A ‘most prolific liar’

Assuming a guilty verdict is inevitable, the defense attorney for a Long Beach man accused of killing three people, including a Newport Beach couple, said Thursday when jurors consider the death penalty, they have to ask themselves why these killings happened.

Defense Attorney Gary Pohlson acknowledged that his client’s guilt by now was a shock to no one. In his opening statements last week, he said his client, Skylar Deleon, 29, is guilty of killing three people.

But that fact alone doesn’t warrant the death sentence, Pohlson told jurors. He did not specify what circumstances would lead jurors to spare Deleon’s life but implied it’s in the evidence involved in the slayings he is accused of — the throat-slashing of John Jarvi in December 2003 and the drowning of Newport Beach couple Tom and Jackie Hawks in November 2004.

Deleon is accused of masterminding the murder of Jarvi and the Hawkses, separate crimes that Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy successfully had consolidated into one trial last month.

“Right now, this is a terrible, heinous three crimes. But now you’ll see as to why, and what that means to the penalty phase,” Pohlson said during his brief closing argument.

When jurors come back with a guilty verdict as expected, which attorneys said would likely happen early next week, the second phase of Deleon’s trial will begin. A new round of testimony by detectives and witnesses will lay the foundation for both sides’ arguments regarding Deleon’s potential death sentence.

“I’m going to show you the why, this is why it happened,” Murphy said following Pohlson’s argument.

Behind Murphy on a large projection screen was a photo of Skylar Deleon and then-wife Jennifer Deleon’s living space at the time of the killings. The couple, with one baby and a second on the way, were heavily in debt and living in the two-car garage of a relative. The garage was split in half with a piece of drywall so a car could still park there, giving the Deleons essentially half a garage to live in, about a 15-by-20-foot home.

Prosecutors say Deleon robbed Jarvi of $50,000 before the killing and forced the Hawkses to sign over the title to their boat and power over their finances before tying them to an anchor and pushing them into the Pacific, where they died.

Jennifer Henderson (formerly Jennifer Deleon) was convicted for her role in the Hawkses’ drownings last year and was sentenced to life without parole. Deleon’s murder charges are enhanced because the slayings involved financial gain.

Murphy appeared to delve into his argument for putting Deleon to death early. He referred to the jury as a “certified death penalty jury” and called Deleon “one of the most prolific liars on planet Earth” who showed no remorse for the crimes and manipulated everyone around him to do his bidding. Murphy’s statement was followed by a lengthy meeting between the judge and attorneys, after which the judge reiterated to jurors that emotions and potential penalties were not to be considered in reaching their verdict.

Pohlson clarified during his closing argument that the term “death penalty jury” meant it only indicated they had an equally open mind to a life or death sentence and had gone through a more rigorous vetting process than usual.

The case will be handed over to jurors Monday morning after the judge presents them with instructions.

JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at joseph.serna@latimes.com.