UPDATES

3:20 p.m. – Police say the two bodies found inside the home on Moku Street in the Leilani Estates subdivision were those of children, “a male minor and a female minor”. The victims have not been positively identified.

An autopsy is scheduled for today (May 6) on the bodies of the two children the deceased woman found inside the trunk of the car during a traffic stop. A media release provides new details on what officers saw during the response to a call about a disturbance at 1:30 a.m.

Upon arrival, they observed a man exiting the house and driving from the scene in a car with no lights on.

Officers made a traffic stop on the car and observed a firearm on the front seat. They arrested the driver and then observed what appeared to be blood dripping from the trunk of the car. The trunk was opened, exposing a deceased woman inside.”Hawaii County Police media release

49-year-old John Ali Hoffman of Leilani Estates, was arrested on suspicion of three counts of second-degree murder, one count of first-degree murder and a firearms offense. He is being held in the Hilo police cellblock while detectives from the Area I Criminal Investigations Division continue the investigation.

ORIGINAL STORY

PUNA, Hawaii – Three people are dead in a Puna subdivision, and police have arrested a 49-year old man on suspicion of multiple murders.

At approximately 1:30 a.m. Friday (May 6) officers responded to a disturbance call in the Leilani Estates subdivision in Puna. Upon arrival, police say they observed a vehicle leaving the area. Officers stopped the vehicle and discovered the body of a female adult inside. Police say the driver of the vehicle was 49-year-old John Ali Hoffman of Leilani Estates.

Police then checked the home of the reported disturbance, and found two additional dead bodies inside.

Hoffman was arrested on suspicion of three counts of second-degree murder, one count of first-degree murder and a firearms offense, police say. He is being held in the Hilo police cellblock pending further investigation.