, North Andover, Massachusetts.

20
00:01:16.920 --> 00:01:19.079
Some of you have been with this show since season one.

21
00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:23.599
You know this case. Reid covered it multiple times, the backstory,

22
00:01:23.840 --> 00:01:27.519
the bail nightmare, the judge drama. If you need the foundation,

23
00:01:28.079 --> 00:01:31.079
check those episodes. Here's the short version for everyone else.

24
00:01:31.599 --> 00:01:37.280
June thirtieth, twenty twenty five, North Andover, Massachusetts. Kelsey Fitzsimmons,

25
00:01:37.439 --> 00:01:41.799
twenty nine years old, former North Andover police officer, new mother,

26
00:01:42.359 --> 00:01:45.359
four month old infant at home. Three of her colleagues

27
00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:48.400
show up to serve a restraining order obtained by her fiance,

28
00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:53.359
Justin Eilion. The order requires her to surrender her firearms

29
00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:56.799
and hand over the baby. What happened next is the

30
00:01:57.239 --> 00:02:01.519
entire trial. Prosecution says fitz Simmons raised a gun and

31
00:02:01.560 --> 00:02:05.560
pointed it at Officer Patrick Noonan, pulled the trigger. The

32
00:02:05.719 --> 00:02:08.560
only reason he's alive is that the chamber was empty.

33
00:02:09.199 --> 00:02:12.639
Noonan then shot her in the chest. Defense says fitz

34
00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:15.280
Simmons raised the gun to her own head. She was

35
00:02:15.280 --> 00:02:19.000
in postpartum crisis. She wanted to end her life, not

36
00:02:19.159 --> 00:02:22.919
anyone else's. She survived. She was charged with assault with

37
00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:26.840
a dangerous weapon. She's been fighting this case ever since.

38
00:02:27.520 --> 00:02:31.199
Reid covered the bail situation extensively. She spent more than

39
00:02:31.240 --> 00:02:33.719
one hundred days in jail because she couldn't blow into

40
00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:37.039
a breathalyzer tube hard enough. She'd been shot in the chest.

41
00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:40.919
The lung damage made it physically impossible. The judge told

42
00:02:40.960 --> 00:02:44.639
her to comply or stay jailed. She stayed jailed. That

43
00:02:44.719 --> 00:02:46.919
whole chapter is in the archive if you want it.

44
00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:50.400
Here's what's new the trial, and I mean the whole trial,

45
00:02:50.599 --> 00:02:53.800
because it happened in three days Monday through Wednesday of

46
00:02:53.840 --> 00:02:57.360
this week, and by Wednesday afternoon, both sides had rested.

47
00:02:57.759 --> 00:03:01.479
We're already at verdict pending before we get into testimony.

48
00:03:01.520 --> 00:03:04.599
There's a decision that was made a week before trial started.

49
00:03:05.120 --> 00:03:08.039
Kelsey Fitzsimmons waived her right to a jury trial. She

50
00:03:08.199 --> 00:03:12.360
asked for a bench trial. One judge, no jury. Judge

51
00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:15.879
Jeffrey Karp will be the sole person who decides this case.

52
00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:20.960
That's a significant strategic call. Defense attorneys choose bench trials

53
00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:23.159
when they think a judge will be more rational than

54
00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:26.479
a jury, when the facts are complex, when there's emotion

55
00:03:26.639 --> 00:03:29.000
in the case that might push a jury towards sympathy.

56
00:03:29.039 --> 00:03:31.879
For the wrong side, or when the legal standard is

57
00:03:31.919 --> 00:03:34.520
the point and a judge is better equipped to apply

58
00:03:34.599 --> 00:03:37.879
it cleanly. It's not a sign of weakness, but it

59
00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:41.199
is a tell Fitzsimmons' team thinks they have the law

60
00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:44.120
on their side, and they want a lawyer making the decision,

61
00:03:44.599 --> 00:03:47.879
not twelve people who might have complicated feelings about police

62
00:03:47.919 --> 00:03:52.080
and guns and postpartum depression and domestic situations all at once.

63
00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:56.439
Let me walk you through the three days, day one, Monday,

64
00:03:56.520 --> 00:04:02.479
March twenty third. Opening statements execution came out straightforward. Fitzsimmons

65
00:04:02.520 --> 00:04:05.080
had a service weapon and two other guns in the home.

