Eric Thompson faces life in prison in death of his wife’s ex-lover

After deliberating for nearly four days and a monthlong trial, a jury of seven men and five women found Eric Thompson guilty Tuesday of second-degree murder in the Jan. 12, 2022, shooting death of his wife’s lover, 47-year-old acupuncturist Jon Tokuhara.

Although the punishment for second-degree murder is life with the possibility of parole, Thompson could be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.

Jurors in the Oahu Circuit Court trial will reconvene this morning to hear evidence for extended sentencing, which he is subject to because he also was found guilty of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

The long-awaited verdict came three years after Tokuhara was shot four times in the face with a .22-caliber firearm at his Waipahu Depot Street clinic.

It came a year and a half after a different jury failed to reach a unanimous verdict in Thompson’s first trial after three full days of deliberation. Judge Paul Wong declared a mistrial Aug. 9, 2023, and ordered a new trial.

Thompson’s wife, Joyce, and his mother cried in the courtroom gallery Tuesday afternoon after the verdict was read. On the opposite side of the gallery, Toku­hara’s friends and family brushed away tears and gasped.

Tokuhara’s mother, Lilly, chose not to be present for the reading of the verdict, and waited outside.

Wong revoked Thompson’s $1 million bail, saying he was no longer under the presumption of innocence.

Thompson removed his dark suit coat and belt, and was taken into custody by state deputy sheriffs. He had posted bail bond in 2022, and was confined to home detention.

Elton Escobido, a longtime friend of Tokuhara, said after the verdict, “Thank God. Finally. I’m just happy it’s over. It was obvious he did it. Why did it have to take so long?”

He said the defense mischaracterized Tokuhara as a homewrecker, but other former girlfriends already had separated from their partners and that was over a span of 15 years.

“Only Joyce was the one who was still married,” Escobido said.

“If people understood what actually was going on in his life, they wouldn’t be so judgmental, but at the same time I’m happy that the jury could overlook that and know that a person’s life is not worth taking,” he said.

Douglas Cabinatan Jr., a close friend of Tokuhara and a groomsman at his wedding, said, “I was happy, overjoyed. Just relief. I’m glad the jury seen what we saw.”

He thought the deputy prosecutor made improvements in the second trial. “He emphasized all the fine details of what happened, and I’m glad the jury could see that (he was guilty). There was no evidence of his alibi — going to the dump,” Cabinatan said.

He said Tokuhara was an “out-of-the-ordinary, super-nice guy,” adding that 11 of his ex-girlfriends went to his funeral.

The state had to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the crimes of second-degree murder and use or possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

The defense had to raise doubt in the minds of jurors, throwing at the jury a variety of possible suspects: drug addicts, homeless people, scorned women, an ex-­boyfriend of his current girlfriend and exes of former girlfriends.

In his opening, Deputy Prosecutor Benjamin Rose characterized Thompson as a controlling person and said the affair, which Thompson found out about in July 2021, represented a loss of control over his wife, so he killed Tokuhara to regain that control.

During his trial Thompson was an unusually active defendant, walking up with attorneys during sidebar discussions with the judge, handling the retrieval and display of exhibits from a laptop, and nudging his attorneys when he thought they should object.

Although the state did not have to prove motive, Rose gave them motive.

He called the four shots to the face “personal.”

Rose said Thompson made his wife sign a notarized post-marital agreement Dec. 29, 2021, in the middle of the holiday season, two weeks before the shooting, as a way to control her.

The agreement, dated Jan. 1, 2022, says in the event of a divorce, Thompson would get full custody of their only child and their house.

Rose asked jurors not to believe Thompson’s assertion that it was his wife’s idea in August 2021, a month after he learned of the affair, to “give up her motherhood” of their then 1-year-old daughter, Emma.

Thompson, who took the stand in his own defense, as well as his attorneys, offered explanations for every aspect of the prosecution’s allegations.

Wong thanked the jury for their long service of nearly two months, counting jury selection and four weeks of evidence and statements.

The jury was given the option of manslaughter if they found the defendant was under extreme emotional or mental disturbance. Manslaughter has a maximum 20-year sentence. Second-­degree murder has a penalty of life with the possibility of parole.

Rose said in his closing statement that Thompson was a deliberate, rational thinker, someone who assesses risks and benefits, not someone who is overcome with emotion.

The state’s case was based on circumstantial evidence, which included DNA analysis that found there was a very high probability that the DNA from a bucket hat worn by a suspect caught on multiple surveillance videos in the area of Tokuhara’s clinic was Thompson’s.

The state’s expert witness from Cybergenetics said the DNA analysis excluded Daryl Fujita, an ex-boyfriend of Tokuhara’s girlfriend.

The defense’s two expert DNA witnesses from another company disputed Cybergenetics’ findings. The two witnesses charged Thompson a combined total of $60,000 for their testimony in both trials.

The Honolulu Police Department’s crime lab had sent the results of two swabbings taken from inside the bucket hat to Cybergenetics, whose probabilistic genotyping software had greater capabilities than HPD’s crime lab at the time.

The defense also criticized the HPD’s crime laboratory for not performing validation tests with Cybergenetics. But HPD’s DNA analyst said since the analysis was not performed in-house by HPD, but by Cybergenetics in Pittsburgh, it was not necessary.

Prosecutors showed video surveillance of a suspect wearing a bucket hat, mask, sunglasses and a windbreaker holding a paper bag and walking in the area of Tokuhara’s clinic, and asked jurors to compare his gait to Thompson’s.

The state called Thompson’s prior trial testimony, referred to as “testimony in a prior hearing,” as contradictory, including mention of one pregnancy miscarriage in the first trial and multiple miscarriages in the second. Apparently, jurors were not to know there was a prior trial.

Before deciding to take the stand, Thompson asked the judge outside the jury’s presence, “Could my testimony in this case be used in another case against me?”

Wong said it could, and advised that he consult with his lawyers before making his decision.

Thompson was referring to a wrongful death lawsuit Tokuhara’s mother, Lilly, filed against him and his wife. It also alleges negligence against Joyce Thompson for failing to refrain from conduct that would create an unreasonable risk of harm through her husband’s conduct.

Thompson’s attorney, Nelson Goo, highlighted the defendant’s humble roots, the son of a single mom, living in an old Kaimuki house requiring repairs. He went to public school, worked his way through college and graduated with a biology degree in five years because he worked so much, Goo said.

But he was able to purchase on his own a house that his future wife wanted for $2.15 million in 2015, according to city property tax records, with money from his successful bathtub renovation business.

Goo downplayed the worth of the property, saying it had a tennis court in disrepair, and that Thompson had multiple tenants to help pay the mortgage.

The jury was not allowed to hear that Thompson had $700,000 in his bank account.