Suspects plead not guilty

A Long Beach couple and another man pleaded not guilty Tuesday at

their arraignment on charges that they murdered a retired Newport

Beach couple.

Skylar Deleon, 26, his wife Jennifer Henderson-Deleon, 24, and

John Kennedy, 40, are charged with the murders of Tom and Jackie

Hawks, who police say were killed aboard their yacht, Well Deserved,

in November.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Daniel Didier decided Tuesday

that the trial will be held in Judge Frank Fasel’s courtroom. A

conference to determine a date for trial will be held Oct. 14.

Alonso Machain, 21, of Pico Rivera, and Myron Gardner, 42, of Long

Beach, also charged in the Hawks killings, are being tried

separately. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Oct. 7.

During the two-day preliminary hearing for the Deleons and

Kennedy, details of the alleged killings were revealed publicly for

the first time in testimony by a Newport Beach detective.

Police believe the Hawkses were overpowered, bound with tape,

chained to the anchor of their yacht and thrown overboard alive.

Their bodies have not been found.

Each of the five defendants faces two counts of murder, with

special circumstances of murder for financial gain and multiple

murder. The special circumstances make each of the five eligible for

the death penalty if convicted.

Skylar Deleon and Jennifer Henderson-Deleon, along with Skylar

Deleon’s cousin, Michael Lewis Jr., have also been charged in the

killing of 45-year-old John Jarvi of Anaheim, who was found with his

throat slashed in Mexico in December 2003.

Henderson-Deleon last week pleaded not guilty to being an

accessory to the murder of Jarvi. Deleon is scheduled to be arraigned

in the Jarvi case Friday; Lewis will be arraigned later in September.