66
00:04:05.599 --> 00:04:09.400
When confronted with the restraining order, her demeanor changed. She

67
00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:12.879
lunged behind a doorframe. She reappeared with a gun. She

68
00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:17.279
pointed it at Noonan. She pulled the trigger. The only

69
00:04:17.360 --> 00:04:19.879
reason Officer Noonan went home to his family that night

70
00:04:20.000 --> 00:04:22.839
is that there was no round in the chamber. Defense

71
00:04:22.879 --> 00:04:26.639
attorney Tim Braddle countered her fiance had obtained a restraining

72
00:04:26.720 --> 00:04:30.800
order full of untested allegations. Three officers showed up to

73
00:04:30.839 --> 00:04:33.279
her home in front of her colleagues and friends to

74
00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:36.399
take her child. Her life was over. In her mind.

75
00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:39.519
She raised the gun to her own head. The other

76
00:04:39.600 --> 00:04:42.680
officers were not in the room at the time, and Noonan,

77
00:04:42.839 --> 00:04:47.439
the defense argues, had to create a story to save himself.

78
00:04:48.439 --> 00:04:52.560
Read that last sentence again. The defense is saying Officer

79
00:04:52.600 --> 00:04:55.839
Patrick Noonan fabricated his account of events because he needed

80
00:04:55.879 --> 00:04:59.680
a justification for having shot his colleague. That's the theory.

81
00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:05.680
Then the witnesses, Justin Aleyan, Fitzsimmons' ex fiance, testified about

82
00:05:05.720 --> 00:05:09.079
what led to the restraining order. He'd seen disturbing messages

83
00:05:09.079 --> 00:05:12.040
from fitz Simmons. He said he thought his son's life

84
00:05:12.079 --> 00:05:14.839
was in danger. He'd gone to pick up his firearms

85
00:05:14.879 --> 00:05:18.720
the day before, he said, out of concern that detail

86
00:05:19.000 --> 00:05:21.360
the father removing his own guns from the home because

87
00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:24.560
he feared the mother is going to stick with the judge.

88
00:05:25.199 --> 00:05:28.759
Then Officer Patrick Noonan took the stand. Noonan gave his

89
00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:31.240
version of events. He was there to serve the order

90
00:05:31.279 --> 00:05:34.399
and help retrieve the child. Fitz Simmons was told about

91
00:05:34.399 --> 00:05:37.040
the restraining order. She went upstairs to pack a bag

92
00:05:37.079 --> 00:05:40.040
for the baby. She was visibly upset, starting to shake.

93
00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:43.240
She went to one knee, was gathering clothes, and then

94
00:05:43.759 --> 00:05:46.839
he said she lunged behind the doorframe, reappeared with a

95
00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:50.279
gun pointed at him, pulled the trigger, no rounding chamber.

96
00:05:50.560 --> 00:05:54.959
He screamed her name, drew his weapon, shot her twice

97
00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:58.639
as she was back pedaling. Also on day one, Sean

98
00:05:58.759 --> 00:06:01.680
day in North Anna officer who was in the lobby

99
00:06:01.759 --> 00:06:05.680
at the time. He heard someone say Kelsey, don't do it.

100
00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:09.879
He ran upstairs, he heard shots. He found fit Simmons

101
00:06:09.959 --> 00:06:12.560
on the ground. She was saying, and this is what

102
00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:17.000
he reported, I'm sorry and I want to die. I

103
00:06:17.120 --> 00:06:20.240
want to die. The defense will tell you those are

104
00:06:20.279 --> 00:06:24.000
the words of a woman in suicidal crisis. The prosecution

105
00:06:24.160 --> 00:06:26.240
will tell you those are the words of a woman

106
00:06:26.279 --> 00:06:28.959
who thought she was going to die because she'd just

107
00:06:29.040 --> 00:06:32.879
been shot. Both readings are possible. That's why we have

108
00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:37.920
a trial. Day two and Tuesday, March twenty fourth, Noonan

109
00:06:37.959 --> 00:06:41.040
returned to the stand for cross examination. And here's where

110
00:06:41.040 --> 00:06:44.360
it gets interesting. Noonan was asked whether he had called

111
00:06:44.439 --> 00:06:49.079
Kelsey Fitzsimmons a whack job after the shooting. His answer,

112
00:06:49.319 --> 00:06:52.000
and I want you to notice exactly how he answered this.

