Dark Voyage | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] All of our family memories are pretty much on the water. How's it going, Ryan?
You having any fun? Yeah, great time. The happier times were definitely when a boat was involved.
This is Captain Tom Hawk. Tom Hawk was a was a good guy. He surfed. He scuba drove. He was kind of a guy's guy. When
my father would introduce my brother and I, it would be, "This isn't my son. This
is my pride and joy." He always had that great laugh. He loved to joke around. It took him
like 45 minutes for 57 years old, but he was still he was still like 12 at heart. I'm going to
go play some more. Jackie. Hello. Hi, honey. I'm so glad to be home. I couldn't picture with my
father, anyone else, or Jackie with anyone else. Jackie's coming today. Got the boat all cleaned up. They're good,
loyal friends, and they loved each other. You could look up Love in the Dictionary and you'd see these two
people there. Tom Hawk, his dream was always to sail off into the sunset. And he bought
this boat. The welldeserved. [Music] It was welld deserved. They worked very hard for that. This is the beach that we
collect our puka shells on. Tom and Jackie had so much fun on the boat. I'm jealous of the what they were able to do
with that thing. They got to swim with dolphins, whales. I almost got you. Pull into Ports of
Call, go to little bars where mariachi bands are playing. They truly have the dream
life. A massive search is underway for an Arizona couple last seen here in Newport Beach. It started out as a
missing person's case. This needed to be solved. My father's friend called me and
he's like, "Your dad's phone went to voicemail. It's really strange." My dad's the kind of guy you can set a
watch by. I called my brother and I'm like, "What do you think's going on, Matt?" I
was trying to think of what had happened and my mind bounced back to the Skyler guy.
Calling Skyler Deion a sociopath is probably an insult to sociopaths. We wanted that all American little thing,
you know, the house and all that kind of stuff. Jennifer Deleó is manipulative. She's bossy. The the two of them meeting
were like fire meeting gasoline. It's almost hard to tell the truth sometimes. After I look back and what he was able
to do, he scares the hell out of me. I still wake up. I have nightmares. And you didn't think anything like this
could ever happen to him. You can't make a Hollywood movie this horrific. Dark Voyage. Tonight's 48 hours mystery.
[Music] It sits. Cold as a tombstone, like bleached bones giving silent testimony to a crime that defies
humanity. This is probably the 30th time I've been on the vessel and and I don't like it.
Newport Beach detective Dave Mington doesn't rattle easily. I get the heebie-jebies on this boat. I just I
don't feel comfortable on it. You start to think about imagine only try to imagine what they experience and
it's too horrific. It is the boat's underway. It's night time. It's cold. They don't know what's
happening. The only thing that outweighs the horror of what happened that night is the power
of Tom and Jackie Hawk's [Music] love. It is a fairy tale romance that started hundreds of miles away from any
ocean in the mountains of Prescott, Arizona, where Tom was raising two sons alone. He was a man's man. He was uh,
you know, very masculine, very outdoors. Tom's boys, Ryan and Matt. Big on the chores. We did a lot of chores. And he
just wanted us to appreciate what we had in life. Sons from a first marriage that ended in
an amicable divorce. He would uh take us to Catalina Island, do a lot of hiking. Some of my
better times with him were on the water. Was it a good life? Oh, it's absolute great life. It was a life where
toughness was taught early on. You know, stay strong. I remember if I wrecked or
cried as a little kid, he'd be like, "Tough, boy. Toughen up. Come on. Come on. Above all else, this man played by
the rules. I think Tom really enjoyed working with people." Tom worked with the probation office of Yavapai
County, helping those in trouble find a second chance. Tom was a kind of probation officer take a real interest
in the problems that his probationers were having. John Ryder, Brian Gray, and Bill Pyo were Tom's co-workers and knew
what kind of a man he was. Tom was a was a quality guy. I believe Tom's family life, like most of us, was real
important to him. But something major was missing. Then the tough single father had his heart
melted by one Jackie [Music] O'Neal. She met Tom at a chili cookoff. Um I believe it was in July of 86.
