woman convicted for plot to kill couple for yacht

Discussion in 'All Things Boats & Boating' started by longliner45, Oct 6, 2007.

  1. longliner45
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    longliner45 Senior Member

    anyone from california heard of the girl who took a test ride on a yacht and pushed the owner and his wife overboard?,,,,,would like some info ,and details.longliner
     
  2. Bergalia
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    Bergalia Senior Member

    News ?

    Perhaps this from the Guardian Online:




    Woman Sentenced in Yacht Killings
    Saturday October 6, 2007 1:31 AM
    By GILLIAN FLACCUS Associated Press Writer

    SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) - A woman convicted for her role in a plot to kill a wealthy couple for their yacht was sentenced Friday to two life terms in prison without the possibility of parole.

    Jennifer Deleon, 26, the mother of two young children, was found guilty last year of two counts of first-degree murder and murder for financial gain. She is now divorced and uses the name Jennifer Henderson.

    She was not on board the 55-foot yacht ``Well Deserved'' when Tom and Jackie Hawks were tied to an anchor and thrown over the side in 2004. But authorities said Deleon, who was pregnant at the time, helped her then-husband Skylar Deleon with the murders by using their infant daughter to gain the trust of the Hawks.

    She was also accused of helping cover up the crime by cleaning the yacht with bleach and lying to investigators.

    During the brief sentencing hearing, Deleon was urged to give up her children by Ryan Hawks, the 31-year-old son of the victims. The children are living with Deleon's mother.

    "I know the best possible future they could ever have is them growing up in an environment not knowing who their biological parents were, what they did and how the children themselves were used as decoys to murder my parents for financial gain,'' Hawks said, holding back tears.

    A handcuffed Deleon appeared emotional and tried to wipe away tears after making eye contact with her relatives in the courtroom. Her children were not present.

    Deleon did not speak before being sentenced. Her ex-husband and another alleged accomplice, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, could face the death penalty if convicted of the murders at a trial expected to begin in January. They have pleaded not guilty.

    Tom and Jackie Hawks vanished after taking Skylar Deleon and two of his friends on a test cruise off Newport Bay. The couple thought the men were interested in buying the yacht.

    Another suspected accomplice, Alonso Machain, has testified that he, Kennedy and Skylar Deleon overpowered the Hawkses on the open sea, and then blindfolded and handcuffed them.

    The victims were then forced to sign and fingerprint documents transferring ownership of the ``Well Deserved'' to Deleon before being tied to an anchor and pushed overboard, Machain testified.

    Machain testified that Tom Hawks tried to hold his crying wife's hand and comfort her in the moments before they died.

    Ryan Hawks said after the hearing that he is haunted because the bodies have never been found.

    "Right now, I can tell you they are 3,600 feet below the cold Pacific Ocean, bound to an anchor, handcuffed and blindfolded, and I think that anchor will hold them down until justice has prevailed,'' he said.
     
  3. longliner45
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    longliner45 Senior Member

    thanks bergy,,,,,,why dont people just get jobs ,,like everyone else?
     
  4. Frosty

    Frosty Previous Member

    How can killing the owners of a yacht mean that you will now be the owner. The ownership will be passed to the family???? Or you steal it which would be impossible to keep.

    In that case why kill the owner -just steal it? Something wrong.

    Wheres the financial gain?
     
  5. safewalrus
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    safewalrus Ancient Marriner

    What a sad, sad case! I sincerly hope that the perpatrators get what they deserve and that it is broadcast to the world; it will not help the Hawks I know but it may at least prevent the likes happening to others!

    My deep commiserations to the family and friends of the Hawks
     
    1 person likes this.
  6. MikeJohns
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    MikeJohns Senior Member

    I agree; it was an act of sickening cruel barbaric Piracy . Those poor people, and how their relatives must suffer re-living their fate.
     
  7. longliner45
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    longliner45 Senior Member

    I hope they are tried by maritime law ,,,internationally,,,longliner
     
  8. eponodyne
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    eponodyne Senior Member

    You know, Longliner, I think you're right. I know that California prosecutors would probably like to have the conviction stay with them; but I'd also like to see ISPS demonstrate its arm can reach as far as it needs to; yea, even unto U.S. territorial waters.
     
  9. SamSam
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    SamSam Senior Member

    I think the killers forced the owners to sign it over before killing them.

    Actually it said right in the article...
    "The victims were then forced to sign and fingerprint documents transferring ownership of the ``Well Deserved'' to Deleon before being tied to an anchor and pushed overboard, Machain testified."
     
  10. longliner45
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    longliner45 Senior Member

    eponodyne,,,,yes it should ,,maritime law hasent changed in 200 years ,,I would like to see them hanged,,from a yard arm ,,American law is geared to give the perpatraitor more rights than the victom,,,,it sucks big time,,,,,longliner
     
  11. Frosty

    Frosty Previous Member

    Oh Ok sorry Sam I had'nt read that bit.

    However there still remains a great deal of mystery here. How could one not be a major number one suspect when you are the new owner of the yacht and the last owners are mysteriously missing. No money had been transfered to their bank to prove a proper sale.

