A Hawaii chiropractor who stabbed to death his wife and three kids before ending his own life had no history of violence, it has been revealed.
Paris Oda, 46, fatally stabbed his wife Naoko and three children – aged 17, 12 and 10 – before taking his own life at their family home in Manoa, a quiet residential neighborhood of Honolulu, according to police.
But his employees said the loving father had a happy demeanor until last year, when he began showing signs of depression, becoming moody and disengaged, as reported by Island News.
‘He had depression because he just totally changed — no smiling, nothing. Sometimes he looks so just grouchy,’ Oda’s employee Cammy Divers said. ‘I kind of scared to talking to him because he seems really unhappy person.’
Divers added that even some patients asked about Oda’s change of attitude.
Paris Oda fatally stabbed his wife Naoko and three children – aged 17, 12 and 10 – before taking his own life at their family home in Manoa
Employees said the loving father had a happy demeanor until last year, when he began showing signs of depression, becoming moody and disengaged
A tent was erected in the front yard of the home as police conducted their investigation
Oda, who had a clean criminal record, had a history of financial issues going back to at least 2021, when the owners of an office building sued him and his company for about $90,000 in rent and fees going back three years, as reported by Hawaii News Now.
According to court documents, Oda stopped paying rent at the building in December 2017, continuing to built debt during the Covid-19 pandemic.
That case settled in December 2021 after Oda agreed to pay $57,000.
According to Oda’s social media posts, he had put up his 2013 Ford truck for sale in December for $20,000. The same month he was advertising a treadmill for $800.
Neighbors previously told local media that the Paris family lived in the upstairs of their $1.7 million home and a second family who rented the downstairs unit had left for a trip to Japan on Saturday.
The mass killing is the second deadliest murder in Honolulu in almost 25 years.
Police said they received an anonymous call about a disturbance at that home on Waaloa Place at 8:30am but nobody opened the door to police officers when they arrived.
Officers returned to the home 45 minutes later at 9:15am when the discovery of the five deaths was made.
Paris Oda, 46, fatally stabbed his wife and three children – aged 17, 12 and 10 – before taking his own life at their family home in Manoa
‘They [first responding officers] left because it was an anonymous caller, and there was no one there to meet them’ explained Lt. Thoemmes. ‘And that’s what they got called to initially. It was the second call when they realized what happened.’
‘I think there was an attempt to try to find out who the initial caller was and then I think at 9am that individual was able to make contact with HPD,’ added HPD Chief Joe Logan. ‘And then make contact with our officers in person where we could figure out more info and gain entry at that point.’
Locals were spooked after hearing the dreadful news.
‘It’s concerning, neighbors are kind of scared, usually we don’t have a lot of crime around here its real quiet, so everyone wants to be safe and make sure everyone is okay, but it’s just something that doesn’t happen here,’ said neighbor Aime Wakai to KHRON2.
‘They’re like the typical really festive family, they dress up the house for the holidays and it’s normal,’ added another neighbor Hiro Izumo.