Murder at sea

Jackie and Tom Hawks on board their 55-foot yacht, aptly named Well Deserved.

48 Hours Mystery: Dark Voyage

Tom and Jackie Hawks get married — Hawks Family Photo

Tom Hawks was a probation officer and single father of two sons, Ryan, left, and Matt, right, when he fell in love with Jackie O'Neill. The couple, shown here at their 1989 wedding, shared a love of adventure and upon Tom's retirement, they sold their Arizona home, went to California to live on the Well Deserved.

Tom Hawks, center, with sons Matt, left and Ryan.

"Some of the best times with him were on the water," Ryan Hawks says of his father.

In happier times with friends aboard Well Deserved. Life on the 55-foot yacht was an endless fantasy cruise for Tom and Jackie Hawks, who would sail up and down the Mexican coast.

Tom Hawks during a quiet moment alone. "Being on water for them was a solitude," son Ryan Hawks says. "It was seeing the curve of the Earth and seeing the sunset fall right behind it every night."

Proud grandparents Jackie and Tom Hawks with their grandson, Jace. After three years at sea, the new grandparents changed course. They decided to sell their beloved boat to be closer to their family. They placed an ad for the Well Deserved in boating magazine.

Skylar and Jennifer Deleon answered the Hawkses ad, and used their daughter to help win the trust of the Arizona couple. The Deleons crafted a plan to kill the Hawkses to steal their boat and savings.

On Nov. 15, 2004, Skylar Deleon and two other men went with the Hawkses on a test cruise out of Newport Harbor. They forced the couple, who were bound and gagged, to sign over ownership of the yacht and bank accounts before throwing them into the ocean as they begged for their lives.

Jackie and Tom Hawks disappeared the night of Nov. 15, 2004, off the coast of Newport Beach, Calif. Their bodies were never found.

Skylar Deleon, a disgraced Marine and former child actor, was living with his wife and their child in the basement apartment of her parents' house. Unable to hold a job, he found a living in burglary, until it landed him in jail. The couple, struggling to get out from under $87,000 in debt, thought they found a way out by answering the Hawkses ad in a boating magazine.

Video: Skylar Deleon's police interview

With the Hawkses out of the picture, a smiling Jennifer and Skylar Deleon attempt to withdraw money from the Hawkses bank with a fake power of attorney document Skylar forced the couple to sign before their deaths.

Video: Skylar Deleon's police interview

Mastermind Skylar Deleon, left, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, top right, and Alonso Machain. In the spring of 2005, the three men were each charged with two counts of murder. Jennifer Deleon was also charged and was the first to stand trial. She was found guilty and sentenced to two life terms. On April 10, 2009, Skylar was found guilty and sentenced to death. Kennedy was also convicted of the murders.

Video: Skylar Deleon's police interview
Video: Alonso Machain's police interview

A look inside the Well Deserved, which was returned the harbor after the fateful cruise. Once home to Tom and Jackie Hawks, the yacht would become evidence. Incredible detective work would eventually reveal every horrifying moment of that day at sea.

48 Hours Mystery: Dark Voyage