20/20 - True Crime Vault: Overboard

Episode Date: January 22, 2025

The disappearance of a couple preparing to sell the yacht they had been living on to move closer to their new grandchild. Originally aired: 01/17/20 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Air Transat presents two friends traveling in Europe for the first time and feeling some pretty big emotions. This coffee is so good! How do they make it so rich and tasty? Those paintings we saw today weren't prints. They were the actual paintings. I have never seen tomatoes like this. How are they so red? With flight deals starting at just $589, it's time for you to see what Europe has to offer. Don't worry, you can handle it. Visit airtransat.com for details, conditions apply. Air Transat, travel moves us. Welcome to the 2020 True Crime Vault,

where heart-stopping headlines come to life. This is Captain Tom Hawks in Well Deserved. I'm so glad you could join us on our last voyage on Well Deserved. This is not right. Something's going on here. Next thing you know is no one can get ahold of them. Oh my god. Oh my god.

Tom and Jackie Hawks were nowhere to be found. They tell friends and family, hey, you know, we think we've sold our boat. We met this rich kid, and he really wants it. Who is this guy? Skyler DeLeon was a childhood actor. And he was in the Power Rangers. Go, go Power Rangers! So Skyler said, I had a briefcase full of cash.

I handed it to Tom, and he was thrilled. Skyler DeLeon told police, I don't know what happened to the Hawks. All they said was they were driving off to Mexico. to Tom and he was thrilled. Skyler DeLeon told police, I don't know what happened to the Hawks. All they said was they were driving off to Mexico. Jeez, okay, well this doesn't sound good right now. It became more and more sinister in the fact that nobody had heard from them.

We're hoping, we're thinking, we're gonna find them. People are missing. I think people are dead. A Hollywood screenwriter can't come up with this. I mean, there's really no other word to describe it. It's evil. Newport Beach is the dream that a lot of people think of when they think of California.

Everybody surfs every day, everybody goes on boats every day, and it's Southern California on steroids is really what it is. It's in between Los Angeles and San Diego. Along this gorgeous coastline. A lot of people with money live in Newport Beach, so a lot of people with gorgeous boats, including some pretty nice yachts, will pull up at the port there. It's one of the few places in the United States that you can buy a multi-million dollar home and have a dock ready to accommodate a 50, 60, 100 foot yacht. Oh yeah, I'm here.

Yeah, I'm the captain of this boat doing an outstanding job. Tom Hawks was just one of these all-around good guys. He grew up in California. He grew up on a farm with a brother, Jim Hawks. They liked to go surfing, they liked to go sailing. He was in the military. He saw some fighting in Vietnam. He became a probation officer. His brother became a police officer and then later a police chief.

So he came from a law enforcement family. Eventually, Tom got married and had two boys, Ryan and Matthew Hawks, and he ends up raising them after he ended up getting a divorce. I met Tom's son Ryan in Newport Beach when we first started doing the story in 2009. How close were you guys growing up, even? Very close.

My parents divorced when I was probably like five. He pretty much raised me all the way to adulthood and made me who I am today. Jackie, hello. Hi honey, I'm so glad to be home. She's home. Jackie was a very down-to-earth, really sweet woman. When he met Jackie, he called me and said, hey, I finally met somebody.

And if you guys hit it off, I know I finally found the right one. And Jackie and I hit it off. And we did everything together. They had a lot of friends. 150 people at their wedding. The boys called her mom, even though their mother was still alive.

The more you learned about Tom and Jackie, the more you liked them. They were rich in love, not so much in the pocketbook. They saved their money, they were frugal, they worked hard. Even though he never made a lot of money in his lifetime, he was a saver and he did invest in a couple of small properties and made a little money on that. But really at the end of the day, he found himself in his 50s able to retire if he wanted to and Jackie was all for it.

He had a dream. He wanted to buy a boat and live on the boat. He buys the boat. It was about $300,000. Well-deserved. Everybody agreed. That's the perfect name because she was. And we just came across these beautiful dolphins. Aren't they beautiful? I love how they play with the boat. The well-deserved is a 55-foot trawler. It's kind of a smaller yacht, but you can live on it. Tom had outfitted this vessel with everything.

Inside was beautiful teak. It was immaculate. They put in a lot of up to date equipment, the GPS system, and all kinds of other stuff that really made it nice. This is our GPS. This is where our boat is. And approximately our ETA, etc.

Their boat was moored in Newport Harbor right off 15th Street, and they would use their small boat to travel back and forth from the dock to the well-deserved. This is the first day of our new cruising season. Jackie's kind of at the helm, and there's his little San Pedro. home and there's Isla San Pedro. They spent their time going from Newport Beach up through the California coastline into Mexico. We just arrived on Isla Coronado. Tom set an anchor and we're going to get ready and explore. Tom was a crazy fitness guy. He's like an ox.

Look at his muscles straining. How to stay in shape at sea was one of his obsessions. He had weights that he would lift. He'd do pull-ups off the side of the boat. Here's Tom doing his workout. He's looking good. They had a wonderful love affair. They worked together as a team like no other. They were true first mates and captain.

I'm gonna put you to the sun, get a little bigger. This is what cruising is all about. So this was their life for two years until some pretty dramatic news came their way. Matt, their youngest son, was about to have a baby. Oh, there he is. What a dog. It was going to be their first grandchild. And this was a big deal for Tom, but it was probably an even bigger deal for Jackie.

Jackie was involved in a motorcycle accident when she was 22 years old and had some internal damage and tragically was unable to have children of her own. When her stepson, Matt, had that baby, she really wanted to play the role of devoted grandmother. Oh, you're so beautiful. They were planning on selling this yacht, taking the proceeds from it and moving close to this grandbaby.

Hi, James. Can you say hi to grandpa? You're getting so big. I think it just hit home with him how important family was. There's Grandpa. Holding his old grandboy. How are you? You're not getting a poop on me, are you? The Hawks decided to downsize. We're going to go from that huge boat to a small boat, dock it in Mexico, get a little house there,

and still be close enough to go see the grandson who lived in Arizona. So they were willing to sell the well-deserved, and being very frugal, they wanted to bypass the broker and just sell the boat on their own. So they took out an ad in a boating magazine. They went on one last trip to Catalina Island. Jim Hawks, Tom's brother, brought his boat and they all had this little party.

Okay, here we are on Catalina Island. This is our last trip to the island because we sold the boat and we're all having a really good time. So after this last Catalina cruise, Tom and Jackie had told Jim Hawks and other people that you know the sale was gonna take place in the next few days. So we'll see what happens. Hopefully we'll be alright. But you don't know what's gonna happen. Next thing you know is no one can get a hold of them. For them just to shut off their cell phones

and drop off the face of the earth is extremely out of character. And when Ryan and his brother Matt tried calling them and they weren't answering, they knew something was really happening. Ryan's in Arizona. So Ryan puts in a call to his uncle, Jim Hawks, who lives in San Diego. He used to be the chief of police for Carlsbad Police Department.

Jim Hawks jumps in his car and gets down there. Don Treffen and Jim Hawks are looking for Jackie and Tom, so they go to Newport Beach. There, they find the well-deserved, but no couple. When we were there, we looked for their car. We, you know, walked around a couple of blocks. It's kind of where they would park. Couldn't find their car. Well-deserved is there, but Tom's not around,

Jackie's not around. It's pretty quickly evident to everybody that something is amiss. We went over to the dinghy dock and this well-deserved dinghy was there. It wasn't properly tied and I just told Jim, I go, this is not right. Something's going on here. My uncle knew something was wrong right away. Your dad didn't tie the dinghy, your dad didn't lift the motor down.

