Death sentence in murder of yacht owners

Skylar Deleon was sentenced to death this afternoon for orchestrating the murder of an Arizona couple who were lashed to the anchor of their yacht and tossed alive into the ocean off Newport Beach.

Deleon, 29, was convicted Oct. 21 in the murder of Tom and Jackie Hawkes, who had spent nearly two years plying the Sea of Cortez and the Pacific Ocean before deciding to sell the boat and move closer to their first grandchild in Arizona.

Deleon's attorney had conceded his client's guilt but told jurors that the man was not the evil, manipulative genius prosecutors have made him out to be, and that he deserved to be spared a death sentence.

Tran is a Times staff writer.

My-thuan.tran@latimes.com