Hawaii’s Big Island was shocked after a male suspect was arrested for the alleged murder of a women and two children on Friday night.

Police officers arrested John Ali Hoffman on Friday night after answering to a disturbance call near a rural neighborhood on the Big Island around  1:30 pm local time.

John Hoffman arrested for triple-murder in Hawaii
A photo provided by the Hawaii Police Department shows John Ali Hoffman, credited with the murder of an adult woman and two small children, a boy and a girl. All three victims remain to be identified. Image Credit: Big Island Video News

The suspect was driving in the middle of the night with his car’s headlights off. What made police officers pull him over, only to discover a firearm on the passenger’s seats and a dead woman in his truck.

Triple-murder investigation remains ongoing

Hawaii’s Big Island police officers received a disturbance call on Friday night in the rural Puna district. Officers pulled over a man that was driving with the headlights off, when a officer noticed a handgun in the passenger’s seat.

John Hoffman was asked to step out of the vehicle, when the officers noticed blood dripping out of the car’s trunk.  Officers opened the trunk to find a dead woman lying inside the vehicle.

Alerted by the body, officers drove back to the house Hoffman was coming from. Unfortunately, officers found the bodies of two children. A boy and a girl, whose ages have not been confirmed, were also found dead.

The relationship between Hoffman and the three bodies is yet to be determined. Capt. Robert Wagner of the Hawaii police has stated that “it looks they were all living in the same house”.

A next-door neighbor said while being interviewed by the Hawaii Tribune Herald that he constantly heard arguments from the house.

“I do know they were not a happy couple over there. They would argue and fight, and I would hear it from time to time but before it got too bad, it would quiet out,” said next-door neighbor to the Hawaii Herald.

The neighborhood is very wide, about 800 to 900 homes so not many residents new Hoffman nor the victims. Police officers have not revealed the location of the homicide, but they have confirmed that Hoffman is not listed as property owner.

Hoffman’s sister in law was contacted by the media and stated she was shocked with the news, describing the suspect as a “stern but cool man” who takes care of his loved ones.

Marie Hoffman, the wife of John Hoffman’s brother informed that the suspect is not originally from Hawaii but from St. Luis. Investigations on the case are still being held, yet the community seems to be shocked with the triple murder.

Source: Hawaii Tribune Herald