What Happened to Thomas and Jackie Hawks? Inside the Chilling Yacht Murder Case

An Arizona couple hoping to sell their yacht and settle down near family were instead murdered in a chilling plot driven by financial gain.

Thomas Hawks, a retired probation officer and bodybuilder, and his wife Jackie Hawks spent two years sailing across the Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of California aboard their 55-foot yacht, Well Deserved.

In 2004, the couple planned to sell the yacht and move into a home in Newport Harbor, California, to help Thomas’ son from his first marriage and his pregnant wife prepare for the arrival of their child. Friends and family said Jackie treated Thomas’ children as her own and was excited to become a grandmother.

But after meeting prospective buyers Skylar Preciosa Deleon — born Julius Jacobson Jr. — and Jennifer Lynn Henderson in November 2004, the Hawks vanished. The couple was last seen on November 15, and their bodies have never been recovered.

Authorities grew suspicious after someone attempted to access the Hawks’ bank account from Mexico.

During an interview on November 29, 2024, with investigators, Deleon claimed to have legitimately purchased the yacht from the couple and produced documents allegedly showing proof of sale. Deleon also said Alonso Machain had witnessed the transaction.

However, the investigation took a major turn in March 2005 when Machain, after fleeing to Mexico and later returning, confessed to the crime. He was arrested alongside Deleon and Henderson in connection with the couple’s disappearance.

Deleon initially denied involvement, claiming not to have been present during the killings and suggesting the Hawks may have been murdered during a drug-related dispute.

According to prosecutors, the murders occurred during a sea trial aboard the yacht in Newport Harbor shortly after the suspects met the Hawks.

Authorities said Deleon, along with accomplices Alonso Machain and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, bound and gagged Thomas and Jackie Hawks before throwing them overboard while they were tied to the yacht’s anchor. Prosecutors alleged Deleon orchestrated the killings to steal the couple’s money and property.

Henderson was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder on November 17, 2006, following about four hours of jury deliberation. In October 2007, she was sentenced to two consecutive life terms without the possibility of parole. She is currently incarcerated at Central California Women's Facility.

While awaiting trial, Deleon was additionally charged with soliciting another inmate to murder Deleon’s father and cousin, both of whom were considered important witnesses in the case. Deleon was also accused of the 2003 killing of Anaheim resident John Jarvi, whose body was discovered in Mexico.

Defense attorneys argued that financial pressures tied to Deleon’s planned s-- reassignment surgery motivated the crimes.

Deleon was later convicted of three counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances, including financial gain and multiple victims. On November 6, 2008, a jury recommended the death penalty, and on April 10, 2009, an Orange County judge formally sentenced Deleon to death.

John Fitzgerald Kennedy was convicted on two counts of first-degree murder in February 2009 after less than three hours of jury deliberation. He was sentenced to death on May 1, 2009.

Machain, who testified against Deleon, Henderson, and Kennedy, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, and robbery charges. In June 2009, he was sentenced to 20 years and four months in prison. He was later paroled in 2021 after serving time at Valley State Prison.

Another defendant, Myron Gardner, pleaded guilty in March 2009 to being an accessory after the fact. Murder charges against him were dropped after he spent four years in custody.