Arielle Konig took the stand on Tuesday to testify against her husband, anesthesiologist Gerhardt Konig, exactly one year after he allegedly tried to kill her by pushing her off a cliff during a hike in Hawaii. 

“I walked up to him, he grabbed me really forcibly by my upper arms and he said, ‘I’m so f****** sick of this s***. Get back over there.’ And he starts pushing me back towards the cliff,” she said during her dramatic testimony.

She testified that Gerhardt Konig attempted to stab her with a syringe and, when that failed, she said he repeatedly bashed her head with a rock.

“He’s saying, like, ‘You’re done. We’re done with you. We don’t need you anymore. You’re done. You’re done,'” she said on the stand. 

Gerhardt Konig, who worked with the Anesthesia Medical Group in Hawaii and was previously an anesthesiologist at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, is charged with second-degree attempted murder. 

Prosecutors are accusing the doctor of trying to kill Arielle Konig after she refused to take a selfie near the edge of a cliff along the Pali Puka trail on the Hawaiian island of Oahu. The couple was on a trip celebrating Arielle Konig’s birthday, according to a petition she filed last year requesting a temporary restraining order.  

Arielle Konig filed for divorce in May 2025, according to The Associated Press.

Nurse Sarah Bucksbom witnessed the alleged attack and called 911.

“Her face was covered in blood. Her head was covered in — she was just fully covered in blood,” Bucksbom told the court.

Gerhardt Konig’s attorney claimed during opening statements that his wife, a nuclear engineer, was the one who attacked him after he confronted her about an affair.  

“She picks up a rock and hits him in the face with it, and he quickly reacts, human reaction, grabs the rock, hits her twice, and stops,” Thomas Otake argued.

Otake pointed to a call Gerhardt Konig made after the incident during which he told his 19-year-old son that he was going to kill himself.

“He was calling him to say goodbye. He was calling him to tell him he was sorry. He was calling him to tell him he wished he was a better man,” the lawyer said. 

The prosecution, on the other hand, said the call was a confession.

“He says, ‘I am not going to make it back. I tried to kill Arielle, but she got away,'” deputy prosecuting attorney Joel Garner argued.

It’s still not clear if Gerhardt Konig or his son will testify in the trial. He faces up to life in prison if he’s convicted.