Mighty Nikkisaurus
11-07-2008, 12:38 PM
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/11/06/yacht.killings.ap/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
SANTA ANA, California (AP) -- A jury on Thursday recommended death for a man convicted of murdering a couple by binding them to the anchor of their yacht and throwing them into the Pacific Ocean off California as they pleaded for their lives.
Skylar Deleon, 29, sat motionless as the jury announced its decision following nearly two days of deliberation in Orange County Superior Court.
"He was disappointed," Deleon's attorney Gary Pohlson said afterward. "He was very hopeful he wouldn't get the death penalty."
Deleon was convicted last month of three counts of first-degree murder for the 2003 slaying of Jon Jarvi, who he met in a work furlough program while serving time for burglary, and the 2004 slayings of Tom and Jackie Hawks aboard their yacht.
During the trial's penalty phase, which took six days, jurors heard statements from victims' relatives, attorneys, Deleon's family members and psychiatrists, who offered differing takes on the role child abuse has on a person's development.
Deleon worked as a child actor and is best known as a star of "The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers."
Pohlson had pleaded with jurors to help spare his client's life, arguing Deleon was abused by a drug dealing father and abandoned by his mother, leaving him predisposed to violence.
Tom Hawks' son Ryan said he was pleased with the jury's recommendation of the death penalty.
"Skylar is going to be sitting in that jail cell, socializing with his pals for 40 years before he is going to receive the needle, and my parents are still dead."
Deleon killed the Hawks in 2004 after feigning interest in buying their yacht. Prosecutors say he overpowered the couple on a test cruise, tied them to an anchor and tossed them into the Pacific Ocean off the California coast as they begged for their lives.
According to prosecutors, Deleon and his then-wife Jennifer Henderson later scrubbed the boat clean with bleach wipes in Newport Harbor.
The Hawkses' bodies were never found.
Henderson was convicted in 2006 of murder and murder for financial gain in the Hawkses' deaths and was sentenced to two terms of life in prison without parole.
Three other men are also charged with the Hawkses' murders, including two allegedly on the boat at the time. They have pleaded not guilty.
Judge Frank F. Fasel will sentence Deleon on Jan. 16.
From another article about the killings:
On the morning of Nov. 15, Machain said, he and Deleon met up with a third person -- John Fitzgerald Kennedy -- before heading to the boat, stopping first so Kennedy, a reputed gang member, could change clothes and pretend to be Deleon's accountant. They had persuaded the Hawkses that they were interested buyers.
Once aboard the boat, Machain said, he cornered Jackie Hawks in the galley of the main cabin while Deleon and Kennedy overpowered Tom Hawks in a lower stateroom.
Machain said after a brief struggle, he handcuffed Jackie Hawks and took her down to the bedroom, where she and her husband were placed back to back on the bed.
She was crying, begging for her life, and at one point asked Deleon, "How could you do this to us? You brought your wife and kids on board. We trusted you," Machain testified.
Machain said he helped Deleon cover the couple's eyes and mouths with duct tape. The Hawkses, he said, were then taken up to the main cabin one at a time to sign and fingerprint title transfer documents for the boat, and were reassured that if they cooperated they would be released.
Left to "baby-sit" the couple for hours before and after they signed the documents, Machain said he watched as Tom Hawks reached over and caressed his sobbing wife, trying to console her.
As they pulled out of Newport Harbor and headed out to sea, Deleon and Kennedy prepared the anchor, Machain said.
On deck, Deleon and Kennedy began lashing the couple to the anchor, her back to her husband's chest with their hands still bound behind them and their eyes and mouths covered in duct tape, Machain said.
That's when Tom Hawks kicked in a backward motion, striking Deleon with such force that "he literally flew back and landed on the chair on the deck," Machain testified
Machain said that after Kennedy responded with a "vicious" punch to Tom Hawks' right temple, Deleon and Kennedy pushed the anchor into the ocean.
He said Kennedy fished all the way back to Newport Beach.