We met with Carter Ford and we went out to the boat. From a distance you probably wouldn't notice too much, but as you get closer the first thing you notice is that the boat was tied, that lines were hanging kind of over the side of the boat. As we came up on the boat, I noticed that the tarps were all off, all the controls were just kind of peeled back,

and there was a towel hanging out one of the portholes and I got a sick feeling in my stomach just like something wasn't right. By November 16th 2004 it's obvious something's wrong. Tom and Jackie Hawks were nowhere to be found. The other part to this was the well-deserved, the yacht, was back in its right spot in Newport Beach Harbor. Their Honda CR-V was nowhere to be found and they were nowhere to be found either. Something was really up.

And there's the kid. What's happening? They were a very close-knit family. So if they couldn't be reached over a certain period of time, all kinds of alarm bells went off. Family and friends are already desperate. They start tracing and backtracking their steps to see what might have happened to them.

I knew they thought they might be selling the boat. That's what they were hoping to do. They believed that they had found a buyer to the boat, that they'd essentially gotten the price that they wanted. They were excited. They thought, we got a buyer. You know, we've got someone. We're going to sell this boat. Jackie told me that this person was going to be coming back to take a test drive on the boat the next day. Before you sell a vessel, they take a seat trial. They take the vessel out. It's like a test run in a car. The only thing we know about this trip is that it indeed happened. And that's because Jackie calls and leaves a message with a dear friend.

They bid me goodbye on the phone Monday morning. The next thing I heard was a voicemail from Jackie and said that, we're still at sea, I'll be in touch with you again. Rocking and rolling on a well deserved. She left a voicemail. It basically said that Tom and Jackie were out at sea with the purchaser and that she'd get back to him. So as far as friends and family knew, on November 15th 2004 they were meeting some prospective buyers and they were going to sell out a bit towards Catalina Island. The sale would likely happen and Jackie and Tom would be home with any luck before Thanksgiving.

Before they disappeared, Tom had mentioned to family members that this guy who was a child actor was gonna be the buyer. For me, it was a worrisome mystery. I wanted more information. I wanted to know who was his would-be buyer. Jim Hoggs wants to talk to whoever

brought in the well-deserved. So he takes out a card, and he writes on the back of it, I am a retired police officer, and I'd like to speak to whoever bought the boat. Tom and Jackie Hawks are missing, and I need to chat with you. Leaves his phone number. And the person that contacted him was Jennifer DeLeon.

Jim's like, look, did you buy the boat? Yep, we sure did. And she is super duper sweet. Jennifer has an explanation. She tells Jim that she and her husband, Skyler, bought the boat in cash, in full. Jennifer says we don't know where the hawks are and we still wanted to find out where they are

because we still need some information about how to use this boat that we now have. We bought the boat, they drove away. You know, we haven't heard from them and we don't know where they are either. She says, I think that they were gonna go off to Mexico. Local slant soccer. Oh, and there's a gringo.

And that's pretty much it. She's pretty short on that phone call. Not surprisingly, Jim thought this might be a little suspicious. So he called Arizona to one of their friends. Patricia Schuetz, who they'd put in charge of essentially paying their bills and taking care of their finances while they were down in Mexico. Because during this time, way harder to deal with that from a foreign country, especially on a boat, which Mary may not have internet access.

Tom and Jackie, if they would have sold that boat, they would have deposited that money into their bank account. But there was no activity on their account. So we knew that something was really wrong. Jim Hawks, he told me that he was going to contact the police department and file a missing persons report Friday morning. Most missing persons investigations, the person's found in a very short amount of time.

It's either lack of communication or perhaps they went somewhere else that they weren't expected to. Jim Hawks, Tom Hawks' brother, he had already done his homework on his own. Once our investigators started talking with him, we knew we needed to really start looking hard. This case lands on Dave Byington's desk. And this point he'd been a cop a long time and he's a cop's cop.

The minute he sees Jim Hawks and reads the details of this case, he knew this family had reason to worry. This couple Tom and Jackie Hawks had lived on their yacht in Newport were in the process of selling or sold the vessel to this other couple, Skyler and Jennifer De Leon. So Newport police start digging, looking at Skyler and Jennifer. And you know what? They find stuff, troubling stuff. Skyler happens to be a convicted felon.

He's on probation. I go, geez. So my first indication, okay, well, this doesn't sound good right now. Sergeant Dave Byington, he sends out a detective to go out to the boat. And so the guy gets to the boat and he's looking around and he sees this receipt on the floor. That receipt on the boat, it's from Target and it has a bizarre shopping list on it. The minute Detective Byington sees that receipt, he knows something's off.

There are major tax changes coming this year with income tax brackets expected to adjust for inflation. While the exact figures aren't final, you can expect to see slight increases in the income thresholds for each bracket. But here's the thing, you don't have to navigate these changes alone. If you owe back taxes or have unfiled returns, do not wait for the IRS letter to act.

Turn it over to Tax Network USA. Tax Network USA has a strong relationship with the IRS. They have a preferred direct line to the IRS so they know exactly which agents to talk to and which ones to avoid. Their expert strategies are designed to settle your tax issues, whether you owe $10,000 or $10 million. In fact, they've already resolved over $1 billion in tax debt. Stop looking over your shoulder and take control. Call now at 1-800-958-1000 or visit tnusa.com slash 20. That's tnusa.com slash twenty.

Calling all sellers, Salesforce is hiring account executives to join us on the cutting edge of technology. Here, innovation isn't a buzzword, it's a way of life. You'll be solving customer challenges faster with agents, winning with purpose, and showing the world what AI was meant to be. Let's create the agent-first future together. Head to salesforce.com slash careers to learn more.

That's a nice one. Good job. Oh, it just got him. That's what he said. Stab me. I was concerned the day before Thanksgiving when I haven't heard from them. I asked them, are you sure they just didn't,

they're an adventurous couple, sure they just didn't take off for a week or two. And he, without hesitation, said no, they would not just disappear. This is Captain Tom Hawks and well deserved. How do you? Tom and Jackie Hawks were in the process of selling the vessel to this other couple, Skyler and Jennifer De Leon.

We ran both of them to figure out because they were probably or potentially the last people to see the Hawks. When we ran Skyler, we automatically find out that he's got a record. He had done jail time for an armed burglary where he broke into a house with a weapon and was on probation. His original name at birth was John Julius Jacobson. His original name at birth was John Julius Jacobson. When I think of him when I was raising him, I still refer to him sometimes as little Johnny. He wanted to make everyone happy.

He was just always right there trying to make you smile, trying to make things better. Lisa left Skyler's father, you know, when he was just a little kid. Skyler grew up in a crazy house. How did you grow up? Tell me a little bit about the situation. Um, I pretty much primarily grew up with my dad. And what kind of guy was he? Not the best. not the best dad.

And in fact he was involved with drugs and was frequently in trouble with the law. Yes. He was into manufacturing, speed, and pretty much anything he could make money with. His father got him into acting, but it was never about Skyler. You know, he wanted Skyler to act so he could make money off of him. Ready and action! He never really made it big in the business. He had parts in commercials, and I think his biggest role was probably as an extra in the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.

Go, go Power Rangers! The TV series, which was pretty popular in the early 1990s. You guys were great! Now the problem is, Skyler could never remember his lines. And his dad would yell at him on the set until the producers were basically like, get that guy out of here. He's really, he's upsetting Skyler, he's upsetting everyone else. And Skyler hated acting. You're not good enough for this, you're not good enough for that.

Why aren't you this? Why aren't you that? There's an expectation or a level that you're always trying to rise up to, but you can never meet, no matter how hard you try. Skyler is kind of a weak kid, you know, kind of a little bit effeminate maybe. Skyler's dad pretty much despised him for that

and started knocking him around. So Skyler joined the United States Marine Corps. He probably never would have joined the Marines, but for he thought this would make him look like a man. And as much as he hated his dad, he was also always trying to impress his dad. He said he was Marine Corps Force recon, which for those who don't know, is one of the elite military forces in the United States military.

