Skylar Deleon Net Worth

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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