Jurors: Kennedy is guilty

John Fitzgerald Kennedy is guilty of killing Newport Beach retirees Tom and Jackie Hawks for money, a jury determined Thursday. He was the third person to be convicted of the slayings.

Kennedy, 43, was found guilty of two counts of murder with the enhancements, leaving only two potential sentences: life without parole or death.

Prosecutors will begin opening statements Monday before the same jury, now in the penalty phase of the trial, where they will argue that Kennedy’s role as “muscle” in the scheme to kill the Hawkses deserves the ultimate punishment. Kennedy was part of a three-man team that subdued the Hawkses aboard their 55-foot-yacht, Well Deserved, on Nov. 15, 2004. After they were bound, blinded and gagged with duct tape, the mastermind behind the ordeal, Skylar Deleon, forced the couple to sign over legal authority to their boat and bank accounts. The third alleged player in the attack, Alonso Machain, has testified for the prosecution in every trial related to this case so he’d be spared the death penalty.

Machain testified during Kennedy’s trial that Kennedy and Deleon tied the Hawkses to an anchor, as they pleaded for their lives, then tossed them overboard to drown in the cold Pacific waters.

A jury recommended death for Deleon last year. He’s scheduled for sentencing in March. Deleon’s ex-wife, Jennifer Deleon, was also convicted as a co-conspirator and was sentenced to life without parole in 2007. Myron Gardner, who prosecutors claim put Deleon in touch with Kennedy, an alleged Long Beach Insane Crips member, also testified against Kennedy and is awaiting trial later this year.

The verdict appeared to surprise few Thursday afternoon. The jury found Kennedy guilty after about three hours of deliberations. The courtroom, usually bare during the trial, was packed with media, attorneys and police officers involved in the case. Officers quietly congratulated each other inside the courtroom after the verdict was read then left, knowing this was only the first victory for prosecutors in this trial. Murphy will now face a second battle with attorneys as he tried to portray Kennedy as an unrepentant gang member who has no problem taking others’ lives.

As Kennedy was led to the defense table wearing a dark suit, white shirt and tie, and still sporting his long, braided goatee, he smiled and nodded to his only two friends in the audience before the verdict was read. Both women left in tears after the verdict was read and declined to comment. Kennedy showed no emotion as the word “guilty” was read.

About half a dozen friends and family of Tom and Jackie Hawks sat along the far side of the courtroom, some with their eyes closed as the verdicts were read. Slowly, tears crept down from their eyes as they nodded in agreement with the verdict. The family declined to comment until the next phase of the trial ends.

Defense attorneys maintained during the trial that Kennedy was not on the boat with Deleon and Machain, though they, nor Kennedy, could not account for his whereabouts.

It’s not exactly clear how his attorneys plan to defend him during the penalty phase of the trial. Murphy, backed with testimony from Machain earlier in the trial, will likely play up the callousness they claim Kennedy showed after the killings.

As the Hawkses sank to the bottom of the ocean, Machain testified Kennedy popped open a beer from the couple’s refrigerator, grabbed a fishing pole and relaxed on the rear of the yacht on the ride back to Newport Harbor. He told jurors all three men ransacked the boat and divvied up about $3,000 in cash they found.

Kennedy will likely be the last trial for the Hawkses slayings, as Gardner and Machain agreed to testify in hopes of leniency from prosecutors and will probably enter pleas.

Reporter JOSEPH SERNA may be reached at (714) 966-4619 or at [email protected].