Eric Thompson’s Hawaii Case: Affair, Shooting, and Life Sentence

The Eric Thompson Hawaii murder case ended in February 2025 with a jury convicting the 37-year-old Oahu man of second-degree murder and a firearm felony for the January 2022 killing of Waipahu acupuncturist Jon Tokuhara, who had an affair with Thompson’s wife. In June 2025, an Oahu circuit judge sentenced Thompson to life in prison with the possibility of parole and a 15-year mandatory minimum.¹

The Affair That Became the Motive

Jon Tokuhara ran Tokuhara Acupuncture & Healthcare in Waipahu for nearly two decades.² Joyce Thompson had been seeing him professionally for infertility treatment when the relationship became an affair. Eric Thompson later testified that he noticed his wife acting oddly in late July 2021, confronted her, and she confessed. He said he felt “sad,” “pissed,” and “confused” but chose to focus on repairing his marriage rather than confront Tokuhara. A text between Joyce and Tokuhara suggested the affair ended around that same time.³

According to Thompson, Joyce blamed the affair on advice from a psychic, which he described as part of an “unhealthy” obsession.⁴ The couple also signed a post-nuptial agreement roughly 11 to 15 days before Tokuhara was killed. It said that if they divorced, Eric would get the house and sole custody of their young daughter. The timing of that document became a flashpoint at trial.⁵

The Shooting at the Clinic

On January 13, 2022, Tokuhara’s mother, Lilly Tokuhara, went to check on her son after he failed to respond to text messages and missed dinner. She found him on the floor of his Waipahu clinic, shot multiple times in the face. Prosecutors would later call it a “deliberate execution.”⁶ Investigators recovered bullet casings and about $3,900 in cash wrapped and labeled “herbs.”³

Surveillance footage showed a man in a white Chevrolet Silverado arriving at the clinic. He wore a Quicksilver bucket hat and sunglasses and was inside for roughly 45 seconds. As he fled, the hat fell off and was picked up by a passerby. Police identified 53 vehicles matching the Silverado in the footage. Eric Thompson was the only registered owner who could not account for his whereabouts at the time of the murder.³

On February 1, 2022, police searched Thompson’s home and recovered 14 firearms, 12 registered to him and two unregistered in Hawaii.⁷ He was arrested on February 14, 2022, posted $1 million bail, and was later indicted on one count of second-degree murder and one count of carrying or using a firearm in the commission of a separate felony.⁸

The DNA Match on the Bucket Hat

The bucket hat became the case’s most important piece of physical evidence. The local crime lab initially deemed the DNA mixture on it “uninterpretable.” Cybergenetics, a forensic computing company, then analyzed the samples with its TrueAllele software and connected Thompson to the hat with a match statistic of 16.4 trillion. In December 2024, a judge ruled the TrueAllele evidence admissible for Thompson’s retrial.⁹

Mistrial, Then Conviction

Thompson’s first trial, in the summer of 2023, ended in a hung jury and a mistrial. He testified in his own defense, saying that on the day before Tokuhara’s body was found he had gone to the Waimanalo Convenience Center to dump construction material, bought beer and eggs on the east side of Oahu, and returned home.⁴ His first attorney, David Hayakawa, argued Honolulu police had “zeroed in” on Thompson early and ignored other leads, pointing to Tokuhara’s relationships with other married women and to the cash found at the scene alongside Tokuhara’s gambling activity.¹⁰

The retrial began in January 2025.¹¹ Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Benjamin Rose built the state’s case around motive, the surveillance timeline, the firearms in Thompson’s home, the now-admissible TrueAllele DNA results, and the post-nuptial agreement signed days before the killing. A note found on Joyce’s desk reading, “an unfaithful spouse will not show remorse,” was also presented as evidence Thompson remained consumed by the affair.¹² Prosecutors also pointed to inconsistencies between Thompson’s 2023 testimony and his statements at the retrial.¹³

