A Waipahu man pleaded guilty to murdering his father and injuring his mother in a hatchet attack in 2005, in a plea agreement approved yesterday in Circuit Court.

Mark Kawakami, 46, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and attempted murder for attacking his parents with a hatchet at their Niuli'i Street home in Waipahu on Nov. 19, 2005. In exchange, prosecutors dropped charges of first-degree attempted murder and terroristic threatening.

Kawakami, a crystal methamphetamine user for 10 to 15 years, faces life in prison with the possibility of parole for murdering his father, Sueo Kawakami, 79, and injuring his mother, Janet Kawakami, 79. He will be sentenced Oct. 13.

Kawakami has said he heard voices telling him he was "chicken" and to "do it."

Since the incident, Kawakami has been held at O'ahu Community Correctional Center, deputy prosecutor Kevin Takata said.

Appearing in leg shackles, shorts and a T-shirt, Kawakami yesterday told Circuit Judge Randal Lee that he understood the plea agreement he signed. Kawakami has a history of mental illness dating to high school and earlier, and had been seeing a psychiatrist. His mother also suffered from mental illness, Takata said. She died a year after the incident, but not from her injuries.

"He did have a history of mental problems, but admitted to smoking crack 12 hours before the incident," Takata said. "We don't dispute that he had mental issues, but 10 to 15 years of smoking ice has an impact."

During the pre-dawn hours of Nov. 19, 2005, officials said, Kawakami got into an argument with his father in the living room of the house they shared. It is believed he retrieved a hatchet from his father's car and went to his room, where he heard voices. Kawakami attacked his parents in the living room. His father died from head and brain injuries from hatchet blows to both sides of his head. His mother suffered four cuts to the back of her neck, a broken neck and a fractured spine.

Kawakami's criminal record includes a 1996 charge of abusing his brother Jefferey. That charge was later amended to misdemeanor assault. Kawakami pleaded no contest, and the case was dismissed after he stayed out of trouble for a year and attended domestic violence control counseling, according to his court file.