He got a Marine Corps Force recon tattoo. He would explain that he had attended all these classes and all this training, and he had, you know, 62 confirmed kills. and 62 confirmed kills. When he got out of the Marines, he wanted to change his name to Skyler DeLeon. On the paperwork, it says, doesn't want to be associated by the same name as his father because his father is a bad person

and a criminal. It was right before he met Jennifer that he changed his name. Jennifer Henderson grew up in a way that he changed his name. Jennifer Henderson grew up in a way that was the very opposite of how Skyler grew up. She had loving parents. They were very religious, they went to church. We actually met online. We just kind of started chatting and then, you know, we went from there to all of a sudden we started talking on the phone.

And then one day we're like, you know what? You know, wanna meet. So they arrange a rendezvous at a local mall. They go to a movie, they spend the whole day together and that was it. From that moment on, they were pretty much inseparable. We dated for about a year, and he proposed to me and Catalina. We actually had two weddings, a quick one in Gran Del Mar on the beach,

just family, close friends, barefoot, shorts, very casual, it was very fun. And then the big formal wedding. and then the big formal wedding. Who knows why Jennifer ends up saying yes to Skyler. They're so different in so many ways. He grows up this troubled childhood. She grows up with all these advantages. She has a little bit of a profession going for herself. He's got no career path that we can see.

I am a hairstylist, and I've done that for five years. And he was actually working as an electrician. He had the job. He just hadn't started yet. According to Jennifer's mother, she thinks that they got pregnant on their wedding night because the timing of it was just so. So yeah, they had a little girl, Haley, and then they got pregnant again. They really don't have a lot of assets. Jennifer is the breadwinner.

They were deep in debt. They owed nearly $90,000. They were so poor that they were living in the garage next to Jennifer's parents' home. They had no bathroom, they had no kitchen, they had to go to the main house for that. They already had a very young daughter and there was a second baby on the way. You put that all together and these two young people are clearly not qualified to own a 55 foot boat. We get a search warrant to look at the boat and they find a bunch of things that are of interest. They find that it's number one it's messy so Tom Hawks has not left it that way. And they find a receipt from a Target store.

And that receipt shows a purchase of trash bags, tums, and bleach. And Dave Byington goes, that's a kill kit if I ever heard one. If I was going to kill somebody, you know, I'd have my clean kit and it would be bags to get rid of evidence, you know, bleach to wipe down the scene, and maybe if I had a conscience some tums to settle my stomach after killing

some poor people. Target security was able to pull up that specific purchase of these items. And they're expecting it to be Skyler. And they know what Skyler looks like because he's got a record and he's in the database, but it's not Skyler. I was looking at an obese man which was not Scala De Leon. Now we have another little straw on the camel's back saying, okay, who is this guy and why is this receipt on this boat and who is this clown? It's been two weeks since Tom and Jackie have disappeared.

And the police go on board the well-deserved, which is moored exactly where it was left. They find a receipt from a Target store. And every time you purchase anything from a Target store and every time you purchase anything from a Target store you're photographed at the cash register and you're photographed leaving. So we get this photograph of this guy and police trace it back and it is Steve Henderson, Jennifer's father, who actually made this purchase. So Newport detectives go to his house in Long Beach and they say, is this you in this photograph buying these items? We found this receipt on a boat.

He immediately says, yeah, my daughter and son-in-law purchased that boat. It turns out Jennifer had sent her dad to the store to buy the bleach, the tumps, and the trash bag. Jen's father brings back bleach and some bags, all they say to help clean their new boat. So logically police ask him, does he know where Jennifer and Skyler are? brings back bleach and some bags, all they say to help clean their new boat. So logically, police ask him, does he know where Jennifer and Skyler are? He says, they're hoping to clean a church right down the street.

I think they're there now. When I see a family volunteering in a church, I was put at ease a little bit with that, thinking, okay, this is gonna turn out okay. The hawks are fine. These people will tell us what happened and we'll be able to locate them and close the case. I was talking to Jennifer and basically said we're looking for the Hawks, the

family's very concerned and she said we're really concerned too and she was very genuine. It's like we've known those people or you don't really know somebody meeting them, but just your nerves kind of go everywhere. She goes, we've been trying to reach out to them continually since we bought it. They have a lot of property, clothes and stuff on the vessel. We don't know what to do. She was very specific and seemed very genuine in her concern for the Hawks and finding them. Skyler says, we purchased it, all the documents were proper, they signed them,

we recorded them, I don't know what else to tell you. We told Skyler that we needed copies of the paperwork. He told us that he had certified, notarized paperwork regarding the sale, so the sale was legitimate. He produces these documents indicating that Skyler and Jennifer had purchased the boat from Tom and Jackie Hawks. There are signatures on it, there are fingerprints on it. A notary public had already certified these documents that Tom and Jackie were president when selling. Everything was legitimate, everything was on the up and up. I was shaking my head going, okay I still can't get a handle on this guy. went selling. Everything was legitimate. Everything was on the up and up. I was shaking my head going, okay, I still can't get a handle on this guy. The following day, he agreed to go to the New Port Beach Police Department where we had him in a

proper interview and recorded the interview. Good to see you, Scott. We're still in the same position where we were yesterday. These folks are still missing. Family is very concerned and that's understandable. Schotler was very forthright. He was very, very interested in finding where the hawks were. How did you hear about the vessel being sold?

In sport fishing magazine. Sport fishing? Yeah, I get it. Were you looking to buy a boat? I'm pretty much always looking. It strikes the cops odd that this young guy who doesn't really seem to have a lot of means had nearly half a million dollars to buy this boat.

We spent like $4.85 on it. Of course, one of the big questions is, well, hey man, where'd you get the money? And he goes, look, as you look into my background, you're gonna see I was involved in a burglary. In reality, that was a part of a dope rip. That was a drug rip-off. And no matter what, truth is,

it'll come out no matter what. At this point, I already knew Scott was on probation for an armed burglary, so he's a felon. And now he said, I'm telling you, Sergeant, I wanna go straight with my family. I'm a father now, I have another child on the way. So I'm trying to invest this money in a way that I can support them.

I have a bunch of money that I have no way to spend. Right. And if I bring it here, I'm going to get in trouble. I can't really go to Mexico to spend it because I'm on probation. Okay. I'm kind of a rock in a hard place. I go, so you're legitimizing this money that was illegal? And he copped out basically to money laundering.

It is rather disarming when you're trying to find the Hawks and he's admitting to the money laundering piece on his side. It was unusual that someone would admit that to the police. You didn't have to, you could have told me, hey man, you know, I inherited the money, I did whatever, you were very honest with me and that's all I'm asking for. Who would come up with a story that they used money laundered drug money to buy a boat unless it was really true?

Skyler is so cool, calm and collected. He said, look, we went out, took the boat for a run. We all came back. We love the boat. So you've got the money and you initiate a call to the Hawks? Yeah, I call him up and tell him, hey, you know, I'm ready and ask him if he's okay, you know, can you help my wife? And they said, you know, that'd be fine. Okay. Where'd they meet you? At the 15th Street. Yeah, 15th Street.

This transaction allegedly occurred in the parking lot at the 15th Street dock, basically on the trunk of the car, with a suitcase full of money. And that was cash, right? Yeah. That you paid them that day? Yeah. I was asking, what kind of container was this money in? Was it loose bills?

