06 May 2009 :

Orange County Superior Court Judge Frank Fasel upheld the Feb. 27 (see) jury's recommendation that 43-year-old John Fitzgerald Kennedy should die for his role in a plot to steal the assets and trawler of Tom and Jackie Hawks on Nov. 15, 2004. The couple were tied to an anchor and thrown overboard while 55 miles out at sea. Defense attorney Charles Lindner argued that Kennedy played a smaller role in the slayings than Skylar Deleon, 29, Alonso Machain, 25, and Deleon's now ex-wife, Jennifer Henderson, 27. Skylar Deleon was sentenced to death on April 10 (see) as the mastermind of the plan to steal the boat that had been offered for sale for $465,000, while Henderson, who was not aboard when the Hawkses were killed, was sentenced to two life terms without parole. Machain, who cooperated and testified at the Deleon and Kennedy trials, is expected to receive some consideration for helping authorities when he is sentenced in June.