113
00:06:52.600 --> 00:06:57.959
He said he may have, may have not, No, not,

114
00:06:58.199 --> 00:07:01.319
I would never say that about a colleigue legue may have.

115
00:07:02.480 --> 00:07:04.839
That is the answer of a man who remembers saying

116
00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:08.240
it but is hoping may have does enough work to

117
00:07:08.360 --> 00:07:13.839
keep him credible. Other officers testified. Officer Timothy Houston, who

118
00:07:13.879 --> 00:07:17.519
was also in the home, said he was downstairs. Alayan

119
00:07:17.720 --> 00:07:19.959
was there. Fitz Simmons didn't want him in the house.

120
00:07:20.240 --> 00:07:22.959
Houston went to ask him to leave. He was heading

121
00:07:23.000 --> 00:07:25.800
downstairs when he heard the gun shots. He didn't see

122
00:07:25.800 --> 00:07:29.639
the moment of the shooting. Michelle Mitchell, a corrections officer

123
00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:32.759
and one of fitz Simmons's close friends. She was supposed

124
00:07:32.759 --> 00:07:35.639
to be a bridesmaid at the wedding, testified that she

125
00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:39.439
had spoken to fitz Simmons on June thirtieth before everything happened.

126
00:07:39.800 --> 00:07:44.199
Fitz Simmons was crying, the baby was crying, and fitz

127
00:07:44.240 --> 00:07:48.480
Simmons told her she needed justin. A woman in crisis

128
00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:51.519
calling for the man who just had a restraining order

129
00:07:51.560 --> 00:07:55.279
filed against her. That's either the profile of a domestic

130
00:07:55.360 --> 00:07:58.800
situation that had become untenable, or the profile of a

131
00:07:58.839 --> 00:08:02.000
woman who was desperate and not thinking clearly, or both

132
00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:20.120
those are not mutually exclusive. Day three, Wednesday, March twenty fifth,

133
00:08:20.560 --> 00:08:23.240
the state rested its case in chief. Then the defense

134
00:08:23.279 --> 00:08:29.000
began presenting witnesses. First up, Maureen Teresi, Noonan's neighbor. She

135
00:08:29.160 --> 00:08:31.879
testified that at some point after the shooting she had

136
00:08:31.879 --> 00:08:35.120
a conversation with Patrick Noonan. She'd asked him what was

137
00:08:35.159 --> 00:08:38.200
going on at the police department, and Noonan, according to

138
00:08:38.200 --> 00:08:42.320
her testimony, told her he was the shooter, said he

139
00:08:42.759 --> 00:08:46.440
had no choice, and then she told the court this

140
00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:51.759
he called Kelsey Fitzsimmons a whack job. So now we

141
00:08:51.879 --> 00:08:55.440
have a second source on the whack job comment. Noonan's

142
00:08:55.440 --> 00:08:59.399
own neighbor. Noonan may have said it when asked his

143
00:08:59.480 --> 00:09:02.799
neighbors said, says he said it to her directly. I'm

144
00:09:02.799 --> 00:09:05.000
going to be honest with you. The value of that

145
00:09:05.080 --> 00:09:08.159
testimony depends entirely on how you weigh the word of

146
00:09:08.240 --> 00:09:11.559
a man who says may have versus a neighbor who

147
00:09:11.600 --> 00:09:15.240
says he actually said it. But the pattern it suggests

148
00:09:15.720 --> 00:09:19.919
an officer who, after shooting his colleague was immediately casting

149
00:09:19.960 --> 00:09:23.840
her as unstable in himself as having no choice, is

150
00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:28.600
at minimum worth noting the defense is noting it. Then,

151
00:09:28.840 --> 00:09:32.679
Lauren Page, Fitzsimmons's mother, she was at the home that day.

152
00:09:33.120 --> 00:09:36.000
She testified about the plan for the afternoon. Kelsey was

153
00:09:36.000 --> 00:09:39.399
supposed to do CPR training at work, then meet Aleyan

154
00:09:39.480 --> 00:09:43.600
at the North Andover Commons at two thirty Aileayan didn't come.