Patricia Shoots and Jackie O'Neal were best friends. He would walk on water for her and she
would do the same for him. It was clear where things were heading. He got like down on his hands and knees and he asked
her to marry him. She was very excited and she was very happy. And soon so were Ryan and Matt
because there was a downside to life alone with father. And I remember he calls it his famous goolog and he would
make a pot of it for like a week and uh every time we'd come over dinner be like
h really this again. Thankfully, things changed once Tom and Jackie wed. Oh, dinner's got a lot better.
Both Matt and Ryan were still in elementary school. Did you think of Jackie as your mom also? Oh, absolutely.
We called her mom uh growing up. She was the best mother any boys could ever have.
Jackie, she's a real trooper. Most of the time when they do something, it's it's my father's idea. And Jackie never
complains and she just goes with it. So it came as no surprise when Tom sold their house and Jackie said yes to a
dream her husband had been nurturing for years. Tom's goals in life was to retire and
and live on the sea and own a yacht. He said life's too short and it's my life and uh and this is our time and I feel
if I hesitate it'll just go by and I'll miss it. It was here in Newport Beach, California, that Tom and Jackie Hawks
came to find paradise. Their dream was rooted in two simple things, being together and being on a boat. Few people
had lived better lives, so it seemed almost like fate when the couple bought a 55- ft yacht that was already named
the welldeserved. [Music] This is Captain Tom Hawk and welldeserved. For Tom and Jackie, a
dream had come true. [Music] Life was an endless cruise. We're heading out for these islands over here.
Hi. Filled with good times and best friends. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody. Happy Thanksgiving.
Did you have a chance to spend time with him on the boat? Yes. It was the most awesome journey in my life.
[Music] Here goes Tom trying to swim with us. From Catalina Island to Mexico's Sea of
Cortez, this is what cruising is all about. Oh yeah. I'd be sitting at work and I'd be
getting an email like, "The water's 80°, the surf's pumping, and uh mom's making
me go catch dinner." And I'm like, "Life's tough. And there's the sun going down.
It's hard to explain what the feeling is out here. Being on water for them was a
solitude. It was seeing the curve of the earth and seeing the sunset fall right behind it every
night. While the Hawks were living life on the sea, something wonderful was happening in the mountains of Prescott,
Arizona. something that would alter their lives forever. Say hi, Grandma. Matt and his wife
Nicole welcomed baby Jace. Oh, they were just very excited. Jackie was already buying baby
clothes. Oh, he is looking at you, Grandpa. I've never seen such a big nose. After 3 years at sea, Tom and Jackie
decided being grandparents was worth more than all the sunsets across the Pacific. They wanted to come back and be
part of our lives cuz they believed very strongly in family. They put a small ad in a boating
magazine. The welldeserved was on the market. All they needed now was an honest buyer.
Tom and Jackie Hawks put their boat up for sale and I went to buy it. Skyler Deleó file under loser.
Growing up, I've never really felt like loved. If the Hawks are all about family, Skyler, the man who answered the
ad for the well-deserved, is all about the lack of it. Was it a happy childhood? No, my childhood, I hated
him. I guess the the environment, my dad. Tell me a little bit about your dad. I hated him.
He was into manufacturing drugs and I guess distributing and selling them. Big- time drug dealer, I would say. So
despite those odds, Skyler did try to make something of himself as an actor. He even made it on to a TV show, The
Power Rangers. He would tell people he was a major member of the show's cast. And that was a lie. Yes. In fact, you
were just an extra on the show. It was a guest something. How many times? Uh, three times.
Then eager to get away from an abusive home, Skyler joined the Marines. I ended up going to UA. Were you awol? Yes, I
was. Skyler was fast drifting nowhere. I don't think I had a life plan. And then Skyler Deleó met a small town
girl with big ideas. How did you guys meet? From a random email. Jennifer Henderson grew up in
Long Beach, California in a devoutly religious home. She'd finished high school and ended up working in a hair
salon. After they chatted for a few weeks online, she and Skyler agreed to meet at the mall. She wasn't really
doing a whole lot with her life until she met Skyler. Orange County prosecutor Matt Murphy now knows everything about
these two aimless young adults and their twisted relationship. He was basically a
manipulator and somebody who's a complete con man and she was a spoiled brat basically. So the two of them
getting together um was the perfect combination. I think she's definitely more dominant.
