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The Murder of Tom and Jackie Hawks · Murder Files Unsealed

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: I want you to take a second and just picture
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: your absolute dream retirement.
• 0:04
  Speaker 2: Oh, whatever that looks like for you.
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Right. Exactly. You've worked incredibly hard your entire life, put
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: in the grueling hours, navigated all the stress, made the sacrifices,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: and now you have finally arrived.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: You've made it.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: Yeah. For the couple at the center of our deep
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: dive today, that dream was very, very specific. They were
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: living on a 55-foot luxury yacht, sailing the crystal clear
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: waters of the Mexican Riviera.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: I mean, that sounds incredible.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: It really does. The sun is on your face. The
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: ocean is your backyard. It is the ultimate, you know,
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: well-deserved reward. But today we are going to explore a
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: terrifying scenario. What happens when the very dream you spent
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: decades building becomes the exact bait that lures in an
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: unimaginable nightmare?
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: It's scary because it forces us to confront a very
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: uncomfortable vulnerability. We operate under this unspoken assumption that once
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: we reach a certain pinnacle of stability, financial security, a
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: strong marriage, a peaceful retirement, we're somehow insulated from the
• 1:06
  Speaker 2: darker forces of the world.
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: Like we're untouchable.
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: Exactly. We equate success in isolation with safety.
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: Which is exactly the illusion we are going to deconstruct today.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: So welcome to the Deep Dive. Our mission today is
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: to take a massive stack of sources, investigative reports, court documents,
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: and the phenomenal research of crime author Caitlin Rother, And, well,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: extract the anatomy of a truly mind-boggling true crime case.
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: A case that really stays with you.
• 1:33
  Speaker 1: It does. We're going to unpack how a seemingly mundane
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: financial transaction over a beautiful yacht, which was literally named
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: the well-deserved, unraveled into a masterclass in deception, sheer psychopathy,
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: and a forensic investigation that will honestly make you question
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: how you evaluate every stranger you meet.
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: Because we were going to be looking at the mechanics
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: of manipulation. This is not just a financial con, you know.
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: It is an emotional and psychological siege. We will look
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: at how human decency, empathy and our most basic evolutionary
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: instincts can be weaponized against us by a predator who
• 2:06
  Speaker 2: knows exactly which buttons to push.
• 2:08
  Speaker 1: So let's start with the victims because their character is
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: the foundation of this entire sequence of events. We are
• 2:13
  Speaker 1: talking about Tom and Jackie Hawks.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: Two genuinely good people.
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Tom spent his career working as a probation officer
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: in California. Jackie was a deeply devoted stepmom to Tom's
• 2:26
  Speaker 1: two sons. Our sources are incredibly consistent on this point.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: They were the benchmark for a loving partnership.
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: The kind of couple everyone wants to be.
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: Exactly. Friends describe them as the ultimate template for how
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: couples should treat each other. Completely devoted, surrounded by dogs,
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: deeply connected to their family, and absolutely in love with
• 2:46
  Speaker 1: the water.
• 2:47
  Speaker 2: And to really understand the stakes of this story, you
• 2:49
  Speaker 2: have to understand the scale of their lifestyle. A 55-foot
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: yacht is not a weekend hobby boat.
• 2:55
  Speaker 1: No, it's a floating mansion.
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: Exactly. Their friends noted they lived on this vessel better
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: than most people live in a traditional high-end house. Tom,
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: who was affectionately known as Captain Tom, was meticulous. He
• 3:07
  Speaker 2: had enhanced this boat with, like, every conceivable upgrade.
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: They weren't just parking it at the dock, right?
• 3:13
  Speaker 2: Oh, no. They were serious cruisers, navigating exotic ports from
• 3:17
  Speaker 2: the California coast all the way down the Baja Peninsula
• 3:20
  Speaker 2: to Cabo San Lucas. They existed in a state of
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: endless floating vacation.
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: And they did that for two idyllic years. But then
• 3:29
  Speaker 1: we encounter the catalyst for our story. The inciting incident, really.
• 3:33
  Speaker 1: They get news that they have a new grandbaby, a
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: little boy, born back in Arizona.
• 3:37
  Speaker 2: Which changes everything.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Right. Suddenly the gravity of their world shifts. The sources,
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: particularly Caitlin Rother's research, indicate that Tom and Jackie decided
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: it was time to close this chapter. The adventure of
• 3:50
  Speaker 1: the open ocean was suddenly eclipsed by the biological pull
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: of family.
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: They wanted to get back to land, move to Arizona
• 3:56
  Speaker 2: and be active grandparents.
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  Speaker 1: Which is a completely rational, natural progression for a couple
• 4:00
  Speaker 1: entering this stage of life, right? The horizon changes from
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: seeking adventure to seeking connection.
• 4:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, but there is a massive logistical hurdle. To make
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: that geographical and lifestyle transition, they have to liquidate their
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: primary massive asset, the well-deserved.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: And this is where a completely standard financial decision opens
• 4:18
  Speaker 1: a door. That should have stayed firmly shut. They sit
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: down and look at the numbers. If they use a
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: professional boat broker to sell a luxury yacht of this size,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: they're looking at a standard commission fee, often around 10%.
• 4:31
  Speaker 2: Which is huge.
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  Speaker 1: It's massive. On a boat valued at nearly half a
• 4:34
  Speaker 1: million dollars, that is a staggering amount of money to
• 4:38
  Speaker 1: lose from your retirement nest egg. So they make a
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: fateful choice. They decide to cut out the middleman and
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: sell the yacht themselves.
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: A fateful choice is right.
• 4:47
  Speaker 1: They place an ad in Yachting World magazine, setting the
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: asking price at $ 435, 000.
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  Speaker 2: The economics of that choice make perfect sense, but the
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: security implications are catastrophic.
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  Speaker 1: How so?
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  Speaker 2: Well, by placing that ad independently, they bypass the institutional
• 5:03
  Speaker 2: firewall that a brokerage provides. A broker doesn't just market
• 5:07
  Speaker 2: a boat. They vet the buyers, handle the escrow, perform
• 5:10
  Speaker 2: background checks, and act as a physical buffer.
• 5:13
  Speaker 1: So they were completely exposed.
• 5:15
  Speaker 2: Exactly. By going DIY, Tom and Jackie essentially broadcasted to
• 5:19
  Speaker 2: the world that two retirees were sitting on half a
• 5:22
  Speaker 2: million dollars of liquid asset and were managing the transaction
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  Speaker 2: entirely on their own.
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  Speaker 1: It's the maritime equivalent of walking through a dangerous neighborhood
• 5:31
  Speaker 1: with a translucent briefcase full of cash. And, well, it
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: doesn't take long for that signal to be intercepted. A
• 5:37
  Speaker 1: prospective buyer approaches them. His name is Skylar Dalian. He
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: is 25 years old, and he confidently tells Tom that
• 5:44
  Speaker 1: he has cash. Lots of it.
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: And DeLeon presents a highly specific, engineered backstory to explain
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: this massive wealth at such a young age. He claims
• 5:54
  Speaker 2: the funds come from his past as a successful child actor,
• 5:57
  Speaker 2: specifically telling them he was a star on the television
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: show Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Wait, really? The Power Rangers?
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and that he strategically rolled that Hollywood money into
• 6:06
  Speaker 2: a series of lucrative real estate investments.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: I want to pause and fact check that immediately because
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: the sources are really clear on this.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: That backstory was a complete fabrication. He had exactly two
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: minor non-speaking roles as an extra. He wasn't a star.
• 6:20
  Speaker 1: He was background scenery.
• 6:21
  Speaker 2: But he's selling this image of a young prodigy entrepreneur. Right.
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: But I have a major conceptual hurdle here that we
• 6:28
  Speaker 1: need to analyze. Tom Hawks is a former probation officer.
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: He spent decades managing convicts. His entire professional apparatus was
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: built on analyzing behavior, spotting deception, and seeing through the
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: cons of desperate people.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: Which makes this so confusing.
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  Speaker 1: Exactly. So how does a man with a career-honed internal
• 6:50
  Speaker 1: lie detector look at a 25-year-old kid claiming to be
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: a millionaire power ranger with half a million in cash
• 6:57
  Speaker 1: and not instantly shut the door? That scenario should have
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: triggered every alarm bell in his head.
• 7:02
  Speaker 2: That is the pivotal question of the entire case. If
• 7:05
  Speaker 2: Skylar DeLeon had walked down that dock alone, wearing a
• 7:08
  Speaker 2: slick suit and carrying a briefcase... Tom Hawk's probation officer
• 7:12
  Speaker 2: instincts would have recognized a predator immediately. The deal would
• 7:16
  Speaker 2: have died on the spot.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: So what changed?
