Meet Tom and Jackie Hawks
Tom Hawks was born and raised in California. A military veteran, former probation officer, and bodybuilder, he married his first wife, though it ended in divorce. Tom did get two wonderful children out of it though, Ryan and Matt, who he raised on his own. One day in 1986, Tom was at a local chili competition when he met Jackie.
They hit it off instantly, starting a romance which eventually blossomed into marriage in 1989. This was both of their second marriages, Jackie having lost her first husband in an accident years prior.
They loved each other unconditionally and together they raised Ryan and Matt to the best of their abilities. Jackie was sadly unable to have children of her own after a terrible accident when she was 22, so when given the chance to raise Tom’s children as her own, she jumped right into it, loving them as her own. It got to the point that, even though the boy’s mother was still alive, they started calling Jackie “Mom.”
Eventually the boys grew up and left the house to live on their own. The nest was empty, and Tom and Jackie could feel the emptiness around them. However, the loving couple had planned for this. They weren’t wealthy by any means, but they were smart, and they’d managed to save their money for years just for this moment. So in 2002 after their sons moved out, both of them retired, sold their house, and with the money they saved up along with the proceeds from the house sale, they purchased a yacht that they christened the Well Deserved. An appropriate name if ever there was one.
As soon as they bought the boat, Tom and Jackie got to work. It wasn’t a huge yacht by any means, it was fairly small, and it had its wear and tear from years of previous use. However, the Hawks were persistent in their efforts to make this little dream of theirs as pristine as possible. All their hard work paid off as by the summer of that year, the Well Deserved was in beautiful condition and ready to set sail. Tom and Jackie had already moved all their belongings on board, and from that moment onward, they lived happily upon their boat. For two years, they sailed up and down the California and Mexico coastline together, living their best life.
Then in 2004, happiness struck once again. Out of the blue, Tom and Jackie’s son Matt announced that his wife was expecting. The loving couple were finally going to be grandparents and they were over the moon. With this news, Tom and Jackie made the decision to sell their yacht and use the proceeds to purchase a house on land in order to be closer to their family and help look after their new grandbaby. So, in November of 2004, the Hawks put an ad in a local fishing magazine, advertising the Well Deserved to be up for sale for about half a million dollars. And soon enough…someone reached out to buy.
From every article, every report, every video that could be found, one thing always remained true: Tom and Jackie Hawks were phenomenal people. They loved each other more than anything, they adored their two sons, and they were so looking forward to being grandparents. From the pictures of the two of them and from the many home videos the two had made, it was clear that they were so full of life, even as they got older. It’s because of this that what came to pass next breaks the heart every time it is told.
The Disappearance
As soon as the Hawks received word of a potential buyer, they were excited. Calling both of their sons, they told them of the upcoming sale and that they would be in touch soon after in order to set things up for the move to a new home. Matt and Ryan were looking forward to it as well and waited patiently for their parents to call…except it never came. Two whole days went by and not a peep from either Tom or Jackie.
The boys had gotten worried at that point and attempted to contact their mother and father, but to no avail. Neither Tom nor Jackie answered their calls, which was very much out of character. Their children were their world, so for them not to call them or answer when they called, something was definitely wrong.
Upon hearing the news of this suspicious silence, Tom’s brother Jim Hawks, who was a retired police chief in his own right, dropped everything and set out for Newport Beach, California, in order to check on his brother and sister-in-law. Arriving at the docks, Jim and a friend of his exited the vehicle and walked right up to the Well Deserved. As soon as they approached the boat, they determined that Jackie and Tom were not onboard. They also noticed several things out of place. The tarps meant to be over the control panels were thrown off and not put back, dirty towels were hanging out of the portholes, and there were lines left hanging over the side of the boat. The Hawks were very clean and meticulous people, they would have never left their boat in such a state.
