Skylar Deleon trial starts soon

Death penalty sought for alleged killers of ham radio couple

The trial of Skylar Deleon, accused of masterminding the 2004 murder of an Arizona couple, will begin soon.

The jury selection process for the trial, being held at the Orange County Courthouse, California, will start on Monday, September 22nd and could see up to 1,000 local residents questioned to determine their suitability as jurors for the death penalty case. The trial itself could last as long as 14 weeks.

Skylar Deleon and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, along with three other defendants, are charged with the 2004 special circumstances murder of Thomas and Jackie Hawks, KD7VWJ and KD7VWK in Newport Beach.

Newport Beach detectives believe that Deleon recruited Kennedy and another man to help overpower the Hawks during a November 15, 2004, cruise aboard their yacht the Well Deserved.

Thomas and Jackie Hawks KD7VWJ, and KD7VWK

Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas has announced that he will pursue the death penalty in the case against Skylar Deleon, 26, of Long Beach, and
John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 40, of Long Beach.

Deleon is also charged with the special circumstances murder for financial gain of John Jarvi.

Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel cleared the final hurdle to the trial last week when he agreed to sever Deleon's trial from that of John F. Kennedy, 43, a former Compton gang member and a co-defendant in the alleged murders.

Charles L. Lindner, Kennedy's lawyer, successfully argued that it would be unfair to try Kennedy - who also faces a potential death sentence - with Deleon, in part because of the many statements Deleon gave to police when he was questioned about the Hawks' disappearance. Lindner also said Kennedy's defense team was not ready to go to trial now. So Fasel delayed Kennedy's trial to start in January.

Prosecutors claim that Deleon approached the couple with an offer to buy their 55-foot yacht called Well Deserved.

The state alleges that Deleon and accomplices then killed the couple when they took him and two other men out for a test run. Prosecutors claim that the couple was handcuffed, tied to an anchor and dumped alive into the ocean after being forced to sign paperwork transferring the boat's title to Deleon. Their bodies have never been found.

In the first of the trials, Skylar's wife, Jennifer Deleon was found guilty on two counts of first degree murder on Friday November 17, 2006, after only four hours of jury deliberation.

During the trial of Jennifer Deleon, the People showed that Jennifer and Skylar Deleon cleaned the boat with bleach wipes and destroyed evidence and personal items belonging to the Hawks.

In October, 2007, Jennifer Deleon, now calling herself Jennifer Henderson since her divorce from Skylar Deleon, was sentenced to two life terms without the possibility of parole

Thomas and Jackie Hawks website