Deleon guilty of three killings

There were no celebrations, no tears or gasps, just a quiet acknowledgment that two families were one step closer to justice Monday when 12 jurors convicted a Long Beach man of killing their loved ones for money several years ago.

Skylar Deleon, 29, was convicted of killing three people, including a Newport Beach couple in 2004, after less than a work-week’s worth of evidence and testimony from prosecutors sealed a conviction even defense attorneys said was inevitable.

“He knew that was going to happen,” said Deleon’s attorney Gary Pohlson, noting that the two hours of juror deliberation “seemed a little long.”

From the get-go, Pohlson told jurors his client was guilty. He was simply looking forward to the next phase of Deleon’s case, the penalty phase, to start making his case.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Deleon, who stole $50,000 from John Jarvi in 2003 before slashing his throat in the Mexican desert. Deleon also duped Newport Beach couple Tom and Jackie Hawks into thinking he was interested in buying their boat, Well Deserved, before he and two other men bound and gagged them, tied them to the boat’s anchor and threw them overboard into the Pacific.

Deleon’s victims’ families were satisfied with the verdict, but all said they would find consolation only if he were sentenced to death.

“It felt like a little, tiny piece of the puzzle was placed into justice,” said one of Tom and Jackie Hawks’ sons, Ryan. “This is going to mean a little more when they read it at the end of the penalty phase.”

“This clears the way for the death penalty,” said John Jarvi’s older brother, Jeff. “I’m offended that there’s [an attorney] who has to plea for his life.”

That man is Pohlson, who said he’s going to point to Deleon’s childhood, particularly his relationship with his father, to gain some sympathy from jurors in hopes he’s sentenced to life without parole.

Deleons’ dad, John Jacobson Sr., was a convicted felon who prosecutors said Deleon had originally turned to for help in killing the Hawkses out at sea. Deleon was rebuffed and later tried to pin the slayings on his father, police said. Prosecutors said Deleon tried to hire someone to kill Jasobson while he was in jail. Jacobson died earlier this year of AIDS, Pohlson said.

Pohlson said Deleon wasn’t “a smart guy” who could have planned these murders, and that he was abused by Jacobson physically and emotionally when he was a child.

Jarvi doesn’t seem to buy it, describing Deleon as a kind of wolf in sheep’s clothing.

“[Deleon] could be anybody — he could be the kid that lives right next to you,” Jarvi said. “He doesn’t have that look.”

The penalty phase of the case, fresh with new testimony and witnesses, including family members of the Hawkses who have never testified before, will begin Wednesday.

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