Accused Murderer Denies Plot to Kill Father Over Testimony

A Long Beach man accused of handcuffing a retired couple to an anchor of their yacht and throwing them overboard pleaded not guilty Monday to plotting hits on his father and cousin, who are potential witnesses against him.

The prosecutor said there were audio and video recordings of accused murderer Skylar Deleon soliciting two inmates to commit the crimes, according to defense attorney Gary Pohlson.

Pohlson said he did not put much stock in the recordings, saying Deleon “is a guy who talks a lot. I try to encourage him not to talk so much. He does tend to embellish stories.”

Wearing an orange jumpsuit, Deleon, 26, wiped tears from his red-rimmed eyes as he sat behind a wire mesh barrier in Orange County Superior Court in Newport Beach.

Prosecutors say Deleon tried to persuade a fellow inmate at Orange County Jail to kill his father in 2005. He allegedly solicited another inmate last week to kill his cousin, who could testify against him in an unrelated murder case.

Deleon’s father, John Jacobson, said Monday he didn’t want to believe investigators when they told him his son wanted him dead. Jacobson said that since the case broke, he had been looking over his shoulder and staying on the move while working as a salesman.

He described the ordeal involving his son as “a bad dream you never wake up from.”

“I wanted to come back to California, but I didn’t, out of fear.... I wasn’t taking any chances. I was staying in hiding and staying away,” he said.

Jacobson said investigators told him his son initially tried to blame him for the Hawks slayings. If that is true, Jacobson said, Deleon might want him killed, so he couldn’t defend himself.

Jacobson, who has two other children, said his son became a different person after he served in the Marines and changed his name from John Jacobson Jr. Deleon received a less-than-honorable discharge.

“I believe he is a sick individual,” the father said. “I love him because he’s my blood and family. But somewhere along the line, he changed, I guess.”

Jacobson said his family wanted to send their condolences to the Hawks family, calling the situation tragic for everyone involved.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy wouldn’t say what testimony Deleon’s father and cousin could give.

He would not confirm that authorities had Deleon on tape asking people to kill them.

The new charges represent the latest twist in the disappearance of Tom and Jackie Hawks, who authorities allege were murdered at sea somewhere between Newport Beach and Santa Catalina Island. Their bodies have not been found.

The Hawkses had decided to sell their 55-foot yacht Well Deserved and return to Arizona to dote on their newly born first grandchild. They thought they had found a buyer in Deleon, and they took him and two of his friends on a final test drive.

Deleon and three others, including his wife, Jennifer, 24, are charged with the special circumstances of murder of multiple victims and murder for financial gain.

Eight months after his arrest, Deleon was charged in the 2003 slaying of Jon P. Jarvi, a man he had met while serving a burglary sentence at the Seal Beach City Jail.

Jarvi, a pilot and jewelry maker, was found with his throat slashed in Mexico.

Deleon is accused of killing Jarvi and stealing $50,000 from him.

Deleon’s cousin, Michael W. Lewis Jr. of Oatman, Ariz., was arrested, accused of being an accomplice in that case. He has been released from jail.

Judge Craig E. Robison set an Oct. 6 preliminary hearing on the witness-murder solicitation charges.