{"id":749,"date":"2026-05-30T09:35:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T09:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=749"},"modified":"2026-05-30T09:35:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T09:35:22","slug":"vigil-set-as-community-mourns-puna-homicide-victims","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=749","title":{"rendered":"Vigil set as community mourns Puna homicide victims"},"content":{"rendered":"
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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Friends and family are remembering three men who were killed in Puna as the suspect, Jacob Baker, 36, remains in police custody following a two-day manhunt.<\/p>\n

Steven Busher, a longtime friend of two of the victims \u2014 Chitta Morse, 79, and Bob Shine, 69 \u2014 said the news of their deaths has been difficult to process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of the saddest things. I sat here and cried for two days,\u201d Busher said.<\/p>\n

Busher said he met Morse and Shine nearly a decade ago after moving to the Big Island from Peru. He described Shine as a generous and welcoming person who offered him a place to stay when he first arrived.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cI told Bob, I said, \u2018Man, I\u2019ve got no place to go.\u2019 And he said, \u2018You can stay at my house for three weeks,\u2019\u201d Busher recalled. \u201cHe built me a couch and I stayed on his first floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Busher said Shine was known throughout the community for his kindness and sense of humor.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a spirit of gold. He was one of the funniest people. He would laugh. He would get people dancing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Both Shine and Morse lived on Papaya Farms Road in Puna. Busher said Morse was widely known for crafting custom machetes that attracted customers from across the state.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat he was an amazing person at, he made the best machetes on the island,\u201d Busher said. \u201cPeople would come from Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Kauai. They would come from everywhere just to buy this guy\u2019s machetes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Police identified the third victim as John Carse, 69. Authorities said Carse\u2019s body was discovered in Kalapana, about 19 miles from where the other two victims were found.<\/p>\n

Baker was arrested Thursday in Kaim\u016b without incident after a two-day search. The investigation remains ongoing.<\/p>\n

Puna resident Priya Surrago said Baker\u2019s arrest brought relief to a community shaken by the killings.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cSo much relief, like tremendous relief,\u201d Surrago said. \u201cIt feels like a celebration, honestly, because everyone\u2019s been really scared.\u201d<\/p>\n

A candlelight vigil honoring Morse, Shine and Carse is set for Saturday at Coso Wasi in Kapoho beginning at 2 p.m.<\/p>\n

Organizers are asking attendees to bring a flower, photograph or memory to share as they remember the three men and support their families.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steven Busher, a longtime friend of two of the victims, said he is struggling to process the news of their deaths.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":748,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nVigil set as community mourns Puna homicide victims - Hawaii Moving Insider<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=749\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Vigil set as community mourns Puna homicide victims - Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Steven Busher, a longtime friend of two of the victims, said he is struggling to process the news of their deaths.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\/?p=749\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Hawaii Moving Insider\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-30T09:35:22+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=749#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=749\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/590d72f16cb0f571fd45812a3c7ea1d0\"},\"headline\":\"Vigil set as community mourns Puna homicide victims\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-30T09:35:22+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=749\"},\"wordCount\":384,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=749#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/840b03ca04c70b044cc994d55d29396b.avif\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=749#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=749\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/hawaiimovinginsider.com\\\/?p=749\",\"name\":\"Vigil set as community mourns Puna homicide victims - 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