Yacht buyer pleads not guilty

Marisa O’Neil

The man who police say bought a yacht from a couple who have been

missing for more than a month pleaded not guilty Monday to charges he

used illegally obtained money to buy the boat.

Skylar DeLeon, 25, purchased the Well Deserved, a 55-foot cabin

cruiser, from Tom and Jackie Hawks on or about Nov. 15. Despite

national media coverage of the retired couple’s disappearance, they

have not turned up, nor have they contacted family members --

uncharacteristic behavior for the couple, who had lived on the boat

in Newport Harbor until their disappearance.

Newport Beach Police arrested DeLeon Friday afternoon, the day

after they recovered the Hawks’ SUV in Ensenada, Mexico. Police are

still trying to find the couple.

“I would like to think there’s still some hope,” said Tom Hawks’

first wife, Dixie Hawks, outside the courtroom Monday. “But it’s very

unlike them [not to contact family].”

DeLeon appeared in court Monday afternoon, wearing a blue “No

Fear” shirt and a somber expression. His pregnant wife, Jennifer

DeLeon, sat in the audience during his arraignment, and at one point

he mouthed the words “I love you” to her.

Jennifer DeLeon, 23, has not been charged in the case but has

hired an attorney.

“When police come to your house and start looking through your

stuff, it’s a pretty natural reaction to go and hire a lawyer,” her

attorney, Michael Molfetta, said outside the courtroom.

Molfetta would not comment on whether his client went along on a

sea trial the Hawkses are believed to have taken on the boat with the

buyers.

Skylar DeLeon’s attorney, Ed Welbourn, said he didn’t know at this

point if the allegations against his client were true.

DeLeon faces charges of money laundering and possessing money

earned through large-scale drug sales, including cocaine. Orange

County Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy is prosecuting the case.

Murphy most often prosecutes high-profile homicides, including the

current retrial of Rodney Alcala, twice convicted for the kidnap and

murder of 12-year-old Robin Samsoe in 1979.

“[Murphy] doesn’t handle general felonies,” Welbourn said.

Murphy would not comment on the status of the investigation or if

it is being considered a homicide. The case is still under

investigation, he said.

“Newport Beach Police are working very hard,” he said. “We’ll see

what happens.”

Skylar DeLeon is a former child actor who worked on the “Mighty

Morphin’ Power Rangers” show, Molfetta said.

Tom Hawks had expressed some skepticism that the prospective

buyers, a young couple, could afford the $400,000 asking price of the

boat, Dixie Hawks said. But DeLeon told him he had made money as an

actor and through real estate investments.

DeLeon is already on probation for a prior conviction for

burglary. That makes him ineligible for the set $250,000 bail.

The disappearance of the Hawkses is even more mysterious because

57-year-old Tom Hawks, a former firefighter and probation officer,

would likely be able to get out of a bad situation, his former wife

said.

“If you’re stranded anywhere, you’d want to be with Tom Hawks,”

she said.

* MARISA O’NEIL covers

public safety and courts.

She may be reached at (714) 966-4618 or by e-mail at

[email protected].