Suspect arrested after bodies of woman, 2 children found in Puna
DARYL LEE / SPECIAL TO THE STAR-ADVERTISER
A police car could be seen near a home where the bodies of two children were discovered early this morning.
COURTESY HAWAII COUNTY POLICE
John Ali Hoffman
Blood dripped from a car as it pulled away from a home in a rural area of the Big Island, leading officers to a woman’s body stuffed inside the trunk and two children dead inside the house, authorities said today.
John Ali Hoffman was arrested on suspicion of three counts of murder and a firearms offense. Though his relationship to the victims was not clear, it “looks like they were all living in the same house,” police Capt. Robert Wagner said.
A relative said Hoffman had a wife and two young children — a boy and a girl — and was a caring person. One neighbor occasionally heard the couple fighting, but other nearby residents didn’t know Hoffman.
Officers responded to a disturbance call in a subdivision in the rural Puna district around 1:30 a.m., spotting a man leaving a house and driving away in a car with its headlights off.
They pulled over Hoffman, saw a gun in the front seat and blood dripping from the trunk, police said. Officers opened it and found the woman’s body.
In the house, they discovered the bodies of a boy and a girl, Wagner said. Police were trying to identify the victims.
Hoffman’s sister-in-law, Marie Hoffman, was shocked to hear the allegations.
“That don’t sound right,” she said several times in a phone interview from Minneapolis.
She said she did not know much about John Hoffman’s wife but that he is originally from St. Louis and moved to Hawaii about 20 years ago.
Marie Hoffman, who is married to his brother, described John Hoffman as the kind of man who takes care of people, especially children.
“He’s stern, but he’s cool,” she said.
A man who lives next door to Hoffman told the Hawaii Tribune-Herald that he occasionally heard arguments coming from the home.
“I do know they were not a happy couple over there,” Tim Mullins told the newspaper. “They would argue and fight, and I would hear it from time to time. But before it got too bad, it would quiet out.”
Other residents said they did not know anyone with Hoffman’s name in the subdivision, which has about 800 to 900 homes on 1-acre or larger lots.
Police didn’t disclose the exact address, but Hoffman’s name is not listed as a property owner, said Richard Robbins, a Leilani Community Association board member. Robbins, who is in charge of enforcing association rules, said he has not heard of Hoffman.
Like much of the Puna district, the homes use rainwater catchment tanks and cesspools or septic tanks. A lot of residents rely on solar power and depending on the carrier, cellphone reception can be spotty, Robbins said.
It is the only Big Island subdivision with fully paved roads, spanning 21 miles, he said.
A triple homicide is rare, not only for the area, but for the entire island, police said.
“I can’t remember having one before,” Wagner, the police captain said. “It’s definitely unique.”
Some residents of the subdivision agreed.
“We have crime on the Big Island just like anyplace else,” said resident John Rivera, who also did not know Hoffman. “But this is surprising, really surprising.”
Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the police department at 935-3311, or contact Detective Scott Amaral at 961-2276 or scott.amaral@hawaiicounty.gov. Anonymous tips can be called into CrimeStoppers at 961-8300.
34 responses to “Suspect arrested after bodies of woman, 2 children found in Puna”
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Yikes.
scary Puna area. Check the crime stats. But more importantly, it the crimes never reported, never solved that are really scary.
allie if it is never reported, how is it you know about them? What do you do on your weekends? Visit Puna.
Right. You’ve clearly spent hours in non-existent databases poring through file after file of unreported crimes.
Scary Bottineau ND area. Check the crime stats. But more importantly, it’s the crimes never reported, never solved that are really scary. http://bismarcktribune.com/news/state-and-regional/bottineau-man-gets-years-in-prison-for-hog-farm-murders/article_5ff1add7-b907-5ce0-af56-ab0d36b09df7.html
‘Bye!
It killed two kids…..one age 7, the other age 9 along with their mother…..what label would you ‘award’ it?
the dude looks like Moses Malone.
A more accurate term is mass murderer and if found guilty, this is the time Hawaii needs to have the death penalty.
When I lived on the Big Island, Puna was considered amongst the scariest places on the island, often described as the “wild west”. Every street sign had bullet holes in it. I see not much has changed.
agree..but i get blamed for pointing this out
And what do you know!
Oahu jus as scary, da ottah day I saw one city bus being towed on H-1 with bullet holes by Pearl Harbor? LOL Thanks Hawaii Five-O for the laughs!
More Mainland, umm… trash. Puna, in particular, is crawling with them. And more arriving everyday. Send ’em back.
BOY… that’s one !@#!#% ugly SOB!!
Hm and Watanabe one match.
The thing is, Puna is crawling with mainland transients. Murders and druggies from the 48.
yup
When America’s Most Wanted show premiered in 1988, the “joke” was that most of them were hiding in Puna.
now he’s a kid killer.
I’m thinking of all kinds of words that I cannot write here. I pray for peace for the survivors of the victims. Aue ka minamina e.
What woman officer? Oh, that dead woman in my car? I don’t have any idea how she got there. I think the dead woman jumped in when I wasn’t looking, sir.
Kinda brings back memories of Dana Ireland.
You read my mind!
Nothing like it at all. It was his wife and kids.
When I read “Puna man”… I erroneously thought he was a “local”.
But a combination of his “name” and “picture” confirms otherwise.
Tsk, Tsk !
Puna is a “scary” place because this is where the STATE’s (not Big Island) poor congregate. These are the last affordable regions in the state, and yes, poverty is real. John Hoffman is a coward. A dangerous coward at that. Don’t blame Puna. Blame economics and poverty. The real reasons why stories like this will continue to happen. The state’s poorest regions are in Puna.
Let justice prevail here! “Any man’s death diminishes me…..”
I was born in Puna and raised in Hilo. At the time Puna was the quietest, scariest, and darkest place on the Big Island. Scariest not because of gun fire but the Hawaiian ghost stories that use to be recited to us by our elders. It was all in fun. But as NanakuliBoss mentioned, because of development and cheap housing, a lot of the low life from the mainline(and a few locals) are moving in and causing all the trouble. The guy in the picture looks like one of them
That’s the rubbish man!! He had a pick up truck that use to go around the neighbor hood and pick up trash. He would go house to house try to strike up deal’s with home owner’s to haul their trash on a weekly basis, that was his way of making a living. My Condolence’s to the deceased.
If he is guilty of killing 2 children and their mother, he should be taken out back have the same thing done to him.
Generally I wouldn’t support the death penalty but people who murder innocent children don’t deserve to go to jail.
He was an oppressed person or so he claims. He should have used the gun on himself instead of his victims. He is a coward. How did he get the gun ? What’s his rap, any convictions, ? Should he interesting to see we this story unfolds.
Of the wife and children, RIP!
In his video he talked about him becoming victim of conspiracy.