Murders of Thomas and Jackie Hawks

Thomas Charles Hawks (born December 24, 1946) and Jackie Ellen Hawks (née O'Neill; born June 26, 1957) were an American married couple who had sold their Arizona home in 2001 to live aboard their 55-foot trawler, the Well Deserved, sailing the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of California for two years. By 2004 they intended to sell the yacht and settle in Newport Harbor to be closer to a grandchild. In November 2004, their sale advertisement was answered by Skylar Deleon, who appeared with his pregnant wife, Jennifer Henderson, and their child, which put the couple at ease.

The Hawkses were last seen alive on the morning of November 15, 2004, departing Newport Beach harbor on the yacht. According to accomplice Alonso Machain's later account, Deleon and John Fitzgerald Kennedy overpowered Thomas Hawks in the kitchen and forced him into the bedroom, while Machain held Jackie at gunpoint after a struggle and also brought her below. The couple were bound, blindfolded with duct tape, and coerced into signing over ownership documents for the yacht and providing bank account access, giving Deleon control of savings exceeding $1,000,000. The vessel was steered toward deep water off Santa Catalina Island. On deck, Thomas kicked Deleon during an attempt to attach an anchor chain to the rope binding the couple; Kennedy struck Thomas in the head, and Kennedy then pushed both Hawkses overboard after Deleon threw in the anchor. Neither body was ever recovered. The group returned to shore and searched the yacht for valuables.

An investigation began after the couple's disappearance was reported. On November 26, 2004, an attempted access of the Hawkses' bank account from Mexico was discovered, and the family filed a missing-persons report. Police interviewed Deleon on November 29, 2004; he claimed to have purchased the boat legitimately and named Machain as a witness. In March 2005, after fleeing to and returning from Mexico, Machain confessed, leading to the arrests of Deleon and Henderson.

At trial, prosecutors alleged Deleon masterminded the killings for financial gain. Henderson was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder on November 17, 2006, and sentenced in October 2007 to two life terms without parole. Deleon was tried jointly for the Hawks murders and a separate 2003 killing; his own attorney conceded at trial that Deleon had committed all three murders, arguing only against a death sentence. Deleon was convicted on October 20, 2008, and sentenced to death on April 10, 2009. Kennedy was convicted on February 19, 2009, and sentenced to death on May 1, 2009. Machain pleaded guilty to two counts each of voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, and robbery, receiving a sentence of 20 years and 4 months in June 2009; he was paroled in 2021. Myron Gardner Sr., who had introduced Deleon to Kennedy but declined to participate directly, pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact in March 2009, after which murder charges against him were dropped.