UPDATE: Skylar Deleon Sentenced To Death
Skylar Deleon has a special place close to my heart. His story was the first story I ever wrote up for People You’ll See In Hell. I’ll never forget how excited I was when it finally appeared on the Home Page – I was a writer again. Well, my good friends Skylar is in the news again, this time thanks to the Orange County California District Attorney. And so, for you reading pleasure, I present you the latest news of Skylar “Did I Tell You You I Used To Be A Might Morphin’ Power Ranger?” Deleon.
Orange County District Attorney
Press Release
Tony Rackauckas, District Attorney
401 Civic Center Drive West
Santa Ana, CA 92701
For Immediate Release
Case # 05HF0372
April 10, 2009
MAN SENTENCED TO DEATH FOR MURDER-FOR-PROFIT KILLINGS OF NEWPORT BEACH COUPLE ON THEIR YACHT AND ANOTHER MALE VICTIM ON THE SIDE OF THE ROAD IN MEXICO
SANTA ANA – Defendant Skylar Deleon was formally sentenced to receive the death penalty today for the murder-for-profit killings of Thomas and Jackie Hawks on their yacht off Newport Beach in 2004 and John Jarvi on the road to Ensenada, Mexico in 2003. Skylar Deleon, 29, Long Beach, was found guilty by a jury on Oct. 20, 2008, of
three counts of special circumstances murder for multiple murders and murder for financial gain. He has a prior strike for a 2003 residential burglary conviction. A jury recommended the death penalty on Nov. 6, 2008.
Skylar Deleon’s ex-wife, Jennifer Deleon, 27, Long Beach, was found guilty by a jury on Nov. 17, 2006, of two counts of murder with sentencing enhancement allegations for committing multiple murders for financial gain. She was sentenced Oct. 5, 2007, to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Co-defendant John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 43, Long Beach, was convicted on Feb. 19, 2009, of felonies for two counts of special circumstances murder for committing multiple murders for financial gain. A jury recommended the death penalty for Kennedy on Feb. 27, 2009. He is scheduled to be formally sentenced May 1, 2009, in Department C-35, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana.
Co-defendant Alonso Machain, 25, Pico Rivera, is charged with felonies for two counts of special circumstances murder for committing multiple murders for financial gain. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life without the possibility of parole. Machain is scheduled for pre-trial May 27, 2009, in Department C-55, Central Justice Center, Santa Ana. Co-defendant Myron Gardner, 45, Long Beach, who has spent four years in jail awaiting trial on this case and provided truthful testimony during Kennedy’s trial as to what happened, pleaded guilty March 19, 2009, to one felony count of accessory after the fact and was sentenced to one year in jail. He received credit for time served.
HAWKS MURDER
In November 2004, Thomas and Jackie Hawks placed an advertisement for their 55-foot boat named “Well Deserved” for $440,000. The couple wanted to spend more time with their new grandchild in Arizona. Skylar Deleon, who changed his name from John Jacobson Jr., was the brain behind the plot to murder the Hawks’ and take their boat and life savings with Machain, Gardner, Kennedy, and his wife Jennifer Deleon.
On Nov. 9, 2004, Skylar Deleon plotted with his then-pregnant wife, Jennifer Deleon, to gain the Hawks’ trust by taking Jennifer Deleon and their 9-month-old baby to meet the Hawks on their boat, which Skylar Deleon and Machain had staked out three days prior. Gardner is accused of recruiting Kennedy, a hard-core, documented Los Angeles gang member, to provide “muscle.”
On Nov. 15, 2004, Skylar Deleon, with the help of Machain and Kennedy, took the boat out of the harbor with the Hawks under the pretense of test driving it for a possible sale. Once out at sea, they overpowered the victims, forced them to sign the transfer of title documents, handcuffed and tied them to the anchor, and drowned them in the ocean. Skylar and Jennifer Deleon were in constant cell phone communication while the murder plot was being executed.
During the guilt phase Machain testified that while tied to the anchor of their yacht, Jackie Hawks was begging for her life as Thomas stroked her hand to comfort her. When forced to sign yacht ownership papers over to the Deleons’, Jackie Hawks intentionally misspelled her own name by leaving off an “S” in hopes that someone would notice that something was wrong with the documents.