Was it all hundreds? They're all $100 bills? Yeah. Also everything, all hundreds? All hundreds. In stacks about that big. OK. And I just know working narcotics,

it was just a mishmash of cash. It was never something where you'd go into a bank vault and see perfectly stacked thousands of dollars in bank wrappers. So that kind of raised a flag. You flashed the cash to them? Yeah. Did you just open the briefcase or did you give it to them and have a look at how it was? No, we went to the back of the car and it was just like, you know, there it. And he's like, boom, that thing. Scott was very descriptive on Tom's reaction

when he opened the briefcase. And it was full of cash. He was excited, but nervous. And did he say anything to that effect or did someone you got a feeling? He was just like, let's just close this up. According to Scott, Tom asked him, is it all here? Scott kind of giggled at me and said, yep, it's all there.

And so they basically said, there's the keys to the yacht. Tom and Jackie drove off in their Honda. And Skyler and Jennifer said that was the last time that they saw them. He was saying that him and his wife, they were looking at places in San Carlos. She's like, we want to get another boat. Hey, I'm the captain of this boat.

They were talking about buying a home in New Mexico, and we corroborated that from other sources. Tom was interested in that. Skyler, you got nothing to do with his disappearance, right? No. And your wife doesn't either? No. Nobody in your family, your dad, nobody, right?

No. Okay. When you look at the interview, Skyler is leaning over to these detectives, and he is so convincing. From what I've gathered from him, I will most guarantee he's down there. Causing you all this grief. Yes. I will most guarantee it. But the detectives have one more key piece of evidence they want Skyler to take a look

at. It's this video. Video of Jennifer and Skyler trying to take money out of the Hawks' account in Arizona. Why is it you guys have power of attorney? This is a big stumbling point for the family. They said that there's no way that their family members would give power of attorney to anybody. Power of attorney, that was a pretty powerful document

because what I was looking at was that Tom and Jackie Hawks had basically gave Skyler de Leon complete control of their assets, which made absolutely no sense. I was just sitting at home on pins and needles waiting to hear something, hear from Tom and Jackie, and the bank called and they told me that there was somebody trying to access Tom and Jackie's account. Jennifer and Skylar walk in and they have this durable power of attorney. So the bank manager looks at this,

it's been properly recorded, their signatures are on it, it's been properly notarized and takes one look at it and goes, no way am I giving you access to their accounts. The bank manager told me that there was a gentleman by the name of Skyler trying to access their accounts. I'm thinking, oh my God, oh my God. Good to see you, Skyler.

I'm gonna borrow you for a little bit because I had to go over a few more questions on this thing. Why is it you guys have power of attorney? The cops think this is weird. I mean, it's one thing to sell somebody a boat. It's another thing to give them power of attorney. But Skyler, just smooth as silk, tells them, look, they wanted to buy some property in Mexico.

You can't find that house in Mexico unless you're a Mexican citizen or unless you're established residency and you know bank account and all that stuff. Schuyler volunteered that he was very experienced in purchasing property there and that he had dual citizenship. He was of Mexican descent and that he could facilitate a sale. Since he was given such a great deal on the yacht, he would help him out, get this money. And Scott had proceeded to tell us that Tom was very interested. He said, I'll get you an account down there.

I told him, you know, you have nothing to lose by opening up an account. And you know, you can take care of everything from right there. We talked to friends and family at Tom Jackie Ox. Sure enough, Tom had been talking to people about buying a little house in the Sea of Cortez. He literally said, I had a briefcase full of cash. I handed it to Tom, and he was thrilled. They had the money and the means now to go to Mexico,

and they did. Schuyler tells detectives, I got witnesses. Who's present? Me, my wife, daughter, Tom, Jackie, the notary, and Alonzo. Alonzo Machane, his name was there in full print as a witness on this bill of sale. And when I asked Skyler who is Alonzo Machane, he says, oh, he's a friend of mine that I've met and he's from Mexico. Well, our investigation shows that Alonzo happened to meet Skyler while Skyler was doing jail time. Alonzo Machane was actually a guard in the jail, and they became fast friends, really. I think Macchane was quite young.

He was in his early 20s. He lived at home with his parents. Skyler was on a work release program, so he was allowed to leave at certain points during the day. During that time, Alonso, they would do things that friends would do. They would hang out, they would have pizza, they'd watch TV. I'm going to be confident with Alonso because he's also one of the last people to see them, so that helps us.

Okay, good. Yeah, that's fine. They go in the interview, Alonso, and Alonso tells essentially the same story. We're there in the parking lot. I watch Skyler hand this money over to this guy. They drive out in their car. The other person they interviewed was Kathleen Harris. Kathleen Harris, she was a professional notary,

never been in trouble a day in her life, and she told a very similar story. They were down there. She watched this transaction. She notarized the documents. We hit a dead end in this investigation. We had a group of people who were all telling the same story. We had no physical evidence of a crime. We had no word from Tom and Jackie Hawks.

We had no break in the case at all. Brother, I don't want to keep you anymore. I appreciate you driving down here. This is Brad Milkey, host of the Start Here podcast with ABC News. Families affected by the 2025 California wildfires urgently need support. Help the American Red Cross provide meals and shelter to these families. You can donate today to wildfire relief by going to redcross.org ABC or calling 1-800-RED-CROSS. classics like MGM Grand Millions or popular games like Blackjack, Baccarat, and Roulette. With our ever-growing library of digital slot games, a large selection of online table games, and signature Bet MGM service,

there's no better way to bring the excitement and ambience of Las Vegas home to you than with Bet MGM Casino. Download the Bet MGM Casino app today! Bet MGM and GameSense remind you to play responsibly. BedMGM.com for Ts and Cs. 19 plus to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact Connects Ontario

at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor, free of charge. BedMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with iGaming Ontario. So the cops are at a little bit of a dead end. They're not really sure where to go next. And so they do the thing that a lot of investigators are reluctant to do, but often is a necessary evil. They go to the media.

Turning to another story in California, this morning police in the southern part of that state are asking for the public's help in a very mysterious disappearance. Joining us from Newport Beach, California, one of the couple's two sons, Ryan Hawks and Sergeant Steve Schulman. The biggest thing that we can do as a family was to reach out in the media and find someone maybe willing to talk, someone that maybe seen them, know of their last location, know about their safety. You know, I think something's wrong. I think something's missing. I think something's really wrong. But, you know, my first priority is, you know, to find about the whereabouts of my parents.

Many times when there's a missing persons case, the family might provide one or two photos of their loved one. But in this case, Ryan came out with probably 15 or 20 photos of Tom and Jackie. So it really showed that this was a family that cared about one another, and that kind of brought the seriousness of their disappearance up quite a bit of a notch. The biggest thing was their car, and if we could find their car, we know we could kind of backtrace their steps or what happened to them. Right now our focus is on locating them and also the vehicle that they own,

this 1998 Honda CR-V with an Arizona license plate. plate. The next day the police department gets a call from this woman who had seen the show and she basically said I'm looking at this car right now. I live in Mexico and I'm in a trailer park and it's in the parking lot. I was so relieved I was overwhelmed and choked up. Please be the hawks. I want to find them alive.

I'm thinking, OK, let's get down there right away. If I was going to kill somebody, you know, I'd have my clean kid, bags to get rid of evidence, bleach to wipe down the scene, and maybe if I had a conscience, some tums to settle my stomach after killing some poor people. They tell friends and family, hey, you know, we think we've sold our boat. We met this rich kid and he really wants it.

Skyler says, look, I purchased this boat and I don't know what else to tell you. Give me a break. I mean, my four-year-old would do better than this. I want to know the truth. I want to know the truth. They're heading out to see... Jackie is begging. How could you do this? How could you do this to us? Everybody knew who was in charge, and it wasn't Skyla.

