Mark Carpenter

Yes, she has. Yep, she's been right behind him in the first row.

Yeah, very fascinating. Thank you so much.

Thompson's defense team has argued that police zeroed in on him and didn't thoroughly vet or consider other suspects.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate you having me.

So Eric and Joyce, our high school sweethearts, they had been having a hard time having a baby. And so Joyce had been going to Tokohara's clinic for fertility treatment, for acupuncture. What we learned in trial is that over time, their relationship turned into something more. 5,600 direct messages exchanged between the two of them on Instagram. They say it was a sexual relationship.

They say it was a romantic relationship.

Yeah, that's kind of how it all came out. That summer of 2021, Eric was on another island for a business trip, and he got a notification that the door was open, and he looked at the cameras, and he saw that Joyce was meeting somebody. And then so when he came back from the island, he confronted her about it.

She admitted it. And from our understanding, the relationship ended right after. Six months later, Tokuhara was found dead at his clinic.

They're trying to portray Eric Thompson as a controlling husband. He liked to keep tabs on her at all times. And that when he found out of the affair, especially with somebody that they had gone to for something so personal, he was incensed. And he had spent six months carefully trying to plan this and make it as perfect as possible.

They say that they have video surveillance that Eric Thompson parked maybe a few streets down. had walked to John Tokuhara's clinic. You never see him actually going into the clinic, but in the area of completely disguised. He's wearing a white bucket hat, sunglasses, a mask, even one of those masks that you see during the time of COVID, gloves and long sleeves. They say he brought in a handgun.

There was no fight. Shot Tokuhara three times in the face and walked right out back to his car. Now, the whole crux with all this is that The white hat that this individual was seen wearing had fallen off his head and was picked up by a homeless person. Police in the area ended up recovering this bucket hat.

This hat was then tested, and they say it can't be ruled out that the DNA found on there does not belong to Eric Thompson.

Yeah, precisely.

Honolulu Police Department's crime lab was audited by the FBI, saying that it had outdated technology. This is equipment that is obsolete. This lab is said to be subpar in an FBI review of it.

They say that Eric wasn't even there at all. They say that surveillance video will show that. They claim that he was actually on the other side of the island dumping construction material because of his work as a contractor. They also point to a theory that... Police only honed in on Eric because he was the convenient suspect.

The most recent affair, there could have been other people out there who had motivation to attack him. John Tokuhara was seeing other women who had been in relationships. Some of them had been married. They brought up the ex-husbands. They brought up the ex-boyfriends of these women.

They say, the men themselves say that HPD, yeah, while they did question them, they didn't question them and investigate them so thoroughly as Eric Thompson was.

Yeah, the prosecution was shocked that there was no unanimous guilty verdict the first time around. Our understanding is going into this second round here is that they're really going to ramp up the DNA evidence.

What we're hearing in opening statements is that this time around, this white bucket hat was taken to a very reputable lab on the continental U.S., which the prosecution, they say, is much more accurate and zeroes in on Thompson even more.

Yes, and completely awful.

Mm-hmm, yes.

They say that he disguised himself, he disguised his truck, whereas the defense said, there are so many of these trucks out there in Hawaii, the white Chevy Silverado, that is a very vague description right there. Also, too, they say when he found out about the affair, there was no confrontation.

Absolutely. I think for the jury, they want to see, like, can we believe this guy?

Yes, she has. Yep, she's been right behind him in the first row.

Yeah, very fascinating. Thank you so much.

Prosecutors say Eric Thompson shot and killed Tokuhara after he discovered that the acupuncturist was having an affair with his wife.

Thompson's defense team has argued that police zeroed in on him and didn't thoroughly vet or consider other suspects.

Thank you so much. I really appreciate you having me.

So Eric and Joyce, our high school sweethearts, they had been having a hard time having a baby. And so Joyce had been going to Tokohara's clinic for fertility treatment, for acupuncture. What we learned in trial is that over time, their relationship turned into something more. 5,600 direct messages exchanged between the two of them on Instagram. They say it was a sexual relationship.

They say it was a romantic relationship.

Yeah, that's kind of how it all came out. That summer of 2021, Eric was on another island for a business trip, and he got a notification that the door was open, and he looked at the cameras, and he saw that Joyce was meeting somebody. And then so when he came back from the island, he confronted her about it.

She admitted it. And from our understanding, the relationship ended right after. Six months later, Tokuhara was found dead at his clinic.

They're trying to portray Eric Thompson as a controlling husband. He liked to keep tabs on her at all times. And that when he found out of the affair, especially with somebody that they had gone to for something so personal, he was incensed. And he had spent six months carefully trying to plan this and make it as perfect as possible.

They say that they have video surveillance that Eric Thompson parked maybe a few streets down. had walked to John Tokuhara's clinic. You never see him actually going into the clinic, but in the area of completely disguised. He's wearing a white bucket hat, sunglasses, a mask, even one of those masks that you see during the time of COVID, gloves and long sleeves. They say he brought in a handgun.

There was no fight. Shot Tokuhara three times in the face and walked right out back to his car. Now, the whole crux with all this is that The white hat that this individual was seen wearing had fallen off his head and was picked up by a homeless person. Police in the area ended up recovering this bucket hat.

This hat was then tested, and they say it can't be ruled out that the DNA found on there does not belong to Eric Thompson.

Yeah, precisely.

Honolulu Police Department's crime lab was audited by the FBI, saying that it had outdated technology. This is equipment that is obsolete. This lab is said to be subpar in an FBI review of it.

They say that Eric wasn't even there at all. They say that surveillance video will show that. They claim that he was actually on the other side of the island dumping construction material because of his work as a contractor. They also point to a theory that... Police only honed in on Eric because he was the convenient suspect.

The most recent affair, there could have been other people out there who had motivation to attack him. John Tokuhara was seeing other women who had been in relationships. Some of them had been married. They brought up the ex-husbands. They brought up the ex-boyfriends of these women.

They say, the men themselves say that HPD, yeah, while they did question them, they didn't question them and investigate them so thoroughly as Eric Thompson was.

Yeah, the prosecution was shocked that there was no unanimous guilty verdict the first time around. Our understanding is going into this second round here is that they're really going to ramp up the DNA evidence.

What we're hearing in opening statements is that this time around, this white bucket hat was taken to a very reputable lab on the continental U.S., which the prosecution, they say, is much more accurate and zeroes in on Thompson even more.

Yes, and completely awful.

Mm-hmm, yes.

They say that he disguised himself, he disguised his truck, whereas the defense said, there are so many of these trucks out there in Hawaii, the white Chevy Silverado, that is a very vague description right there. Also, too, they say when he found out about the affair, there was no confrontation.

Absolutely. I think for the jury, they want to see, like, can we believe this guy?