Defense faces 2 hurdles

Defense attorneys for a Long Beach man accused of killing a Newport Beach couple will have their hands full today, as two witnesses are expected to put the defendant at the scene of the crime.

First up is Alonso Machain, who has admitted in previous trials on the witness stand to helping kill Tom and Jackie Hawks from Newport Beach out at sea in 2004. He’s expected to finger the defendant, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 43, as one of his accomplices.

Prosecutors are accusing Kennedy of serving as the “muscle” for Machain and Skylar Deleon and helping kill the couple as part of an elaborate plot to steal their boat and empty their bank accounts before fleeing to Mexico.

Kennedy faces the death penalty. Defense attorneys told jurors during opening statements that Machain’s testimony is questionable because he is only testifying as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors to avoid the ultimate punishment.

Today’s testimony is expected to fully revolve around Kennedy’s whereabouts on Nov. 15, 2004, after the first days of the trial was spent outlining Deleon’s elaborate plot for the jury.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy said an expert in cell-phone tracking will testify that records from a Newport Beach Verizon Wireless cell-phone tower show that Kennedy’s phone was within a short distance of the Newport Harbor about the time detectives believe the Hawkses set sail for the last time.

Prosecutors said the couple were overpowered by Deleon, Machain and Kennedy with fists, kicks and stun guns and forced to sign over access to their finances before being tied to an anchor and dropped into the ocean alive, never to be seen again.

There are no phone records of any calls between Kennedy and Deleon or Machain, defense attorneys said. And any testimony by either man or the accused liaison between Deleon and Kennedy, Myron Gardner, is questionable, the defense told jurors.

Prosecutors finished establishing their case Wednesday that the Hawkses were killed for money. They called in several witnesses who testified that Deleon and his then-wife, Jennifer Deleon, were looking to purchase real estate with the Hawkses’ money even before their plan had gone through.

Jennifer Deleon, now known as Jennifer Henderson, was convicted for her role in the plot in 2007 and was sentenced to life without parole.

Witnesses also testified that Deleon had bought two 600,000-volt stun guns, which prosecutors said were ultimately used to subdue the Hawkses aboard their 55-foot-yacht, Well Deserved. Prosecutors also established that Gardner, Machain and Deleon all worked at the same equipment-repair company in Paramount at the same time, but witnesses testified that the defendant, Kennedy, was never employed there and has no direct link to their employees.

The Verizon Wireless expert is expected to testify this morning, with Machain expected to take up most of the time in the afternoon.

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