This story makes me sick to my stomach. What a horrible way to die.
SANTA ANA, California (AP) -- A jury on Thursday recommended death for a man convicted of murdering a couple by binding them to the anchor of their yacht and throwing them into the Pacific Ocean off California as they pleaded for their lives.
Skylar Deleon, 29, sat motionless as the jury announced its decision following nearly two days of deliberation in Orange County Superior Court.
"He was disappointed," Deleon's attorney Gary Pohlson said afterward. "He was very hopeful he wouldn't get the death penalty."
Deleon was convicted last month of three counts of first-degree murder for the 2003 slaying of Jon Jarvi, who he met in a work furlough program while serving time for burglary, and the 2004 slayings of Tom and Jackie Hawks aboard their yacht.
During the trial's penalty phase, which took six days, jurors heard statements from victims' relatives, attorneys, Deleon's family members and psychiatrists, who offered differing takes on the role child abuse has on a person's development.
Deleon worked as a child actor and is best known as a star of "The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers."
Pohlson had pleaded with jurors to help spare his client's life, arguing Deleon was abused by a drug dealing father and abandoned by his mother, leaving him predisposed to violence.
Tom Hawks' son Ryan said he was pleased with the jury's recommendation of the death penalty.
"Skylar is going to be sitting in that jail cell, socializing with his pals for 40 years before he is going to receive the needle, and my parents are still dead."
Deleon killed the Hawks in 2004 after feigning interest in buying their yacht. Prosecutors say he overpowered the couple on a test cruise, tied them to an anchor and tossed them into the Pacific Ocean off the California coast as they begged for their lives.
According to prosecutors, Deleon and his then-wife Jennifer Henderson later scrubbed the boat clean with bleach wipes in Newport Harbor.
The Hawkses' bodies were never found.
Henderson was convicted in 2006 of murder and murder for financial gain in the Hawkses' deaths and was sentenced to two terms of life in prison without parole.
Three other men are also charged with the Hawkses' murders, including two allegedly on the boat at the time. They have pleaded not guilty.
Judge Frank F. Fasel will sentence Deleon on Jan. 16.
From another article about the killings:
On the morning of Nov. 15, Machain said, he and Deleon met up with a third person -- John Fitzgerald Kennedy -- before heading to the boat, stopping first so Kennedy, a reputed gang member, could change clothes and pretend to be Deleon's accountant. They had persuaded the Hawkses that they were interested buyers.
Once aboard the boat, Machain said, he cornered Jackie Hawks in the galley of the main cabin while Deleon and Kennedy overpowered Tom Hawks in a lower stateroom.
Machain said after a brief struggle, he handcuffed Jackie Hawks and took her down to the bedroom, where she and her husband were placed back to back on the bed.
She was crying, begging for her life, and at one point asked Deleon, "How could you do this to us? You brought your wife and kids on board. We trusted you," Machain testified.
Machain said he helped Deleon cover the couple's eyes and mouths with duct tape. The Hawkses, he said, were then taken up to the main cabin one at a time to sign and fingerprint title transfer documents for the boat, and were reassured that if they cooperated they would be released.
Left to "baby-sit" the couple for hours before and after they signed the documents, Machain said he watched as Tom Hawks reached over and caressed his sobbing wife, trying to console her.
As they pulled out of Newport Harbor and headed out to sea, Deleon and Kennedy prepared the anchor, Machain said.
On deck, Deleon and Kennedy began lashing the couple to the anchor, her back to her husband's chest with their hands still bound behind them and their eyes and mouths covered in duct tape, Machain said.
That's when Tom Hawks kicked in a backward motion, striking Deleon with such force that "he literally flew back and landed on the chair on the deck," Machain testified
Machain said that after Kennedy responded with a "vicious" punch to Tom Hawks' right temple, Deleon and Kennedy pushed the anchor into the ocean.
He said Kennedy fished all the way back to Newport Beach.
This story makes me sick to my stomach. What a horrible way to die.