Believing that the boat must be under new ownership after all, Jim took out his business card and wrote a note for the new owners, stating he was the brother of the previous owner, but no one could get ahold of him or his wife, so please call if they had any information. Jim and his friend then drove off, but before they could even get out of the area, Jim’s phone rang. This was Jennifer Deleon, and she said that she and her husband Skylar had in fact purchased the yacht, but there were some controls they had no idea how to work and they couldn’t find the manual, so they also needed to get in touch with Tom and Jackie about it. The Hawks had also apparently left some personal items on the boat, and they wanted to return them to the couple.
Upon being asked when was the last time they saw Tom and Jackie, Jennifer told Jim that after the sale was finalized, Tom and Jackie had simply gotten into their car and sped off. Apparently in the short time the couples had talked, Tom had noted that the two of them had planned on purchasing a house down in Mexico in a town that borders Arizona since their son lives there. After the call ended, Jim was stumped as to what to do next, but then had an idea. Tom and Jackie had hired a woman named Patricia to manage most of their financial affairs after they began living on the Well Deserved, so he figured she must know something.
Getting her number, Jim called and explained to Patricia what the situation was. He then asked her if she had heard from Tom or Jackie recently, to which she said no. He then asked if there was any activity in their accounts, if perhaps a large sum of money had been deposited from the sale of the yacht. Checking the accounts, Patricia informed Jim that no money had been put in the Hawks’ account, let alone $500,000.
It was at that point, more worried than ever, that Jim Hawks called the police and reported Tom and Jackie Hawks as missing.
Go Go Skylar Deleon
Police officers arrived at the docks to search the boat and were met with the sight of what they believed to be a bloody handprint. More officers arrived to aid in the search, but on further analysis, it was confirmed to only be discoloration due to rusting.
Almost as soon as the police got involved, they began looking at the folks who purchased the Well Deserved. They brought Jennifer’s husband, Skylar Deleon, in for a discussion over the purchasing of the boat, to which he said they had purchased it with the money Skylar had saved up from his acting career as a child. Yes, that’s right, Skylar Deleon was a child actor back in the day. His alleged claim to fame? As a child extra on the fifty-fifth episode of the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers! This couldn’t be confirmed however as the name Skylar Deleon couldn’t be found in the credits of the episode, nor could his birth name of John Julius Jacobson, Jr.
Skylar provided signed paperwork of the transaction from Jackie Hawks, finalizing the sale of the Well Deserved to himself and his wife. He told them that on that day he and Jennifer with their young baby daughter, along with a notary named Kathleen Harris and a friend of his named Alonso Machain, had gone to the docks to meet with the Hawks. He said they all hit it off and Tom took everyone out on the boat for a sea trial, which is basically a ride around in the open ocean to show the new owners how the boat runs. Skylar told Tom he loved the boat and once they were on land, that’s when all the paperwork was finalized, money was exchanged, and the Hawks just took off.
Now the police were still quite suspicious over this whole situation. The boat cost $500,000, Skylar’s acting credits couldn’t be proven no matter how much he claimed they were true, and even if they were, he and Jennifer were living in a converted garage with Jennifer’s family, Jennifer’s hairdressing job being their only steady stream of income. It just didn’t seem feasible for the couple to purchase something as grand as a $500,000 yacht.
The officers pressed him further, and that’s when Skylar admitted that he had not bought the boat with money from his acting career. Instead, he’d been involved in a large drug smuggling ring and had used the purchase of the yacht as a way to launder the money. Now this is a big deal, laundering money is a felony, especially when it’s connected to illegal activity. However, the cops actually let Skylar go free after admitting this.
There was a good reason for it: they wanted to keep tabs on Skylar to hopefully get a lead on the whereabouts of Tom and Jackie.
Suspicions
Three weeks after Skylar was let go, the police were flabbergasted to find out that Skylar and Jennifer had attempted to gain access to the Hawks’ bank accounts. They were even more floored when it was revealed that, for some reason, the Deleons had been given power of attorney over the Hawks’ assets. Red flags went up instantly, right? Well, yes, but there was a speed bump.
