Tom and Jackie Hawks had achieved their dream of early retirement. They lived aboard their 55-foot yacht, a $300,000 vessel equipped with the latest technology.

After two years of cruising, the couple decided to sell their yacht and buy a house to be closer to their soon-to-be-born grandchild.

On 12/11/2004, the Hawks, Tom (57) and Jackie (47), took a final celebratory trip to Santa Catalina Island off the coast of Los Angeles, California. They informed family and friends they'd found a buyer and would finalize the sale in the coming days.

Then, they vanished. Their family found it highly unusual for the couple to turn off their cell phones and disappear.

Tom and Jackie Hawks aboard their dream yacht. Photo:

The family located the yacht docked in Newport Beach, but the couple and their silver Honda CR-V were missing. The dinghy they typically used to access the yacht was adrift, its motor still in the water. On the yacht itself, canvas covers were loose, controls were pulled out, and a towel hung from a porthole – all unsettling signs.

A suspicious couple emerges

The Hawks had told friends and family they were taking a prospective buyer for a test sail. This individual was likely the last to see them alive. Jim Hawks, Tom's brother and a retired police officer, left his contact information on the boat.

Jennifer Deleon called Jim, claiming she and her husband, Skylar, had paid $750,000 in cash for the yacht. Suspicious, Jim contacted the Hawks' financial advisor and learned there had been no activity in their bank account. He reported them missing.

Newport Beach police took the case nearly two weeks after the disappearance. They focused on Skylar (25) and Jennifer (23) Deleon. Skylar had a prior armed robbery conviction and was on probation.

A former child actor with a minor role in the 1990s television series *Mighty Morphin Power Rangers*, Skylar had met Jennifer online. They were married with one daughter and expecting their second child.

Jennifer, a hairstylist, was the primary breadwinner. They lived in a converted garage behind her parents' house in Long Beach, making the purchase of a luxury yacht unlikely.

A Target receipt found on the yacht, dated two days after the supposed test sail, showed purchases of trash bags and bleach. Surveillance footage identified the buyer as Jennifer's father, who claimed Jennifer had asked him to buy the cleaning supplies for a church cleanup.

When questioned, Jennifer said she had been trying to contact the Hawks because many of their belongings remained on board.

Skylar produced seemingly valid purchase documents, complete with signatures, fingerprints, and notary stamps. He admitted to police he'd used drug money to buy the boat, a money laundering offense, but the police initially focused on the missing couple.

Skylar claimed he'd given the Hawks a briefcase full of cash on 15/11/2004 in a parking lot near the marina. He said his wife, a notary, and a Mexican friend named Alonso Machain were present. The Hawks handed over the keys and drove away in their Honda. Skylar and Jennifer claimed this was the last time they saw them.

The car surfaces across the border

Nearly a month later, with few leads, the Hawks family appealed to the public. A retired couple in San Miguel, Mexico, reported seeing the Hawks' 1998 Honda CR-V parked near a mobile home.

The mobile home's owner said he'd received the car from a friend – Skylar. Residents confirmed Skylar and Jennifer had been there.

Investigators believed Skylar had killed the Hawks after finding the car, but lacked sufficient evidence. On 17/12/2004, they arrested Skylar for money laundering while continuing to investigate the murders. The Hawks' laptop and camcorder were found in the Deleon home.

Skylar Deleon appears in court on 31/7/2006 in Newport Beach, California. Photo: The Orange County Register

For months after Skylar's arrest, Jennifer maintained his innocence, refusing immunity in exchange for information about the Hawks' whereabouts.

A third murder unfolds

A business card belonging to Los Angeles Police Department Detective Joe Bahena, a liaison with Mexican authorities, was found in the Deleon home. Detective Bahena had assisted Ensenada state police with the 2003 murder of Jon Jarvi in Mexico.

Jarvi had met Skylar in jail in Seal Beach. In December 2003, a year before the Hawks disappeared, Skylar proposed a business venture to Jarvi, who gave him $50,000 and traveled to Mexico with him, never to return.

Mexican police had questioned the DeLeons at the time, but Jarvi's case remained unsolved until the Newport Beach detectives began investigating the Hawks' disappearance.

The dominoes begin to fall

Kathleen Harris, the notary who had witnessed the yacht sale, initially insisted the transaction was legitimate. Under pressure, she confessed she had never met the Hawks, had been paid to backdate the documents to 15/11/2004, the day the couple disappeared.

"That was the first domino to fall," a Newport Beach detective said. "Then we started putting pressure on the other people because we knew they were lying, too."

Alonso Machain admitted his involvement next. He had met Skylar as a correctional officer at Seal Beach jail. Machain confessed to participating in the murders and revealed the plot.

On 15/11/2004, Machain, Skylar, and a Long Beach gang member named John Kennedy lured the Hawks to their yacht for a trip to Santa Catalina. Skylar and Kennedy overpowered and handcuffed Tom, while Machain handcuffed Jackie. Following Skylar's orders, he bound and gagged the couple.

Skylar steered the yacht to deeper water. They tied the Hawks to an anchor and threw it overboard in an area about 3,500 feet deep.

Jennifer was not on the yacht during the murders, but she was arrested weeks after giving birth to her second child. Investigators discovered she had spoken to Skylar multiple times on the days of both Jarvi's and the Hawks' murders. Police believed Jennifer was present in spirit, guiding the events.

Jennifer Deleon at the time of her arrest. Photo: California Dept. of Corrections

Machain testified in three separate trials against Jennifer, Skylar, and Kennedy. He pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter as part of a plea deal and was sentenced to 20 years and 4 months in prison.

In 2006, Jennifer was convicted of killing Tom and Jackie Hawks and received two life sentences without parole. Charges related to Jarvi's murder were dismissed.

Nearly two years later, Skylar was tried for the murders of the Hawks and Jarvi. He was convicted of all three murders.

Kennedy was also convicted of the Hawks' murders. Both he and Skylar were sentenced to death and remain on death row.

Tue Anh (*ABC, Oxygen*)