Tom and Jackie lived aboard their fifty-five-foot trawler, the Well Deserved, for two years before deciding to sell it and return to Arizona to spend time with their newborn grandson. Photo by Charles Silvers
One hundred and fifty friends and family members attended Tom and Jackie’s Hawaiian-themed wedding in July 1989, in the back yard of Tom’s rustic, Western-style house in Prescott, Arizona. Photos by Jack O’Neill
One hundred and fifty friends and family members attended Tom and Jackie’s Hawaiian-themed wedding in July 1989, in the back yard of Tom’s rustic, Western-style house in Prescott, Arizona. Photos by Jack O’Neill
In his early twenties, Captain Jon “JP” Jarvi flew small private planes for a living and was an announcer for Team America. After Skylar Deleon was arrested for armed burglary, he met JP at the Seal Beach jail in the summer of 2003. Jarvi was serving the last part of his time on a counterfeiting charge. Photo by Betty Jarvi
Jon Jarvi, who was murdered in Mexico in 2003, was a ladies’ man. Pictured here with a friend, Jon was also very close with his mother, Betty. Photo courtesy of Betty Jarvi
Jon (left) and his brother, Jeff, grew up in Anaheim, California. Photo by Betty Jarvi
Skylar and Jennifer Deleon were first married in a small, casual ceremony on the beach in Newport. Skylar always had a thing for boats, so they planned a second, more formal wedding on the Spirit of Newport in March 2003. Photo by Caitlin Rother
Raised as an Evangelical Christian, Jennifer wanted to wear a fancy white dress and get married in front of her church friends. Her parents paid for the couple’s second wedding on the Spirit of Newport, which cruised around Newport Harbor. Photo courtesy of the Newport Beach Police Department (NBPD)
Skylar and Jennifer got pregnant with their daughter Haylie immediately after their second wedding. Jennifer was pregnant again, with their son Kaleb, when she brought Haylie in a stroller to meet the Hawkses, using her children as pawns to gain Tom and Jackie’s trust. Photo by Picture People
Tom Hawks (right) and his brother, Jim, grew up on a farm in Chino, California, in the 1950s. Photo courtesy of Jim Hawks
Tom was voted “Best Looking” during his senior year at San Dieguito Union High School in Encinitas, California, in 1965.
Jackie O’Neill celebrates her third birthday in Mentor, Ohio, in 1960. Photo by Jack O’Neill
The O’Neill women, wearing their Easter best in 1974: (left to right) Kathleen, Beverly, Jackie, Gayle, and Jenny. Photo by Jack O’Neill
Jackie in the tenth grade in Mentor. Photo courtesy of Gayle O’Neill
While Jennifer Henderson attended Millikan High School in Long Beach, California, she played softball, hung out at the mall, and was drawn to boys with gender ambiguity.
Tom faithfully practiced a work-out routine to stay in shape during the two years he and Jackie cruised around Mexico on the Well Deserved. Photo by Charles Silvers
Jackie plays with a butterfly in Punta Mita, Mexico, in December 2003. Photo by Charles Silvers
Tom and Jackie enjoy a meal in Mexico. Photo by Charles Silvers
Skylar and his father, both born named John Jacobson, eat Christmas dinner with the Jacobson clan in 1991. His dad, nicknamed Big John, served time in federal prison for drug trafficking. Photo by Bryan Brah
Sergeant Dave Byington (right), now retired, and Detective Evan Sailor, now a lieutenant, led a team of more than eleven detectives in investigating this complex case. Photo by Caitlin Rother
On December 17, 2004, Skylar was arrested, initially for money laundering, outside the garage studio he shared with his wife Jennifer and their daughter. Photo by NBPD
The day of Skylar’s arrest, police detectives searched the Deleons’ cramped living quarters in the garage behind Jennifer’s parents’ house in Long Beach. To illustrate the motive for murdering the Hawks, which he believed was pure greed, prosecutor Matt Murphy showed the jury this photo. Photo by NBPD
Skylar befriended Alonso Machain, a guard at the Seal Beach city jail, where Skylar was serving time for armed burglary. Alonso was initially arrested for conspiracy to commit fraud. After fleeing to Mexico, he agreed to come back and cooperate with the prosecution, which, in exchange, agreed to take the death penalty off the table. Photo by NBPD
“Crazy John” F. Kennedy, a Long Beach Insane Crips “OG” (original gangster), was arrested after police from Newport Beach and Long Beach linked him to the Hawks murders. The prosecution team nicknamed him JFK during the trial. Photo by NBPD
Newport Beach police waited until April 2005, after Jennifer had her baby, before arresting her at the county jail, where she had been visiting Skylar. Photo by NBPD
In three separate trials, Senior Deputy District Attorney Matt Murphy won murder convictions against Jennifer, Skylar, and JFK. Photo by Caitlin Rother
