A Waipahu man who killed his father and severely injured his mother during a hatchet attack in 2005 was sentenced yesterday to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Circuit Judge Randal Lee ordered that Mark Kawakami serve a minimum of 15 years before he is eligible for parole.

City Deputy Prosecutor Kevin Takata said the minimum 15-year term was invoked because both victims in the case were 60 years old or older. Kawakami's parents were both 79 when their son attacked them 12 hours after he smoked crack cocaine, Takata said.

The Hawaii Paroling Authority will set the minimum term beyond 15 years that Kawakami must serve, and Takata said he plans to ask for a minimum sentence of 200 years.

Under the terms of an agreement, Kawakami, 46, pleaded guilty in July to second-degree murder and attempted murder for attacking his parents 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. The agreement precluded the possibility that Kawakami might be found guilty of first-degree murder or might be found not guilty by reason of insanity, Takata said.

Kawakami, a crystal methamphetamine user for 10 to 15 years, dealt fatal hatchet blows to his father, Sueo Kawakami, and injured his mother, Janet Kawakami, Takata said during the July 24 hearing at which Mark Kawakami pleaded guilty to the lesser charges.

In exchange for the guilty plea, the prosecution dropped a charge of attempted first-degree murder. If found guilty of trying to kill two people in the same incident, Kawakami would have been sentenced to a mandatory term of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Takata yesterday said he is confident the Paroling Authority will impose a minimum term that will keep Kawakami behind bars for the rest of his life.

Kawakami yesterday declined to address the court before his sentencing.

His brother, Stanford Kawakami, told the judge his brother's actions were "unbelievable."

"My mother survived (the attack), but she suffered until the day she died, and required 24-hour-a-day care," Stanford Kawakami said. "How do you cope with something like this?"

Takata said Mark Kawakami told authorities after his arrest that he did not intend to kill his father, but wanted to kill his mother because she had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was a "junk" mother. Takata said Mark Kawakami had also been diagnosed as being schizophrenic.

Takata said Sueo Kawakami had been giving his son money that he used to buy drugs because the father did not want the son to steal to support his drug habit and get into trouble with the law.

On the day he attacked his parents, Kawakami had argued with his father about money, Takata said yesterday.

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.