They'd marry and soon Haley was born. Pressure mounted for Skyler to support his new family and prove his worth to
Jennifer. I definitely loved her. I mean, to the point there's I mean, nothing I wouldn't do
for her. But Skyler couldn't hold a job. Couldn't find a way to move his young family out of his in-laws garage
apartment. He grew desperate. Other than going awall with the military, had you ever committed a crime before all of
this started to happen? Not until I met Jyn. Skyler's new ambition led him to a new line of work.
Burglary. But he was arrested and ended up here, California's Seal Beach City Jail, leaving Jennifer to care for their
baby. There were $87,000 in debt. Skylar had no job. She was pregnant again. Was she happy? No.
Tired of the bills? Tired of the bills. tired of living at her parents. Living at the parents. She's like, you know,
well, we got to do something. It was that pressure that led Skyler to Tom and Jackie
Hawks where he used the one deadly skill he really had. How do you rate Skyler as a con artist
as far as his effect on on other people? I've never seen anything like Skyler. [Music]
This is all that is left of Tom and Jackie's dream. The welldeserved is now in dry dock in a Southern California
lot. Even those who chase horror for a living are haunted by the depravity of what happened here.
It drives me nuts. It hits me so angry and you start thinking about it. It's one of those things you need to get
out of your mind cuz it's that terrible. It all began with that simple ad in a boating magazine. The ad that Tom had
placed so he and Jackie could spend more time with their family. I called and I talked to him. Were you planning on
buying the boat? Well, we didn't really have the money. So then what was your thought?
I guess our our thought at that point was to I guess rip rip them off. But Skyler knew he would need help.
That's when he enlisted this man, Alonso Machain, a young prison guard he had met
when locked up on that burglary charge. Alonzo is unsophisticated. He hasn't been a lot of places. He hasn't done a
lot of things. So he was ripe, I think, for Skyler to enlist as a Confederate in
this whole thing. On November 6th, 2004, Skyler and Alonzo went down to the waterfront to meet Tom
and Jackie. Tom, smart and savvy, didn't like what he saw. Thomas Hawks had been
a probation officer for 20 years, and Thomas Hawk was kind of leery. Tom Hawks was asking
$435,000 for the welldeserved. Skyler just didn't look like the kind of guy with that kind of cash. When Jackie
started proudly boasting about her new grandchild, say hi, Grandma. Skyler saw his opening. There's grandpa family
holding his grand. The first thing Skylar did when they got off the boat is he picked up his phone and he called
Jennifer up in Long Beach and he said, "You got to come down here and bring Haley and put these people at ease."
So Jennifer came down that same day and used the kids, right? I can't think of anything more horrific
than a mother using her child. It's it's I don't know. But the Hawks fell for it,
convinced they had a real buyer. They couldn't imagine the trap that was being set.
No one could. The disgraced Marine sized up the lifelong public servant. Physically. Physically. Mentally. Yes.
To see if you could overtake them. Yes. And what did you think when you saw Tom?
That he's pretty big. The gang of two needed a tough guy. Skyler had recruited a gang member from
Long Beach named John Fitzro Kennedy. He's with a gang called Insane Crips. It gives a sick new meaning to ironic.
Arrested more than 20 times, John Fitzgerald Kennedy joined the plot. Skyler set a date to test drive
the boat while Jennifer sat home, her child having served her purpose. She's up to her eyeballs in the whole thing.
It was November 15th. Alonzo came along and JFK even wore a suit. Skyler told Tom and Jackie Kennedy
was his [Music] accountant. The welldeserved headed out to sea. You were able to fool him?
