Mourners remember mother, 3 children allegedly killed by father in murder-suicide

HONOLULU (KHNL/Gray News) - A Hawaii community is desperately searching for answers on what drove a chiropractor to allegedly murder his entire family before killing himself.

Paris Oda, a 46-year-old chiropractor, allegedly fatally stabbed his 48-year-old wife, Naoko Oda, and their three children Sunday morning then killed himself. Relatives identified the children as 17-year-old Sakurako, 12 year-old Orion and 10-year-old Nana.

The suspect’s mother, Annette Oda, told KHNL her son grew up on Kauai, and the family is “wrestling with the news.” When asked if there were signs of trouble, she declined to comment.

Police say the motive in the case remains undetermined.

At the Oda family’s Manoa home, mourners came by to pay their respects and add to a growing memorial of flowers and lei. At the top of the stairway, someone placed a pink bear honoring the youngest daughter, Nana. A note on a potted plant said, “We love you.”

A neighbor and friend of the family told KHNL that Naoko Oda sometimes worked at her husband’s chiropractic clinic. The family was looking forward to Sakurako’s graduation from Iolani School, and they were weighing college options in Hawaii and on the mainland.

Sakurako was interested in nursing and cooking, they said. The mother and daughter ran the Hapalua Marathon in 2019 and finished three places apart.

Orion was a sixth grader at SEEQS Charter School in Nuuanu, and Nana attended Manoa Elementary School. Counselors were offered at all three Oahu campuses where the victims attended school.

Among the mourners at the family’s home were classmates of the three children.

One said Nana was shy but always looked out for people.

Kaya Osaka said Orion was “kind and playful.”

“I remember we went to this track meet in fifth grade together. We had a really great time. I am really sad that this happened,” Osaka said.

Neighbors say what happened simply doesn’t make sense.

“Tragic. Everybody is feeling it,” neighbor Irvin Yoshino said. “It feels like part of your family.”

One person who spoke to KHNL did say he sensed something was wrong.

“It didn’t feel right,” he said. “You could see something — like they were sad.”

As families struggle to find answers, Paris Oda’s chiropractic office was closed on Monday. A former patient said she’s blindsided by the news that he allegedly killed his family.

“There was absolutely no sign, no indication. Not even one word out of place. I trusted him completely,” said Martha Randolf, a patient of Paris Oda. “He could have twisted my head off. There was no doubt in my mind that could never happen.”

HNN Investigates found Paris Oda had no history of violence but has had money troubles in his past. He had just one brush with crime back in 1997 on Kauai in his late teens. It was a tampering charge, similar to trespassing, and was erased from his record after avoiding other trouble.

As for financial problems, in March 2021, the owners of a professional office building on King Street sued Paris Oda and his company for about $90,000 in rent and fees going back three years.

Documents show Paris Oda stopped paying rent on the fourth floor suite in December 2017 and continued to build debt through the COVID pandemic at about $2,500 a month. The eviction case was settled in December 2021 when Oda agreed to pay $57,000 in two installments.

There is no indication in the public record of any recent financial or legal issues.

Copyright 2024 KHNL via Gray Media Group, Inc. All rights reserved.