• 7:18
  Speaker 2: Stahler did not come alone. He executed a masterful manipulation
• 7:21
  Speaker 2: of human psychology known as the halo effect.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: Break down how he deployed that, because it wasn't just
• 7:26
  Speaker 1: bringing a friend, right?
• 7:27
  Speaker 2: No, he brought his wife, Jennifer. But he layered the
• 7:30
  Speaker 2: visual manipulation even further. Jennifer was heavily pregnant at the time,
• 7:35
  Speaker 2: and to complete the tableau, she was pushing their infant daughter, Haley,
• 7:39
  Speaker 2: in a stroller.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: Oh, wow. Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: When we look at this through the lens of evolutionary psychology,
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  Speaker 2: the presence of a pregnant woman and an infant fundamentally
• 7:48
  Speaker 2: alters the threat detection software in the human brain, particularly
• 7:52
  Speaker 2: the amygdala.
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  Speaker 1: So you're saying our brains are literally hardwired to stand
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: down when we see a baby.
• 7:57
  Speaker 2: Precisely. We are biologically programmed to view a family unit,
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: especially one containing a neonate, as a symbol of vulnerability
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  Speaker 2: and safety, not danger. It acts as a cognitive short circuit.
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  Speaker 1: So it bypassed all of Tom's training.
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: It bypassed his professional paranoia and activated his paternal empathy.
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  Speaker 2: The Hawks looked at Skylar and Jennifer and didn't see
• 8:18
  Speaker 2: a threat. They saw a reflection of their own children.
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  Speaker 2: They saw a young, ambitious family trying to start a
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  Speaker 2: boat chartering business to provide for their growing family.
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  Speaker 1: Delian weaponized the Hawks' own fundamental decency against them. It
• 8:31
  Speaker 1: is deeply disturbing to think about a predator using his
• 8:35
  Speaker 1: own pregnant wife and infant child as literal camouflage to
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: bypass security. But, I mean, it worked flawlessly. The Hawks
• 8:43
  Speaker 1: are completely disarmed. They embrace this young couple.
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  Speaker 2: And a deal is struck.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah. The final terms are agreed upon. $ 435, 000 for the yacht,
• 8:53
  Speaker 1: plus an additional $ 15, 000 to purchase some personal items and
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  Speaker 1: upgrades the Hawks had on board. The Hawks are ecstatic.
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  Speaker 1: This is the finish line of their dream.
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  Speaker 2: From their perspective, the puzzle pieces have perfectly aligned. They
• 9:07
  Speaker 2: secured the funds for their new life in Arizona. They
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: are going to be with their grandchild. And they have
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: the emotional satisfaction of passing their beloved floating home onto
• 9:15
  Speaker 2: a young family who will cherish it.
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: The sources mention a very poignant detail here. The Hawks
• 9:21
  Speaker 1: took one final celebratory trip before the handover. They recorded
• 9:24
  Speaker 1: a home video. You can hear them on the tape
• 9:26
  Speaker 1: radiating joy saying, this is our last trip to the
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  Speaker 1: island because we sold the boat.
• 9:30
  Speaker 2: Knowing what is coming, listening to the relief in their
• 9:33
  Speaker 2: voices is incredibly heavy.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: It really is. But the deal isn't quite closed. Schuyler
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: reaches out with one final standard request before the transfer
• 9:42
  Speaker 1: of funds. He wants to take the boat out for
• 9:45
  Speaker 1: a sea trial.
• 9:45
  Speaker 2: Which, in the maritime world, a sea trial is absolute
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  Speaker 2: standard operating procedure. It is the nautical equivalent of a
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  Speaker 2: test drive. If you are spending nearly half a million
• 9:54
  Speaker 2: dollars on a vessel, you need to take it into
• 9:57
  Speaker 2: open water, run the engines up to operating temperature, check
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: the bulkheads under stress, and ensure the navigational equipment functions.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: So the request itself is entirely benign and expected.
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: Yes, completely normal.
• 10:09
  Speaker 1: But the execution of this sea trial introduces the first
• 10:12
  Speaker 1: major structural crack in the narrative. When the day arrives,
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: the visual of the wholesome family is gone. There is
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: no pregnant wife. There is no baby stroller. The camouflage
• 10:21
  Speaker 1: is off. Right. Skyler arrives at the Newport Beach Marina,
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: accompanied by two men. The police reports later describe them
• 10:28
  Speaker 1: as a skinny guy and a much bigger guy, whom
• 10:31
  Speaker 1: Skyler introduces to Tom and Jackie as his accountant.
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: This should be an anomaly that stops the process. Let's
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: think about the mechanics of a sea trial. You bring
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: a marine surveyor. You bring a mechanic. Why on earth
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: would you bring an accountant onto a boat to listen
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: to diesel engines run in open water?
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: It makes no sense.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: It serves absolutely no functional purpose. The sources indicate the
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: Hawks were noticeably apprehensive at this point. The dynamic had
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: shifted from a vulnerable family to a group of men.
• 11:00
  Speaker 1: But they still go.
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: The psychological pull of the finish line is immense. They
• 11:04
  Speaker 2: are inches away from a half million dollar payout. The
• 11:08
  Speaker 2: sunk cost fallacy and the desire to just finalize the
• 11:10
  Speaker 2: transaction override their rising suspicion. They agree to untie the lines.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: They navigate the well-deserved out of the safety of Newport Harbor.
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: past the breakwater, and into the vast expanse of the
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: Pacific Ocean. And this marks the beginning of the silence.
• 11:26
  Speaker 1: Because later that afternoon, as the sun begins to set,
• 11:29
  Speaker 1: the hawk's friend, Carter Ford, receives a voicemail from Jackie.
• 11:32
  Speaker 2: And this voicemail is chilling.
• 11:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah. They were supposed to meet up for dinner that night.
• 11:37
  Speaker 1: Jackie's message is laced with an undercurrent of panic. She says, Hey, Carter,
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: we don't know why we're not back at shore yet.
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: We're still out here on a sea trial. And we
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: really don't know what's happening other than the fact that
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: they're telling us they're still sea trialing the boat.
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: If we analyze the environmental shift happening at that exact moment,
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: the terror becomes palpable. During the day, the ocean is
• 11:56
  Speaker 2: a sparkling playground. But as darkness falls, especially when you
• 12:00
  Speaker 2: are out of sight of land, it transforms into a
• 12:02
  Speaker 2: sensory deprivation chamber.
• 12:04
  Speaker 1: Just complete darkness.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: Yes, it becomes an isolating black void. You're confined in
• 12:09
  Speaker 2: a fiberglass box with three strangers... The engines are droning.
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: You cannot see the horizon. And you realize you are
• 12:16
  Speaker 2: no longer the one dictating the course. That voicemail captures
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: the precise psychological moment Jackie Hawk realizes the script has
• 12:24
  Speaker 2: violently flipped and they're entirely cut off from the world.
• 12:27
  Speaker 1: She ends the message saying they will call as soon
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: as they get back to the harbor. But that call
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: never comes. When the sun rises the next morning, the
• 12:36
  Speaker 1: well-deserved is back. It is perfectly moored in its slip
• 12:39
  Speaker 1: in Newport Beach. But Tom and Jackie Hawks have vanished.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: Without a trace?
• 12:44
  Speaker 1: They aren't answering their phones. They haven't contacted their family.
• 12:48
  Speaker 1: Their SUV is nowhere to be found in the marina
• 12:50
  Speaker 1: parking lot.
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: The initial reaction from their social circle is a classic
• 12:54
  Speaker 2: example of cognitive dissonance. Human beings inherently reject catastrophic explanations
• 13:00
  Speaker 2: in favor of benign ones. Their friends formulate a narrative
• 13:05
  Speaker 2: to protect themselves from panic.
• 13:06
  Speaker 1: What do they think happened?
• 13:08
  Speaker 2: They rationalized that Tom and Jackie finally closed this massive
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: cash deal, felt spontaneous, and just drove down to Mexico
• 13:15
  Speaker 2: to celebrate with margaritas, turning their phones off to enjoy
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: the moment.
• 13:18
  Speaker 1: Which, I mean, sounds nice, but a week passes. A
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: week of absolute unnatural silence from a couple who were
• 13:25
  Speaker 1: deeply connected to their family. The denial evaporates and the
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: family files a formal missing persons report. This brings Newport
• 13:32
  Speaker 1: Police Detective Sergeant David Byington into the fold.
