Talking Dateline: The Bucket Hat Mystery

Dateline NBC

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True Crime, Culture, Social, Society & Culture, News

4.4 • 38K Ratings

🗓️ 8 October 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Blayne Alexander talks with Keith Morrison about his episode, “The Bucket Hat Mystery.” In 2022, acupuncturist Jon Tokuhara was found shot inside his Hawaii clinic. The investigation into his death revealed a complicated story of love, jealousy, and control that eventually led to the conviction of Eric Thompson, the husband of one of Jon’s former lovers. Blayne and Keith discuss reporting the story in Hawaii and the creative ways the team came up with to tell it. Plus, they dive into how security footage and a fallen bucket hat became key pieces of evidence. They also share part of Keith’s interview with a juror who describes what went on inside the deliberation room, and answer viewer questions from social media. Have a question for Talking Dateline? DM us @DatelineNBC or leave a voicemail at (212) 413-5252. Your question may be featured in an upcoming episode. Listen to the full episode of “The Bucket Hat Mystery” on Apple: https://apple.co/46GHHIU Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/37LkgPcls7fYdQAaNRuiCt

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi guys, I'm Blaine Alexander, and today we are talking Dateline. And I am here with the one and only Keith Morrison. Keith, this is my first time seeing you on Talking Dateline since we saw each other in person in Nashville. Hi, friend. It was so good to see you there. We had so much fun. We had such a good time. I know. Usually we meet like this, but we saw each other in person. Let's talk about our episode today.
0:21.4	Today's episode is called The Bucket Hat Mystery.
0:24.4	It begins in Wapahu, Hawaii, where a beloved acupuncturist, John Tokuhara, was found shot to death inside of his clinic.
0:32.4	As investigators dug deeper, they uncovered a web of love and jealousy that went around some bins, but eventually
0:39.1	led to Eric Thompson, the husband of John's former lover. Now, if you haven't watched this episode
0:44.5	yet, you can go find it right below this podcast or stream it anytime on Peacock, then come right
0:49.8	back here. And when you do come back, we'll share more from one juror in the trial who had a lot to say
0:55.7	about what unfolded inside the courtroom. And of course, later on, we will answer some of your
1:00.5	questions from social media. So Keith, let's talk Dateline. Let's do it. Well, Keith, I love the way that
1:05.8	we opened this first. I mean, it was beautiful. It was picturesque. You talked about just Hawaii.
1:11.4	We often talk about, you know, the locations where we do these stories becoming characters in and of themselves.
1:17.1	Yes.
1:17.5	But usually, it's not as beautiful a place as the island of Oahu, right?
1:22.3	Well, exactly.
1:23.5	Or any of the islands in Hawaii, I have been privileged to be able to go to Hawaii often to do stories for daylight.
1:32.2	It actually sounds like an oxymoron to say that because there are stories about people who were murdered.
1:37.3	But it is such a beautiful place.
1:39.1	And the people are just wonderful.
1:41.3	The native Hawaiians are fabulous people. And they, that's who makes up the
1:46.7	population of Wapahu. It's kind of a suburb of Oahu. It's a, it's, you know, not a 20-minute
1:54.2	drive from the famous sites and the surfing beaches, but it's a very different kind of community
2:00.2	altogether from what, you know what the tourists normally see.
	...

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