155
00:09:44.159 --> 00:09:48.279
Kelsey was upset. Then three officers showed up and the

156
00:09:48.360 --> 00:09:51.080
mother who had been there with her daughter left the

157
00:09:51.120 --> 00:09:55.240
house three minutes before the officers arrived. Three minutes then

158
00:09:55.320 --> 00:09:58.639
Kelsey Fitzsimmons herself took the stand. She talked about the

159
00:09:58.720 --> 00:10:02.320
career path that brought her to North Andover. She talked

160
00:10:02.320 --> 00:10:05.759
about a lion. He hadn't been home for days, wasn't

161
00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:08.480
responding to her, didn't show up at the Commons like

162
00:10:08.559 --> 00:10:12.240
he said he would. Then the restraining order. She said

163
00:10:12.279 --> 00:10:15.639
she was confused, wasn't given any of the details, was

164
00:10:15.759 --> 00:10:17.879
asked to pack a bag for a two week separation

165
00:10:17.960 --> 00:10:20.840
from her infant. And then her account of the gun.

166
00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:24.440
She decided to take her life. That's what she testified.

167
00:10:25.080 --> 00:10:29.039
She was losing everything. At the same time, she pointed

168
00:10:29.080 --> 00:10:32.519
the gun toward herself, pulled the trigger, it was unloaded,

169
00:10:32.960 --> 00:10:35.960
and then Noonan shot her in the chest. She never

170
00:10:36.039 --> 00:10:39.279
intended to hurt anyone else. She denied pointing the gun

171
00:10:39.279 --> 00:10:44.159
at Noonan, her exact words reported by Court TV. I

172
00:10:44.279 --> 00:10:49.120
had just lost everything. The defense rested. Both sides are done.

173
00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:52.080
Judge Carp will decide. Here's where I land on this,

174
00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:56.759
and I mean it plainly. There are two completely opposite

175
00:10:56.759 --> 00:10:59.679
accounts of what happened in that upstairs room, and nobody

176
00:10:59.679 --> 00:11:04.159
else was there except Nonan and Fitzsimmons. The other officers

177
00:11:04.159 --> 00:11:06.279
were not in the room at the moment of the shooting.

178
00:11:06.519 --> 00:11:10.240
It comes down to one person's word against another's. Noonan

179
00:11:10.279 --> 00:11:13.480
says she pointed the gun at him. Fitzsimmons says she

180
00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:16.960
pointed it at herself. One of them is not telling

181
00:11:17.000 --> 00:11:20.679
the truth. The judge has to decide which one. What

182
00:11:20.799 --> 00:11:23.360
I will say, the system that sent a woman four

183
00:11:23.399 --> 00:11:25.399
months out of childbirth to jail for more than one

184
00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:28.519
hundred days because a bullet wound stopped her from blowing

185
00:11:28.559 --> 00:11:31.960
into a tube, that system failed her before this trial

186
00:11:32.039 --> 00:11:34.960
ever started. Whether or not she's guilty of assault with

187
00:11:35.000 --> 00:11:38.559
a dangerous weapon, she deserved better than those one hundred days.

188
00:11:39.159 --> 00:11:43.279
That's not in dispute. That's just the record. We'll follow

189
00:11:43.320 --> 00:11:48.759
this to verdict, Judge Carp. The floor is yours. We'll

190
00:11:48.759 --> 00:11:52.679
be right back. Gerhardt Koenig is an anesthesiologist who brought

191
00:11:52.679 --> 00:11:56.200
syringes on his wife's birthday hike, and this week, one

192
00:11:56.279 --> 00:11:59.120
year later, she told a jury exactly what he said

193
00:11:59.120 --> 00:12:11.679
to her while he was using them. Case two State versus.

194
00:12:11.799 --> 00:12:17.919
Gerhart Koenig, Honolulu, Hawaii. We've been covering this since it

195
00:12:18.000 --> 00:12:21.960
opened on March nineteenth. Quick context for anyone just joining.

196
00:12:22.600 --> 00:12:26.919
Gerhart Koenig is a forty eight year old anesthesiologist from Maui.

197
00:12:27.480 --> 00:12:30.559
On March twenty fourth, twenty twenty five, he and his wife,

198
00:12:30.559 --> 00:12:34.399
Ariel traveled to Oahu to celebrate her birthday. She had

199
00:12:34.440 --> 00:12:37.840
never been on the highkey planned on a narrow trail

200
00:12:37.919 --> 00:12:41.559
above the Nuanu poly Lookout. Prosecutors say he tried to

201
00:12:41.639 --> 00:12:45.159
murder her. He is charged with second degree attempted murder.

