The security camera footage was unsettling from the first frame. A shirtless man walks slowly down a dirt driveway on a rural property in Hawaii’s Puna District, a dog at his side. Then, as vehicles pass nearby, he drops to the ground and stays there, pressing himself flat as if hiding in plain sight. It was the kind of behavior that raises the hair on the back of your neck and for property owner Mark Wyatt, watching the footage remotely, it did exactly that.
Wyatt recognized the man almost immediately. Though the figure’s face was not directly visible to the camera, enough detail was there for Wyatt to identify him as Jacob Baker, a former neighbor. That recognition carried immediate and serious weight: Baker, 36, was at that moment the subject of an active manhunt, wanted in connection with the deaths of 3 men in the normally quiet community. Wyatt picked up his phone and called 911.
3 victims and a community gripped by fear
The murders that set this story in motion were brutal in both their nature and their apparent randomness. The 3 victims were Robert Shine, 69, John Carse, 69, and a 79 year old man whose identity has not been publicly released. Shine was discovered dead on a Monday; Carse was found the following day. Autopsies determined that Shine had been strangled, Carse died from sharp force trauma, and the third man suffered blunt force injuries. No clear motive has been established, and investigators have said the only apparent link between the victims was their geographic proximity to one another.
For residents of the Puna District, a rural stretch of the Big Island known for its agricultural land and close-knit neighborhoods, the killings created a particular kind of dread the fear that the person responsible could appear at any door, at any time. Baker was known in the area, which made the situation feel even more immediate and personal.
One call, one hour, one arrest
Within an hour of Wyatt’s 911 call, police contacted him with news: Baker was in custody. Hawaii Police Chief Reed Mahuna later confirmed that a community tipster had directed authorities to Baker’s hiding location, with the security footage serving as critical corroboration. The speed of the apprehension, from tip to arrest in under 60 minutes, was a direct result of that information reaching police when it did.
Wyatt described the outcome as an enormous relief, and said the fear in the community had been palpable the real and specific concern that Baker might arrive at someone’s home while armed. That fear, shared by many in the area, was part of what made him act without hesitation.
Camped on borrowed land
Wyatt and his partner, Richard Valdez, own a four-acre parcel in the Puna District where they are currently in the process of building a home. The security camera that captured Baker had been installed on the property during construction. When investigators reviewed the situation more closely, it became clear that Baker had been using the land as a refuge, arranging cushions near a cliff to create a makeshift shelter. Wyatt had last visited the property the Monday before police launched their search, which included aerial drone surveillance of the surrounding area.
The two men recalled that Baker had briefly been their neighbor several years earlier, living nearby for roughly six months. At the time, he had been employed harvesting coconuts, was in a relationship and had a young child. After his partner left with the baby, Baker moved on, and Wyatt and Valdez lost contact with him entirely until his face appeared on their security feed.
Sharing the footage, strengthening the community
After Baker’s arrest, Wyatt and Valdez made the decision to post the security footage publicly on Facebook. Their reasoning was straightforward: they wanted others to see what community awareness, paired with the willingness to act, could accomplish. Valdez said he hoped the moment would encourage people to pay attention to their surroundings and trust their instincts when something does not look right.
It is a lesson the Puna District did not ask to learn under these circumstances, but one that landed with clarity. A camera installed for a construction project, a man who recognized a former neighbor, and a 911 call made without delay those three things, working together, brought a frightening chapter to a close. Investigations into the killings are ongoing, and the community is watching closely, hoping the answers that still remain will follow soon.
