{"id":1901,"date":"2026-05-30T11:04:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T11:04:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=1901"},"modified":"2026-05-30T11:04:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T11:04:24","slug":"an-eclectic-off-grid-hawaii-haven-3-dead-men-and-a-suspect-caught-on-surveillance-video","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/raleighmovingnews.com\/?p=1901","title":{"rendered":"An eclectic, off-grid Hawaii haven, 3 dead men and a suspect caught on surveillance video"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

HONOLULU (AP) \u2014 For residents of Puna, a remote and eclectic part of Hawaii\u2019s Big Island, the killings of three men known for embracing the community\u2019s off-grid, free-spirited lifestyle became a startling reminder of its struggles too.<\/p>\n

Read more Suspect arrested in Fayetteville officer-involved shooting after stolen car crash, police say<\/a><\/p>\n

Nearly 24 hours after Jacob Baker was arrested, residents were struggling to understand what happened and were eager for answers on why authorities zeroed in on the 36-year-old as their suspect in the killings of the men who were all nearing or in their 70s.<\/p>\n

Baker remained jailed on suspicion of murder, burglary and other charges.<\/p>\n

Court records show Baker having repeated run-ins with police for a variety of offenses. And people who live in Puna told The Associated Press that their concern about Baker in recent days accelerated, portraying him as increasingly threatening. <\/p>\n

Baker is accused of being 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 (meters) away, and a third man, also 69, whose body was found about 19 miles (31 kilometers) away. As of Friday, prosecutors had not yet filed charges.<\/p>\n

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 but friends identified him as Chitta Morse.<\/p>\n

Hawaii Police Chief Reed Mahuna said investigators had not found any connections among the victims, other than two of them lived near each other.<\/p>\n

Fixtures at drum circles <\/h3>\n

Friends of Shine and Morse say the men moved to Puna for its off-grid, tropical and communal lifestyle. <\/p>\n

Shine enjoyed dancing and swaying to the beat at drum circles, usually on Sunday afternoons, said Donald Hyatt, a drummer. <\/p>\n

Hyatt last saw Shine at a party last month. A local rock-and-roll band was playing and Shine was dancing around.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was dancing like he loved life,\u201d Hyatt recalled. \u201cBob had a permanent smile. Always in good spirits.\u201d<\/p>\n

Morse moved from Van Nuys, California 40 years ago \u201cto live off-grid and to live in a warm tropical place, and to eat fruit,\u201d said friend Jezuz Cinderland. \u201cFor 40 years he only ate raw food. Since he got to the island he just went completely raw and this was just the right environment for him to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

On land rich with volcanic soil on Papaya Farms Road, Morse had what Cinderland called a \u201cfruit forest,\u201d growing things like coconut, avocado and durian. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe would just share all the fruit he had,\u201d Cinderland said. \u201cThe most fabulous abundance that you can imagine.\u201d <\/p>\n

While Morse had previously been a member of the raw-food commune Cinderland moved to Puna to join, in recent years Morse was a loner, Cinderland said. <\/p>\n

Shine was a member of Cinderland\u2019s commune, which has been shuttered by the county for various code violations, Cinderland said.<\/p>\n

Work-trade life <\/h3>\n

Janelle Honer, who also grew fruit on Papaya Farms Road, seems to be what connected Baker to the men, who often attended pot luck dinners and parties on Honer\u2019s property.<\/p>\n

Baker had been living on Honer\u2019s property in exchange for climbing and trimming coconut trees, her ex-husband, Stephen Shaffer said. Trading work for living accommodations is common in Puna.<\/p>\n

Read more A trivia champ, 2 brothers and a helpful grandfather were among victims of Washington tank collapse<\/a><\/p>\n

Hyatt said Baker left the cabin he was living in on Honer\u2019s property months ago but returned recently claiming \u201csquatter\u2019s rights\u201d and threatened Honer. Hyatt said he urged her to seek a restraining order. <\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Honer, who Shaffer said was traveling out of the country, couldn\u2019t be reached for comment.<\/p>\n

A memorial for the men was planned for Saturday next to Honer\u2019s place.<\/p>\n

Puna is one of the few places in Hawaii where there\u2019s affordable land, and the area\u2019s infrastructure hasn\u2019t kept up with its growth, said Ashley Kierkiewicz, who represents Puna on the county council.<\/p>\n

While Puna has a reputation as a quirky frontier, it\u2019s also a place rich in culture where people are resilient and lean on each other, she said. <\/p>\n

Puna, with its landscape that\u2019s a mix of lush jungle and barren lava-rock fields, also struggles with drugs, poverty and limited resources, said longtime resident Tiffany Edwards Hunt.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople have this mistaken impression that they can come to Hawaii and heal,\u201d she said. \u201cHawaii can either really be kind to you or it can chew you up and spit you out.\u201d<\/p>\n

Surveillance cameras aid capture<\/h3>\n

Mark Wyatt and Richard Valdez played a key role in Baker\u2019s capture, calling the police when their surveillance camera system pinged Valdez\u2019s phone and it showed Baker on their property on Thursday. Their property is about a half-mile from Carse\u2019s home, but they didn\u2019t know him well.<\/p>\n

The videos show Baker, shirtless and barefoot, with a dog walking near a road and getting down on the ground as cars went by, in an apparent attempt to avoid being seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was ducking from the traffic, so it was pretty obvious\u201d that he was trying to avoid being found, Valdez said.<\/p>\n

Authorities arrested Baker a short distance away after finding him in a small cave, police said. <\/p>\n

Wyatt said he believed Baker had been hiding near his property in a small, makeshift camping spot over a bluff overlooking the ocean. He said Baker stole couch cushions from a container outside his home and some charcoal, and Baker used coconut tree palm fronds to cover the site.<\/p>\n

Valdez said he hadn\u2019t seen Baker in about two years. Back then, he said, Baker was living next door to them, renting space from their neighbor while trimming coconuts from trees and selling them just off the area\u2019s main road. He lived next door for about six months, Valdez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me he was from Maui and that he had just had a newborn baby and his girlfriend had left and that he was trying to get his life together,\u201d Valdez said. \u201cSo he seemed pretty normal and conscientious, so it\u2019s hard to fathom that this happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more NJ state police set up protest zone outside contested immigration detention center as ICE leaves<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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