Acupuncturist murder case in hands of jury
An Oahu Circuit Court jury is deliberating the fate of Eric Thompson, described during closing arguments Thursday as a liar and a spouse-controlling perfectionist who tried to fix his marriage through murder.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Benjamin Rose told jurors that 11 days before Thompson allegedly shot and killed his wife’s lover, Jon Tokuhara, he made her sign an agreement relinquishing custody of their 3-year-old daughter if they got divorced.
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Defense attorney David Hayakawa countered that Thompson didn’t kill Tokuhara, the Waipahu acupuncturist who helped the defendant’s wife through her pregnancy, and was disposing of bricks at a dump when the victim was killed Jan. 12, 2022, at his Waipahu clinic.
Hayakawa argued that Honolulu police failed to rule out other potential suspects and that prosecutors built their case on cherry-picked evidence, shoddy DNA evidence from a hat Thompson allegedly left at the murder scene, questionable surveillance footage and false allegations that the defendant destroyed vital evidence.
Thompson, 36, of Wailupe, is accused of shooting Tokuhara, 47, his wife Joyce’s lover, four times in the face. Tokuhara’s body was found in a pool of blood by his mother the following day, on Jan. 13, 2022, at Tokuhara Acupuncture and Healthcare on Waipahu Depot Street.
Thompson was arrested Feb. 14, 2022, and indicted by an Oahu grand jury April 22, 2022, on charges of second-degree murder and carrying or use of a firearm in the commission of a separate felony.
He awaits the jury’s decision while free after posting $1 million bail.
“The defendant deliberately testified falsely. He took the stand last week. He did not tell you the truth about what happened on Jan. 12, 2022,” Rose told the jury. “He could not tell you the truth because the truth is he committed murder. He told you a story so full of holes it lacks any credibility.”
Thompson’s testimony that he went to the Waimanalo Convenience Center to dump several bags of bricks is bogus, Rose said, noting that surveillance video of him leaving his house that day revealed nothing in the bed of his truck.
Bricks are not even allowed to be dumped at the Waimanalo facility, Rose said, and the security guard on duty Jan. 12, 2022, testified that he never saw Thompson.
Besides, Rose argued, the defendant would never have thrown away good bricks. He noted that Thompson bought .22-caliber ammunition in bulk when prices were low and lived with his mom rent-free after college to save money for a down payment on a house.
“Someone like that does not throw away good, usable bricks,” Rose said. “It would counter every natural bone in his body to just dump bricks. The defendant’s story does not hold up to any level of scrutiny.”
Thompson’s testimony about his relationship with his wife, beginning in high school, also was dishonest, Rose continued.
“We do not dispute that they were high school sweethearts. In fact, it is the very foundation of the defendant’s worldview. It is central to his identity of a perfect life. ‘Happily ever after’—if only it were so.”
Thompson was controlling, Rose said, referring to testimony by Joyce’s sister that some time after learning of his wife’s affair, the defendant “allowed her to resume her normal life.”
Thompson also forced his wife to call her parents and admit to the affair. He told her not see psychics anymore because a psychic had told Joyce it was OK to have an affair with Tokuhara. When Thompson found out she was still consulting clairvoyants, he got angry, according to Rose.
The defendant also was a skilled marksman who regularly went to the gun range with.22-caliber ammunition and knows how to shoot to kill, the prosecutor said.
At the start of his hourlong summation, Hayakawa declared, “Eric Thompson is not guilty of murder, period. He’s not guilty because he did not kill Jon Tokuhara. Let’s put that in a legal way. He is not guilty because there is massive reasonable doubt in this case, and the defense only needs to show or you need to find one, single reasonable doubt about his guilt to find him not guilty.”
Hayakawa, armed with a laser pointer, a marker and a whiteboard, described an incomplete police probe that focused solely on Thompson. Reasonable doubt and questionable DNA evidence begged for investigators to explore and rule out other possible suspects, but their final report did no such thing, he said.
Detectives testified that Thompson’s white, four-door Chevrolet Silverado is in surveillance videos near Tokuhara’s office the day he was killed. Hayakawa pointed to a still frame of the vehicle in the footage and told the jury it doesn’t come close to resembling Thompson’s truck.
If detectives went through thousands of truck registrations to find Thompson’s, why were no vehicle identification numbers listed in their final report, he asked. And if Thompson is such a perfectionist, he would not have driven his own vehicle through traffic detours in Waipahu on his way to and from Tokuhara’s clinic, Hayakawa argued.
As he rolled the prosecution’s surveillance video footage for the jury, the defense attorney slammed the video compilation as “messed up.”
“This is the best they have,” Hayakawa said. “And it is all messed up. And they knew it was all messed up, but they did not stand up here and explain … the mess-ups.”
Hayakawa pointed to footage of traffic taken from the old Arakawa’s store that showed five white trucks pass by over a period of time.
“They claim it was the second truck going. Why? Because they can either see the license plate or the bumper, who knows how, but ‘we identified that and it must be Eric Thompson’s truck.’ You decide for yourself if that is what it shows.”
After closing arguments, Judge Judge Paul B.K. Wong excused jurors to begin their deliberations.