See, Skylar and Jennifer had the proper paperwork for said transfer of power, with Jackie and the notary signing it, making it official and legitimate. They continued to say the reason they went into their accounts was to help Tom and Jackie facilitate the purchase of the aforementioned property in Mexico.
The police weren’t buying it, they were still locked on to this couple, thinking something terrible must have happened to Tom and Jackie. Looking into both of them, Jennifer Deleon had a clean record, but the cops were intrigued to find out that Skylar actually had criminal charges and had served time. See, Skylar had been involved in an armed robbery back in 2002, for which he was still on parole.
It also didn’t help his case that when he was 20, he had enlisted in the military but deserted after only two weeks, getting a less than honorable discharge. It was while he was in prison that he had befriended Alonso Machain, who had been working as a guard at the prison at the time.
It also didn’t help that when questioned, all four people who were reportedly there when the transaction went down all had similar accounts except for one detail. They all said that the Hawks were acting differently with Skylar saying Tom was acting nervous and paranoid while the notary claimed they were just fine. Even with their suspicions though, they couldn’t do much and had hit a proverbial dead end. So, in a desperate effort, they turned to the media, with a bulletin going out nationwide with a picture of the Hawks’ car and their names, asking for any information available.
Revelations Across the Border
Within two days of the bulletin airing, the police were contacted by an old couple in Mexico. They claimed that the Hawks’ vehicle was right across the street, parked on the side of the road. American and Mexican authorities rushed to the scene, and indeed, it was Tom and Jackie’s vehicle. Going up to the house, they knock on the door, hoping for it to be the Hawks. But of course it wasn’t, because the world we live in is a cruel place.
The Mexican man who answered the door was confused as to what all the hullabaloo was about and when he was asked who the car belonged to, he said his friend. They then asked him if his friend was Tom or Jackie Hawks. He said no…it was Skylar Deleon. At that point, the police kicked it into overdrive and, using the taped confession, they arrested Skylar on money laundering charges, and searched his home.
The Deleon’s house was a goldmine: pieces of Tom and Jackie’s property such as laptops and video cameras, things they would not have left without, were all found in the Deleon house.
Skylar maintained that he was innocent throughout all of this, and Jennifer stood by him, taking to the media to preach his innocence to the country. The police weren’t having it though, and with Skylar giving them nothing to work with, they brought the notary and Alonso back in for questioning. They turned on the pressure and, while she initially stuck to her story, Kathleen finally came clean: she’d never met either Tom or Jackie before in her life, and she’d never seen them sign any sort of documents. Kathleen had been paid extra money by Skylar Deleon to backdate the documents to November 15, 2004 and apply her notary seal to them after the fact, though she had no idea what happened to them during the transaction.
Next was Alonso’s turn. Initially, like Kathleen, he too stuck to the same story. However, as soon as he was confronted with the truth that Kathleen had come clean, he shut down entirely. Their backs against the wall and desperate to find some break in this case, the police assured Alonso that he would get a reduced sentence as long as he cooperated with them, to which Alonso finally agreed.
Alonso told the police about his friendship with Skylar, dating all the way back to the prison where he had been a guard while Skylar was locked up. Somehow, they managed to stay close after Skylar had gotten out of prison and come November of 2004, Skylar took Alonso aside and confided in him a great secret. What was this great tip top secret? Skylar was an international master assassin.
Regardless, he confided this “great secret” to Alonso and told him that he had been given a contract to kill two very bad people, who just so happened to be Tom and Jackie Hawks. He told Alonso that he needed help ridding the world of these bad people and, if Alonso helped him out, he’d pay Alonso 1 million dollars. Yes, the man living in his in-laws’ garage had a million lying around to give to this poor man. And Alonso agreed to help his best buddy out in murdering these “very bad people.”
And that brings us to the events of that fateful day down at the docks.
