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A man wanted in connection with the killings of three men was apprehended Thursday after a massive search of Hawaii’s Big Island that had left residents on edge.
Police said Jacob Baker, 36, of Pahoa, Hawaii, was arrested on suspicion of murder, burglary and other charges following a search that involved “significant resources,” including help from state and federal authorities. They described him as “armed and extremely dangerous.”
Authorities said they believe Baker is involved in the deaths of three men: a 69-year-old man found partially submerged in a cement pond, a 79-year-old man who was found just a few hundred feet away, and a third man, also 69, whose body was found about 19 miles away.
The killings took place over two days in a remote and mostly rural part of the island, which is the largest in the Hawaiian chain at more than 4,000 square miles.
The area is a mix of tropical landscape and barren lava fields.
Police received information Thursday afternoon that Baker was hiding in a grassy area, ducking down as traffic passed, Hawaii Police Chief Reed Mahuna said at news conference after the arrest.
Police found him hiding in a small cave and arrested him.
Deborah Davis was driving home when she slowed down near where one of the people killed had lived. That’s when she saw a policewoman chasing a man running on the road.
“I just stopped and I’m thinking, this is it, this is the guy,” she said.
The man ran into a grass driveway and into the jungle. After some yelling, several officers emerged with a shirtless man in handcuffs. She said officers were giving each other high-fives and shouting, “chee hoo,” a celebratory yell common in Hawaii.
“They were very happy,” she said. “And I was very grateful. I was thanking them with tears in my eyes.”
Police said they had not identified a motive but were confident Baker was involved in all three killings. Mahuna did not release information on how police identified Baker as a suspect or what evidence may connect him to the killings.
He said investigators had not found any connections among the victims, other than two of them lived near each other.
Women accused Baker of threats and harassment
The slayings happened just days after two women requested temporary restraining orders against Baker, saying he had threatened and harassed them at a farm.
One woman was staying there and the other co-owned it. A judge denied both applications, saying there was not enough proof of harassment.
One of the women claimed in her petition that Baker threatened to kill several women who were staying on the property, and 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 that Baker threatened women and a disabled man, and said he would trespass on the property, take things that didn’t belong to him and said 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.
In most of those cases, Baker represented himself.
3 men found dead over 2 days
Police identified the first victim as Robert Shine and the third victim as John Carse.
The name of the 79-year-old man was pending positive identification. Autopsies show Shine was strangled, and Carse died from “sharp force trauma,” police said.
On Monday night, police found Shine at a residence partially submerged in a cement pond, Mahuna said.
On Tuesday, the 79-year-old man was found dead with apparent blunt force injuries shortly after 12:30 p.m., Mahuna said.
Later Tuesday, at around 10 p.m., police responded to a property about 19 miles away on a welfare check request and found Carse dead.
Stephen Shaffer said Baker had lived on his ex-wife’s property in Puna, where they grow fruit, and Baker climbed coconut trees for her. But after several months, he said, she sought a temporary restraining order against Baker.
Shaffer said he didn’t know details of their falling out, only that his ex-wife felt threatened by Baker and wanted him to move out.
“He just seemed to me kind of angry,” said Shaffer, who lives in a separate dwelling on the same property. He added that others in the area were concerned about Baker but didn’t elaborate.
Donald Hyatt, who is friends with two of the men killed and Shaffer’s ex-wife, said Baker left the cabin he was living in on the property months ago.
“He left the place in disarray,” Hyatt said. “Trash inside and out.”
Baker returned recently claiming “squatter’s rights,” and threatened Shaffer’s ex, Hyatt said. Hyatt urged her to seek a restraining order.
Puna, on the eastern side of the island, is a largely rural but fast-growing area known for affordable land. It’s also an area where lava flows have wiped out entire communities over the years.
Residents on edge
Before the arrest, Puna resident Tiffany Edwards Hunt said many in the community were on edge. She said she had never seen so many police cars in Puna.
Many in the area live in poverty, she said.
“We have people who live in blue tarps in a jungle in makeshift homes,” Hunt said.
Puna is just 17 miles from Hilo, east Hawaii’s main town, but with unpaved roads in many parts of Puna, it can feel farther away, she said.
“In that remoteness, you have lawlessness,” Hunt said.
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