I think so. You're that good of a liar? I I hate to say yeah, but I think so. [Music]
Good and evil were about to intersect in the waters off Newport Beach. Tom and Jackie Hawks guided the
well-deserved from the shelter of the harbor. But as light danced across the waves,
darkness was set to descend. Brought on by the very passengers they had invited on board. Alonso Machain, John Kennedy,
and their hapless leader, Skyler Deleó. I don't think anything was even 100% serious until it was too late. And when
was that? On the boat. That is one of Skyler's lies. The truth is everything was deadly
serious and meticulously plotted weeks before when Skyler and Jennifer used their very own baby to con Tom Hawks
into believing they were honest buyers. He's capable of making decisions, planning things out over a period of
time. Detective Sergeant Dave Bington and Sergeant Evan Sailor would come to know everything about Skyler's plans,
right down to the tasers and handcuffs he brought on board. It gives a whole new meaning to the concept of
premeditated. Does it not? Beyond anything I could imagine. That is because stealing the 55- ft yacht was
only the start of the plan. They they didn't want to get a job. They wanted to take other people's money.
Because of the work led by Bington and Sailor, the welldeserved would become evidence. Incredible detective work by
the two cops would eventually reveal every horrifying moment of that day at sea. This was really their home. Yes, it
was. They lived here. This is pretty much as if they left for a short trip and then came back. Everything is intact
the way it was when they lived on it. This is the main stateateroom where the bed and this where Thomas and Jackie
slept. The boat was now anchored well outside Newport Beach Harbor. Skyler Deleó went
below. Moments later, John Kennedy, the hulking gangbanger who was pretending to
be Skyler's accountant, also came down, feigning seasickness. Eventually, Thomas Hawk goes down to
investigate because they're not returning. Jackie remained on deck with the jittery Alonso Machain. Jackie first
hears a commotion down in the state room. And at this point, she sees Thomas Hawk uh being choked by John Fil Kennedy
and being struck by Skyler Deleó. And then what does Alonzo do to her up here? Alonzo now knows that he has to take do
his part and he starts to overpower uh Jackie first by applying the taser. He actually overpowers this poor woman,
puts handcuffs on her. Skyler and John Fiser Kennedy end up overpowering Thomas Hawks. They handcuff him and eventually
both Jackie Hawks is brought downstairs with Thomas Hawks and they're laid on their bedroom bound. Now Tom and Jackie
Hawks would be gagged. Skyler tells the monster to go get some duct tape. Skyler
instructs him to duct tape over their mouth and their eyes, and he proceeds to do so. Tom and Jackie huddled together
on their bed. These are the details their sons Ryan and Matt would come to know. Agonizing flashbacks that will
never fade. She couldn't stop crying. She was yelling at Skyler saying, "You this, you that. You took
your baby daughter and your and your wife on your on her boat. How could you?" She was begging for her life,
wanting to see her grandchild again. I mean, she was only 47 years old. And um I think the only thing my father
could move was his hands and he just calmly stroked Jackie's hands to give her some level of comfort. That's the
last moment they That's the last gentle moment they had between the two of them.
And I never thought of that. You're absolutely right. That is and everything else is just pure horror.
Finally, the depth of the depravity of Skyler's plan was about to be revealed. He produced this set of phony documents
and handed the Hawks a pen. What was the paperwork that you wanted them to sign?
It was the documentation of the vessel and the power of attorney. Power of attorney for all of their bank accounts.
Yes. It's all laid out here. Papers are laid out. Um they buck with them an ink pad. Jackie's obviously still crying.
She can't help herself and it's understandable. They remove uh one handcuff and they remove a little bit of
the tape so that she can see out, instruct her to sign her name, roll her fingerprints. They then Skyler starts
asking her um various questions about her uh her accounts, account numbers, where the banks are.
Now it was Tom's turn to sign away the honest life he had worked so hard for to a man who had hardly worked an honest
day in his life. if there was a chance of living, I think he was willing to just stay calm and uh follow their
commands. And he proceeds to sign all the paperwork, roll his fingerprints, and gives him the account information
that he's requesting. The phony papers signed the welldeserved powered further out to sea. Scatter came
up and punched in coordinates which sent him out to Santa Catalina and he knew exactly where he was going. Absolutely.
Out towards the deep waters off Catalina Island where Tom and Jackie had so many
good times. Hi, Jackie. And were only days before they had enjoyed a final cruise with friends on the welldeserved.