Undeserved on the Well Deserved
Skylar and Alonso met with the Hawks that day down at the docks, but they didn’t do it alone. Seeing that Tom Hawks was a very large and imposing man, Skylar made a call to another friend of his by the name of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. No, Skylar wasn’t a necromancer who summoned the 35th President of the United States back from beyond the vale to have a chat with Tom. No, this JFK was a large African American man who had ties to several gangs in the area that Skylar had also met in prison.
If that sounds too stereotypical to be real, unfortunately this is the reality we live in.
Now Tom was a former probation officer, he had a lot of experience dealing with bad men, so he instantly was on high alert when he saw the three men who wanted to purchase his boat. He made attempts to call the meeting off, saying perhaps another day would be better, but Skylar could tell things were going south. Making a quick call, he brought Jennifer and their newborn to meet the Hawks. Jackie, being the sweet motherly lady that she was, instantly fell in love with the infant and made quick friends with Jennifer, which eased the tension and relaxed Tom a bit.
He agreed to take everyone out for the sea trial, but as soon as they were about to start, Jennifer said she had to go, that the baby was being fussy, so she headed out. Jennifer was in on all of it, and in fact it was allegedly her idea to attack the Hawks to begin with. She was just as responsible for what happened next as any of them.
Now committed to the sea trial, Tom and Jackie took all three men out onto the open ocean, showing them how the boat runs and how the controls work. As soon as things slowed down, Skylar and John leapt on Tom and subdued him in the Hawks’ bedroom, handcuffing him and throwing him on the bed. It’s said that Tom had to be tasered multiple times before he went down. Hearing the commotion, Alonso grabbed and handcuffed Jackie, taking her into the bedroom with the two others, throwing her on the bed with her husband.
“She was overwhelmed with what was going on,” Machain said later to the cops. “Tom was calm. … She screams at Skylar that, ‘We trusted you and your wife came over. … You had your …little girl over. Why are you doing this?’”
Skylar then took control of the Well Deserved and sailed it further into the big open blue of the ocean. As this whole ordeal was going down, Tom, being the loving husband he was, was able to reposition himself and attempted to comfort his wife by gently stroking her hand. Even in a situation as dire as this, his wife always came first, a true man.
Upon arriving at the deepest part of the sea, the three ruffians brought their two hostages up top as Skylar brought out some paperwork. Uncuffing Jackie, they forced her to sign and notarize the documents, transferring ownership of the Well Deserved over to the Deleons. It should be noted that Jackie, in a clever bit of deception, signed her name as ‘Jackie Hawk,’ not ‘Hawks,’ in hope that someone would notice that something was wrong. Good on Jackie, as after everything was done, the crooks noticed and added the ‘s’ to the end of the signature later which to the police stuck out like a sore thumb and raised their suspicions even higher.
After all the documents were signed, Skylar calmly walked to the front of the Well Deserved…and retrieved the anchor. In the process of tying the Hawks to it, Tom managed to overpower his captors, if only briefly, and kick Skylar directly in the groin. It didn’t last long though, John Kennedy instantly leapt onto Tom and knocked him down with a swift blow to the head.
Machain described it as, “a final act of defiance by the powerful captain of the Well-Deserved.”
They finished tying the terrified couple to the anchor of the yacht. Skylar then picked it up, walked over to the side of the boat, looked directly into the horror-stricken eyes of Tom and Jackie Hawks…and let it go. As the rattle of the chain rang out around them all, Tom and Jackie desperately tried to break their restraints and free themselves from perhaps the most horrible fate anyone could imagine…but it was all in vain.
The chain went taut and the Hawks were dragged to the side of the yacht, Jackie hitting her head on the edge with a loud crack. They tried to slow themselves, they tried to claw themselves away from the edge, they fought for their lives, but it was futile. Tom and Jackie Hawks, loving couple, doting parents, soon to be grandparents, were dragged over the edge of their beloved yacht. Screaming, splash, water, darkness.