• 13:35
  Speaker 2: And he doesn't waste time. No.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: He dispatches a detective to the marina to walk the
• 13:39
  Speaker 1: yacht and see what the environment can tell them. And
• 13:41
  Speaker 1: the moment law enforcement steps onto the well-deserved, the spontaneous
• 13:45
  Speaker 1: road trip theory shatters.
• 13:47
  Speaker 2: Crime scenes, even subtle ones, speak a language of baseline deviation.
• 13:52
  Speaker 2: Tom Hawks was famous in his marina for his meticulous
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: maintenance of this vessel. Everything had its place. But the
• 13:59
  Speaker 2: detective finds an environment that is chaotic and haphazard.
• 14:03
  Speaker 1: What kind of things did they find?
• 14:04
  Speaker 2: There is a random white towel stuffed out of a porthole.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: The cabin door is locked in a way that forces
• 14:10
  Speaker 2: the police to physically smash the lock to gain entry.
• 14:13
  Speaker 1: They breach the cabin, but they don't find a slaughterhouse, right?
• 14:17
  Speaker 1: There is no blood spatter on the bulkheads, no broken
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: furniture indicating a massive struggle.
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: But they find anomalies.
• 14:22
  Speaker 1: Right. A fresh ink pad is found wedged bizarrely between
• 14:25
  Speaker 1: the master bed and a wall. And then the detective
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: uncovers something in the trash that I consider the pivot
• 14:32
  Speaker 1: point of the early investigation. We can call it the
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: clean kit discovery. It is a discarded receipt.
• 14:37
  Speaker 2: In forensic investigations, paper trails are often more damning than
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: physical fluid. This single piece of paper radically shifts the
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: paradigm of the entire case from a disappearance to a
• 14:47
  Speaker 2: presumed homicide.
• 14:49
  Speaker 1: Let's dissect the items on this receipt because it reads
• 14:51
  Speaker 1: like a grim recipe. Bleach, heavy-duty trash bags, and Tums,
• 14:57
  Speaker 1: the antacid medication. Now, if you have any exposure to
• 15:00
  Speaker 1: investigative processes... Bleach and heavy-duty bags are the universal red
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: flags for evidence destruction and crime scene sanitization.
• 15:07
  Speaker 2: Absolutely.
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: But I want to focus intensely on that third item,
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: the Tums. How does an investigator profile a suspect based
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: on a bottle of antacids purchased alongside bleach?
• 15:18
  Speaker 2: It provides a profound, almost chilling window into the autonomic
• 15:21
  Speaker 2: nervous system of the perpetrator. The inclusion of antacids suggests
• 15:25
  Speaker 2: intense premeditation colliding with severe physiological distress. The individual purchasing
• 15:30
  Speaker 2: these items knew precisely the magnitude of the atrocity they
• 15:33
  Speaker 2: were about to commit.
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: So their body was reacting to it.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: Yes. They were planning an act of violence so severe,
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: so far outside the parameters of normal human behavior, that
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: their own body was physically rejecting the idea. The stress hormones,
• 15:47
  Speaker 2: the cortisol and adrenaline were causing extreme acid reflux. Their
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: stomach was literally sickening at the thought of the murder.
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: And yet they bought the medication. to suppress their body's
• 15:58
  Speaker 1: moral revolt so they could proceed with the killing.
• 16:01
  Speaker 2: Exactly. It demonstrates a terrifying level of cognitive resolve. The
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: mind is absolutely determined to execute the murder, actively overriding
• 16:09
  Speaker 2: the body's physical attempt to stop it. It is the
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: literal definition of cold-blooded premeditation. You know what you are
• 16:16
  Speaker 2: doing is monstrous, it makes you physically ill, and instead
• 16:18
  Speaker 2: of stopping, you simply medicate the illness. Wow.
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: With that receipt in hand, Newport police immediately escalate. This
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: is a homicide investigation. And they draw a straight line
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: directly to the last people known to be with the
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: Hawkskyler and Jennifer DeLeon. They initiate undercover surveillance. Detective David
• 16:36
  Speaker 1: Moon is tasked with tracking their movements. And what he
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: finds creates a massive cognitive dissonance for the investigative team.
• 16:44
  Speaker 1: What are these suspected murderers doing while Tom and Jackie
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: are missing?
• 16:49
  Speaker 2: They are heavily engaged in community service. Wait, really? Specifically,
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: they are volunteering their time to clean their local church.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: It is surreal. You have detectives looking for monsters, and
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: they find a couple wiping down church pews. Jennifer is
• 17:01
  Speaker 1: going to her job as a hairdresser, chatting with clients,
• 17:04
  Speaker 1: cutting hair with zero visible stress.
• 17:06
  Speaker 2: Completely calm.
• 17:07
  Speaker 1: Detective Mew noted that he went in expecting to see nervous,
• 17:10
  Speaker 1: paranoid criminals exhibiting classic flight-or-fight behaviors. And instead, he is
• 17:15
  Speaker 1: watching a wholesome husband and wife doing charity work with
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: their infant. The level of psychological compartmentalization required to do
• 17:22
  Speaker 1: that is just staggering.
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: It is an escalation of the halo effect we discussed
• 17:27
  Speaker 2: at the marina. Now, they are cloaking themselves in the
• 17:30
  Speaker 2: ultimate societal armor, religious devotion, community service and domestic normalcy.
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: It is a conscious strategy designed to make it incredibly
• 17:39
  Speaker 2: difficult for an observer or an investigator to reconcile the
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: profile of a brutal killer with a guy volunteering at
• 17:45
  Speaker 2: a church. It creates doubt.
• 17:48
  Speaker 1: But law enforcement doesn't just watch. They dig. They start
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: pulling the financial threads of the DeLeon's life. And the
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: facade of the successful child actor turned millionaire disintegrates instantly. Remember,
• 17:59
  Speaker 1: Schuyler claimed to have the liquid assets to drop $ 435, 000
• 18:03
  Speaker 1: in cash on a yacht. What does the financial forensic
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: sweep actually reveal?
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: A reality of desperate poverty and criminality. The Dellians are
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: not millionaires. They are $ 87, 000 in debt. They do not
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: own real estate. They are living in a converted garage
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: attached to Jennifer's parents' house.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: So it was all a lie.
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: A complete lie. Furthermore, Skyler is not a successful entrepreneur.
• 18:25
  Speaker 2: He is currently on active probation for a prior felony
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: burglary conviction. The entire persona was a hollow shell.
• 18:32
  Speaker 1: Armed with this reality, Detective Byington brings Skyler in for
• 18:35
  Speaker 1: formal questioning. And we have to analyze this interrogation because
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: Skyler does not deploy the standard criminal defense mechanism of
• 18:42
  Speaker 1: total denial. He doesn't panic. He actually leans into the transaction.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: He adamantly insists to the detective that the sale of
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: the well-deserved was completely legitimate. He confirms he paid the $ 435, 000
• 18:54
  Speaker 1: in cash.
• 18:55
  Speaker 2: Which is a bold move.
• 18:57
  Speaker 1: Very bold. So the detective applies the pressure. How does
• 19:01
  Speaker 1: an unemployed guy, living in his in-law's garage, drowning in debt,
• 19:06
  Speaker 1: suddenly produce a briefcase with half a million dollars? And
• 19:09
  Speaker 1: Schuyler performs a masterful pivot. He plays the role of
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: the cornered, reluctant truth-teller.
• 19:15
  Speaker 2: He utilizes a highly effective counter-interrogation technique. Confessing to a
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: lesser manageable crime to build a firewall against a capital offense,
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: he drops his posture size and tells the detective he's
• 19:26
  Speaker 2: going to come clean.
• 19:27
  Speaker 1: And what's his story?
• 19:28
  Speaker 2: He claims the massive sum of cash was the proceeds
• 19:31
  Speaker 2: of illicit drug sales. He weaves an intricate narrative about
• 19:35
  Speaker 2: laundering money out of Mexico, claiming he brought a briefcase
• 19:38
  Speaker 2: filled entirely with $ 100 bills, kept it hidden in the
• 19:41
  Speaker 2: trunk of his car to avoid marina security, handed this
• 19:45
  Speaker 2: dirty cartel money to the hawks, and they eagerly signed
• 19:48
  Speaker 2: over the vessel.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: As an investigator, this is like a Jenga tower of alibis.
• 19:52
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: Why is this specific lie about Mexican drug money so
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: structurally sound for Schuyler?
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: Because it perfectly exploits the absence of evidence. How do
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: you track a briefcase of laundered illicit cash? You can't.