And these people were living a dream and Skyler just took it. Handcuffed, gagged, and now tied to one
another with nautical ropes. Tom and Jackie were dragged up on deck. That is when they heard the sound. He hears that
chain coming. There's no doubt because when Skyler gets behind him and starts to and actually hooks the anchor to the
rope. So now this anchor's now attached to these two poor people. This big heavy
anchor. It's massive. Was the anchor used? Yeah, it was used. He heard that sound a hundred times and he's like,
"Son of a they're not going to let us go." He knew his destiny and I believe that's why he fought back one
last time. and he basically does a reverse mule kick with his leg and kicks Skyler. He kicks him so severely that
Skyler is lifted up off of his feet and lands on his backside. John Fitzgerald Kennedy is where you're at. Uh he sees
this and JFK is a big man and he let levels him, hits him, it knocks Thomas Hawks out cuz the punch is so severe and
so violent. With the anchor chain tied around the couple, Skyler threw the anchor overboard. The chain fed out into
the sea, yanking Tom and Jackie into the icy waters. So that's where they are right now.
They're 3600 ft below the cold Pacific Ocean tied to an anchor. Have you cried? Absolutely. By myself? Just alone? Yes.
But I I don't cry in front of people. The deed now done. The welldeserved headed back to Newport Beach. Skyler
Delejon called his wife Jennifer on his cell phone. You called her after they were dead. Yes. Do you remember what she
said? I remember her asking if I was sure. And what did you tell her? I was like, I'm
sure. Skyler had a motto. Can you tell me what that was? No body, no crime. No body, no
crime. And he thought he was going to get away with it because there were no bodies.
Yes. Hi everybody. Hi Jackie. I'm so glad you could join us on our last voyage on
welldeserved. Friends and family believed Tom and Jackie had just sold the well-deserved
and were headed home to Prescott to see their new grandson. Matt and Ryan couldn't wait. I called my dad's first,
went straight to voicemail. Then I called Jackie and it went straight to voicemail and he never shut off their
phone. What was going through your head at that point? I was thinking I'm like maybe they take a last minute cruise and
um I talked to my uncle Jim um which is he's a retired chief police for Carl'sb.
Jim Hawks is Tom's big brother. They had spoken just a few days earlier about Skyler and Jennifer buying the boat. It
It was very brief, you know, just, hey, ugly. It was We called each other that uh and uh if you need help when you get
ready to move, just let us know. But it had been about a week since that final conversation. Jim decided to take a look
at his brother's boat, which was tied up back in Newport Beach. We circled uh the
boat on its mooring and noticed things out of out of place. Then Jim and a friend boarded the
welldeserved. I said, "Just be careful. Don't touch any, you know, smooth surface that let's
treat this like it could be a crime scene." And uh I called my brother and uh he
finally said it out loud. I'm like, "What do you think's going on, Matt?" He's like, "They're dead. I think
they're dead." 11 days after Tom and Jackie last port, Jim Hawks filed a missing person's
report. That's when Bington and Sailor drew the case of a lifetime. At what point then did you first hear the names
Skyler and Jennifer Deleó? Actually, the Deleó were both listed in the initial missing person report.
Within days, Skyler agreed to be interviewed. Were you looking to buy a boat? I'm pretty much always looking
yesterday. Cool, calm, and collected. The con man spun his tail. Is exactly, you know, what I want. This is perfect.
Sure. Skyler told the cops, he just bought the welldeserved. We spent like 485 on it. But he'd never taken it out
of the harbor. Skyler said he had paid Tom Hawks in cash and that Tom and Jackie had said
something about heading down to Mexico. As far as we know, he's in San Carlos right now.