They were fully alive, fully conscious, fully understanding of what was happening. It’s been 18 years and to this day, the bodies of Tom and Jackie Hawks have never been found, and most likely never will be.
After the Hawks had sank beneath the waves and vanished from sight, Skylar was reported to have cheered and laughed, jumping for joy, and running to the edge to look over and see if he could see his victims sinking down in the deepest trench of the ocean. Skylar then took control of the boat and drove it back to shore, and we know the rest from there.
Skylar Deleon, Jennifer Deleon, John Kennedy, and Alonso Machain were all arrested and charged with the murders of Tom and Jackie Hawks. The real kick in the teeth? When searching the Deleon residence, police found a video camera. Inside was a home video recorded by Jackie Hawks.
In it, she said how much she would miss the boat as it was their last day aboard, but also how excited she was to be a grandma…only for the video to suddenly cut. Where Jackie’s final video once was now showed Skylar, Jennifer, and their baby at Thanksgiving dinner only days later. These individuals had taken the last remnant of the Hawks and had taped over it for their own use. No remorse, no regret, they simply didn’t care.
A Selfish Motive
We now get to the all-important question of why. If you guessed that it was all for money, you’d be absolutely correct, but there’s a deeper why to even that. Why would he need that money? The answer: because Skylar Deleon wanted to have gender reassignment surgery.
That’s right, Skylar is transgender, and this was her key to the body she always wanted. As stated before, her birth name is John, but she changed it to Skylar as that’s a very gender-neutral name.
In that same vein, Skylar must have been rather desperate for that sex change. While in custody awaiting trial, Deleon attempted to do the procedure herself by wrapping a pillow case around her genitals and going to town with a razor she somehow got ahold of. She was taken to the hospital and stabilized.
In the end, Jennifer, who had divorced Skylar while awaiting trial, was sentenced to two life sentences without the possibility for parole. Alonso Machain was sentenced to 20 years in prison. It would have been longer had he not cooperated with the police. Finally, Skylar Deleon and John Kennedy were sentenced to death. They’re all currently in prison with Skylar and John on death row, waiting on their sentences to come to pass.
In 2019 Skylar legally had her gender changed to that of a woman and her pronouns changed to match. She attempted to have the state pay for her surgeries…thankfully they shut that down immediately.
Sadness at Sea
And that’s where we leave our story today. A story that did not need to happen, one of two loving people who simply wanted to enjoy their lives and live closer to their family, and in doing so it cost them everything. This tragedy has been covered all over the internet in articles and news reports, as well as on other channels such as MrBallen and That Chapter, both of which did a wonderful job and are a credit to the true crime channel family, so they deserved a shout out here.
Skylar Deleon, her ex-wife, and their accomplices are the lowest of the low and don’t deserve the recognition they’ve been given. They deserve to rot in the deepest level of hell and to be forgotten to the annals of true crime history. So here, we wish to remember Tom and Jackie. They were amazing people, amazing parents, and would have been amazing grandparents.
They lived their lives on their terms, they had fun every step of the way, and should be around today to spread their love to everyone they know. Sadly, they aren’t, they had the rest of their futures stolen from them, but we remember them now so that their memory will live on forever.
We also wish to send regards to Ryan and Matt Hawks, the two men who, for nothing more than a selfish wish for one’s own comfort, lost the two most important people in their lives. After the tragedy, Matt and Ryan inherited the Well Deserved, though they sold it soon after due to their financial troubles which prevented them from maintaining the boat properly, as their parents would have wished. Matt currently lives in Mesa, Arizona and works as an engineer at the Phoenix Fire Department, while Ryan is a salesman and was said to have thought about writing a book back in 2009 as a way to tell his parent’s story, a way to honor their memory.
We leave you with a quote from Tom Hawks himself, a saying he would tell his boys, and it’s a quote that he and Jackie lived by to the fullest: “Life’s too short, and it’s my life, this is our time, and I feel if I hesitate, then it would just go by, and I’ll miss it.”