202
00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:48.960
He has pleaded not guilty. The thing about this case

203
00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:51.720
that I keep coming back to, that I've been coming

204
00:12:51.720 --> 00:12:55.519
back to since March twentieth is the syringes. He is

205
00:12:55.559 --> 00:13:00.360
an anesthesiologist. He knows exactly what those syringes do. He

206
00:13:00.440 --> 00:13:03.279
knows the chemistry, he knows the effect. He packed them

207
00:13:03.279 --> 00:13:06.159
before a birthday hike to a cliff side lookout. That's

208
00:13:06.200 --> 00:13:08.799
not something you accidentally have in a trail bag. That's

209
00:13:08.879 --> 00:13:12.480
not your insulin or your EpiPen. That is a specific

210
00:13:12.559 --> 00:13:15.360
tool that a person who knew exactly what it could do,

211
00:13:15.799 --> 00:13:19.279
deliberately brought to a location where another person would be

212
00:13:19.360 --> 00:13:24.240
isolated above a sheer drop. That's not a mistake. That's

213
00:13:24.279 --> 00:13:27.279
a choice, and I want that to sit in the

214
00:13:27.279 --> 00:13:29.679
air for a moment before we get into the testimony.

215
00:13:30.200 --> 00:13:32.840
On Wednesday, this show gave you days one and two,

216
00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:36.480
the hikers who ran toward the screaming, the crime scene evidence,

217
00:13:36.720 --> 00:13:40.320
the photographs of his face bruising cuts that the defense

218
00:13:40.360 --> 00:13:43.200
will use to argue this was a mutual fight. All

219
00:13:43.279 --> 00:13:46.759
of that is in Wednesday's episode Go Find It Today.

220
00:13:47.279 --> 00:13:52.799
Day three, Tuesday, March twenty fourth, twenty twenty six. Ariel

221
00:13:52.879 --> 00:13:57.399
Koenig took the stand on her birthday, exactly one year

222
00:13:57.399 --> 00:14:00.000
to the day after her husband allegedly tried to kill

223
00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:03.399
on that trail. Let me walk you through it the

224
00:14:03.440 --> 00:14:09.200
marriage context from the stand. Ariel Koenig is a nuclear engineer.

225
00:14:09.480 --> 00:14:11.879
She described what had been happening in the marriage in

226
00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:14.559
the months leading up to the trip. She had what

227
00:14:14.679 --> 00:14:19.080
she characterized as an emotional affair with a married coworker

228
00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:23.159
in Washington State. They never met in person. It was

229
00:14:23.279 --> 00:14:27.440
flirtatious WhatsApp messages. They had a code word h E

230
00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:31.879
L e U to let her know when Gerhart was

231
00:14:31.919 --> 00:14:35.919
nearby and she should be careful. Gearhart found out in

232
00:14:36.000 --> 00:14:39.200
December twenty twenty four. She described the period after that

233
00:14:39.320 --> 00:14:42.679
as strained. They went to couples therapy, they went to

234
00:14:42.759 --> 00:14:46.039
individual therapy, and she told the jury that as they

235
00:14:46.039 --> 00:14:49.919
boarded the flight to Oahu, she genuinely believed this birthday

236
00:14:49.919 --> 00:14:53.200
trip was a turning point. I felt hopeful that this

237
00:14:53.320 --> 00:14:55.120
was going to be a nice trip that kind of

238
00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:59.519
started the next chapter for us, she testified. The morning

239
00:14:59.639 --> 00:15:02.759
of my March twenty fourth, they woke up at their hotel,

240
00:15:02.960 --> 00:15:07.360
had breakfast. Gearhart gave Ariel a birthday gift, a necklace

241
00:15:07.679 --> 00:15:10.639
and a card. The defense asked her to read the

242
00:15:10.679 --> 00:15:13.919
card out loud to the jury. She became emotional. The

243
00:15:14.000 --> 00:15:17.559
card referred to her as angel Face. He called her

244
00:15:17.799 --> 00:15:22.279
angel face that morning. Then, according to the prosecution, he

245
00:15:22.360 --> 00:15:25.960
packed syringes and walked her toward a cliff. The hike.