They scare the hell out of me. They're evil, personified. Is she the brains in the family? I hate that, yeah. I think, for the most part, I'm a nice person. I treat everybody nice. I'm always everything like that. Alright folks, here we go. Quiet please. Five seconds to Charlie. Four. Three. Two. Turning to another story in California, this morning police in the southern part of that state are asking for the public's help

in a very mysterious disappearance that occurred three weeks ago. We'd been in a dead end for weeks, and we made the decision that we needed to get some media attention to the case. And that proves to be a critical turning point. A couple by the name of Thomas and Jackie Hawks told a friend that they were showing their 55-foot boat to a prospective buyer, but then the couple simply vanished without a trace. Days later the boat was found in its usual spot, but the couple's car was missing. We're splashing the license plate, the vehicle description, the picture of the hawks everywhere we could.

So it's important for the public to look out for that car because that will give us some clue as to where they went to or if in fact there is a crime involved. Sergeant Schulman, what do we know about the buyer of this boat and is there any suspicion attached to them? Well, our detectives are conducting an investigation and I'm not at liberty to discuss their interview. What Skyler says is, look, I bought the boat from these people and last I saw was they were leaving the parking lot with a suitcase full of cash that I paid them.

He was saying that him and his wife, they were looking at places in San Carlos. He said, well, now you go down there and get himself a house and get another boat down there. Once the press hit, immediately our tip line started going off. We get a call from a retired couple that lived in San Miguel, Mexico. And I'm going to put it on speaker, and this gal says, I'm looking at this car right now. It's right there. And she snapped a photograph of it and sent it to us.

And here we are looking at the Hawks vehicle. Hundreds of miles away in Ensenada, Mexico, another piece of the puzzle has been found, the Hawks' SUV. This was the first break in the case, and they were pretty excited about it. That car was the missing piece that we needed to solve the case. And then the next question, well, are they there with the car? We're hoping, we're thinking, we're going to find them. Please be the Hawks.

I want to find them alive. At first, the family and friends are thinking, all right, they're in Mexico. There's a little glimmer of hope. The cops make it down to Ensenada right away. Mexican authorities were taking the lead, and they knock on the door of the house. The guy who owns the house comes out and starts chatting with them.

They're speaking in Spanish, but I'm making enough out of what's going on. And the guy says, no, it's not my car. It belongs to some friends of mine. And they're like, oh, OK. Tom and Jackie Hawks? No. And in English, I hear Skylar DeLeon.

I remember Byington just kind of looks at me and just goes, Skylar murdered these people. And I go. And at that moment, then I just said, uh, any possibility that the Hawks were still alive died right there, unfortunately, because as soon as I heard that, I go, yeah. They called me on their way up. It's like, yeah, we got it on the back of a flatbed truck. And that was a key person.

We caught him in the lie. It was key. It was so essential. The fact that Skyler dropped that car off, huge break. Skyler de Leon has already told police, I don't know what happened to the Hawks. All they said was they were driving off to Mexico. They realized that Skyler de Leon and Jennifer, who was also described, had been down there. They had now witnesses who knew them and they said

they gave us this car. Skyler had befriended this gentleman's son years earlier and Skyler was an avid surfer. He would go down and surf and he would stay with that family. That family had no idea who that car belonged to or the circumstances. I was about 99% sure that my parents were murdered. But I still had 1% hope. But when they found that car, that 1% was wiped out. The same day the Hawk's car is found down in Mexico, Skyler de Leon is back in Newport Beach talking to the police.

Skyler shows up and he brings his little daughter, Haley, with him. I guess he's thinking, you can't arrest me if I've got a toddler with me. This is the big urgency we have right now. These people are still missing. I'm fearful that they're not alive. Newport detectives wanted to interview them as much as possible because this story was starting to fray around the edges. You're saying you have nothing to do with their disappearance.

As far as you know, they're alive. And what you've told us so far is the truth regarding you getting money smuggled up here. Hi. And Skylar knows immediately I'm in trouble. regarding you getting money smuggled up here. Hi. Hi. Yeah. And Skylar knows immediately I'm in trouble. Skylar became nervous, and that little girl, maybe she sensed it.

I've only got this small baby. Does she have tissues there? The baby suddenly spits up all over him. And so it interrupts the interview. Come on. I'm gonna leave the bag, or you'll be all right with it.s the interview. I'm going to leave the bag or you'll be alright with it. Okay. There goes Skyler, thinking he's a free man, but not for long.

The very next day, Skyler is under arrest. Police have arrested 25-year-old Skyler de Leon on suspicion of money laundering after he bought the couple's boat. Prosecutors say the investigation continues. They have not ruled out the possibility there may be more arrests in connection with the murders of Thomas and Jackie Hawks. After a brief break in court, de Leon returned teary-eyed. At the time, I can remember in court,

he seemed like such a little man. And in one of the first court hearings, he started crying. And at first, you kind of think, do they have the right guy? The police searched DeLeon's little apartment in the garage, and it's a treasure trove of evidence. They go through top to bottom

this little garage-turned-apartment, and what do they find? One of the first things detectives find is they find Tom and Jackie's laptop. And the most heartbreaking part of all they find a video camera. Well deserved. What's the name of the next boat? The film that was in it was of all the hawks. Adventures out at sea, and then it abruptly ends. And suddenly the footage cuts to Skyler and Jennifer. Skyler and Jennifer were using Tom and Jackie's camcorder

to record their family Thanksgiving. There's no way Tom and Jackie would have left that camera behind. I was at their house the night it was searched by Newport Beach PD. And Jennifer was just flat-lined, just watching the beginning of her life as she knew it come to an end. At that point I knew that Skyler had killed the Hawks. What I didn't know was the extent of Jennifer's involvement. Did you know anything of this alleged crime? Police have arrested 25-year-old Skyler DeLeon. Skyler DeLeon is now in custody.

Arrested yesterday at his home in Long Beach, police won't say if DeLeon is a suspect in the hawk's disappearance. They get Skyler out of the house and arrest him and they go inside. It's during the search of Jennifer and Skyler's little makeshift apartment that they come across another interesting find. A fellow detective of mine, Jay Short, had found a business card. An LAPD officer named Joe Behana,

he's a detective assigned to Interpol, and basically it's his job whenever there's a crime committed that the Mexican police need to investigate, he's their liaison officer. I was curious to us why Skyler De Leon had this business card in his property. That's an interesting clue. Why is your business card in the home of our suspect? And that's when we first heard the name John Jarvey.

Come to find out, Detective Bahenia had been helping the Ensenada State Police come up here to California because of John Jarvie, who was found with his throat slit. John Jarvie was a petty counterfeiter, and he met Skyler DeLeon while they were both serving time in the Seal Beach jail. They kept in contact afterwards. Jarvey, after he's freed from jail, keeps in contact with Skyler because he remembers being promised a big score. Skyler has told him that he's from a wealthy family and he has big-time investments and

he starts telling him, in fact, I've got a really sweet investment that I'm going to get into. All John Jarvey needs to do is give Skyler $50,000 in cash and then they'll go down to Mexico, do this big score. Skyler is on this work release program which allows him to leave during certain parts of the day. They drive down to Mexico. John Jarvey's thinking, you know, I'm going to make some great money here. And they drive down to Mexico, outside of Ensenada. Except John Jarvey didn't come back. Skyler takes him down to a ravine, slits his throat,

and leaves him to die on the side of a road in Mexico. There never was any deal in Mexico. He took my brother down there, specifically with the role of murdering him. That evening after Jarvee disappears, Skyler's got to hurry back. Not home, mind you, to jail. Don't forget, he's still in jail while this is going on. So he has to hurry back from the border so he can make his nightly check-in over at the jail. My wife wakes me up, Jeff, you've got to get up.