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: There are no bank wire transfers to subpoena, no withdrawal
• 20:07
  Speaker 2: limits to check, no financial institution records to verify, it
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: provides a plausible explanation for the total lack of a
• 20:14
  Speaker 2: paper trail.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: But a drug money alibi only explains the money. It
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: doesn't explain the glaring issue of two missing retirees. So
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: Schuyler introduces another block to his Jenga tower, what I
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: look at as his Trojan horse document. He tells the
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: detective that after the illicit cash transaction, the Hawks, now
• 20:31
  Speaker 1: flush with dirty money, needed a favor.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: Right, the Mexican bank account story.
• 20:35
  Speaker 1: Exactly. Since Schuyler had these supposed connections in the Mexican underworld,
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: the Hawks allegedly asked him to help them set up
• 20:43
  Speaker 1: a secret Mexican bank account so they could quietly buy
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: a retirement villa in San Carlos, down near the Sea
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: of Cortez, away from the eyes of the IRS.
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: And he doesn't just offer this as a verbal story.
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: He provides physical documentation to support it. He slides a
• 20:58
  Speaker 2: power of attorney across the interrogation table. He claims Tom
• 21:01
  Speaker 2: and Jackie legally signed this document, granting him temporary access
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: to their financial affairs to facilitate this covert relocation to Mexico.
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: For the police, this document is a nightmare. Because it
• 21:13
  Speaker 1: operates as a perfect narrative loop. It explains why a
• 21:16
  Speaker 1: cautious couple would accept a sketchy cash deal. It explains
• 21:20
  Speaker 1: why they would suddenly vanish across the southern border without
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: telling their friends or family they were going off the
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: grid to start a secret life with cartel money.
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: And the digital footprint backed it up.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's the most frustrating part for law enforcement. The
• 21:32
  Speaker 1: morning after the sea trial, investigators find that the Hawks'
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: cell phones pinged off towers situated right near the Mexican border.
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: From an evidentiary standpoint, Schuyler has constructed a remarkably robust defense.
• 21:44
  Speaker 2: He is looking the police in the eye and saying,
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: I admit I am a money launderer. Arrest me for
• 21:48
  Speaker 2: that if you want, but I am not a murderer.
• 21:50
  Speaker 2: I was simply a facilitator who helped them flee the jurisdiction.
• 21:54
  Speaker 2: It paralyzes the homicide investigation because the circumstantial evidence supports
• 21:59
  Speaker 2: the suspect's alternative theory.
• 22:01
  Speaker 1: The detectives are completely stonewalled. They need a variable they
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: can control. So they utilize the media. They put the
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: hawk's son, Ryan, on national television to make a desperate
• 22:11
  Speaker 1: emotional plea for any information regarding his parents' missing SUV.
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: And the broadcast strategy pays off. An American citizen residing
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: in Ensenada, Mexico, sees the news segment, looks out his window,
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: and realizes the exact SUV described on television is parked
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: in his neighbor's driveway.
• 22:27
  Speaker 2: This is the first genuine breach in Schuyler's defense. Mexican
• 22:31
  Speaker 2: Federales are dispatched to the residence in Ensenada. The occupant
• 22:34
  Speaker 2: turns out to be an old surfing acquaintance of Schuyler's.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: During questioning, this man inadvertently destroys a portion of Schuyler's timeline.
• 22:41
  Speaker 1: What does he tell them?
• 22:42
  Speaker 2: He tells authorities that Schuyler showed up and simply gifted
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: him the SUV. But the critical detail is who was
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: with him. The acquaintance states that Schuyler's pregnant wife, Jennifer...
• 22:52
  Speaker 2: had driven a separate vehicle down across the border to
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: pick Skyler up and transport him back to California.
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: American investigators swab the interior of the recovered SUV, and
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: the forensic lab gets a definitive DNA match on the
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: vehicle's heater controls. The DNA belongs to Skyler Dillion. So,
• 23:12
  Speaker 1: law enforcement now has forensic proof that Skyler was in
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: possession of the victim's vehicle in a foreign country.
• 23:17
  Speaker 2: But a smart defense attorney could still argue he was
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: just doing them a favor by moving their car as
• 23:22
  Speaker 2: part of the relocation plan.
• 23:24
  Speaker 1: True. However, the sheer volume of paperwork Schuyler generated to
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: build his alibi is about to cause his entire operation
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: to collapse. Enter Orange County District Attorney Matt Murphy.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: DA Matt Murphy is a seasoned prosecutor who immediately recognizes
• 23:38
  Speaker 2: the sophisticated nature of this conspiracy. But his expertise lies
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: in identifying the logical stress points in fabricated narratives. He
• 23:46
  Speaker 2: focuses his entire attention on that power of attorney document.
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: Because it doesn't make sense.
• 23:51
  Speaker 2: Exactly. As Murphy points out, human behavior dictates that a cautious,
• 23:56
  Speaker 2: wealthy couple like the Hawks, who spent their lives accumulating
• 23:59
  Speaker 2: a nest egg, are not going to sign a durable
• 24:01
  Speaker 2: power of attorney, a document that hands over the absolute
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: keys to their financial kingdom, allowing someone to drain their
• 24:08
  Speaker 2: bank accounts and sell their assets to a 25-year-old kid
• 24:11
  Speaker 2: they met a week ago, regardless of his supposed cartel connections.
• 24:15
  Speaker 2: It defies all financial logic.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: It is a massive leap of faith that just doesn't
• 24:19
  Speaker 1: track with Tom's background as a probation officer. But D.A.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: Murphy faces a significant hurdle. Schuyler didn't just forge a
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: document on his home printer. He legitimized it. There is
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: a notary public, a woman named Kathleen Harris, who has
• 24:33
  Speaker 1: given an official statement to the police corroborating Schuyler's story.
• 24:36
  Speaker 2: She backs him up completely.
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: She claims on the record that she was physically present,
• 24:40
  Speaker 1: witnessed Tom and Jackie sign the power of attorney, and
• 24:43
  Speaker 1: personally administered the required ink thumbprints to validate the document legally.
• 24:47
  Speaker 2: This is where the interception of forensic science and meticulous
• 24:50
  Speaker 2: investigative interviewing dismantles the conspiracy. Detectives bring the notary, Kathleen Harris,
• 24:56
  Speaker 2: back in for clarification. They ask her a very simple question.
• 25:00
  Speaker 2: Can you physically describe the people you watched sign this document?
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: And what does she say?
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: She provides a flawless physical description of Tom Hawk. But
• 25:08
  Speaker 2: when asked to describe Jackie Hawk, the notary states that
• 25:10
  Speaker 2: she had long, brown, curly hair.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: Which is the fatal flaw. Because, as our sources deeply document,
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: right around the time the Hawks moved on to the
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: well-deserved full-time, Jackie underwent a dramatic change in appearance. She
• 25:23
  Speaker 1: chopped off her long, curly brunette hair, styled it into
• 25:27
  Speaker 1: a short spike, and dyed it bright blonde. The notary
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: is giving a precise description of a woman who no
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: longer existed in that physical form on the date the
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: document was supposedly signed.
• 25:37
  Speaker 2: It is a deductive proof that the notary was not
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: in the room with the actual Jackie Hawk. She was
• 25:42
  Speaker 2: likely reading a description off an old provided identification card. However,
• 25:46
  Speaker 2: in a courtroom, a defense attorney could attempt to minimize
• 25:48
  Speaker 2: this as simple human error, a notary misremembering a face
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: from weeks ago. The defense would heavily rely on the
• 25:55
  Speaker 2: fact that the FBI crime lab confirmed the fingerprints on
• 25:58
  Speaker 2: the document were a 100% biometric match for Tom and
• 26:00
  Speaker 2: Jackie Hawk. and the signatures were verified as their authentic handwriting.
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: But the FBI handwriting analysis uncovered an anomaly that is
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: both brilliant and utterly heartbreaking. The forensic experts confirmed the
• 26:13
  Speaker 1: signatures belonged to the victims. However, they note a distinct
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: irregularity in how Jackie signed her name. She signed it
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: Jackie Hawk H-A-W-K, but the legal name is Hawks, plural.
• 26:25
  Speaker 1: Forensic analysis of the ink chromatography and pen pressure revealed
• 26:28
  Speaker 1: that someone else with entirely different handwriting mechanics had squeezed
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: the letter S onto the end of her name at
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: a later time. Why is that missing S so vital
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: to D.A. Murphy's case?
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: Because it speaks to the psychology of the victim in
• 26:40
  Speaker 2: a moment of extreme duress. An adult does not accidentally
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: misspell their own legal surname on a highly consequential financial document.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: D.A.
• 26:50
  Speaker 2: Murphy theorized, and forensic evidence supported, that Jackie Hawk intentionally
• 26:55
  Speaker 2: omitted the S.
• 26:55
  Speaker 1: It was on purpose.