    It would also be true to say they the poor couple would know that they were to be murdered as they signed the papers and their death was necessary.

    There is some horrible cold, cruel ******** on the planet.

    Such cold pre- meditaded murder has but one sentence.
     
  12. charmc
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    charmc Senior Member

    Longliner, you're right on target. Hanging would be appropriate. This was particularly nasty and viscious. Removing these ******** from the gene pool would benefit society.
     
  13. hansp77
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    hansp77

    as a principle, I don't support capital punishment....
    but, err.... ummm... this sort of thing is really hard and comes close to defeating that conviction of mine..
    Clearcut cruel heartless pre-meditated murder like this does make me feel quite clearly that these murderers don't deserve to live.

    maybe in principle I can only support capital punishment as a maritime law? because you know- its a different world out there- is that really too hypocritical?:confused::rolleyes:
    I don't know, but
    like as said by everyone else, I would like to see these 'people' hung high... or better yet, punished in kind- ruffed up, tied up, and thrown to the deep with each other and an anchor for companionship.
    What utter scumbags- and just as worrying- ******. There couldn't be a hope that they ever would have gotten away with it.
    :mad::mad::mad:
     
  14. Mychael
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    Mychael Mychael

    Welcome to the human race. Well some of it anyway. If they were sentenced to death at least that would save the government money not having to feed them etc if they were incarcerated for the rest of their lives.

    I'm all for capital punishment, as long as it's televised to deter any other would be scumbags.

    To pinch a phrase. "compassion begins at home" so keep the good honest people safe by appropriate punishment of the others.

    Mychael
     

  15. mydauphin
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    mydauphin Senior Member

    It seems recently this type of case is happening alot.

    No bodies, no confessions make missing boater case difficult


    MIAMI (AP) -- Without bodies or more evidence than they've revealed so far, federal prosecutors and the FBI might have to depend on a confession to solve the disappearance of four crew members of a fishing charter boat.

    Two men are jailed in connection with the case: 35-year-old Kirby Logan Archer because he's a fugitive from the robbery of an Arkansas Wal-Mart; 19-year-old Guillermo Zarabozo because he allegedly lied to the FBI about ever being on the "Joe Cool" charter boat.

    A bail hearing was postponed Friday until Tuesday, giving the FBI more time to gather evidence in what is being investigated as a quadruple slaying. The Coast Guard suspended its search Thursday for the four crew members without finding any trace.

    "They can proceed in the absence of bodies, but it's much more difficult because the body usually gives you some information you can use that sometimes connects to the defendant," said James Cohen, law professor at Fordham University.

    Most often in such cases, he added, the defendants are pressured to confess, told by their own lawyers that "we can make a deal here if you're willing to rat out the other guy. It's highly likely that one or both of these people are going to talk."

    Authorities don't find credible a story told by Zarabozo about the boat being set upon by unknown pirates on its way from Miami to Bimini, Bahamas last weekend. Zarabozo told the FBI that these hijackers boarded the vessel and shot the captain and three crew members one by one, forcing him to throw the bodies into the sea, according to court documents.

    "There have been no reports of pirate activity in the Caribbean," said Coast Guard Petty Officer Jennifer Johnson.

    No weapons were listed in an FBI affidavit of items found on the boat, although a handcuffs key was found. Apparent blood was located on the stern of the boat, which may be strong evidence depending on the results of lab analysis.

    Archer and Zarabozo were found in the boat's life raft about 12 miles away after the "Joe Cool" apparently ran out of gas, according to the FBI. After starting out east of Miami bound for Bimini, the boat made an abrupt turn south and then was abandoned.

    The FBI affidavit doesn't quote either man as offering an explanation about why the supposed hijackers let them go, or why they had their luggage with them on the life raft.

    Cuba would be an ideal destination for both, because Zarabozo was born there and Archer, who speaks Spanish, served there as a military police investigator at U.S. base at Guantanamo Bay. Cuba has no extradition treaty with the United States and rarely produces fugitives being sought for U.S. crimes.

    Archer attorney Allan Kaiser said he expects prosecutors to disclose more evidence next week.

    "We're going to see what the government has to offer," Kaiser said.

    Zarabozo attorney Faith Mesnekoff declined comment but did say in court that the FBI and prosecutors have been notified that they should not interview Zarabozo without her present. Zarabozo's mother was in court Friday but left without speaking with reporters.

    It's clear that Archer had motives to flee the country.

    Authorities in Arkansas have disclosed that Archer was under investigation for child molestation before he allegedly robbed the Wal-Mart and vanished in January. He previously had custody of his two sons, but his ex-wife Michelle Rowe was awarded custody earlier this year because of the allegations against Archer, according to court records.

    The four missing are boat captain Jake Branam, 27; his wife, Kelley Branam, 30; his half-brother, Scott Gamble, 30; and 27-year-old Samuel Kairy.

    Also Thursday, several Branam family members filed petitions in Miami-Dade County court seeking temporary custody of the Branams' two young children -- a nearly 3-year-old girl and a four-month-old boy.
     
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