Skylar and Jennifer Deleon cleaned the boat with bleach wipes and destroyed evidence and personal items belonging to the Hawks’. The Deleons took money out of the Hawks’ bank account in Arizona and deposited it in a bank account in Mexico.
On Jan. 16, 2005, Skylar Deleon was arrested while trying to flee to Mexico. Machain was arrested on March 2, 2005, Gardner was arrested the next day, Kennedy was arrested a week later, and Jennifer Deleon was arrested on April 8, 2005.
JARVI MURDER
Skylar Deleon met John Jarvi, 45, while they were serving in a work furlough program at a private jail in Seal Beach in 2003. Skylar Deleon was unemployed, supporting his pregnant wife Jennifer Deleon, and heavily in debt.
On Dec. 26, 2003, Jarvi went to his Laguna Beach bank and cashed two $25,000 checks. He immediately called Skylar Deleon. Two hours after the call, Skylar Deleon spent $18,000 in new $100 bills at a boatyard and deposited $21,000 into the account he shared with his wife.
On Dec. 27, 2003, Skylar Deleon drove to Mexico and murdered Jarvi by slashing his throat and dumped his body in the desert. Jarvi’s body was found around 4:00 p.m. near Ensenada. Skylar Deleon’s car crossed the U.S. border about two hours later. A week later, Skylar and Jennifer Deleon got rid of Jarvi’s car.
The case was unsolved until the Newport Beach Police Department began investigating after the murders of Thomas and Jackie Hawks. A Los Angeles Police Department business card was found during a search of Skylar Deleon’s home, which led detectives to additional information that Skylar Deleon had been a suspect in Jarvi’s murder.
SOLICITATION CASE
On Jan. 24, 2005, Deleon asked a fellow inmate in jail to murder his father John Jacobson Sr., with the intent that the murder be carried out. On July 26, 2006, Deleon asked a fellow inmate in jail to murder his cousin, Michael Lewis, with the intent the murder be carried out. Jacobson Sr. had been scheduled to be a witness in the trial but died last year. Michael Lewis was a witness in the homicide trial. These cases were dismissed in light of the death penalty verdict.
DEATH PENALTY TRIAL
During the opening statements of the guilt phase, the defense attorney confirmed that Skylar Deleon had murdered three people, but asked the jury for mercy because he claimed Skylar Deleon had a “bad dad.” During the penalty phase, the defense called a series of Skylar Deleon’s family members, who claimed he suffered abuse as a child at the hands of his father, Jacobson Sr., which led him to become a murderer. The People’s witness, Dr. Park Dietz, said that simply because a person is abused as a child does not mean that person’s decisions as an adult have to be a product of that abuse.
One of the Hawks’ sons, Ryan Hawks, testified during the penalty phase that his father was his best friend and that he never had the opportunity to thank him for being such a great father. Ryan Hawks said that Jackie Hawks had been a wonderful step-mother and grandmother and would never have the opportunity to watch her grandson grow up. John Jarvi’s mother, Betty Jarvi, testified that her son “sparkled” and she has been lonely ever since his murder.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy of the Homicide Unit prosecuted this case.
Very special thank you to PopTart1 for the heads up and the Press Release. Thanks kid, I owe you.
The Photographs, from Top to Bottow, are:
Convicted Murderer Skylar Deleon
“Death Penalty” Poster
Murder Victims Thomas and Jackie Hawks
Convicted Murderer Skylar Deleon, now sentenced to death
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I spy with my little eye a Mighty Morphin Power ranger who does not look very happy. Good shit hey!! I remember reading this post and feeling so sad at the helplessness Thomas must have felt at not being able to save his beloved wife. And reading about his desperate attempts to fight back brought me to tears. What a brave man he was…right to the very end.
I feel sorry for Skyler and Jennifers kid. Hopfully the child will be adopted by a loving family and never find out what sort of scum actually brought him into this world. Does anyone have any info on where the child is now?
