Man Sentenced for Assaulting Wife at Hawai‘i National Park

Matthew Berckmann was convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault by strangulation, charges that stemmed from an October 2017 incident in Haleakala National Park. PC: NPS

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Senior U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway sentenced Matthew Berckmann, 44, to 41 months imprisonment on Nov. 13, 2018.

Berckmann was convicted after a jury trial of assault with a dangerous weapon and assault of his spouse by strangulation.

Following his incarceration, Berckmann will be on supervised release for three years.

Kenji M. Price, U.S. attorney for the District of Hawai‘i, said that according to information presented in court, while camping at Hosmer Grove Campground at Haleakalā National Park on Oct. 18, 2017, Berckmann threatened his wife with a large kitchen knife while pinning her to the ground by holding his forearm against her throat.

Two eyewitnesses witnessed the assault and contacted 911.

Berckmann was taken into custody by a park ranger aided by two Maui Police Department officers.

This case was prosecuted in federal court, as the United States has jurisdiction for crimes committed within national parks.

The investigation was led by the National Park Service, with assistance from the FBI and the Maui Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Albanese and Marion Percell handled the prosecution.