Santa Ana, Calif. – A former jail guard testified Thursday about how a husband and wife were killed by being tied to an anchor aboard their yacht and dumped into the ocean.
Alonso Machain said he was on a boat belonging to Thomas and Jackie Hawks when they were killed in late 2004. He said he watched as they were overpowered by two men, bound by duct tape, tied to an anchor and thrown overboard off Southern California.
Machain, 23, testified for more than two hours Wednesday in the trial of Jennifer Deleon, who is charged with two counts of murder and special- circumstance allegations of committing multiple murders for financial gain.
Machain has pleaded not guilty to two counts of murder and acknowledged he hopes for leniency in exchange for his testimony.
Deleon, who was not aboard when the couple were killed, has denied wrongdoing. If convicted, she faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Her husband, Skylar Deleon, and another man, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, have also been charged with murder but say they are innocent. Both could face the death penalty and are expected to stand trial in January.