• 26:57
  Speaker 2: Yes. In the midst of whatever nightmare was unfolding on
• 27:00
  Speaker 2: that boat, She maintained the cognitive presence to leave a
• 27:03
  Speaker 2: forensic breadcrumb. It was a covert SOS. She was actively
• 27:07
  Speaker 2: trying to signal to future investigators, this is my genuine signature,
• 27:11
  Speaker 2: but I am not signing this of my own free will.
• 27:13
  Speaker 2: This document is a product of coercion.
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: The sheer mental fortitude required to attempt to outsmart your
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: captors while fighting for your life is awe-inspiring. So Murphy
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: has a strong circumstantial case of fraud and coercion. But
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: he is still lacking the physical link to prove A
• 27:29
  Speaker 1: double homicide occurred on that specific vessel. He needs a
• 27:32
  Speaker 1: mechanism of murder. So he reaches out to an old contact,
• 27:36
  Speaker 1: a very experienced mariner he met in Indonesia, known in
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: the files simply as Salty Sam. Murphy asks him a
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: procedural question. If you were trying to determine if a
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: violent crime took place on a large vessel, what anomalous
• 27:49
  Speaker 1: details should law enforcement be looking for? Salty Sam's answer
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: changes the entire trajectory of the prosecution.
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: Salty Sam advises him to look for missing anchors.
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: Missing anchors. The investigative team immediately pulls the original promotional
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: photographs from the Yachting World magazine advertisement. In every high-resolution
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: image of the well-deserved, there are two massive, heavy-duty anchors
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: securely mounted on the bow. Detectives race down to the
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Newport Marina, walk out to the slip, inspect the bow
• 28:15
  Speaker 1: of the yacht, and find only one anchor present.
• 28:17
  Speaker 2: This is a profound example of how a completely utilitarian,
• 28:21
  Speaker 2: mundane object is transformed through context into the most damning
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: piece of physical evidence in a capital murder trial.
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: Because it explains everything.
• 28:29
  Speaker 2: It does. The sole engineering purpose of an anchor is
• 28:32
  Speaker 2: to sink rapidly and hold immense weight securely to the
• 28:35
  Speaker 2: ocean floor. The horrific realization for the detectives is that
• 28:38
  Speaker 2: the absence of this anchor provides the exact mechanical explanation
• 28:42
  Speaker 2: for why two bodies have never surfaced. The working theory
• 28:45
  Speaker 2: solidifies into a grim reality. Skyler DeLeon forced them to
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: sign the documents under duress, murdered them, and utilized the
• 28:52
  Speaker 2: yacht's own missing anchor to permanently entomb them in the Pacific.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: The circumstantial net is drawing incredibly tight around Skylar, and
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: just as the task force is preparing to move, they
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: uncover an intelligence file that drops an absolute bombshell on
• 29:05
  Speaker 1: the investigation. During a background sweep of the DeLeon's residence,
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: a detective locates a business card belonging to a Los
• 29:12
  Speaker 1: Angeles Police Department detective who serves as a liaison to Interpol. Curious,
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: they dial the number, explain they are investigating Skylar DeLeon
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: for a double disappearance, And the Interpol agent delivers a
• 29:24
  Speaker 1: revelation that removes any lingering doubt.
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: The agent informs them that Skylar DeLeon is not a
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: first-time offender escalating to violence.
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: Wait, really? Yeah.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: Just one year prior, Skylar was the primary suspect in
• 29:36
  Speaker 2: the brutal murder of another American citizen, a man named
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: John DeLeon. Jarvie in Mexico. The operational mechanics of that
• 29:43
  Speaker 2: crime were chillingly identical. Skyler had utilized his charismatic persona
• 29:47
  Speaker 2: to manipulate Jarvie into withdrawing $ 50, 000 in cash for a
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: supposed foolproof investment opportunity in Mexico. Once across the border...
• 29:56
  Speaker 2: Skyler allegedly slit Jarvis' throat and abandoned his body. Mexican
• 29:59
  Speaker 2: authorities lacked the jurisdictional evidence to formally charge Skyler, but
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: the modus operandi was a perfect match. Aggressive financial manipulation,
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: the extraction of a large sum of liquid cash, and
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: the victim vanishing in Mexican territory.
• 30:15
  Speaker 1: The Newport detectives realize they aren't dealing with a con
• 30:17
  Speaker 1: man who panicked. They are hunting an active serial killer
• 30:20
  Speaker 1: refining his craft. And Skyler senses the shift in the investigation.
• 30:25
  Speaker 1: his paranoia spikes. He actually contacts his probation officer and
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: makes an audacious request for legal permission to leave the
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: United States. Recognizing the imminent flight risk, D.A. Murphy authorizes
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: a strike. They do not have the complete evidence for
• 30:39
  Speaker 1: the homicide charges yet, so they execute an arrest warrant
• 30:42
  Speaker 1: for money laundering, utilizing Schuyler's own recorded interrogation regarding the
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: Mexican drug money against him.
• 30:48
  Speaker 2: And the execution of the arrest warrant is a study
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: in psychological unraveling. When tactical units breach the residence, they
• 30:54
  Speaker 2: find Skylar Danglon wearing an adult diaper.
• 30:57
  Speaker 1: I have to stop you there. Why? What is the
• 30:59
  Speaker 1: tactical or psychological purpose of that?
• 31:01
  Speaker 2: It is highly likely a calculated, albeit pathetic, attempt to
• 31:04
  Speaker 2: feign severe mental incompetence or psychiatric breakdown in anticipation of
• 31:09
  Speaker 2: legal proceedings. It's a performative act to build an insanity
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: defense before the cuffs are even on. Meanwhile, the scene
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: is chaotic because Jennifer DeLeon is aggressively confronting the arresting officers,
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: She is belligerent, demanding they leave her property and performing
• 31:23
  Speaker 2: the role of the indignant, innocent wife facing police harassment.
• 31:27
  Speaker 1: The audacity to act offended while shielding a murderer is incredible.
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: But the arrest gives law enforcement the legal authority to
• 31:34
  Speaker 1: execute a comprehensive search warrant on that garage apartment. And
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: they find the absolute motherlode of physical evidence concealed within
• 31:42
  Speaker 1: the residence. They recover Tom and Jackie's most intimate personal belongings,
• 31:46
  Speaker 1: their cameras, cherished keepsakes, and critically, their official driver's licenses.
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: And when investigators examine Jackie Hawk's license, which was issued
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: years prior, the photograph shows her with long, brown, curly hair.
• 31:57
  Speaker 2: This physical artifact perfectly matches the erroneous physical description provided
• 32:01
  Speaker 2: by Kathleen Harris, the notary. It is the final deductive
• 32:04
  Speaker 2: proof that the notary never laid eyes on the real
• 32:07
  Speaker 2: Jackie Hawk. She simply transcribed the physical description from a
• 32:11
  Speaker 2: stolen ID card that Skylar handed to her in a garage.
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: The scope of the conspiracy is now fully illuminated. You
• 32:17
  Speaker 1: have the notary who committed perjury and fraud. You have
• 32:20
  Speaker 1: Jennifer operating as the aggressive shield and strategic partner. And
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: you have Skylar as the sociopathic architect. But D.A. Murphy
• 32:28
  Speaker 1: knows that prosecuting a complex conspiracy requires an insider. He
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: needs a weak link to shatter the code of silence.
• 32:35
  Speaker 1: His initial strategy is to break Jennifer.
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: The investigation had already compiled significant evidence of Jennifer's active complicity.
• 32:43
  Speaker 2: She was not a passive, coerced spouse. Detectives had obtained
• 32:46
  Speaker 2: bank surveillance footage showing Jennifer, heavily pregnant, standing at a
• 32:50
  Speaker 2: teller window with a massive smile on her face, actively
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: attempting to drain the Hawks' financial accounts using the fraudulent
• 32:56
  Speaker 2: power of attorney document just days after they vanished.
• 32:59
  Speaker 1: And did she get the money?
• 33:00
  Speaker 2: Fortunately, the bank manager personally knew the Hawks and flagrantly
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: denied the withdrawal, noting the irregular nature of the request.
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: She was the eager treasurer of this murder plot.
• 33:10
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 33:10
  Speaker 1: So D.A. Murphy brings her into the interrogation room. She
• 33:13
  Speaker 1: is roughly seven months pregnant. He lays out the reality
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: of her situation and offers her the ultimate lifeline, full
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: prosecutorial immunity. All she has to do is provide the
• 33:23
  Speaker 1: definitive testimony against Schuyler. And her response is staggering. She refuses.
• 33:28
  Speaker 1: She tells the district attorney to pound sand. She chooses
• 33:32
  Speaker 1: to stand by her husband.