When asked where he got over $400,000 in cash, Skyler came up with a doozy, saying the cash was profit from a drug
deal. $60,000 here or $90,000 there. Right. talking about this money that he had to launder. He was very at ease
telling us this stuff. It threw detectives off. Skyler confessing to a crime. Plus, he had all the paperwork to
prove the boat was legally his. All those documents he had forced Tom and Jackie to sign. Skyler, you got nothing
to do with his disappearance, right? No. And your wife doesn't either. No. Police
also spoke to Jennifer and for the most part, the cops bought the couple's story. Thanks very much. just like the
Hawks had. I I was convinced that they were telling the truth, but their story began to fall
apart when the Daily Owns went to Tom and Jackie's bank with that phony power of attorney document. They tried to make
a withdrawal. We've got surveillance videos of her smiling ear to ear, you know, trying to
basically steal these people's money. And then police got a tip from Skyler's parole officer, learning he had asked
permission to leave the country. Our concern was that he's now a flight risk. That's when Skyler Deleó was arrested,
but not for murder. He just kept on asking me, "What am I being charged with?" Once I told him it was
moneyaundering, I could see that kind of like that sigh of relief. That feeling wouldn't last long.
As police moved in, searching the cramped garage apartment Skyler and Jennifer had so desperately wanted to
leave behind. And we found the their video camera, the Hawk's video camera. Yes. Uh we found Jackie's laptop
computer and then the uh batteries to Thomas and Jackie Sprint Nextell phones. On December 16th, we get a call
from San Miguel Village, Mexico, saying that the Hawk's vehicle is there. And then we come to find out the vehicle
had been dropped off by Skyler about a week earlier. Follow him in another car with his wife Jennifer.
It was time to talk with the district attorney. We hit it out of the ballpark getting Matt Murphy as our DA.
Matt Murphy with his love of surfing and his passion for justice quickly grasped the enormity of what had
happened. Thomas and Jackie Hawks were not only really good people, they were totally innocent.
Prosecutor Matt Murphy had a problem. He had never dealt with a crime scene like
this before, and he knew very little about boats, but he knew someone who did. I'm not a 9to-5 guy. Salty Sam, aka Gary
Burns, a friend of Murphy's 6,000 miles away in Darwin, Australia. He's a character. He's lived on boats for
pretty much his whole life. Matt called Gary and described the shadowy outlines of the case.
[Music] I called Matt back and said, "A boat that size will probably have for sure
two anchors. Get your guys to go on board the boat. Count the anchors are on there."
Sure enough, just like Gary said, there was an anchor that should have been on the boat that wasn't.
Now, investigators had their theory. What they needed was an eyewitness, and Skyler provided one. His name is Alonzo
Machine. Alonso Machain. Skyler told police Alonso had been with him when he bought the boat and could back up his
story. But Skyler bet wrong on Alonzo. He is the only one in this investigation that that actually had a conscience. And
it was that guilty conscience eaten at him. After briefly fleeing to Mexico, Alonso
returned to Newport Beach and made a full confession about his involvement. I was able to uh cuff Mrs. Hawk. She
didn't even know what's going on and every horrific detail of the murders. Skyler was looking for Anchor to push
them over. What was Skyler acted? This is while they were being bound and tossed
overboard. was called like the most normal thing. Machain also told police about the
muscle for the murder. Gang member John Fitzgerald Kennedy. March 2005, Alonso, JFK, and mastermind Skyler Deleó are all
charged with the murders of Tom and Jackie Hawks. Jennifer Deleó told a local news crew
Skyler was innocent. Would your husband want to kill someone for their money? No, this is not him.
But Murphy and company weren't done yet. They had the alleged killers who had been on the
boat. Now it was time to focus on the one who dialed into the murder on a cell phone. They tie him up. He called
Jennifer. the time they were killed. He made a call to Jennifer. When they returning
back after throwing these four people off a boat, he made a call to Jennifer. What if they try and point the finger at
you and say you were involved? You have to be positive and hope that that wouldn't come to that and it
wouldn't take you away from your kids. 23-year-old Jennifer Deleó is now facing the same fate as her husband.
A month after her husband, Jennifer Deleó was also charged with firstdegree murder.
