Yacht Murder Trial: Closing Arguments

by Jordan Yerman | October 18, 2008 at 06:10 am

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Skylar Deleon, accused of murdering a couple by tying them to their yacht's anchor and throwing them overboard in an attempt to steal their yacht and savings, has plead "not guilty", but his attorney has admitted this client's guilt. The prosecution has painted him as a calculating killer who planned and executed his crimes with brutal precision.

The jury has not yet returned a verdict in the yacht murder trial, and Deleon has since been accused of a third murder, that of a killing-for-hire in 2003.

Skylar Deleon killed Thomas and Jackie Hawks to seize ownership of the couple's 55-foot yacht and try to steal their savings, prosecutor Matt Murphy told Orange County jurors.

"He is not a genius; (he is) very clever in a diabolical sort of way," Murphy said. "Evil? Absolutely, yes. And manipulative."

Deleon, 29, is charged with murder and murder for financial gain in the couple's disappearance from Newport Harbor nearly four years ago.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Deleon, who is also accused of killing a man he met on a work furlough program in 2003 by slashing his throat and dumping his body in Mexico.