A Hawaii doctor's wife testifies against him. A dad's retrial in Mississippi. And realtor safety.

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1:16Welcome to Dateline True Crime Weekly. I'm Andrea Canning. It's March 26th, and here's what's on our docket. Family drama in a Mississippi courtroom as a man accused of murdering his daughter's boyfriend stands trial for a second time. And his daughter is the prosecution's star witness. The last time that Caitlin testified, she said she started questioning her dad and he basically told her not to look a gift horse in the mouth. In Dateline Roundup, we're on verdict watch in the trial of the Utah nurse accused of poisoning her best friend. And 15 years after the murder of an Iowa realtor, news of an arrest.

1:54They were shocked that Ramsey was the person who had been arrested. Plus, how can realtors protect themselves? We've got some safety tips. It's just a little pin behind my necktie. I can be pushing it, sending an alert to the authorities to tell them, hey, I need help. Before all that, we're heading to a courtroom in Honolulu where an anesthesiologist is on trial for attempting to murder his wife with a rock.

2:22On the morning of March 24th, 2025, a woman's cries for help pierced the quiet of the Palipuka Trail, a scenic and sometimes treacherous hike overlooking Oahu. Two hikers raced toward the noise and saw a man beating a woman with a rock. They called 911. Hi, someone's currently being attacked on the top of Palipuka. Where? There's a man trying to kill her. She's blood all over her face. The man fled and the hikers helped the woman, Ariel Koenig, down the trail. After an hours-long manhunt, police found her alleged attacker at the edge of the forest. It was her husband, Dr. Gerhard Koenig. Now, Dr.

3:00Koenig is on trial in a Honolulu courtroom accused of second-degree attempted murder. He has pleaded not guilty, and his defense says the story is much more complicated. They say, far from being a victim, Ariel is the one who attacked Gerhard first. On Tuesday, exactly one year since the attack, jurors got to hear from Ariel as she took the stand to tell her story of that morning and what led up to it. I just started screaming because in my mind, he was trying to knock me unconscious to be able to drag me over that. So I just was screaming then. Here to bring us the latest from the courtroom is Hawaii News Now anchor and reporter, Mihailani Richardson.

3:37Welcome back, Mihailani. Aloha, Andrew. Good to see you. Before we get to this story, there's been severe flooding impacting Honolulu this past week. I hope you all are staying safe. I know you're covering that as well. That's right. And actually, the judge in the Koenig trial, he thanked the jurors for coming to trial because every single juror has been able to make it to court despite the flooding. Amazing. So to start, Mihailani, tell us about the relationship between Gerhard and Arielle Koenig. They've been married since 2018, two young sons together living in Maui. That's right. They live in Kahului, Maui, and they also have a 19-year-old stepson.

4:15That's her stepson, his son, Emile Koenig, from a previous marriage. Emile was also living with them as well. And this is a successful couple, right? I mean, Gerhardt was an anesthesiologist, former medical school professor. Ariel worked at a nuclear engineering company. That's right. Highly successful, highly educated. It was this dream-like situation. She was able to work from home while Dr. Koenig was an anesthesiologist going to different hospitals on Maui. The prosecution and defense, they presented very different theories as to what happened that day. Take us through the sequence of events the prosecutor outlined to the jury during his opening statements.

4:57Well, the prosecutor said that they went up this trail, the Palipuca Trail. It's not a very far hike to get up to. And the prosecutor said that Ariel did not want to be there. She felt this unease in being there. And that's what led to this whole confrontation or it was an attack, as the prosecutor calls it. And then as Ariel's moving down the trail to safely get by the defendant at this narrow spot with the cliff behind her, the defendant pushes her backwards towards that cliff. They start wrestling. They start struggling. They start fighting. And he had a syringe in his hand? That's right. Ariel Koenig in her testimony said that in the middle of this alleged attack, he pulled out a syringe and tried to stab her with it and that he also reached into his bag and pulled out a vial.

5:54And so at this point, we don't know what was in that vial. The syringe and the vial were never found by police. The prosecution, at least, is thinking the theory is that, you know, the syringe came first and then she knocks it out of his hand. So then he moves on to a rock. That's right. She told police that she was hit multiple times by this rock, a jagged lava rock, about 10 times. The defense said that she was hit twice. The prosecutor said Gerhardt called his older son, Emil, after he ran off into the forest. What's important about that phone call? Well, it is very important, Andrea, because at this point, it's becoming a he said, she said in a violent attack.

6:38Who attacked who? Who started it? This was a FaceTime call. And apparently, Dr. Koenig was seen on camera and his son saw him bloody. We haven't heard from Emil yet, but according to prosecutors, Dr. Koenig confessed to trying to kill his wife, and he was very depressed about it. But according to the defense, it was not a confession in that he was depressed that they had gotten into the situation and that he wanted to end his own life by jumping off the cliff. Oh, my goodness. This is Gerhardt's own son who's going to have to testify against him. That's a lot. So what is the prosecution's alleged motive for the attack?