Thomas and Jackie Hawks were thrown overboard alive and begging for their lives. Matt Murphy was determined to get
justice for Tom and Jackie Hawks. is as ruthless and as dark and as cold-blooded
as any murder capable of being committed by another human being. This very well thoughtout
diabolical plot to do this. They thought they were going to get away with it because the bodies have
never and will never be recovered. The three defendants were charged with two counts of murder each. Prosecutor
Matt Murphy was working overtime preparing to bring Skyler DeLeon and his crew to justice. 23-year-old Jennifer
Deleó is now potentially facing the same fate as her husband. With Skyler his prime target, Murphy approached his wife
Jennifer with a deal. We offered her immunity. You basically gave her a full ride without any trouble. We offered her
a complete walk initially in the investigation and she said no. And she said no. Jennifer refused to testify
against her husband, but Skyler was willing to tell us about Jennifer. Whose idea was it to kill them? Yours or hers?
She threw it out there of what if they're not here? And you agreed. And I agreed. A young mother could spend the
rest of her life in prison. First to stand trial, Jennifer Deleó in less than four hours. And on November 17th,
2006, Jennifer is found guilty of first-degree murder and is sentenced to two life terms in a California
prison. Skyler would be tried next. What are your thoughts on him testifying? Not a chance.
That from Skyler's own attorney, Gary Pollson. And why is that? Because he's told so many lies. And it turns out Tom
and Jackie may not be Skyler's only victims. Who's JP Jarvy? John Jary. And who is he? Uh, he was a person that I
was at Seal Beach jail with. Did you kill him? That's Gary Pollson wouldn't let Skyler tell us
about this man, John Jary. Skyler targeted Jary a year before he met Tom and Jackie.
He conned John Jary into taking out $50,000 on his condo, told some sort of story that John Jary bought into and
convinced John Jary to accompany him down into Mexico. and he let him off down into a ravine and there Skyler
Deleó cut his throat. Skyler is charged with John Jaryy's murder, leaving no question that the con
man is also a coldblooded killer. Did you kill Tom and Jackie Hawks? Per I guess according to law and stuff
like that, yes. The answer is yes. Yes. The three killings are merged into one trial. I expect a pretty quick
verdict. And it didn't take long. And it's guilty, guilty, guilty. Skyler is convicted of the murders of
Tom and Jackie Hawks and John Jary. Other than his father. Now Gary Pollson was only fighting for one thing. Keeping
Skyler off death row. That's all I'm going for. But those who treasure the memory of Tom and Jackie had very
different ideas. Death. I'm hoping for the death penalty. If anybody deserves a death penalty, it's Skylar Deleó. Are
you afraid to die? No. Skyler's life hung in the balance. Yet, he was still blaming everyone but
himself. The feeling I'm getting from you is that you're this weasly little guy is trying to make his wife happy.
You concoct this big scheme and then you lost control of it. Yeah, kind of. That's the part that people will hold
you responsible for. Mhm. And the people did. On April 10th, 2009, Skyler Deleó is sentenced to death.
It wasn't a good feeling or exciting. It was sad because uh it was all over. My parents are still missing
and uh I'll never get a chance to bury him. Never get a chance to say goodbye and that bothers
me. In death, as in life, Tom and Jackie Hawks touched everyone they ever met. Ever since this thing started, every day
I look at the ocean and I say hi to Tom and Jackie. Every day I make a point of saying hello to them both. Do you think
you always will? Probably. Yeah. [Music] [Music] He la. [Music]

Good and evil intersect in the waters off Newport Beach, Calif. "48 Hours" correspondent Maureen Maher reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

Tom and Jackie Hawks were murdered by Skyler Deleó during a yacht sale gone wrong, leaving their family devastated.

Key points

The Horrific Turn of Events. What began as a simple ad for a boat turned into a nightmare for Tom and Jackie.
The Dream Life of Tom and Jackie Hawk. Tom and Jackie lived a fairy tale romance on their boat, the welldeserved, until tragedy struck.
Skyler Deleó's Dark Ambition. Skyler's desperate need for money leads him down a dark path, impacting the Hawks' lives forever.
Skyler's Dark Motto. Skyler believed he could evade justice with his motto: 'No body, no crime.'
Chilling Realization. Jim Hawks comes to a horrifying conclusion about his missing brother and sister-in-law.
Skyler's Confession. Skyler admits to his involvement in the murders, revealing his cold demeanor.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

You can't make a Hollywood movie this horrific.

Reflecting on the unimaginable events that unfolded

2:47WatchJun 24, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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