246
00:15:26.759 --> 00:15:30.000
Ariel testified that she grew uncomfortable on the trail. The

247
00:15:30.039 --> 00:15:35.240
path was narrow, there were cliff faces. I wasn't enjoying myself,

248
00:15:35.279 --> 00:15:39.080
she told the jury. I told Gerhart, I'm not having fun.

249
00:15:39.399 --> 00:15:42.039
I don't want to keep going. I'm going to stop here.

250
00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:47.200
They turned around, and then she said Gearhart proposed taking

251
00:15:47.279 --> 00:15:50.679
a selfie. She was standing approximately ten feet from the

252
00:15:50.720 --> 00:15:54.240
cliff's edge. She said she noticed his behavior was odd,

253
00:15:54.519 --> 00:15:58.600
and then he grabbed me really forcefully my upper arms,

254
00:15:58.639 --> 00:16:01.200
and he said, I'm so so sick of this. Get

255
00:16:01.200 --> 00:16:04.360
back over there, and he starts pushing me back toward

256
00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:08.559
the cliff. She said, it felt almost like he was kidding.

257
00:16:08.600 --> 00:16:13.399
At first, I was like, what are you doing? She

258
00:16:13.559 --> 00:16:18.440
wasn't kidding back. She threw herself onto the ground. They wrestled.

259
00:16:18.919 --> 00:16:21.799
He got on top of her. She testified that he

260
00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:24.919
had a syringe in his hand. She batted it away,

261
00:16:25.279 --> 00:16:28.600
and then he told her, shut up. Nobody's going to

262
00:16:28.639 --> 00:16:33.480
hear you out here. Nobody's coming to save you. Nobody's

263
00:16:33.559 --> 00:16:36.200
coming to save you. The man who gave her a

264
00:16:36.200 --> 00:16:39.240
birthday card that morning told her nobody was coming to

265
00:16:39.279 --> 00:16:43.720
save her. She pleaded with him, you can't do it,

266
00:16:44.080 --> 00:16:46.480
she said, you know our kids will be orphans. You'll

267
00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:49.519
go to jail, and I'll be dead. He appeared to

268
00:16:49.559 --> 00:16:52.879
calm for a moment. She testified she thought for a

269
00:16:52.960 --> 00:16:57.159
second that she had a window to get out. I

270
00:16:57.320 --> 00:16:59.840
was like, Okay, this is the break. I can get

271
00:16:59.879 --> 00:17:03.720
it out. He picked up a rock. He just starts

272
00:17:03.799 --> 00:17:06.279
hitting my face and my head with a rock. I

273
00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:09.079
just started screaming because in my mind he's trying to

274
00:17:09.119 --> 00:17:12.000
knock me unconscious to drag me over the edge. So

275
00:17:12.279 --> 00:17:15.839
I'm just screaming as much as I could. She estimated

276
00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:20.160
she was hit approximately ten times. Two nurses hiking together

277
00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:24.039
heard the screaming. They ran toward it, and that's why

278
00:17:24.079 --> 00:17:28.519
Ariel Koenig is alive. Cross examination, the defense did what

279
00:17:28.599 --> 00:17:30.920
it had to do. On cross They went after the

280
00:17:30.960 --> 00:17:36.039
inconsistencies and the financial decisions. Ariel conceded that she suffered

281
00:17:36.039 --> 00:17:39.519
no facial or skull fractures during the attack. The treating

282
00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:44.319
physician described her injuries as severe lacerations requiring stitches, crushed

283
00:17:44.319 --> 00:17:47.279
tissue down to the skull, and small pieces of rock

284
00:17:47.359 --> 00:17:50.720
embedded in her skin. The court also heard that the

285
00:17:50.720 --> 00:17:54.160
physician couldn't definitively say how many times she was struck,

286
00:17:54.519 --> 00:17:58.200
but no fractures. The defense also got her to acknowledge

287
00:17:58.200 --> 00:18:00.599
with drawing one hundred and twenty three thousand from the

288
00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:03.319
couple's joint bank account, which she said she used to

289
00:18:03.319 --> 00:18:09.359
pay bills, tuition, household expenses, debt. And there's a detail

290
00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:12.359
about timing that the defense made sure the jury heard

291
00:18:13.000 --> 00:18:15.720
Ariel moved money from a joint account to an account

292
00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:18.279
in only her name four days before she asked her

