Skylar Deleon gets death sentence in Newport Beach yacht murders

A Long Beach man was sentenced to death today for lashing Thomas and Jackie Hawks to the anchor of a yacht and throwing them overboard off the coast of Newport Beach in a plot to steal the vessel and plunder the couple’s life savings.

Skylar Deleon showed little reaction as Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank Fasel explained that mitigating factors -- including any abuse Deleon suffered while growing up -- were outweighed by the “horrors” of the 2004 murders of the Hawkses and the earlier 2003 slaying of John Peter Jarvi in a Mexican desert.

Deleon was convicted of all three murders.

“The mental anguish and torment these three people must have anticipated while bound and eventually experiencing their ultimate fates warrants the death penalty instead of life without parole,” Fasel said in his packed courtroom.

A jury has also recommended death for John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a 43-year-old Long Beach gang member convicted of helping Deleon throw the Hawkses off their 55-foot yacht, named the “Well-Deserved.”

Deleon’s ex-wife, Jennifer Deleon, was found guilty by a jury in 2006 of murder and sentenced to life in prison in connection with the yacht murders.

Another man on board the boat when the couple was killed, Alonso Machain, cooperated with the government and awaits trial.

-- Christine Hanley

Photo: Los Angeles Times

Comments

[Peter McMillin]

Now take him out and shoot him. If anyone ever deserved this, it is him. His wife got off lightly too. She should be executed

[Jeff]

I am opposed to the death penalty, but if there were ever a criminal who deserved the death penalty, this guy is it.

[Jacob]

The death penalty in California? That's not likely. Now we taxpayers can support him for the rest of his life.

[jeffbtt]

He should suffer the same fate. Throw him overboard.

[Priscilla Lopez]

I think they should bring back the electric chair for this guy.

[Dirk]

I say strap him to an anchor and toss him out to sea.

But as others have noted, they simply aren't executing people in this state. Maybe they can ship him off to Texas.

[David Mansour]

Sadly the threat of the death penalty is only a mind game in this state and not the ultimate punishment for people who are given this sentence. He will rot in prison and many will follow him as well with a sentence that is never carried out but served out just for the purpose that it may deter crime.

[koo]

Quid pro quo. Justice served.

[Pete]

My choice of death penalty for this slob would be to tie him to an anchor at low tide, and then let the tide come in... slowly.

[frieda406]

this is truly a horrifying story. i live in arizona and have followed it since the beginning. i cannot fathom what type of people would do this. i really can't. if there is evil, then these are evil. death penalty is a difficult thing. i don't know the answer. i do know it costs less for him to get life than death, because of the appeals, etc. and we should never abrogate those since we know now there have been many innocent people convicted. but who knows - maybe he'll be one of those who waives his appeal rights.

[greg geraci]

what happened to the other guy John F Kennedy what happened to him. No one talks about that

[U CALL THAT JOURNALISM?!]

Chain him to an anchor & drop them both in the deep blue sea? That just makes us even. Chaining him to a plastic float, then pouring a few buckets of chum around for bait, sounds closer to the heart of Lady Justice.

[Mark]

He doesn't deserve to live another day.....he should be executed today!

[Bonny]

We don't do it that much here in CA, but it does get done. Ask Tookie.

[U CALL THAT JOURNALISM?!]

As usual, the LA Times places a full color photo of the defendant, looking glum and guilty in a jail jumpsuit, next to the headline.

Oh, wait, they don't usually do that, do they? It might send the wrong message to the readers about correlating appearance and criminal tendencies. Hmmm... right, placing this defendant's picture next to the headline must be different somehow, but how?

For those who haven't caught on yet, the LA Times has a severe case of institutional bias against males of the pale variety. It is easy to see when they commonly place a photo of a white, male criminal suspect, or defendant, next to a headline. This is as it should be, but the catch comes when they so rarely do this if the defendant is not pale & male.

Hypocrisy & bias, thy names are LA Times.

[Nicole]

This is such a sad case. I agree that particularly brutal crimes such as this one are the reason the death penalty exists.

[John]

yes i do say the same throw him overboard and have him suffer the same fate as the couple that was strapped to the anchor

[woodstock1969]

Death is too good for this fellow, 35 years of slow torture sounds a little better. This is one case where the death penalty is too lenient.

[lauri ike]

wow all these ppl who think theyre god...

[Marc L.]

As a side note, the person who wrote this article, did NOT just use the word "Hawkses", in reference to Mr. Hawks and his wife.... We'll ok, I guess they did...
You're kidding...right? I can't even make fun of that... Now THAT, is sad..

[Stephanie]

Any sentence given to him won't compare to the atrocities he committed. I think his wife was fully complicit and she seems to have gotten off very easy. Mrs. Hawks certainly wasn't given any consideration because she was a woman. The Hawks certainly deserved so much better in this life.

I hope the family finds some comfort in this sentencing. I wish them peace.

[Jeff k]

If executing this human trash will discourage just one other pieces of human trash from killing another innocent person than his death will prove more than useful. If televised his execution might actually impact a brainless jerk like this guy that senseless murder of an innocent person will put him in the same room with a needle in his arm and maybe it will save the life of someone else.

Also it will be simply know he got what he deserved for being such a stupid piece of useless human trash. Besides- how did this idiot think he was going to pay the dock fees for the boat anyway?

[all 4 the death penalty in Nebraska]

I just finished watching 48 hours on this sad story. I was so angered by this couple and their slimeball assistants, that my blood pressure skyrocketed as I watched this show. My heart goes out to the Hawkes family. I cannot imagine the pain of not being able to bury and put to rest this horrific incident. I am not a bitter hateful person, quite the opposite in fact. But I found myself hoping that Mr. Deleon was getting his own share of "what goes around comes around"..while in prison. And for Mrs. Deleon , My words for you are every mothers day your children will think of you...and probably more than likely...think of what you did. These children are also victims here. To grow up knowing that your parents were capable of such terror will not be an easy thing to handle.

[Eric von Schonberg]

I think they should take all three of these scum out to an ant hill, tie them all down naked, pour honey on them and film the ants slowly devouring these criminals, so the film could be shown to other scum bag criminals. Somehow lethal injection just doesn't have the right affect on these scum bags.

[Justice]

I only wish torture was sometimes legal in this country. For this murderous scum, only very painful, slow torture would be adequate, followed by a very slow and agonizing death.