With the big smiles of Tom and Jackie Hawks looming above him in an Orange County courtroom Tuesday, the man accused of orchestrating their murders at sea prepared to acknowledge for the first time that he had a hand in the crimes.
Skylar Deleon, dressed neatly in a blue shirt, khakis and white sneakers, did not look up at the pictures of the Hawkses that were projected onto a giant screen only a few feet away as lead prosecutor Matt Murphy reconstructed the Arizona couple's adventurous lives and terrifying last moments aboard their yacht.
When it was time for Deleon's attorney to make his opening statement, he quickly laid out the defense's strategy, using a marker to write the word "guilty" in large letters on an easel in front of the jury box and saying his goal was to spare his client the death penalty, which he faces if convicted.
Attorney Gary Pohlson said he would seek to prove, primarily through cross-examination, that the government's version of events is not entirely accurate, and that Deleon was not the manipulative evil genius authorities have made him out to be.
Deleon is no more guilty than others charged in the plot to kill the couple, steal their yacht and plunder their bank accounts -- including his wife, Pohlson said.
The attorney also blamed Deleon's late father, who was not charged in the case.
"Skylar was involved, but it's up to you to decide how involved," Pohlson told the jury.
The trial comes four years after the Hawkses were last seen alive in November 2004, leaving Newport Harbor aboard their 55-foot yacht, Well Deserved.
Their disappearance drew international headlines and sent waves of fear through boating communities stretching from Southern California to Baja California.
Deleon's wife, Jennifer, was the first defendant to be tried. She was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms without possibility of parole after Murphy portrayed her as a coldhearted, money-hungry plotter in league with her husband, even using their 9-month-old baby to gain the trust of the Hawkses.
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, described by prosecutors as the "brawn" behind the murder plot, is awaiting trial.
A fourth accomplice, Alonso Machain, is awaiting sentencing. He admitted being on board when the Hawkses were tossed off their yacht and helped the government figure out what happened to them.
