Trial begins in slaying of yacht owners
Skylar Deleon of Long Beach is accused of lashing Thomas and Jackie Hawks to an anchor and lowering them to their deaths in the ocean.
Thomas and Jackie Hawks were brought back to life in an Orange County courtroom today as the man accused of lashing the couple to an anchor and lowering them to their deaths in the ocean went on trial.
Skylar Deleon, dressed neatly in a blue dress shirt and khakis, did not look up at the giant screen that was only a few feet away from him as lead prosecutor Matt Murphy introduced the jury to the couple, showing pictures of them and the 55-foot yacht that had carried them on adventures around the Sea of Cortez.
"These are two people who really loved each other," Murphy said as the Hawkses' two grown sons and a large group of family and friends looked on from the gallery.
Thomas Hawks, a retired probation officer, and Jackie, decided to sell the Well Deserved so they could be closer to their new grandson.
"That man was beaming over that little boy," Murphy said as he went through pictures of the Hawkses with their grandson.
The couple was last seen alive leaving Newport Beach harbor on their boat.
Deleon, of Long Beach, faces a possible death sentence if he is convicted of hatching and carrying out the plot to kill the Hawkses, steal their boat and plunder their savings account.
Testimony is expected to be similar to that presented at the 2006 trial of Deleon's wife, the first defendant to be tried in the case. Jennifer Deleon was portrayed by prosecutors as a coldhearted, money-hungry plotter in league with her husband.
She was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison without the possibility of parole for her role in the 2004 case, which included using her 9-month-old baby to gain the trust of the Hawkses, and helping to cover up the crimes.
Throughout Jennifer Deleon's trial, her attorney repeatedly blamed the crime on Skylar Deleon, describing him as more evil than Charles Manson, and likening him to "Satan's brother."
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 to being on board the yacht when the Hawkses were tossed overboard and helped the government reconstruct what happened to the Hawkses.
Fresh from two years of plying the waters of the Sea of Cortez, the Hawkses were believed to have been killed Nov. 15, 2004, after being tricked into a test sail of their 55-foot yacht, the Well-Deserved. They had put the boat up for sale because they wanted to move back to Arizona to be closer to their newborn grandchild.