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: Her refusal is a complex psychological knot. It is a
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: stunning display of loyalty to a psychopath, likely fueled by
• 33:39
  Speaker 2: a toxic cocktail of inherent greed, extreme delusion about their
• 33:43
  Speaker 2: ability to outsmart the system, and a deep-seated complicity. She
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: knew that immunity wouldn't erase her own moral culpability, and
• 33:49
  Speaker 2: she chose the gamble of silence.
• 33:51
  Speaker 1: Since the wife won't break, and the notary is clinging
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: to her fabricated narrative, Murphy has to find another pressure point.
• 33:59
  Speaker 1: He finds it printed in black ink on the fraudulent
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: Power of Attorney document. Below the forged signatures, there is
• 34:05
  Speaker 1: a second witness signature line. The name written there is
• 34:09
  Speaker 1: Alonzo Machain.
• 34:10
  Speaker 2: Alonzo Machain presents a very different profile. At the time,
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: he was a 19-year-old kid living at home with his parents. Crucially,
• 34:17
  Speaker 2: he was employed as a jail guard at the Seal
• 34:19
  Speaker 2: Beach City Jail. It was during his employment there that
• 34:22
  Speaker 2: he first interacted with Skylar DeLeon, who was serving time
• 34:25
  Speaker 2: for his burglary conviction.
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: We have to analyze the predator dynamics here. Skylar, the inmate,
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: manipulated his own jail guard. He groomed Machain, bringing him
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: into his orbit, and even utilized him during the preliminary
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: meetings with the Hawks to present the illusion of a larger,
• 34:41
  Speaker 1: legitimate crew. But when law enforcement attempts to locate Machain
• 34:44
  Speaker 1: for questioning, they discover he has panicked and fled across
• 34:48
  Speaker 1: the border into Mexico. Murphy realizes he has to reel
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: him back in. He opens a channel of communication and
• 34:54
  Speaker 1: offers a highly calibrated deal. He cannot grant total immunity
• 34:59
  Speaker 1: for involvement in a double homicide, but If Machain surrenders
• 35:03
  Speaker 1: and provides a full, unvarnished confession, Murphy guarantees he will
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: remove the death penalty as a sentencing option.
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: Faced with the very real prospect of lethal injection, self-preservation
• 35:13
  Speaker 2: overrides loyalty. Machain agrees to the terms, he crosses back
• 35:16
  Speaker 2: into the United States, sits down in an interrogation room
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: with detectives, the tape recorder clicks on, and he slowly
• 35:22
  Speaker 2: details a sequence of events that ranks among the most cold-blooded,
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: meticulously planned atrocities in modern true crime.
• 35:28
  Speaker 1: I want to prepare you, the listener, for this next segment.
• 35:31
  Speaker 1: The details regarding the final hours on the well-deserved are
• 35:34
  Speaker 1: profoundly disturbing. We are going to discuss this with the
• 35:38
  Speaker 1: utmost respect for the memory of Tom and Jackie. But
• 35:41
  Speaker 1: to truly comprehend the absolute depths of cruelty perpetrated by
• 35:45
  Speaker 1: Skyler DeLeon, we have to examine the mechanics of his confession.
• 35:49
  Speaker 1: Machain begins by clarifying the identities of the men on
• 35:52
  Speaker 1: the boat. Skyler had recruited Machain to help with the
• 35:55
  Speaker 1: physical labor. But the third man, the large individual introduced
• 35:59
  Speaker 1: to the Hawks as an accountant, who was he really?
• 36:02
  Speaker 2: That individual was John F. Kennedy.
• 36:03
  Speaker 1: Not the president.
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: No, no. His presence completely alters the threat level of
• 36:08
  Speaker 2: the operation. Kennedy was not an accountant. He was a
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: convicted killer with a long, violent history and a documented
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: founding member of the Long Beach Insane Crips, a notorious
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: street gang. Schuyler had specifically contracted a hardened professional enforcer
• 36:23
  Speaker 2: to manage the physical violence necessary for the kidnapping.
• 36:26
  Speaker 1: He brought in a professional?
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: Yes. McJane explicitly details to the detectives that before they
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: ever stepped foot on the marina dock, Schuyler gathered them
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: and issued unambiguous lethal orders. The primary objective was to
• 36:38
  Speaker 2: kidnap the Hawks, force the vessel into deep water, extract
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: the signatures, and throw them overboard, utilizing tasers to break
• 36:45
  Speaker 2: any physical resistance.
• 36:47
  Speaker 1: The trap is set. They navigate out into the open ocean,
• 36:50
  Speaker 1: far from any potential witnesses or assistance, and the ambush
• 36:53
  Speaker 1: is initiated through deception. Kennedy, the gang enforcer, axes the bait.
• 36:57
  Speaker 1: He feigns severe violent seasickness and stumbles down the stairs
• 37:00
  Speaker 1: into the lower cabin area. Tom Hawks, exhibiting the exact
• 37:04
  Speaker 1: decency that made him a target, becomes concerned for his
• 37:07
  Speaker 1: passengers' well-being. He leaves the helm and goes down below
• 37:10
  Speaker 1: deck to check on the accountant.
• 37:12
  Speaker 2: The moment Tom's head clears the stairwell, entering the confined,
• 37:15
  Speaker 2: acoustically isolated space of the lower deck, Skyler follows immediately
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: behind him. The ambush is sprung. Skyler and Kennedy utilize
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: their combined physical weight and the element of total surprise
• 37:26
  Speaker 2: to violently overpower Tom.
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: Up in the cockpit, Jackie hears the sudden chaos erupting below.
• 37:31
  Speaker 1: She calls out, what's going on? And Machain, standing right
• 37:35
  Speaker 1: near her, realizes this is his operational cue. He produces
• 37:38
  Speaker 1: a high voltage taser and strikes Jackie. As she collapses,
• 37:43
  Speaker 1: he secures her wrists and handcuffs and forces her down
• 37:45
  Speaker 1: the stairwell into the master bedroom. Skyler, Fully in command
• 37:49
  Speaker 1: of the violence, orders Machain to retrieve heavy-duty tape from
• 37:52
  Speaker 1: the yacht's engine room. They brutally wrap the tape around
• 37:55
  Speaker 1: the victim's eyes and mouths. Tom and Jackie are now blindfolded,
• 37:59
  Speaker 1: tightly bound, physically restrained, and plunged into total sensory darkness.
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: This phase of the crime shifts from physical assault to
• 38:05
  Speaker 2: profound psychological torture. Machain's testimony includes a detail that is
• 38:10
  Speaker 2: incredibly difficult to process. He describes looking at Jackie, who
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: is gagged, terrified, and sobbing hysterically. And amidst this horrific violence,
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: Machain observes Tom Hawk.
• 38:20
  Speaker 1: What is Tom doing?
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: Despite being handcuffed and bleeding, Tom is reaching his fingers out,
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: desperately searching for Jackie's hand, and gently stroking it in
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: an attempt to calm her.
• 38:29
  Speaker 1: The emotional weight of that detail is crushing, because we
• 38:32
  Speaker 1: have to remember Tom Moreau's professional background. As a probation officer,
• 38:37
  Speaker 1: he had seen the absolute worst outcomes of human depravity.
• 38:41
  Speaker 1: He possessed the situational awareness to know exactly how this
• 38:44
  Speaker 1: scenario was going to end. But in what he knew
• 38:46
  Speaker 1: were his final moments, his instinct was not to fight
• 38:50
  Speaker 1: an unwinnable battle against a gang enforcer, but to offer
• 38:53
  Speaker 1: whatever microscopic comfort he could to his wife.
• 38:56
  Speaker 2: It is a testament to his character in the face
• 38:58
  Speaker 2: of absolute evil. Schuyler then escalates the psychological pressure. He
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: drags them up from the lower deck into the galley area.
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: Using the imminent threat of lethal violence, he forces them
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: one by one to blindly sign the power of attorney document.
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: It is a sadistic game of compliance.
• 39:15
  Speaker 1: He's making them think they can survive. Exactly.
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: He is offering them a false hope, promising that their
• 39:20
  Speaker 2: cooperation is the currency that will buy their survival, knowing
• 39:23
  Speaker 2: full well he intends to execute them regardless of what
• 39:25
  Speaker 2: they sign. Once he secures the physical signatures, Schuyler moves
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: to the helm and manually inputs coordinates into the yacht's
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: GPS navigation system.
• 39:33
  Speaker 1: He intentionally sets a course for the deepest oceanic trench
• 39:36
  Speaker 1: in the vicinity of Catalina Island, a geographical location that
• 39:40
  Speaker 1: is tragically ironic, as it is the exact area where
• 39:44
  Speaker 1: Tom and Jackie had spent so many idyllic, sun-drenched vacations.