Rest in Peace Tom and Jackie Hawks. Together forever, warm and loving, in a paradise Well Deserved.
Key Takeaways
- Tom and Jackie Hawks retired in 2002, bought the yacht Well Deserved, and sailed for two years before deciding to sell it in 2004 to be near family.
- Skylar Deleon, Jennifer Deleon, Alonso Machain, and John Kennedy lured the Hawks onto their yacht under false pretenses during a supposed sea trial.
- The perpetrators forced the Hawks to sign fraudulent ownership documents before tying them to the anchor and throwing them overboard alive; their bodies were never recovered.
- Police uncovered the crime through suspicious bank account access, a notary’s confession about backdated documents, and Alonso Machain’s cooperation in exchange for reduced sentencing.
- All four perpetrators were convicted, with Skylar Deleon and John Kennedy receiving death sentences, Jennifer Deleon receiving two life sentences, and Alonso Machain receiving 20 years.
Dana Ortiz covers prosecutorial mechanics, evidentiary procedure, and how investigations unwind decades after the original case file went cold.
Frequently Asked Questions
How did Tom and Jackie Hawks meet?
Tom and Jackie Hawks met in 1986 at a local chili competition. They hit it off instantly, started a romance, and eventually married in 1989. This was both of their second marriages.
What was the name of Tom and Jackie Hawks’ yacht and why did they choose it?
The yacht was named ‘Well Deserved.’ The name was considered appropriate because they had saved their money for years, retired in 2002 after their sons moved out, sold their house, and purchased the yacht to live their dream.
Why did Tom and Jackie Hawks decide to sell their yacht in 2004?
In 2004, their son Matt announced that his wife was expecting a baby. Tom and Jackie decided to sell the yacht and use the proceeds to purchase a house on land in order to be closer to their family and help look after their new grandbaby.
What suspicious signs did Jim Hawks notice when he checked on the Well Deserved?
Jim Hawks noticed several things out of place: the tarps meant to be over the control panels were thrown off and not put back, dirty towels were hanging out of the portholes, and there were lines left hanging over the side of the boat. These were uncharacteristic of the meticulous Hawks.
What was Skylar Deleon’s claimed source of money to buy the yacht?
Skylar Deleon initially claimed to have purchased the yacht with money saved from his acting career as a child, allegedly appearing as a child extra on the fifty-fifth episode of the first season of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. This could not be confirmed, and he later admitted to money laundering from a drug smuggling ring.
What clever deception did Jackie Hawks use when forced to sign documents?
When forced to sign documents transferring ownership of the Well Deserved, Jackie Hawks signed her name as ‘Jackie Hawk’ instead of ‘Jackie Hawks,’ omitting the ‘s’ in hopes that someone would notice something was wrong. The criminals later added the ‘s’ themselves.
How were Tom and Jackie Hawks killed?
After being subdued, handcuffed, and forced to sign documents, Tom and Jackie Hawks were tied to the anchor of their yacht. Skylar Deleon dropped the anchor overboard, dragging the fully conscious couple into the ocean where they drowned. Their bodies have never been found.
What was Skylar Deleon’s motive for murdering Tom and Jackie Hawks?
Skylar Deleon’s motive was money to pay for gender reassignment surgery. Deleon is transgender and wanted the money from the yacht sale and the Hawks’ assets to fund this procedure.
What were the sentences for the perpetrators?
Jennifer Deleon was sentenced to two life sentences without parole. Alonso Machain was sentenced to 20 years in prison due to his cooperation with police. Skylar Deleon and John Kennedy were both sentenced to death and are on death row.
What happened to the Well Deserved after the murders?
After the tragedy, Tom and Jackie’s sons Ryan and Matt inherited the Well Deserved, but they sold it soon after due to financial troubles that prevented them from maintaining the boat properly as their parents would have wished.
Sources
- Original Casual Criminalist video: Tom and Jackie Hawks: Tragedy at Sea
- Hero image source by dconvertini / openverse, by-sa.