7:20The two of them had been working on their marriage and leading up to the incident, they had been going through couples counseling. He had concerns that she had this so-called emotional affair with her married co-worker. And the prosecution is basically saying that this fueled this rage in Dr. Koenig. The defense, of course, presented a very different version of what happened. That's right. The defense repeatedly has said that this was an attack instigated by Ariel Koenig, that Ariel Koenig tried to push Gerhardt first and that she tried to hit him with the rock. So that was the long buildup to Ariel's testimony on Tuesday.

8:04What was your impression of her as she took the stand? I mean, she's facing off with the man she says tried to kill her. Well, she was very stoic. From the moment she walked into that courtroom, she looked straight toward where she was supposed to go. She sat down. All eyes were unheard. And she just looked straight ahead. Can you please state your name? My name is Arielle Koenig. And she answered the questions very clearly and concisely. Let's take a listen to some of that testimony. My back was to the cliff and he's facing me at the cliff. What happened next? When I walk up to him, then he grabbed me really forcefully by my upper arms.

8:44And he said, I'm so sick of this s***. Get back over there. And he starts pushing me back towards the cliff. Ariel says it really felt like Gerhart was almost kidding at first. And then for her, she says it turned into a matter of life and death very quickly. That's right. She says that she was only 10 feet or less to that cliff, which drops hundreds of feet. I threw myself onto the ground because there's a lot of trees and shrubs there so that I could hold on. Can you tell us what you remember he said as he was on top of you? Yeah. Oh, I mean, I'm screaming and he's telling me, shut the f*** up.

9:23Nobody's going to hear you out here. Nobody's coming to save you. And I'm saying, like, you can't do this. Everyone knows we're on a hike.

9:37They'll know this wasn't an accident and our kids will be orphans. She talks about this relationship with Jeffrey Miller, the guy from work, and she really downplays it. You know, she's saying, yes, I talked to him, but I, you know, it wasn't at all like anything bad. Right. Did you ever have sex with Jeffrey Miller? No. In these messages, did you flirt with Jeffrey Miller? Yes, some of them are flirty in nature. How did Gerhardt find out about Ariel's emotional affair? Well, he logged onto her WhatsApp and he found that there was this long conversation. And Ariel described an angry confrontation.

10:12When you say angry, upset, can you describe what he said to you? Yeah, called me a lying bitch, you're a whore. You know, how could you do this sort of thing? How did the defense handle Ariel on cross-examination? The defense asked very pointed questions every single time about the truthfulness of her answers. The defense questioned her on just how serious her injury really was after the incident. The defense said that the laceration on her head, though it looked bad on the pictures, it actually was not as severe and it just bleeds a lot. You did not have any skull fractures, correct? That's correct.

10:54No skull fracture? Yeah, no facial fractures, correct? That's correct. No, no fracture on my face. You're discharged the next day, correct? Yes, sir. Interesting. How long can we expect this trial to go on for? Well, we expect the trial to go on until mid-April. We potentially can expect to hear from Dr. Koenig himself. He is on the witness list for the defense. Yeah, well, since he's claiming self-defense, you know, jurors like to hear, you know, a firsthand account of that. We'll see what happens. Mehalani, thank you so much for bringing us this story all the way from Hawaii. We love hearing aloha at the top of our stories.

11:33It's very special. Thank you. Mahalo, Andrea. It's good to see you again.

11:41Coming up, a man accused of murdering his daughter's boyfriend stands trial for a second time. And his defense team has a bold new strategy.

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14:29On November 30th, 2022, father and local businessman Kirby Carpenter was shot and killed outside his home in Tippa County, Mississippi. He was just 36 years old. For nearly a year, the murder went unsolved. Then, on the one-year anniversary of his death, investigators arrested Kirby's girlfriend, Caitlin Spence, along with her parents, Jeffrey and Karen. All three pleaded not guilty. Then, in a sudden change of heart before their trial, Caitlin and her mother Karen took a plea deal, leaving Jeffrey to face a jury alone. Caitlin testified against her father for the prosecution. Your father told you that he was responsible for Kirby Carpenter's death, correct?

15:16Yes. But after four and a half hours of deliberation, jurors could not reach a verdict. A judge declared a mistrial. This week, prosecutors are trying the case again. Jeffrey Spence is on trial in a new courthouse in a different county. Dateline producer Rachel White, who attended the first trial, is back to tell us what else might be different this time around. Welcome back, Rachel. Thanks, Andrea. So first thing, why the move to a new county for this new trial? So the judge ordered the retrial to be moved. They were looking for jurors who didn't know details about the crime or the case. And the case has gotten a lot of local attention.

15:55So now we're in Calhoun County. What is the atmosphere like in the courtroom? Kirby's family members that are in the courtroom have been emotional. I think there are a lot of things that are hard to hear. And there are also, you know, photos from the crime scene that I think are really devastating for them to have to look at. So before we get to the opening statements, let's remind people of what happened here. Tell us about Kirby. Sure. So Kirby Carpenter was 36 years old. He was a Marine Corps vet, a father of two young children, and by all accounts, a very successful businessman. He worked as a rare metals dealer and often handled cash, gold, silver, things like that.