Your brother's been murdered in Mexico. Thinking of his last minutes, what they must have been, that's what I wake up to every night. When you think of how good of a con man Skyler was to convince this man to take out $50,000 and drive him across the border and then slit his throat and leave him to die on the side of the road. It's horrifying. Mexican police had interviewed Skyler de Leon way back in 2003 about the murder of John

Jarvie, but that case was totally unresolved until the Newport Beach case came along. I don't think John Jarvie's homicide would have ever been solved had it not been for our department getting involved. Absolutely not. But then police are looking for a break in the Hawks case. The other person they interviewed was Kathleen Harris. Kathleen Harris had no criminal background at all. She was a professional notary, never been in trouble a day in her life.

I'm still trying to track that folk down and just talk to them today and they're still looking for it. Kathleen Harris was a notary who was introduced to the de Leon's. She says she was there when Skyler bought the boat from the Hawks. I drove down to Newport and met Skyler and his wife and the couple. Her story was that Tom and Jackie Hawks had signed these documents in front of her. She watched this transaction, she notarized the documents. It just didn't make sense.

There's no way Kathleen Harris saw Tom and Jackie Hawks. We had interviewed Kathleen Harris, I want to say, four or five times, and she would not come off her story. And I got there and I just notarized the documents. Keith and I were having a pretty heated argument about it. I told him, I said, you need to have someone else interview Kathleen Harris.

And he goes, fine. You want to interview her? You call her in and interview her. This is, come on. Hey, uh, okay. Hi. I'm Keith. I'm Carolyn.

Nice to meet you. I just remember trying to confront her to tell the truth. I'm asking for your help. I know. Are you part of these people's disappearance? No. Did you hurt these people? No.

That are missing? No. I knew she was lying. I just, I knew it just by her non-verbal, her body language. There's no doubt in your mind that two people signed these documents in front of you. Right now, see you hesitate, no, boldly, believe me, this is what I'm talking about.

Listen to me real well. Tell me right now the truth. Those people that are missing signed those documents is what you're telling me. I don't believe you. You were hesitant to begin with. Tell me the truth, Kathleen. Tell me the truth. She was nervous. Her voice was cracking. She was looking down. Kathleen, these people didn't sign these documents in front of you, did they? When I filled out the log, they had to sign it and put their thumbprint.

Okay. And you took their thumbprints? I'm 90% sure. No, there's no 90! Kathleen, there's no 90! It's either 100 or it's nothing! You're being wishy-washy. Yes, they did. Kathleen, there's no many. It's either 100 or it's nothing. You're being wishy-washy. Yes, they did. Kathleen, give me a break. I mean, my four-year-old would do better than this.

Kathleen, no honestly. I want to know the truth. I want to know the truth. I know, and I'm telling you what happened. She stuck to her story. She didn't come off it. She didn't change it. I remember Keith coming out and saying, I'm sorry.

And I'm thinking, are you kidding me? I go, I think you pushed her. I think we got her. The next call we got was from an attorney representing her, saying that she wanted to come in and make a statement. And she finally says, no, we were not in the parking lot, like I said before. She'd never met Tom and Jackie Hawks. She was given documents and paid in cash to backdate the documents. And that was one of the most significant breaks we had in the investigation.

Because now we knew Skyler and Jennifer never had that notarized with Tom and Jackie, and that that was false. That was the first domino to fall. Then we started pressuring everybody else, because we knew everybody else had lied to us too. You know, likely this case very easily could have never been solved. It could have like that just been another unsolved missing persons case.

Except for one thing, Alonzo Machane. He's about to give cops the break they need to bring the convictions they need. us on you every chance I get. Give it a try at mintmobile.com slash switch. $45 up from payment required equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three month plan only. Taxes and fees extra. Speeds lower above 40 gigabytes on unlimited. See mintmobile.com for details. Coming to ABC in Hulu. Amanda Riley was a mother, wife, speaker at her church. And then she got diagnosed with cancer. A beloved young Christian woman fighting a battle undeserved.

We thought she was God's gift, but she was a liar. Why would somebody fake cancer? From the number one smash hit podcast. It was only a matter of time until Amanda's whole world came tumbling down. You're not going to believe this. Scamanda premieres Thursday night, January 30th on ABC. And stream on Hulu.

Still no sign of Thomas and Jackie Hawks, but bit by bit, police are slowly beginning to unravel the mystery surrounding their disappearance. Good morning, Alonzo. Good morning. We just want to know what you know. Alonzo Machane was actually a jailer in this Seal Beach City jail where Skyler was serving time. So that's how they meet. We focused on Alonzo because we thought he would be a weak link too.

He is going to save his own skin. He's not going to go down for this. He turned himself in and Alonzo Machane took us detail by detail through the conspiracy to murder Tom and Jackie Hawks. When I met Scowler, he started talking about that he had all his money, that he was part of the Power Rangers. The chilling details were laid out by one of the people who was on board that yacht and who took part in the murders. He said that he was gonna do something like, you know, was gonna make some money, couple million dollars. Skyler tells him that he's an international hit man. He gets his contracts out on people and they're all bad people

because he'll only kill bad people, he will kill good people. So he's an assassin with, you know, with a conscience. He said, what I do is just take him out to sea and toss him overboard. Skyler promised Alonso a million dollars. All you had to do was kill this couple and we could get their boat and their savings.

And for whatever reason, Alonso Machane thought, that's a good idea, I'll go along with it. Alonso Machane thought, that's a good idea, I'll go along with it. Alonso and Skylar go aboard the well-deserved. Tom had worked in probation, he'd worked with ex-cons. His suspicions immediately went up, meeting Skylar de Leon and Alonso Machane, because they just didn't seem like the type of guys who could afford to buy a yacht,

going for more than $400,000. So what does Skyler do to solve that problem? He immediately calls Jennifer and says, you've got to bring Haley down, their one-year-old, and put these people at ease. Jennifer shows up and she completely charms Jackie. Jackie, the one who wanted to go and play with her grandson. My stepmother definitely fell who

climbed and sinker for that woman and her baby. That's actually the linchpin in the whole thing. Like, had it not been for that, Tom and Jackie Hawks would still be alive today. At the same time, Skyler's sizing up Tom, and he knows he's going to need more help because he can't overpower him on his own. He started sizing up on Mr. Hawk, and he said, well,

I could take him, but it's better to have somebody else. Skyler realizes that if they're going to actually pull this thing off, they need to get a big guy to sign on to this. Skyler meets John F. Kennedy through a mutual friend who Skyler had worked with. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was an original founding member of the Long Beach Insane Crips. So he became the muscle in this whole scheme.

They're leaving Newport Beach Harbor like they've done many, many times before. On board is Skyler de Leon, Alonso Machane, and John F. Kennedy. Tom and Jackie Hawks think they're just taking this boat out for a test run. They have no idea what's in store for them. A Long Beach gang member, a Seal Beach jail, security officer, and Skyler DeLeon. Weird. Weird. So they leave Newport Harbor and set a course out towards Catalina.

As they're heading out, the plan kind of goes into formation. At some point, they get Jackie and Tom separated. Skyler and John Kennedy went downstairs with Tom Hawks. Meanwhile, Jackie's in the kitchen and she hears this ruckus. And Alonso knows, oh, it's going down. It's going down right now. That struggle is Kennedy overpowering Tom Hawks. He was able to restrain Tom Hawks long enough to get him handcuffed. Meanwhile, it's Alonso's job to subdrain Tom Hawks long enough to get him handcuffed. Meanwhile, it's Alonzo's job to subdue Jackie Hawks. Jackie's here, Alonzo's here, and then that's where Thomas Hawks, Skyler, and Jeff Kerr are on the bottom.

And Jackie hears the commotion, she looks down this way, and this is where Alonzo overpowers her. They're laid down next to each other on the bed. Jackie was pleading for her life. She was saying, you know, I just want to see my grandson. Jackie is begging and she says to Skylar, how could you do this? How could you do this to us? You brought your pregnant wife on board. We met your daughter. She just screams at Skyler, we trusted you. Why are you doing this?