• 39:48
  Speaker 1: When the boat reaches the coordinates, the engines are cut. Jackie,
• 39:52
  Speaker 1: perhaps sensing the shift in the vessel's movement, manages to speak.
• 39:56
  Speaker 1: She pleads directly to her captor's humanity. She says, Skylar,
• 39:59
  Speaker 1: how could you do this? You brought your wife and
• 40:02
  Speaker 1: baby on the boat. We trusted you.
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: In her final moments, she identifies the exact psychological weapon,
• 40:07
  Speaker 2: the halo effect that he used to dismantle their defenses.
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: She is trying to appeal to a conscience that simply
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: does not exist. Skylar ignores her. He orders Tom and
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: Jackie led to the aft deck. They're still handcuffed, their
• 40:18
  Speaker 2: eyes still taped shut. They're then tethered together with heavy rope.
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: And then a highly specific acoustic trigger occurs. A sound
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: that Tom and Jackie, with their thousands of hours of
• 40:28
  Speaker 2: maritime experience, recognize instantly.
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: Machain describes to the horrified detectives how Schuyler walked to
• 40:34
  Speaker 1: the bow of the yacht and uncoupled one of the
• 40:36
  Speaker 1: massive 50-pound iron anchors. Because he couldn't carry it, Schuyler
• 40:41
  Speaker 1: dragged the anchor and its heavy metal chain across the
• 40:44
  Speaker 1: entire length of the fiberglass deck. For Tom and Jackie,
• 40:47
  Speaker 1: who are deprived of sight, their auditory senses are hyper-acute.
• 40:52
  Speaker 1: They hear the distinct, rhythmic scraping of the chain links
• 40:55
  Speaker 1: against the hull. They don't need to see it to
• 40:57
  Speaker 1: know exactly what their murder weapon is and that it
• 40:59
  Speaker 1: is moving toward them.
• 41:01
  Speaker 2: The anticipation of the violence is almost worse than the
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: violence itself. Jackie, fully comprehending their fate, begins begging for
• 41:07
  Speaker 2: her life. She pleads that she just wants to hold
• 41:10
  Speaker 2: her new grandchild one single time. She cries out that
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: she's too young to die this way. And Tom, maintaining
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: his devotion to the very end, simply strokes her hand
• 41:18
  Speaker 2: and tells her, It's okay. We're going to be together.
• 41:21
  Speaker 1: Machain states he was paralyzed by the sheer brutality of
• 41:24
  Speaker 1: what he was witnessing. Skyler hoists the 50-pound anchor and
• 41:28
  Speaker 1: shoves it over the railing, pulling Tom and Jackie with it.
• 41:31
  Speaker 1: They are thrown into the ocean while completely conscious and alive.
• 41:35
  Speaker 1: The sheer weight of the anchor drags them instantly beneath
• 41:38
  Speaker 1: the surface, plummeting 3,600 feet to the pitch-black floor of
• 41:42
  Speaker 1: the Pacific. Their bodies... The primary evidence of the crime
• 41:45
  Speaker 1: are swallowed by the ocean and were never recovered.
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: It is an execution method designed to maximize terror. The
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: physiological horror of deep water grounding combined with the profound
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: psychological betrayal. But what truly cements Skyler DeLeon's pathology is
• 42:01
  Speaker 2: his behavior in the immediate aftermath.
• 42:03
  Speaker 1: This part is unbelievable.
• 42:04
  Speaker 2: While two human beings are suffocating in the dark beneath him,
• 42:07
  Speaker 2: Skyler begins tidying up the boat. He locates Tom and
• 42:10
  Speaker 2: Jackie's personal photo albums, decades of cherished family memories, and
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: he casually throws the photographs off the stern of the
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: boat like they are frisbees.
• 42:18
  Speaker 1: He wasn't satisfied with merely ending their lives. He wanted
• 42:22
  Speaker 1: to eradicate their memory. He wanted to wipe their existence
• 42:25
  Speaker 1: off the earth. And then, in a detail that defies
• 42:28
  Speaker 1: all human comprehension, Machain reports that Schuyler and Kennedy grab
• 42:32
  Speaker 1: the hawk's fishing gear, crack open some beers, and literally
• 42:35
  Speaker 1: spend the cruise back to Newport Harbor unnoticed. casually fishing
• 42:38
  Speaker 1: off the back of the blood-stained yacht. Machain describes Schuyler's
• 42:42
  Speaker 1: demeanor as completely relaxed, completely unaffected.
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: That behavior is the clinical manifestation of psychopathy. It is
• 42:49
  Speaker 2: not just a lack of remorse. It is an absolute
• 42:52
  Speaker 2: biological void where human empathy, guilt, and moral consequence should reside.
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: To transition from a double homicide to a recreational activity
• 43:00
  Speaker 2: in a matter of seconds requires a brain structure fundamentally
• 43:03
  Speaker 2: detached from the human experience.
• 43:05
  Speaker 1: This overwhelming evidence naturally leads to the justice phase. The
• 43:09
  Speaker 1: trials are held separately, but the juries are universally appalled
• 43:12
  Speaker 1: by the evidence. The verdicts are decisive across the board.
• 43:16
  Speaker 1: Alonzo Machain, the young guard who provided the foundational confession,
• 43:19
  Speaker 1: honors his plea agreement. He testifies against the others and
• 43:23
  Speaker 1: receives a 20-year sentence. John F. Kennedy, the gang enforcer
• 43:27
  Speaker 1: who provided the muscle, is convicted of double murder and
• 43:30
  Speaker 1: sentenced to death.
• 43:31
  Speaker 2: And then there's Jennifer DeLeon. The prosecution mounts a devastating
• 43:35
  Speaker 2: case against her, arguing successfully that she was the absolute
• 43:39
  Speaker 2: linchpin of the conspiracy. She weaponized her own pregnancy and
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: her infant child to serve as the critical bait that
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: disabled the victim's defenses.
• 43:47
  Speaker 1: She was the puppet master.
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: Exactly. The district attorney, in his closing arguments, referred to
• 43:52
  Speaker 2: her as the puppet master of trust, stating that without
• 43:54
  Speaker 2: her strategic presence on the dock, Tom Hawks never would
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: have allowed Schuyler on the boat. She is convicted of
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: two counts of first-degree murder. The judge sentences her to
• 44:03
  Speaker 2: life in prison without the possibility of parole.
• 44:06
  Speaker 1: And finally, Schuyler. Before his trial for the Hawks murder
• 44:09
  Speaker 1: even commences, the state officially charges him with the murder
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: of John Jarvie, the American whose throat he slit in Mexico.
• 44:17
  Speaker 1: The jury hears the totality of his crimes, the calculated
• 44:20
  Speaker 1: destruction of three lives, and sentences Schuyler daily unto death.
• 44:24
  Speaker 1: But as the legal dust settles, we are left with
• 44:27
  Speaker 1: the most jarring question of this entire deep dive.
• 44:29
  Speaker 2: Why?
• 44:30
  Speaker 1: Was this elaborate, horrific operation executed purely for $ 435, 000 and
• 44:34
  Speaker 1: the deed to a yacht.
• 44:37
  Speaker 2: Greed is the obvious surface answer, but the intensive investigative
• 44:40
  Speaker 2: journalism by Caitlin Rother in her book Dead Reckoning uncovered
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: a hidden, highly specific primary motive that explains the desperate
• 44:46
  Speaker 2: urgency of the crime. Skylar DeLeon was suffering from severe
• 44:50
  Speaker 2: gender dysphoria and desperately wanted gender reassignment surgery.
• 44:53
  Speaker 1: Let's examine exactly what the investigative sources reveal about this timeline.
• 44:58
  Speaker 1: because it completely reframes the momentum of the murders. Rother's
• 45:01
  Speaker 1: research uncovered that Schuyler had already paid a $ 500 consultation
• 45:06
  Speaker 1: deposit for the gender transition surgery. More critically, he actually
• 45:10
  Speaker 1: had the surgical procedure officially scheduled to take place just
• 45:14
  Speaker 1: two weeks after the date he murdered the Hawks. The
• 45:16
  Speaker 1: problem was, he was short on the final payment. He
• 45:20
  Speaker 1: urgently needed $ 17, 000 to cover the remaining medical costs to
• 45:24
  Speaker 1: transition from male to female.
