Police in Hawaii were searching Thursday for a 36-year-old man whom they described as “armed and extremely dangerous” and wanted in connection with three killings within a two-day span earlier this week.
Hawaii Police Chief Reed Mahuna said authorities were deploying “significant resources and personnel” in trying to find Jacob Baker, of Pahoa, Hawaii.
Recommended Videos
Three men, including two who were 69 years old and one who was 79, were found dead on Monday and Tuesday in the Puna area of the island of Hawaii, also known as the Big Island. The island is the largest in the Hawaiian chain at more than 4,000 square miles (10,360 square kilometers).
“These are a tragic series of events and our thoughts are with those who are grieving at this time,” Mahuna said at a news conference Wednesday. “The Hawaii Police Department understands the fear and concerns incidents like this bring to our community.”
Mahuna declined to provide details on the search, but said bringing Baker into custody was his department's “No. 1 priority.”
Authorities said they had not identified a motive but were confident Baker was involved in all three homicides. Mahuna did not release information on how police identified Baker as a suspect or what evidence may connect him to the killings.
On Monday at around 8 p.m., police found a 69-year-old man at a residence partially submerged in a cement pond, Mahuna said. Police did not initially know whether foul play was involved, but preliminary autopsy results showed the death was a homicide, the chief said.
On Tuesday, a 79-year-old man was found dead with apparent blunt force injuries shortly after 12:30 p.m., Mahuna said. The killing happened about 400 to 500 feet (122 to 152 meters) from the first homicide, he said.
Later Tuesday, at around 10 p.m., police responded to a property about 19 miles (31 kilometers) from the other two killings on a welfare check request and found a 69-year-old man dead with injuries, Mahuna said.
Police said there were no known connections among the victims, other than the first two men lived near each other. Mahuna said guns were not used in the killings.
Mahuna said Baker is known to police, but did not elaborate.
Two women filed petitions for temporary restraining orders against Baker just last week, related to what they said were threats and harassment happening at a farm they were staying on or co-owned. A judge ultimately denied both applications, saying there was not enough proof of harassment provided.
One of the women claimed in her petition that Baker had threatened to kill several women who were staying on the property, and had caused a number of them to move or end their stays. She included a link to a video that allegedly captured at least one threat, but the link had either been removed or was incorrect as of Thursday.
The other woman alleged in her petition that Baker had threatened women and a disabled man, and said he would trespass on the property, take things that didn’t belong to him and say his intention was to squat on the property.
No attorney was listed for Baker, who had 20 other cases in the court record in the past two decades, many of them traffic infractions. There were also a handful of criminal or administrative citations including letting a dog wander, failure to appear in court and simple trespassing.
In most of those cases, Baker represented himself.
Puna, on the eastern side of the island, is a rural but fast-growing area known for affordable housing prices. It's also an area where lava flows have wiped out entire communities over the years. The landscape is lush and tropical mixed with barren lava fields.
Officials were asking the public to report any information about Baker and any suspicious activities in the areas of the homicides to police, and urged people not to approach Baker.
____
Associated Press writer Jennifer Kelleher in Honolulu contributed to this report.