Murder of Thomas and Jackie Hawks

Deleon's gender was officially changed to female in 2019 while awaiting execution on death row.

In April 2009, Skylar Julius Deleon and Jennifer Henderson were convicted of charges relating to their murders. Deleon was sentenced to death while Henderson was sentenced to two terms of life in prison without parole. Two other people, John Fitzgerald Kennedy and Alonso Machain, were convicted separately of the killings. Kennedy was sentenced to death, and Machain accepted a plea bargain after testifying for the prosecution in the trials of Deleon, Henderson, and Kennedy. He was sentenced to 20 years and four months in prison.

On February 19, 2009, John Fitzgerald Kennedy was found guilty on two counts of first degree murder after fewer than three hours of jury deliberation. He was sentenced to death on May 1, 2009. Like Deleon, Kennedy is on death row at San Quentin State Prison.

Alonso Machain, after testifying against Deleon, Henderson, and Kennedy, pleaded guilty to two counts each of voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, and robbery. On June 15, 2009, he was sentenced to 20 years and 4 months. He was first eligible for parole in September 2021. He is currently serving his sentence at Valley State Prison in Chowchilla, California.

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.

While awaiting trial in jail, Skylar Deleon was charged with soliciting another inmate to murder her cousin and father. Deleon was also accused of killing John Jarvi, a resident of Anaheim, California, who was found dead in Mexico in 2003. Deleon's father and cousin (who was charged as an accessory to the Jarvi murder) are considered "important witnesses" in both murder cases. On March 13, 2008, Deleon, who had been born male, partially severed her penis with a razor blade while being held in jail. After receiving medical attention, she was returned to jail the following day. In an interview with ABC's 20/20, Deleon indicated that she attempted to cut off her penis because she wanted to be a woman. Defense lawyers claimed that Deleon's need for money to finance sex reassignment surgery was the motivation for the Hawks' murders. In 2019, Deleon's gender was legally changed to female and Deleon's name is now Skylar Preciosa Deleon.

On September 22, 2008, jury selection began in the case against Deleon. In a consolidated case, Deleon was jointly tried for the murders of Thomas and Jackie Hawks and John Jarvi. Despite Deleon's earlier protestations of innocence, once the trial began, Deleon's attorney conceded that Deleon had indeed committed all three murders. The attorney said she 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 rendered a death verdict. 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 families of the victims could attend. On April 10, 2009, Deleon was sentenced to death by Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank Fasel. She is on death row at San Quentin State Prison.

Deleon's then-wife, Jennifer (née Henderson), was found guilty on two counts of first-degree murder on November 17, 2006, after four hours of jury deliberation. In October 2007, Henderson was sentenced to two life terms without parole. She is currently housed at Central California Women's Facility in Chowchilla, California.

In March 2005, after initially fleeing to Mexico and 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 innocence, claiming they were not present at the time and speculated that the Hawkses were killed over a bad drug deal.

Thomas and Jackie Hawks were a couple from Prescott, Arizona, United States, who were murdered in 2004.

Thomas Hawks was a retired probation officer and bodybuilder. He and his second wife Jackie owned a 55-foot yacht, the Well Deserved, which they treated as their permanent home and on which they sailed for two years around the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California. In 2004, they decided to sell their yacht and set up a home in Newport Harbor to be closer to their grandchild. Jackie (née O'Neill) Hawks had helped raise Tom's sons from his first marriage since adolescence. When the wife of Hawks' older son was expecting their first child, Jackie treated the news as if it would be her natural grandchild.

Their advertisement for the yacht sale was answered in November by Skylar Deleon. The couple was initially cautious of Deleon, but they became more receptive when Deleon's then-pregnant wife Jennifer and their other child came to the meeting. The Hawks were last seen alive on the morning of November 15, 2004, heading out of the harbor. The yacht returned, but they did not. Neither body has ever been recovered.

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

On November 29, the police interviewed Skylar Deleon. She told them that she bought the boat from the Hawkses and showed them proof-of-purchase documents. She told police that the Hawkses left in their car with their money and named Alonso Machain as a witness to the purchase. Deleon claimed to have purchased the boat with the intent of laundering money related to an armed burglary in 2002 for which she had been convicted.