Puna man charged with 3 counts of murder in deaths of woman, 2 children

John Ali Hoffman, arrested in connection with the murder of a woman and two children Friday in Puna, remained in custody while police served a search warrant at his home on Saturday.

Hoffman, 49, of Puna, was charged Saturday night. He was being held at the Hilo police cellblock pending investigation on suspicion of three counts of second-degree murder and a firearm offense.

Blood dripping from Hoffman’s car early Friday led police to the body of a woman in the car’s trunk, and checks at his home revealed the bodies of two children, police said.

Officers stopped Hoffman after responding to a report of a disturbance on Moku Street in Leilani Estates about 1:30 a.m. and seeing Hoffman leaving in a vehicle without its lights on.

Police said officers saw a gun in the front seat and arrested Hoffman, then noticed the blood dripping from the trunk.

Hoffman’s sister identified the victims as her brother’s wife, Aracey, and their children, Clara Mae and John IV. Both children were under 10.

Court records and Hoffman’s social media account show a man struggling with legal issues and paranoia.

He posted a rambling 34-minute video on his Facebook page under the name Snofru Ali on Monday in which he spoke about his legal issues and background.

He said he has lived on the Big Island since 1998 and tried to reconcile a relationship. He said the relationship ended, but he created a sanitation business in the meantime.

“I have been systematically oppressed, deprived of life, liberty and the pursuit,” he said. He said he bought a home to save his family after he was forced from another home. “There was a bigger conspiracy going on in regards to my personal situation and the hidden agendas” that were afflicting him, he said.

He blamed others who at “every turn in my search for justice have systematically rejected me, trying to call me a lunatic, trying to call me names,” he said. “I have persevered, including attempts on my life.

“The court has refused, the people have refused to even talk to me about any kind of compromise,” he said.

He showed a list of properties that he said were granted to him and linked to the legal cases against him.

“You guys have done this, not me,” he said.

Court documents show he was arrested on suspicion of criminal trespass after he allegedly entered a property in Puna in May 2015. He filed a nine-page affidavit in March in that case saying he was kidnapped in a false arrest in 2013.