16:35And Kirby's relationship with Caitlin Spence, his girlfriend, is really central to this case. Explain how they met and how her family became a part of his life. Yeah, sure. So Caitlin and Kirby began dating in 2020, and they had a daughter together in July of 2022. And around that same time, Caitlin's parents, Jeff and Karen Spence, came from Virginia, where they lived, to help them with the baby. They stayed for several months before returning to their home on November 29th, 2022, which was just one day before Kirby was murdered. Okay, so walk us through what investigators say happened the day Kirby was killed.

17:14So investigators say that Kirby arrived back at his house after going to the grocery store, and he was shot twice, once in the neck and once in the chest. And then his body was dragged to the side of his carport in the driveway. And then two days later, on December 2nd, Caitlin Spence called 911 and reported finding Kirby's body. It took a year, but detectives, the investigation eventually leads them to Caitlin and her parents. They're saying that they are involved in this. Yes, so that information came to police from a former employee, someone that Kirby knew, told police that while he was at Kirby's funeral, Caitlin allegedly said something to him along the lines of, Daddy killed Kirby.

17:59speaking about Jeff Spence. But Rachel, you just said that that Jeffrey Spence had already gone home to Virginia the day before Kirby's death. That's 500 miles away. Is that possible that he was the killer? So prosecutors say that Jeff Spence did drive home to Virginia, leaving Kirby and Caitlin's home. But then he drove back to Mississippi to kill Kirby. As for motive, the prosecution alleges that it was really about money. A few days after the shooting, when Jeffrey Spence was in Mississippi, Kirby's side of the family say they noticed something suspicious. They called the sheriff's department to report finding bags of silver coins belonging to Kirby in Jeff Spence's vehicle.

18:43We mentioned that Caitlin and her mom took plea deals. How did that come about, Rachel? So Caitlin pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to capital murder. And her mother, Karen Spence, entered an Alford plea to charges of being an accessory after the fact to grand larceny. Now, an Alford plea is not her pleading guilty. She's just saying the prosecutor has enough evidence to convict her. And she's received a suspended sentence and is now on probation. Are Caitlin and her mom saying that they knew that the dad had done this? That's not exactly what they're saying. So the last time that Caitlin testified, she said that she did not know that her dad had killed Kirby until many months later when they had this conversation at a waterfall near her parents' property.

19:31I asked him if he had anything to do with Kirby's death. He turned aggressive and very short with me. He said that he did what he had to do, that the less I knew, the better. He said that I shouldn't let a gift horse in the mouth. How did you take this conversation with respect to Kirby's death? That he was confessing to me that he had killed Kirby. So she is in trouble because she didn't say anything? Like, why does she have to take a plea deal? Like, was she in on the planning? Sounds like she wasn't, right? I mean, we don't know. One of the reasons that investigators are sure that Caitlin wasn't the one who pulled the trigger is because she was actually on security video at a local Walmart in the parking lot with her daughter at the time that they believed that Kirby was killed.

20:22So they know that she couldn't have been involved in the actual murder. So Caitlin testified against her dad, and that trial last fall still ended without a verdict. Rachel, the defense must have put up a good fight. They focused on, you know, common sense arguments. They told the jury that there was no physical evidence placing Jeff Spence at the scene. And they said that the timeline just didn't add up. They said that the prosecution didn't prove that he drove back to Mississippi like they said that he had. Okay. So mistrial was in September. Retrial is happening right now. Opening statements got underway on Tuesday.

21:01An assistant DA was up for the prosecution. What did he ask the jury to pay attention to? And did you notice anything different? So he laid out just what the jury can expect to hear from prosecutors. And he said that they would prove that Jeff Spence made that drive back to Mississippi to kill Kirby Carpenter. Jeff Spence's defense is, hey, I wasn't there. I left on the 29th. We'll prove otherwise. The defense also had their opening statements. Anything new from them? Well, the team itself is new. So Jeff Spence is now being represented by a new set of attorneys. And, you know, just like his defense at the first trial, they say there's no proof that Jeff was at the scene when Kirby was murdered.

21:43What felt new this time, though, is that they said, you know, things about Kirby's family that they might have been the ones who wanted to steal from him. And that definitely wasn't a part of the trial last time. They really also leaned into alternate suspects, including someone that they say owed Kirby money and had threatened him 24 hours before he was killed. And they also brought up another man who allegedly threatened to shoot Kirby. There are so many people who had motive, who had opportunity to kill Kirby Carter. So many people who wanted to see him mark. Those people would never, ever investigate.

22:17Rachel, can we assume Caitlin will testify again? She's such a key player in all of this. We don't know what day, but attorneys for both the prosecution and the defense mentioned her in their openings and said that we'd hear from her. OK, Rachel, thank you. We will keep an eye on this as the trial moves along. Thanks, Andrea.

22:41Up next, it's time for Dateline Roundup. A jury decides the fate of the Utah nurse accused of murdering her best friend. And 15 years after an Iowa realtor was shot dead at an open house, there's been an arrest. Plus, what can real estate agents do to stay safe? We talked to one realtor who's made it his mission to get agents the training and tools they need to protect themselves.

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