Mr. and Mrs. Hawks tied up together. Tom is stroking her hand, trying to comfort her. This is when you hear the part about Tom stroking her hand trying to comfort her. This is when you hear the part about Tom stroking her hand, the curve is down here. To put her at ease, I don't like being down here. It's one of the most poignant things I've ever heard in my career. It's okay sweetheart, we're going to be together. Where we're going, we're going to be together. Each of them is brought up to sign documents. It's essentially turning the boat over to Skyler de Leon and giving him access to their

bank accounts. You need to sign this and if you cooperate we'll let you go. But there was something very interesting about the way Jackie Hawks with an S signed her name. It's H-A-W-K. She's smart enough to mess up her signature. She signs it Hawk instead of Hawks with an S. She was sending a signal, I'm doing this under duress. And it looked like somebody went back later

and put in an S totally inconsistent with any way she'd ever signed her name. This is a woman who knows that she is going to her death. This is a woman who knows that she is about to be murdered and she is sending this flare up into the future for somebody to make it right. Meanwhile, Skyler, he's upsetting the GPS to go out to the deepest point in the ocean. It's 3,500 feet. It's the deepest place. Then Skyler said he has seen an anchor. Went to the front and grabbed this huge anchor

and brought it back, put it in the back of the boat. And they handcuffed them to the anchor. And at that point, Tom, his fight instinct kicks in. He kicks backwards and he kicks so hard, he kicks Skyler in the groin and hard enough that he almost falls over. That was the last act of defiance. Schuyler stands up with his smirk,

tosses his huge anchor off the side of the boat. The weight of the anchor, it goes tight. And suddenly, they're being pulled across the deck. Jackie's head knocks into the side, boom, you can hear it. And then out an open door. And they both fall into the ocean. They were very much alive when they were dumped into the ocean. The weight of the anchor pulls them down to the bottom of the deepest part of the sea.

Skyler gives Addo, woo-hoo! After it happens, and then leans overboard and watches until the water becomes still. And that's what happened. I was scouting, maybe while this was happening. It was calm, but the most normal thing. And then, they actually turned the boat around. Then, Kennedy found a fishing pole. Decides he's going to fish on the way back to Newport Harbor. John F. Kennedy took a beer from the Hawks' fridge. Takes one of Tom Hawks' beers.

No problem, just ended two people's lives. Let's have a beer. Ridiculous. It's hard to believe anybody could do such a terrible crime, especially a guy like mild-mannered Skyler de Leon. And then, there's the motive. Was it just for the boat? Was that it?

But maybe that wasn't all, as we'd learn later. What else should we know? What else should we know? What else should we know? What else should we know? Here. It's not that one. It's not that one.

It's not that one. It's not that one. It's not that one. It's not that one. It's not that one. It's not that one. It's not that one. It's not that one. It's not that one. It's not? When Skylar was arrested, Jennifer was still out of custody. We still didn't have enough information or evidence against her to prosecute her on much

of anything at that point. She, at the time, she's stuck by her man. How confident are you that Skyler had nothing to do with Tom and Jackie Hawks presumably being murdered or at least missing? I am very confident as confident as I can be that Skyler will be home soon. What we still don't know is Jennifer's role. What we still don't know is Jennifer's role. There was a split of opinions within Newport Beach PD. Some thought she was the ice queen and the second coming of Satan herself. And others thought that she was just the dutiful wife who got caught up in her husband's nefarious dealings. Did you know anything about the crime?

No. We extended immunity to Jennifer. We said, look, tell us what happened. It was the ultimate offer. It was a get out of jail free card. All she would have had to do was testify against her husband. And incredibly, she turned it down. She had a chance to save herself,

and she chose to stick by Skyler. They almost completed each other. Jennifer and Skyler, before they met, hadn't committed any crimes that we're aware of really as individuals. But when they met it was like fire and gasoline. Do you have any fear, I know it's been speculated, that they may arrest you? Most definitely not knowing if, you know, if that is something that happens, is to constantly be wondering, you know,

I nursed my son, is this the last time I'm gonna nurse my child? Where's Haley? Is this the last time I'm gonna tuck Haley into bed? I mean, it's terrifying. Good girl. 23-year-old Jennifer just beat behind her 25 year old husband Skyler as their attorneys entered their plea.

Jennifer DeLeon is finally arrested and that is really surprising because she was not on the boat at the time of the murders and at that point everybody's wondering well how did she play a part. The attorney for Jennifer DeLeon who just gave birth to her second child several weeks ago, says she wants her tried separately. The first person going to trial was Jennifer DeLeon, and I think that she was still operating under the belief that she could blame Schuyler for everything that had happened.

DeLeon's attorney during trial insisted she did not know what her husband was planning until after the Hawks were killed. She only did what she did out of fear of her husband. The defense for Jennifer was that she was not a part of this whole thing. She didn't know what was going to happen. She was forced into it. But as the evidence unfolded, nobody bought that. Everybody knew who was in charge, and it wasn't Skylar. How much in charge was Jen?

I think probably we had our roles reversed. Is she the brains in the family? I hate that, yeah. Skyler did not make a move without running it by Jennifer. At every significant event during the murder of Tom and Jackie Hawks, he called Jennifer. They get down to the Newport Beach, he calls Jennifer. They get on the boat out to sea, he calls Jennifer. They get out where they tied Tom and Jackie Hawks to that anchor, begging for their lives. First thing Skyler did is call Jennifer. They get out where they tied Tom and Jackie Hocks to that anchor begging for their lives.

First thing Skyler did is call Jennifer. She knew exactly what was going on because Skyler kept her informed before, during, and after the murders. That woman was physically not on the boat during the murders, but she was absolutely on the boat with guidance in spirit. Jennifer was always on Skyler for the nice things. She wanted to move out,

and she put a lot of pressure on Skyler to make that happen for her. Well, I mean, she wanted that fairytale life. Jennifer is seen with a grin on her face as they're trying to take money out of the Hawks' accounts after they murdered them. And her whole defense was she was terrified of Skyler. She only went along with it because she was afraid

that Skyler might kill her too. And she has a gigantic grin on her face. The look of a woman whose financial problems and debt problems are about to be solved, not somebody that's afraid of the man that she's with. For her to say that she was not involved in any way was an outright lie. Jennifer DeLeon was convicted of murder

and sentenced to life in prison. Mother of two, guilty of their murders. She was convicted of the murders of Tom and Jackie Hawks and received a sentence of life without possibility of parole. Although her family suffers because she's loved, they'll still get a chance to see her, say their last words, and say their thoughts. They'll be seeing her through plexiglass. But you know, to see my parents, I have to look through 3,600 of

the cold Pacific Ocean. So here's the question. Why did they do it? Why did they go after these complete strangers, murder them so coldly? Was it just for the boat? Was that it? But maybe that wasn't all, as we learn later. During the investigation, there were some points that came up where Schuyler's gender identity was questioned. That he was, believes he was transgender, and that that was possibly a motive for not only the Jarvie homicide,

but the Hawks homicide to facilitate payment for his transgender surgery. I interviewed Schuyler de Leon in jail in 2009. Just before the interview, Schuyler was rushed to the hospital after an incident at the jail. He actually tries to cut his own penis off in jail. I took a ripped piece of sheet and tied it around my lower extremity. Then I went to cut it off. Had this been something you've been thinking about for a while? Yeah, for a long time. Tell me what's behind it.

Well, I guess it's something that I've always felt, like, as young as I can remember, and like always wanted. To be a woman? Yes, but I'm not attracted to guys, but I wanted the surgery. So when you get to jail, why did you figure you weren't ever going to get the surgery, so you might as well try it yourself? I guess so, kind of in a way. I just said, you know what, I'll do it myself,

but they got to me too quick. So you're still a man? Unfortunately. Skyler DeLeon had put money down to get a sex change prior to this crime. We found actually a receipt where Skyler had paid $500 to a surgeon who specialized in gender reassignment surgery.

