Back to Trials
State of Hawaii v Eric Thompson
Homicide: Bucket hat evidence admitted in murder case after admissibility challenge
| Crime | In January 2022, an assailant shot and killed Jon Tokuhara in his acupuncture clinic. Using surveillance video, police tracked a suspect wearing a bucket hat in the vicinity of the clinic. The suspect dropped the bucket hat, which a passerby picked up. |
| Evidence | Police tracked down and collected the bucket hat as evidence. |
| DNA | The Honolulu Police Department Scientific Investigation Section laboratory generated the DNA data from two areas of the hat. |
| Match | The laboratory calculated CPI match statistics to the passerby and suspect, and came to no conclusion regarding the victim and another reference profile. Due to updated interpretation protocols following an audit, the lab’s limited results were not used in a retrial. |
| TrueAllele | On the same data, TrueAllele statistically included the passerby in the bucket hat evidence with match statistics greater than 10 octillion (1 followed by 28 zeros). The computer also linked the evidence to suspect Eric Thompson with match statistics of 199 million and 16.4 trillion. The results statistically excluded the other two references. |
| Cybergenetics | Across multiple court sessions in 2024, TrueAllele’s reliability was challenged in a pre-trial admissibility hearing. On December 3, 2024, the judge ruled that the TrueAllele evidence was admissible. On February 5, 2025, Cybergenetics analyst Jennifer Bracamontes testified in the re-trial before a Honolulu jury about the TrueAllele DNA results. |
| Outcome | On February 25, 2025, the jury convicted Mr. Thompson of second degree murder and a firearm charge. On February 28, 2025, the same jury sentenced him to life in prison with the possibility of parole. |
Media
- Love triangle led to Oʻahu acupuncturist's murder, Honolulu police say - Hawaii Public Radio
- Hawaii man accused in "cold and calculated" love triangle murder of acupuncturist placed under house arrest - CBS News
- Mistrial declared in Waipahu love triangle slaying of acupuncturist - Honolulu Star Advertiser
- DNA evidence pulled by prosecutors for upcoming retrial of love triangle murder suspect - Hawaii News Now
- Retrial begins for accused murderer Eric Thomspon - KHON2
- Jury finds Eric Thompson guilty in second love triangle murder trial - Hawaii News Now
- Life sentence with parole for Thompson in Tokuhara murder case - IslandNews