Ive have just got to add that i loved what Dr Park Dietz had to say. ” Simply because a person is abused as a child does not mean that person’s decisions as an adult have to be a product of that abuse.”
Amen to that!
amy and others,
i could not agree more with amy and with dr. dietz. my heart goes out to the families who lost great people; i applaud the prosecutors for a job well done, along with the jury who did their job.
it’s just too bad we still don’t burn at the stake—and that includes the “wife”, who is as guilty as anyone in this tragedy. that would be a strike in favor of deterrence—or have we forgotten about it?
a final morph for Skylar, from human to wormfood. YAY!
What’s driving me nuts is that mainstream media keeps referring to him as a “Mighty Morphin’ Power Ranger” or as a “star of the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers TV Show” when he was neither. He played on a single episode as a bit part. That’s it.
I know man….anything to sell papers. And the guy never acted again. ever.
Life’s a bitch when you peak at 14 for like 2 nanoseconds.
Unfortunately in some cases these POS who are sentenced to death die of old age……. look at the Manson family… one is in poor health and wants to be released… too bad Sharon Tate can’t get the same consideration… but so far only Jesus himself and his friend Lazurus are the only people I know of that walked out of a tomb afert being carried in!
Yeah Fred, and the Manson girl who wants us to have mercy on her and release her from prison because she has brain cancer is Susan Atkins. When Sharon Tate, who was eight months pregnant, begged Atkins for the life of her unborn baby, Atkins told her, “Look, bitch, I have no mercy for you. You’re going to die and you’d better get used to it.”
Hey Susan, ain’t Karma a bitch?
I hope all those bitches who had the nerve to smile and laugh in people’s faces after they did what they did rot in jail. I see old news footage of that crap and get so pissed. Sure arent smiling now, huh?
My grandfather had a friend who was one of the first on the scene at the house where Sharon Tate was murdered. He stated that never, in his entire career, which spanned forty years in law enforcment and FBI, has he ever seen something so atrocious and brutal. I remember him telling me as a child that the pools of blood on the floor were so deep that you wouldnt believe it was possible.
I hope Susan’s cancer is so painful and unrelenting that she suffers every minute of the rest of her worthless and disgusting life.
Mercy for Susan should be an execution…….
The Manson family. All are rotting in prison and hopefully they will die in prison. They are scum of the Earth besides Fred Phelps, Jim Jones, and Osama bin Laden.
good for his ass! if only the death penalty meant give the victims fam a weapon of choice and go crazy on the fucker!
I’m disappointed that Jennifer won’t get the needle. And bring back the gallows or the electric chair, too. They’re much more appropriate and satisfying.
Stab them all in the rectum.
Watch him morph into dust in the ground.
LMAO
Hey, take’m all out to sea and cuff them to an anchor. I’m sure that would a bit more justice to the family.
Yeah but let them beg for their lives and try to fight to survive for a few hours first….let them know how helpless their victims felt.
Anyone know what sentences the other men involved received?
Jennifer Deleon got Life w/o Parole. John F. Kennedy got the Death Penalty. Alonso Machain is coming up for trial the end of this month – he faces Life w/o Parole. Myron Gardner has been the star witness for the prosecution – he pled guilty to being an accessory after the fact and received a 1 year sentence.
What a asshat…
BOOSH!!!!
yeah I agree, what an asshat
what a dick…
haha
I see, I see. Well, thanks for your input.
Asshat.
Evil – just pure evil. You’re right …… he’s no power ranger star – he’s DEAD MAN WALKING and the earth will be a much cleaner place once he’s on the OTHER SIDE OF THE DIRT! There is not a single excuse that he or the others can use to that would justify or lessen how evil these people absolutely are!
hi there to whoever owns this website, Can you give me more info on this? i sometimes look at other peoples websites that are made for people like me.
Welcome Ella – The Orange County Register is the best source for info on the Skylar DeLeon case. Here’s a link to the search page:
http://www.ocregister.com/fi/search/?q=skylar+deleon&x=23&y=13
tomorrow night (sunday, aug. 23) at 10 p.m., msnbc is showing tom and jackie hawks’ story. i have already set my dv-r.