True Crime Collection

Thomas & Jackie Hawks

Thomas Hawks was a retired probation officer and bodybuilder. He and his second wife Jackie owned a 55-foot yacht, the Well Deserved, which they treated as their permanent home and on which they sailed for two years around the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. In 2004, they decided to sell their yacht and set up home in Newport Harbor to be closer to their grandchild. Jackie had helped raise Tom's sons from his first marriage since adolescence. When the wife of Hawks' older son was expecting their first child, Jackie treated the news as if it would be her own natural grandchild.

Their advertisement of the sale of the yacht was answered in November by Skylar Deleon. The couple was initially cautious of Skylar, but they became more receptive when Skylar's then-pregnant wife Jennifer and their other child came to the meeting. The Hawks were last seen alive on the morning of 15th November, 2004, heading out of the harbor. The yacht returned, but they did not. Neither body has ever been recovered.

Skylar Preciosa Deleon (born John Julius Jacobson, Jr. a.k.a. Skylar Julius Deleon) is a convicted murderer of 3 people. Skylar claimed that she was a child actor who appeared in commercials and also claimed that at 14 she appeared in the series Mighty Morphin Power Rangers as an uncredited extra in the episode "Second Chance". Casting sheets for that episode show no extras named "John Jacobson" appeared on the show.

At 20 she joined the United States Marine Corps, but deserted after 15 days ("went on Unauthorized Absence (UA)"). She was later given an other than honorable discharge.

Skylar's gender was officially changed to female in 2019, while awaiting execution on death row.

- Jennifer Lynn Henderson (formerly Jennifer Deleon), wife of Skylar Deleon at the time of the murder. She was convicted of two counts of murder and sentenced to two terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
- Alonso Machain, former Seal Beach correctional officer who met Skylar while Skylar was serving time in prison for burglary.
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy, former Insane Crips gang member in Long Beach and former youth pastor, ex-convict for attempted murder, recruited the same day of the murder.
- Myron Sandora Gardner, Sr., former Insane Crips gang member and ex-convict for involuntary manslaughter, who met Skylar at work after Skylar's  release from prison, declined to participate in the crime but introduced Skylar to John.

Police inquired into the couple's disappearance. On 26th November, 2004, an attempt was made to access the Hawks' bank account from Mexico. The family was notified and filed a missing-persons report with the Carlsbad, California police department.

On 29th November, the police interviewed Skylar Deleon. She told them that she bought the boat from the Hawkses and showed them proof-of-purchase documents. She stated to police that the Hawkses left in their car with their money, denied being in their car, and named Alonso Machain as witness to the purchase. The reason that she bought the boat, she claimed, was that Skylar intended to launder money related to an armed burglary in 2002 for which she had been convicted.

In March 2005, after initially fleeing to Mexico and then returning, Alonso confessed to the crime. He was arrested in connection with the couple's disappearance along with Skylar and Deleon's wife, Jennifer. Skylar Deleon initially maintained innocence, claiming that they were not present at the time and speculated that the Hawkses were killed over a drug deal gone bad.

Authorities alleged that during a sea trial of the boat in Newport Beach Harbor a few days after meeting the Hawkses, Skylar and her accomplices — Alonso Machain and John Fitzgerald Kennedy — bound and gagged the couple and threw them overboard, tied to the yacht's anchor. Skylar allegedly masterminded the plan to kill the couple for financial gain and enlisted Alonso to help.

Skylar's wife Jennifer was found guilty on two counts of first degree murder on 17th November, 2006, after four hours of jury deliberation. In October 2007, Jennifer Henderson (then Jennifer Deleon, prior to her divorce from Skylar Deleon a few months after the Hawks' murders) was sentenced to two life terms without the possibility of parole. She is currently housed at Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, California.

While awaiting trial in jail, Skylar Deleon was charged with soliciting another inmate to murder her cousin and abusive father. She was accused of killing John Jarvi, a resident of Anaheim, California, who was found dead in Mexico in 2003. Skylar's father and cousin (who was charged as an accessory to the Jarvi murder) are considered "important witnesses" in both murder cases. On 13th March, 2008, Skylar partially severed her penis with a razor blade while being held in jail. After receiving medical attention, she was returned to jail the following day. In an interview with ABC's 20/20, Skylar indicated that she attempted to cut off her penis because she, assigned male at birth, wanted to be a woman. Defense lawyers claimed that Skylar's need for money to finance sex reassignment surgery was the motivation for the Hawks' murders. In 2019, Skylar's gender was legally changed to female and Skylar's name is now Skylar Preciosa Deleon.

On 22nd September, 2008, jury selection began in the case against Skylar Deleon. In a consolidated case, Skylar was jointly tried for the murders of Thomas and Jackie Hawks as well as the murder of John Jarvi. Despite Skylar's earlier protestations of innocence, once her trial began, Skylar's attorney conceded that Skylar had indeed committed all three murders. The attorney said that she had taken the case to trial only to argue to a jury that Skylar should not be sentenced to death. On 20th October, Skylar was convicted of three counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances for financial gain and multiple victims and on 6th November, 2008, the jury rendered a death verdict. Sentencing was originally scheduled for 16th January, 2009, but was then rescheduled to 20th March on request by Skylar's attorney. On 13th March, it was announced that sentencing would again be rescheduled, to 10th April, so that the families of the victims could attend. On 10th April, 2009, Skylar was sentenced to death by Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank Fasel. She is on death row at San Quentin State Prison.

On 19th February, 2009, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was found guilty on two counts of first degree murder after fewer than three hours of jury deliberation. He was sentenced to death on 1st May, 2009. Like Skylar, John is on death row at San Quentin State Prison.

Alonso Machain, after testifying against Skylar, Jennifer, and John, pleaded guilty to two counts each of voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, and robbery. On 15th June, 2009, he was sentenced to 20 years, 4 months. He is first eligible for parole in September 2021. He is currently serving his sentence at Valley State Prison in Chowchilla, California.

In March 2009, after spending four years incarcerated, Myron Gardner pleaded guilty to "accessory after the fact" and the murder charges against him were dropped.