Defense attorney Nelson Goo argued that security footage appeared to place Thompson in multiple locations at the same time and questioned why Thompson would kill Tokuhara six months after discovering the affair when the post-nuptial agreement suggested the marriage was healing.¹⁴ On February 25, 2025, the jury found Thompson guilty on both counts. His bail was revoked and he was taken into custody.⁶

Why Joyce Thompson Never Testified

Joyce Thompson did not take the stand at either trial. Under Rule 505 of the Hawaii Rules of Evidence, the spouse of a defendant has the sole right to refuse to testify, and even had she been willing, Eric could have invoked spousal privilege to block testimony about their private communications. The jury heard about the marriage almost entirely through Eric’s testimony and documentary evidence. Joyce is also a defendant in a separate civil wrongful death lawsuit filed by Tokuhara’s mother.⁵

Sentencing and the Rejected Push for No Parole

After the verdict, prosecutors sought an extended sentence that would have eliminated the possibility of parole, with Rose calling Thompson a “stone-cold, convicted murderer” and describing the recovered firearms as his “arsenal of death.”¹⁵ On February 27, 2025, the jury unanimously agreed Thompson qualified as a multiple offender but found the prosecution had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that an extended sentence was necessary to protect the public, preserving Thompson’s eventual parole eligibility.¹⁶

On June 27, 2025, Oahu Circuit Judge Paul Wong sentenced Thompson to life with the possibility of parole on the murder count, with a 15-year mandatory minimum, plus an indeterminate 20-year term on the firearm count to run concurrently. Thompson was ordered to pay $5,500 in restitution for Tokuhara’s funeral services.¹ Tokuhara’s sister, Lee Tokuhara-Amodo, told the court, “His heartless and soulless disregard for human life has managed to destroy many, many lives.” Thompson spoke briefly, thanking his family and supporters, and did not acknowledge Tokuhara or his family.¹⁷

Appeal and Where Thompson Is Now

Thompson maintains his innocence. His attorney, Susan Arnett, confirmed after sentencing that the defense plans a “vigorous appeal,” saying, “We think there are valid issues.”¹⁷ As of mid-2026, Thompson is serving his sentence at the Halawa Correctional Facility in Aiea. The Hawaii Paroling Authority will set his minimum term, which must be at least 15 years and could be longer.³

1
Yahoo News. Thompson Gets Life for Killing Wife’s Lover
2
Mililani Memorial Park & Mortuary. Jon Satoshi Tokuhara Obituary
3
People. Where Is Eric Thompson Today
4
KITV. Wife of Murder Defendant Says a Psychic Told Her to Have an Affair With Victim
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KHON2. Love Triangle Murder Guilty Verdict Explained
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KHON2. Eric Thompson Found Guilty in 2022 Murder of Waipahu Acupuncturist
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Hawaii News Now. Police Suspect in Murder of Waipahu Acupuncturist Left Trail of Clues
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KITV. Eric Thompson Indicted by Oahu Grand Jury for Murder of Acupuncturist Jon Tokuhara
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Police1. TrueAllele Featured on Dateline Episode in Bucket Hat Case
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Hawaii News Now. Defense in Love Triangle Murder Trial Argues HPD Failed to Follow Up on Gambling, Other Leads
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Hawaii News Now. Emotional Testimony Opens New Trial in 2022 Murder of Waipahu Acupuncturist
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Hawaii News Now. Jury Deliberations Underway in Love Triangle Murder Retrial
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Hawaii News Now. Jury Reaches Verdict in Second Love Triangle Murder Trial
14
KITV. Jury Begins Deliberations in Eric Thompson Murder Trial
15
Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Eric Thompson Avoids Life Without Parole for Murder Sentencing
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Hawaii News Now. Judge Sentences Convicted Killer in Love Triangle Murder
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KHON2. Eric Thompson Sentenced to Life With Parole