The body discovered hanging from a tree in Kalapana has been identified as Boaz David Johnson, who wrote in his suicide note that he strangled his pregnant girlfriend to death in 2012.
Johnson's remains were discovered on Jan. 2 in a lava field of the Hawaiian neighborhood, according to TIME. His identity was only recently confirmed after results from DNA and dental records returned, West Hawaii Today reported.
In a handwritten suicide note found close to his body, Johnson admitted to strangling Brittany-Jane Royal, his pregnant girlfriend at the time. He then threw her remains into the ocean.
According to the note, which was discovered inside a journal that Johnson reportedly left near the site of his death, the couple got involved in a heated dispute that turned violent, and eventually led to Royal's death.
Her body, naked and snarled in a fishing net, was found off the coast of Kalapana on May 28, TIME reported. Her identity was confirmed by fingerprinting. After Johnson was charged with second-degree murder seven months later, a warrant was released for his arrest.
Johnson reportedly hung himself with a similar robe that he used to strangle Royal to death, according to Assistant Police Chief Henry Tavares, who spoke at a news conference on Tuesday.
Tavares also added that the stilted suicide note didn't seem to show remorse for the killing.
Johnson and Royal reportedly lived together in a tent on a lava field. Royal was 10 weeks pregnant when she was murdered, and had plans to name her son Io, the native hawk of Hawaii.
