Honolulu Restaurant Owner Testifies About Attempted Murder Suspect’s Dinner Reservation
John Charles Bussler owns Fête, a restaurant in Honolulu where his wife, Robynne Maii, is the James Beard Award-winning chef.
Bussler testified in Gerhardt Konig’s attempted murder trial this morning (Wednesday, April 1) about a dinner reservation Konig made for two the night of March 24, 2025.
He was called as a defense witness by Konig’s lawyer Thomas Otake. Otake has pointed to the reservation as evidence that Konig did not plan to harm his wife, Arielle Konig, when they hiked the Pali Puka Trail that morning. Konig is charged with second-degree attempted murder, not first degree, but prosecutors still have pointed to evidence they believe shows he was planning something. Otake is hoping jurors will see the dinner reservation as a reason to reject that.
00:35 “It’s farm to table, new American. My wife is also the chef there. She’s the Hawaiian chef who won the James Beard award three years ago.”
00:56 “Pretty popular place nowadays?”
“We’re doing alright.”
Deputy Prosecutor Joel Garner cross-examined Bussler. He’s trying to show the reservation is meaningless because there was no consequence for canceling or no showing. The testimony all seems a bit meaningless when you realize Konig is charged with second-degree attempted murder, which under Hawaii state law doesn’t have a premeditation element.
07:28 “We don’t charge anybody to make a reservation. I hate that. Personally. I like people to want to come to our restaurant, and I feel like they’re penalized if something comes up to the last minute…”
07:44 re-direct
08:00 “Were you able to determine when this reservation was made?”
“Yes.”
“And was it, I think you told me it was like March 18, or something like that?”
“It was a week before.”
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8 Comments
Ohh 😮 Great demostration😂😂 everything was planned by the criminal doctor.. How many times the killers or criminals set up everything to cover his actions before they attack
The defendants attorney is certainly grasping at straws because this is barely circumstantial. What it does show is malice aforethought. The jury will bring home a guilty verdict and quickly!
Oh ok and because he made a dinner reservation he couldn’t possibly have tried to kill her. 🙄 Not understanding the point of questioning this witness, showing the booking would have been enough.
However long it takes to fill out the paperwork will be exactly how long it will take the jury to deliberate.
Nice commercial for the restaurant. That’s all this accomplished. Otaki is just unutterable dumb.
So, is it offendant's not a bad guy. Because he made reservations for 2 overlooked that he lured her up at the top, tried to push her off. Beat her called his son and said, basically, she's a cheating w** and goodbye…. He should have saved everybody a lot of money and time. And just said, the gig is up. I never would have imag
This was literally just a restaurant review.
Anyone know the penalty, prison time, for attempted murder?