293
00:18:18.279 --> 00:18:21.440
personal physician to add traumatic brain injury to the list

294
00:18:21.440 --> 00:18:24.599
of injuries she had sustained. The defense is planting a

295
00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:28.960
flag there the implication she was managing the money before

296
00:18:29.000 --> 00:18:32.200
she was managing the medical record. I'm not going to

297
00:18:32.240 --> 00:18:35.279
draw a conclusion from that, but I'm also not going

298
00:18:35.319 --> 00:18:37.279
to pretend the defense didn't put it in front of

299
00:18:37.319 --> 00:18:41.440
the jury intentionally. There was also the scuffle exchange, which

300
00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:44.599
is going to stick with me for a while. Defense

301
00:18:44.680 --> 00:18:49.440
counsel described the incident as a scuffle. Ariel Koenig pushed back,

302
00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:52.640
I consider scuffle to be like a back and forth,

303
00:18:52.839 --> 00:18:55.880
like a wrestling thing. I would call it an attack

304
00:18:56.039 --> 00:18:59.240
versus a scuffle. When asked what she was fighting for

305
00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:03.240
during the altar, she said, my life and the ability

306
00:19:03.279 --> 00:19:07.079
to see my kids again. The trial continues Wednesday and

307
00:19:07.200 --> 00:19:10.960
Friday of next week. Ariel Konig is expected to still

308
00:19:10.960 --> 00:19:15.079
be on the stand. Her cross examination may continue. The

309
00:19:15.119 --> 00:19:19.240
defense has signaled Gerhart Koenig might testify, it is still

310
00:19:19.279 --> 00:19:22.279
not confirmed. Here's what I keep coming back to, and

311
00:19:22.480 --> 00:19:26.079
I'll be direct about it. Gerhart Koenig had an eighteen

312
00:19:26.119 --> 00:19:29.480
month window to get ahead of this. After December when

313
00:19:29.480 --> 00:19:31.880
he found out about the WhatsApp messages. He could have

314
00:19:31.920 --> 00:19:34.920
filed for divorce. He could have walked away. He could

315
00:19:34.920 --> 00:19:37.000
have done anything that a person who is hurt and

316
00:19:37.119 --> 00:19:40.839
angry and betrayed does that does not involve syringes and

317
00:19:40.920 --> 00:19:45.160
a cliff side. Instead, he researched the hike, he planned

318
00:19:45.160 --> 00:19:48.039
the trip, he presented his wife with a necklace and

319
00:19:48.119 --> 00:19:51.720
a card that called her Angel Face, and then he

320
00:19:51.799 --> 00:19:55.039
walked her to the edge of a cliff. The defense

321
00:19:55.079 --> 00:19:58.480
says this was a spontaneous fight that escalated, that there

322
00:19:58.519 --> 00:20:02.559
were no syringes, that Ariel started it, that he reacted

323
00:20:02.599 --> 00:20:05.960
as any human being would react. I'm going to say

324
00:20:06.000 --> 00:20:09.079
what I've thought since the beginning of this coverage. Spontaneous

325
00:20:09.079 --> 00:20:13.119
fights don't require a packed bag reflex doesn't require preparation.

326
00:20:13.519 --> 00:20:16.119
If the defense theory is true, somebody explained to me

327
00:20:16.160 --> 00:20:19.119
what's in the bag. We'll be back on this next week.

328
00:20:20.839 --> 00:20:24.680
That's Daily Crime Injustice, Friday, March twenty seventh, twenty twenty

329
00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:29.119
sixth Kelsey Fitzsimmons. Both sides have rested in the bench trial.

330
00:20:29.400 --> 00:20:32.160
Judge Jeffrey Karp will decide whether she pointed that gun

331
00:20:32.200 --> 00:20:35.079
at a colleague or at herself. A hundred days in

332
00:20:35.160 --> 00:20:37.599
jail on the way to this verdict, we'll bring you

333
00:20:37.640 --> 00:20:41.759
the decision. Ariel Koenig took the stand on her birthday,

334
00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:44.559
one year to the day, and told a Honolulu jury

335
00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:47.599
that her husband told her nobody was coming to save her.

336
00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:52.319
Somebody came. Two nurses on a hike. The trial continues.

337
00:20:52.839 --> 00:21:00.599
Ariel Koenig, remember her, do better. F