Woman guilty of double murder

SANTA ANA — Jennifer Henderson-Deleon, who was mostly stoic throughout her trial, cried Friday afternoon when jurors found her guilty in the 2004 killing of Tom and Jackie Hawks.

The jury took about 3 1/2 hours to find Henderson-Deleon, 25, guilty on two counts of first- degree murder with special circumstances that the double murder was committed for financial gain. The maximum sentence Henderson-Deleon can receive is life in prison without possibility of parole. Her sentencing is scheduled for February.

She was accused of helping her husband, Skylar Deleon, and two other men, Alonso Machain and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, kill the Hawkses in order to steal the couple’s money.

As Henderson-Deleon cried, her mother, Lana Henderson, was visibly shaken. Henderson declined to comment as she left the courtroom.

“Obviously they’re devastated and they’re upset,” defense attorney Michael Molfetta told reporters at the Orange County Courthouse.

The Hawks family, Newport Beach detectives and prosecutor Matt Murphy were pleased with the verdict.

“Justice has been served today,” Newport Beach Police Sgt. Evan Sailor said. “The system worked today.”

Tom and Jackie Hawks were killed aboard their boat, Well Deserved. Machain testified that he, Deleon and Kennedy overpowered the couple, duct-taped their eyes and mouths, tied them to an anchor and threw them overboard after forcing them to sign a power-of-attorney document over to Deleon.

Prosecutors argued that Henderson-Deleon put the couple at ease about a week before they were killed by bringing her 9-month-old daughter aboard the boat. Machain testified that before Jackie Hawks was killed, while pleading for her life, she asked Deleon how he could kill them after bringing his then-pregnant wife and baby aboard the boat.

Testimony by Henderson-Deleon’s father and another friend showed she was not the demure, Godly woman the defense portrayed her as, prosecutors said.

Molfetta never thought a jury would acquit Henderson-Deleon because of the volume of evidence Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy presented against her, he said, adding he had been hoping for a mistrial. That’s one reason why Henderson-Deleon did not take the stand.

“There were a lot of things [Murphy] did not present that I knew he was holding back in anticipation of her testifying,” Molfetta said.

He said he could not elaborate because of the pending trials of Deleon, Machain and Kennedy.

Prosecutors are seeking life in prison for Henderson-Deleon, who has filed for divorce from her husband, something Molfetta said came “three years too late.”

Henderson-Deleon’s conviction brought much-needed solace to the Hawks family.

“It was a sigh of relief, and it was just one small step,” said Ryan Hawks, son of Tom Hawks, about when he heard the verdict read. He said the battle was still ahead for his family as they brace for the 2007 trials of Deleon, Machain and Kennedy.

“Our family, we really lost in this…. We lost two of the greatest people we love and respect the most, and that’s Tom and Jackie Hawks,” he said.

Although he said he feels for Henderson-Deleon’s family, this conviction won’t bring his father and stepmother back to his.

“They’ll still get a chance to see her,” Ryan Hawks said.

Ryan Hawks thanked the Newport Beach Police Department and Murphy. Ryan Hawks and Murphy also thanked the jurors.

“Our family owes them a debt of gratitude,” Ryan Hawks said.

Murphy commended Molfetta, calling him the “best defense lawyer” he has opposed but said the jury made the right decision.

This Thanksgiving holiday, Ryan Hawks said he’ll be together with his family, thinking of his parents and something his father used to always tell him. “The only thing to look forward to is the future,” he said.