Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
PAHOA, Hawaii (AP) — The Latest on a triple killing on Hawaii's Big Island (all times local):
4:15 p.m.
Residents of a rural subdivision on Hawaii's Big Island where a woman and two children were found dead say they don't know the man suspected of killing them.
Police say officers were responding to a disturbance at Leilani Estates in the Puna district early Friday when they saw a man leave the house and drive away. Officers pulled him over, saw a gun on the front seat and blood dripping from the trunk.
Inside the house, officers found the bodies of a boy and a girl. Police are trying to identify the victims.
John Ali Hoffman has been arrested on suspicion of three counts of murder.
Leilani Community Association board member Richard Robbins says he doesn't know anyone living there with Hoffman's name. He says Hoffman isn't listed as a property owner in the subdivision.
___
3:15 p.m.
Police say blood dripping from the trunk of a car led officers to a find a woman's body stuffed inside and the bodies of two children inside a house on Hawaii's Big Island.
Officers were called to a disturbance around 1:30 a.m. Friday at a home in a rural subdivision and saw a man leaving the house and then driving away in a car without lights.
Police say the officers pulled over the driver, saw a gun on the front seat and blood dripping from the trunk.
Inside the house, officers found the bodies of a boy and a girl. Police are trying to identify the victims.
John Ali Hoffman has been arrested on suspicion of three counts of murder. Police say he's in jail and can't speak with the media.
___
1:40 p.m.
The sister-in-law of a man suspected of killing two children and a woman on Hawaii's Big Island says she's shocked by the allegations because he's a caring person.
Police say John Ali Hoffman was arrested Friday on suspicion of three counts of murder.
Marie Hoffman, who says she's married to his brother, says John Hoffman has two young children. She said in a telephone interview from Minneapolis that he would never hurt them.
Police Capt. Robert Wagner says officers responding to a disturbance call pulled over John Hoffman as he was driving away and found a woman's body in the trunk.
Inside the house, officers found the bodies of a boy and a girl. Police are trying to identify the victims.
Wagner says Hoffman is in jail and isn't allowed to speak with the media.
___
12 p.m.
Police on Hawaii's Big Island say two juveniles are among the three people a man is suspected of killing.
Capt. Robert Wagner says officers responding to a disturbance call Friday pulled over a man who was driving away in a car and found a woman's body in the trunk. He says they also discovered a gun in the car.
Inside the house in a rural subdivision, Wagner says officers found the bodies of a boy and a girl. Police are trying to identify the victims.
The man has been arrested on suspicion of three counts of murder and is being held in jail.
Wagner says a triple homicide is "definitely unique," not only for the rural Puna area, but the entire island.
___
10:15 a.m.
Police on Hawaii's Big Island say they have a man in custody who they suspect killed three people.
Police on Friday responded to a disturbance call in a subdivision in the Puna district. When officers arrived, they stopped a vehicle that was leaving. Police say a woman's body was inside.
Police found two other bodies inside the house.
The driver of the vehicle was arrested on suspicion of three counts of murder. He's being held at the Hilo police cellblock.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
