The man who savagely attacked two hikers on Koko Crater last year was acquitted of attempted murder charges this afternoon by reason of insanity and will be locked up, perhaps for the rest of his life, at Hawaii State Hospital.

The prosecution and defense agreed to the outcome of the case after mental-health experts who examined Benjamin Davis, 20, determined that he is a schizophrenic who lacked the ability to understand or control his actions when he attacked hikers Nicholas Iwamoto and Guy Tanaka Feb. 1, 2007.
The brief trial, which lasted slightly more than an hour before Circuit Judge Michael Town, was taken up mostly by testimony from one of Davis’ victims, Nicholas Iwamoto, 24.
Iwamoto was stabbed 18 times by Davis and then pushed off the rim of the crater, falling 30 feet and then rolling another 70 feet to the base of a ravine.
His injuries included a broken neck, fractured skull, broken ankle, lacerated liver and diaphragm, collapsed lung and stab wounds to his chest, abdomen, jugular vein and temporal artery.
He said he has undergone eight surgeries and is in constant pain.
“I know it’s a miracle that I’m still here,” he told Davis.