Skylar Deleon looked increasingly thin and feminine, as he appeared with his attorney, Gary Pohlson, at pre-trial hearings. Photo by John McCutchen
Jennifer Henderson Deleon appears in court with her attorney, Michael Molfetta, in 2005. Photo by John McCutchen
Skylar’s cousin, Michael Lewis, was interviewed and changed his story multiple times before police finally arrested him in Arizona and brought him back to Orange County, California, to face charges in the murder of Jon Jarvi. Photo courtesy of NBPD
Skylar met Myron Gardner while working for Total Western Inc. as an electrician’s assistant. Myron hooked Skylar up with “Crazy John” Kennedy, whom Myron had known since childhood. Photo by NBPD
At the time of this case, about ten thousand boats were moored in the exclusive Newport Harbor, which feeds into the Pacific Ocean. Photo by NBPD
The Deleons claimed the sale of the Well Deserved was notarized near this 15th Street dock at the Newport harbor, after which the Hawkses drove off in their silver CRV. Photo by Caitlin Rother
Exterior view of the Well Deserved. Photo by NBPD
Skylar and JFK overpowered Tom Hawks here in the stateroom of the Well Deserved. Photo by NBPD
Skylar went up to the bridge, put in the GPS coordinates for a point forty miles off the coast of Newport where the depth drops to 3,800 feet, and set the yacht on autopilot. Photo by NBPD
Alonso grabbed and handcuffed Jackie in the galley. Photo by NBPD
On deck, Skylar tied Tom and Jackie to the anchor and threw it overboard, then JFK pushed the couple through a gap in the railing. Photo by NBPD
Jim Hawks handed out these pins to detectives and prosecution team to thank them for their work on this case. He also gave one to author Caitlin Rother, which she still treasures today. Photo by Caitlin Rother
Jennifer’s attorney, Michael Molfetta, argued that she was just another one of Skylar’s victims. Photo by John McCutchen
Skylar’s defense team: (left to right) investigator Nicole Fischer, and attorneys Richard Schwartzberg and Gary Pohlson, Skylar’s primary counsel. Pohlson conceded Skylar’s guilt at trial, saying he was trying to save his client’s life. Photo by Caitlin Rother
“Crazy John” Kennedy’s defense team: Winston McKesson (right), primary counsel, and Charles Lindner (seated), both Los Angeles attorneys, argued that their client was never in Newport Beach and that he was framed by Long Beach police. Photo by Caitlin Rother
Tom’s son, Ryan Hawks, went on TV to help police locate his parents and their car, which turned up in Mexico. Here, he speaks to the media on April 10, 2009, after Skylar is sentenced to death. Photo by Caitlin Rother
Jennifer Henderson divorced Skylar and went back to using her maiden name. Shown here in 2011, she is serving life without the possibility of parole at the Central California Women’s Facility in Chowchilla, which also houses female inmates on death row. Photo by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR)
Shown here in 2019, Alonso Machain is housed at the California Rehabilitation Center, a prison in Norco. He will be eligible for parole in 2023. Photo by CDCR
Shown here in 2018, John F. Kennedy is one of more than 700 inmates on death row at San Quentin. Photo by CDCR
This series of photos captures Skylar’s transition after she arrived at San Quentin in April 2009, then in 2014, and in 2018. In 2019, she legally changed her name to Skylar Preciosa Deleon and her gender to female. Housed on death row, she has been in and out of psychiatric facilities in Vacaville, then one that opened on site in 2014. Photos by CDCR
This series of photos captures Skylar’s transition after she arrived at San Quentin in April 2009, then in 2014, and in 2018. In 2019, she legally changed her name to Skylar Preciosa Deleon and her gender to female. Housed on death row, she has been in and out of psychiatric facilities in Vacaville, then one that opened on site in 2014. Photos by CDCR
This series of photos captures Skylar’s transition after she arrived at San Quentin in April 2009, then in 2014, and in 2018. In 2019, she legally changed her name to Skylar Preciosa Deleon and her gender to female. Housed on death row, she has been in and out of psychiatric facilities in Vacaville, then one that opened on site in 2014. Photos by CDCR
Why are these criminals still alive? The death sentence should have been carried out long time ago. “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
Stop calling Skylar a woman. He is a dangerous criminal that is using the mental disability of gender dysphoria to his advantage. Next he’ll be moved to a women’s facility. The fact that he is even allowed to live his life like this is sick. He should be killed. And JFK’s attorney’s are despicable, using race baiting as a form of defense. They should all be killed. Alonso should not be released and if he is, he should not be allowed to live a comfortable life. If I were the children of Tom and Jackie, I’d find him and drown him at sea.