Hawks hearing calls first witness

A man accused of murdering a retired Newport Beach couple approached

a co-worker several times asking how to dispose of bodies at sea, a

Newport Beach Police detective testified at a hearing Friday in

Orange County Superior Court.

The co-worker refused to help Skylar Deleon, 26, of Long Beach,

Det. Sgt. David Byington testified.

Byington was the only witness called on the first day of a hearing

to decide whether DeLeon and four others, including DeLeon’s wife,

will stand trial for the alleged killing of Tom and Jackie Hawks. The

hearing is scheduled continue Tuesday.

Tom Hawks, 57, and Jackie Hawks, 47, have been missing since

November, when they told friends they were going on a test cruise

with prospective buyers of their 55-foot cabin cruiser, Well

Deserved. Police believe the couple were overpowered, handcuffed to

an anchor and thrown overboard while alive by one or more people

during that test cruise.

All five suspects charged with the murder of the Hawkses were

present in court Friday. The judge approved a motion to grant

separate trials for two of the defendants -- Myron Gardner, 42, of

Long Beach and Alonso Machain, 21, of Pico Rivera.

A preliminary hearing for Gardner and Machain is scheduled for

Oct. 7 in Central Court in Santa Ana.

Lawyers would not comment as to why Gardner and Machain will be

tried separately.

“There is no deal on the table,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy

said outside court Friday.

The charges against all five defendants -- double murder for

purpose of financial gain -- remain the same, Murphy said. Special

circumstances make each defendant eligible for the death penalty, if

convicted.

Gardner and Machain were led out of the courtroom after the judge

approved the motion for a separate trial. DeLeon and his wife,

Jennifer Henderson-DeLeon, 24, and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 40, all

of Long Beach, remained seated in the jury box with several seats

between them.

During the hearing, Byington testified that DeLeon also asked his

co-worker, Adam Rorig, to recommend the name of a notary public.

Rorig supplied DeLeon with the name of notary public Kathleen Harris,

a woman who falsified documents related to the sale of the Hawkses’

yacht, Byington said.

On Nov. 22, Harris went to the Long Beach hotel where the DeLeons

had been living and was paid several thousand dollars to backdate

several documents, including a bill of sale and power of attorney, to

Nov. 15, Byington testified.

Henderson-Deleon provided Byington with the documents during a

Nov. 29 interview, Byington said. Harris did not know why she was

asked to notarize the documents.

In December, police arrested DeLeon, who had told detectives he

paid $400,000 for Well Deserved. Police later said such a transaction

never took place, and power of attorney documents he had from the

Hawkses were signed under duress.

Gardner, Kennedy and Machain were later arrested. Police arrested

DeLeon’s wife in April.

In court Friday, Henderson-DeLeon, dressed in a dark suit with a

pink shirt, looked up and smiled when her husband was led into the

courtroom.

The couple’s two young children are being raised by

Henderson-DeLeon’s parents and are doing well, said

Henderson-DeLeon’s attorney Michael Molfetta.

Family members of Tom and Jackie Hawks were present at Friday’s

hearing, including Ryan Hawks, Tom Hawks’ son from a former marriage.

The detective’s testimony came as no surprise to Ryan Hawks, who

said outside court that he suspected his parents were dead shortly

after the missing-persons report was filed.

“I knew that boat made it in there [Newport Harbor] without them,”

Hawks said.

Jim Hawks, Tom Hawks’ brother and former Carlsbad chief of police,

filed the missing-persons report Nov. 26.

“My uncle was very suspicious right away,” Ryan Hawks said.

In July, Ryan Hawks held a memorial for the missing couple, in

honor of what would have been their 16th wedding anniversary.

“I don’t know how anyone could prepare for something like this,”

Ryan Hawks said.

Ryan Hawks, who had never met the DeLeons, said he does not know

how they gained his parent’s trust. They welcomed them into their

home and things took a wrong turn, Ryan Hawks said.

“They took advantage of my parents,” he said.

* LAUREN VANE covers public safety and courts. She may be reached

at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at [email protected].