Opening statements in Deleon case start Tuesday

Opening statements in the trial of Skylar Deleon, the Long Beach man accused of masterminding the 2004 murder of a Newport Beach couple for their yacht, will begin Tuesday, prosecutors said Thursday

Deleon, 29, is accused of plotting the murder of Thomas and Jackie Hawks, a Newport Beach couple who were looking to sell their boat.

Prosecutors say Deleon and two other men in 2004 posed as potential boat buyers so the Hawkses could take them out on the boat. Prosecutors claim the men overpowered the retired couple at sea, forced them to sign over the title to the boat, then handcuffed them to the anchor and threw them into the ocean alive. Their bodies were never found.

Deleon will also be tried on a second, unrelated murder charge. Prosecutors claim that in 2003 he persuaded John Jarvi to drive with him to Mexico, where he stole up to $50,000 in cash that Jarvi had taken out as a loan, and sliced his throat. If convicted of all charges, prosecutors said they will pursue the death penalty for Deleon.

— Joseph Serna