I mean he lies so much. You never know when you're getting wrapped up in yet another con job. Maybe he just wanted to say, how could I do it? I'm weak, I'm frail, I'm practically a woman, right? Maybe it's just yet another con job. I mean, should we walk away from this program, this interview, knowing only that you cold-bloodedly killed three people? No. What else should we know?

A former child actor will stand trial for murder in a scheme to steal a yacht from a retired couple. They disappeared four years ago. Their bodies were never recovered. My family and I have been waiting for this day for a long time. So, Scott O'Dellione goes on trial in the fall of 2008, two years after his wife had been convicted. He's charged with murdering Tom and Jackie Hawks,

and also John Jarvey in Mexico. Ryan Hawks sat just feet away from the man who allegedly murdered his father and mother, Thomas and Jackie Hawks, for their boat and their life savings. I want him to know that I'm there. I want him to realize, you know, this is what he took from me and the rest of my family. Jurors also deciding if deLeon killed John Jarvey.

Prosecutors allege DeLeon took $50,000 from Jarvey, slit his throat and dumped him in Mexico. For us the trial was not about revenge. It's about protecting society from this man to do more damage. To my surprise, when the Sc Skyler's attorney got up, he went to a large flip chart. Stood before jurors and in bold letters wrote, Skyler is guilty of all three murders.

Because we were going to lose anyway. He was going to get convicted. They had the evidence and they had somebody who was there confess. If I tried to mislead them during the guilt phase, then they're not going to believe me when I get up there and talk about the penalty phase. His defense was that Skyler had been abused as a boy.

He was abused at the hands of his father. Not only in the physical abuse, the sexual abuse, the emotional abuse, but the abandonment issues. Everybody in his life basically abandoned him at one time or another. When you think about your childhood, what do you think about it? I hated it. I mean, there's lots of times I wished I was dead. I hated my childhood.

When Skyler was caught biting his nails, John would stick toothpicks up in between his nails and into his finger beds because that would teach him. Your dad physically abused you, beat you. Yeah. And then he had a friend who sexually abused you. Yes. So how does that terrible childhood

have any relevance to the situation we're in today where three people are murdered at his hands? You try to explain as best you can who the person is and hopefully get some sympathy from the jury that might impact on whether they vote to impose the death penalty or not. I think the defense attorney did the best he could but he didn't have much to work with. There's only one problem with Skyler's defense. You have to believe him and he's a proven liar. He is a pathetic figure in a lot of ways and he has a hard time telling the truth. In my 26 year career as a prosecutor, Skyler De Leon is the best liar that I've ever seen.

For example, he said he was Marine Corps Force recon. To hear Skyler tell it, he was this deadly trained sniper. He was sent to the Middle East where he would take care of business for the government. He did join the Marines at one point, but even that he wasn't successful at. He left after about a couple of weeks when AWOL. You told people you were a sniper? Oh, yes. You weren't, but you told people that?

Yes. Give me a little insight in that. Skyler, why would you do those things? I don't know, I guess just trying to impress people I was around, I guess. Skyler seemed happy to talk about his gender surgery, but he didn't want to talk about his murder victims. John Jarvey.

Was he a friend of yours? Acquaintance, I guess. Just somebody I'd met at the jail. I mean, I didn't even really know him that good. Did you kill him? I can't go into that. Skyler de Leon is one of the most haunting figures I've ever interviewed.

How he tied these poor people up in an anchor and threw them off the boat while they were still alive. It was just the worst thing I could ever think of. Should we walk away from this program, this interview, knowing only that you cold-bloodedly killed three people? No. What else should we know? Personally, I don't think I'm the person that they portrayed 100%. I mean, I think generally a good person just with a really bad decision. For the most part, I mean, I'm a nice person. I treat everybody nice.

What do you want people to know about Skyler DeLeon? To get it out there, I guess, I'm a nice person, I treat everybody nice. What do you want people to know about Skyler DeLeon? To get it out there, I guess I'm sorry. One thing, you know, take some things back. That's probably one of the biggest things. Ryan Hawk, who is the spokesman, of course, for the family, the son told us that your apology is more about you. You're sorry that you got caught, but you're not really sorry about his family his parents

Well, I would say you know I'm definitely sorry to his parents. I wish you could take back the time Give him back, you know his parents because it's like now I realize what he's lost DeLeon was convicted for the murders of Thomas and Jackie Hawks. Skyler was convicted of the murder of Tom and Jackie Hawks and also John Jarvey. The jury took two days to find him worthy of being sentenced to death. I don't think there was any surprise. The jury recommended the death penalty.

That's what the former child actor got. A few months after Skyler's convicted, another accomplice, John F. Kennedy. He was the muscle. He's tried, convicted, and sentenced to death. It's a big relief. We've been waiting for this for a very long time. Skyler has finally, I think, become the person that she has always wanted to be.

Scholar de Leon and John Fitzgerald Kennedy received the death penalty on death row. Jennifer de Leon received two life sentences in her involvement and she's in prison now. At the end of the day, they all get what they deserve. Only Alonzo will ever see the light of day again. We decided that a 20-year sentence was appropriate for him, given his cooperation, given his instrumental role in the prosecution of all these other people that were involved in the conspiracy. Justice was served because these people were found guilty,

but it's never a win because Ryan and Matt lost their parents. Mrs. Jarvey lost her son. Now that the governor has taken the death penalty off the table, you know, they're getting three squares a day and living their life. So I have really mixed feelings on that. Skyler has finally, I think, become the person that she has always wanted to be. Skyler is now legally a woman.

She has filed court papers and she has changed her name from Skyler Julius de Leon to Skyler Preciosa de Leon. And it's worth remembering, I know I do, that even as we were interviewing him, Skyler was already planning how he could live with women in jail and not men. There's some talk about one of the reasons you wanted to do this, you wanted to be in the women's jail? Yeah, I would rather be because I get along a lot better with female than I do with guys. So if I'm going to be doing time, at least maybe I could do it with females and guys. Over time he was growing more and more effeminate looking. He asked for female underwear and a bra and eventually as the criminal justice

system has been kind of changing with the culture, she was allowed to start wearing those things. And she wants to be called a she. He's receiving hormones on the state tax dollars. I think he's petitioned to have the surgery done. But you shouldn't be rewarded for brutally murdering three people so you can get your way. Any chance they get to take advantage of the system, to get some sort of benefit that they think they deserve, we are sending the wrong message.

The lingering thoughts I have about the case are just the senselessness of it. Stupid people doing stupid things and vicious things. This case is probably one of the few that just sheer evil is involved. I was a prosecutor for 26 years. This is a case I will personally never forget. They're evil, personified, scariest people I've ever met.

I had a recurring nightmare for years where Skyler is running and I've got to chase him and tackle him. And it's one of the most gratifying things in my career to have a jury make the right call, and not just once, not just twice, but three times with Jennifer, with Sky call, and not just once, not just twice, but three times with Jennifer, with Skyler, and with John Kennedy.

Tom and Jackie Hawks were murdered more than 15 years ago, and this is one of the cases that I still think about when I am looking out toward Catalina Island and I look at the ocean, I think of them. Hi Jackie! I'm so glad you could join us on our last voyage on Well Deserved. Got a few boats here on old Catalina so we'll miss it for a while but we'll be back. Thanks for listening to the 2020 True Crime Vault. We hope you'll join us Friday nights at 9 on ABC for all new broadcast episodes.

See you then. A new true crime series. They call me Scam Goddess. I'm going on a journey across America to dive into small towns windows How can you not trust this local farm girl? and big city cons. He was himping the congregation. People say that would never happen to me. Never say never.