• 45:25
  Speaker 2: This revelation shifts the paradigm of the motive. The murders
• 45:29
  Speaker 2: of Tom and Jackie Hawks were not just a generalized
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: pursuit of long-term wealth. They were a frantic, violent, short-term
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: cash grab designed to meet a looming two-week financial deadline
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: for a deeply personal, psychological necessity. The yacht was just
• 45:43
  Speaker 2: the vehicle to extract that specific sum of money quickly.
• 45:46
  Speaker 1: And as we discuss the aftermath of Schuyler's incarceration, it
• 45:50
  Speaker 1: is vital we look at exactly what the sources report impartially.
• 45:54
  Speaker 1: because it brings us to a highly complex intersection of
• 45:56
  Speaker 1: constitutional law, the justice system, and taxpayer policies. Once inside
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: the prison system, with the surgery canceled, Schuyler's psychological desperation
• 46:06
  Speaker 1: escalated to extreme levels. Rother, who conducted interviews with Schuyler
• 46:11
  Speaker 1: behind bars, reported an intense, singular focus on the desire
• 46:15
  Speaker 1: to be rid of male anatomy.
• 46:17
  Speaker 2: It led to a very dark incident.
• 46:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it culminated in a horrific incident where Schuyler attempted
• 46:22
  Speaker 1: crude self-mutilation. utilizing a smuggled razor blade in a jail
• 46:26
  Speaker 1: cell in a desperate attempt to sever his own anatomy.
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: This extreme manifestation of psychological distress forces a legal and
• 46:32
  Speaker 2: medical response from the state apparatus. Under the legal precedents
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: established by the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which
• 46:38
  Speaker 2: prohibits cruel and unusual punishment, the state cannot show deliberate
• 46:42
  Speaker 2: indifference to the serious medical needs of an inmate, including
• 46:45
  Speaker 2: diagnose severe gender dysphoria.
• 46:47
  Speaker 1: So what is the current status?
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: Consequently, today, Schuyler is living as a woman on death
• 46:51
  Speaker 2: row in the psychiatric ward at San Quentin State Prison,
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: goes by female pronouns, and, crucially, the state of California
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: is legally mandated to fund and facilitate the medical transition process.
• 47:01
  Speaker 1: Which generates a profoundly intense reaction from the original investigators
• 47:06
  Speaker 1: who worked the case. Detective Byington, the man who hunted
• 47:09
  Speaker 1: Schuyler down, is quoted directly and extensively in our sources,
• 47:13
  Speaker 1: expressing deep visceral frustration with this outcome. He states on
• 47:18
  Speaker 1: the record that he finds the situation ridiculous. He points
• 47:21
  Speaker 1: out that there are countless law-abiding citizens struggling with transgender
• 47:25
  Speaker 1: issues who work tirelessly their entire lives to afford these
• 47:28
  Speaker 1: exact medical procedures.
• 47:30
  Speaker 2: He feels it's an injustice. Right.
• 47:32
  Speaker 1: In the detective's explicitly stated view, a violent predator does
• 47:35
  Speaker 1: not get to brutally murder three innocent human beings and
• 47:38
  Speaker 1: then be rewarded by having the state taxpayers fund the
• 47:41
  Speaker 1: very transition they killed to obtain.
• 47:43
  Speaker 2: The detective's reaction is a fascinating study in the friction
• 47:46
  Speaker 2: between constitutional mandates and the human desire for punitive justice.
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: The law dictates that medical care, regardless of the inmate's crimes,
• 47:55
  Speaker 2: is a fundamental right. But the public sentiment, channeled through
• 47:59
  Speaker 2: the detective, views the provision of the specific surgery that
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: served as the murder motive not as medical care, but
• 48:05
  Speaker 2: as the ultimate sickening victory for a psychopath who successfully
• 48:09
  Speaker 2: manipulated the system to get exactly what they wanted all along.
• 48:13
  Speaker 2: at the ultimate expense of the victims.
• 48:15
  Speaker 1: It is an incredibly heavy, complex reality to digest. And
• 48:19
  Speaker 1: the detective makes a poignant point to emphasize that his sympathy,
• 48:23
  Speaker 1: his energy is reserved entirely for the victims. And that
• 48:26
  Speaker 1: is precisely where we need to anchor our focus as
• 48:28
  Speaker 1: we conclude this analysis. We must remember Tom and Jackie Hawks.
• 48:32
  Speaker 1: They were, by every metric provided in the research, genuinely good, generous,
• 48:36
  Speaker 1: loving people who worked hard for their slice of peace.
• 48:38
  Speaker 2: Their fatal mistake was simply trusting a young family that
• 48:41
  Speaker 2: mirrored their own. Yeah.
• 48:43
  Speaker 1: Their inherent goodness, their empathy, was weaponized and used as
• 48:46
  Speaker 1: the tool of their destruction.
• 48:47
  Speaker 2: They represent the inherent vulnerability in all of our social contracts.
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: When we open our doors, when we engage in commerce
• 48:54
  Speaker 2: or conversation, we operate on a baseline assumption of mutual humanity.
• 48:59
  Speaker 2: We assume the person across from us possesses a conscience.
• 49:03
  Speaker 2: Skylar DeLeon exploited the terrifying reality that decent people simply
• 49:07
  Speaker 2: cannot comprehend the existence of true, predatory evil until the
• 49:11
  Speaker 2: trap has already closed.
• 49:13
  Speaker 1: So, to synthesize the immense journey we've mapped out today,
• 49:16
  Speaker 1: we watched a Standard Magazine advertisement for a luxury yacht.
• 49:19
  Speaker 1: mutate into a masterclass in deception. We dissected a psychological
• 49:23
  Speaker 1: trap baited with the most innocent thing imaginable, a baby
• 49:27
  Speaker 1: in a stroller. We traced a forensic investigation that hinged
• 49:30
  Speaker 1: on the psychological profile of a bottle of Tums, the
• 49:33
  Speaker 1: microscopic analysis of a single letter S, and the massive
• 49:36
  Speaker 1: implications of a missing anchor. And at the center of
• 49:39
  Speaker 1: it all, a heartbreaking end for a couple who just
• 49:41
  Speaker 1: wanted to hold their new grandchild.
• 49:43
  Speaker 2: It's a lot to process. It is.
• 49:45
  Speaker 1: It asks a profound question of you as a listener.
• 49:48
  Speaker 1: It forces you to evaluate how you navigate trust in
• 49:51
  Speaker 1: your own daily life. When you are buying, selling, or
• 49:54
  Speaker 1: inviting strangers into your space, how do you construct boundaries
• 49:58
  Speaker 1: that protect your life without entirely sacrificing your own humanity
• 50:02
  Speaker 1: and empathy?
• 50:03
  Speaker 2: It is the ultimate tightrope walk of modern life. You
• 50:06
  Speaker 2: cannot exist in a permanent fortress of paranoia. Doing so
• 50:09
  Speaker 2: destroys the joy of living. But this case serves as
• 50:12
  Speaker 2: a permanent, stark reminder that the halo effect is a
• 50:15
  Speaker 2: real vulnerability, and the most dangerous predators often approach wearing
• 50:19
  Speaker 2: the most comforting, familiar disguises.
• 50:22
  Speaker 1: I want to leave you with one final original thought
• 50:24
  Speaker 1: to mull over as we sign off, something that isn't
• 50:26
  Speaker 1: explicitly codified in the police reports or the court transcripts,
• 50:30
  Speaker 1: but hangs heavily over the geography of this entire tragedy.
• 50:33
  Speaker 1: Think about the ocean.
• 50:35
  Speaker 2: Oh, yeah.
• 50:35
  Speaker 1: When we stand on the beach and look out at
• 50:37
  Speaker 1: the Pacific, we view it as a place of endless freedom.
• 50:41
  Speaker 1: It is a beautiful, expansive horizon meant for vacations, for sailing,
• 50:45
  Speaker 1: for the realization of dreams, which is exactly how Tom
• 50:49
  Speaker 1: and Jackie Hawks viewed it. But dissecting a case like
• 50:52
  Speaker 1: this forces a terrifying, permanent shift in perspective.
• 50:56
  Speaker 2: It really changes how you look at the water.
• 50:58
  Speaker 1: It does. It forces us to realize... that the ocean
• 51:01
  Speaker 1: is also the world's largest, most impenetrable, silent vault. It
• 51:04
  Speaker 1: takes whatever atrocities are handed to it, it swallows them whole,
• 51:08
  Speaker 1: and it keeps those secrets perfectly in the dark. The
• 51:11
  Speaker 1: next time you stand on the shoreline and look out
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: at that vast expanse of water, you have to wonder
• 51:15
  Speaker 1: what other stories are hidden down there in the deep,
• 51:18
  Speaker 1: completely erased from the surface.
• 51:19
  Speaker 2: It fundamentally alters your relationship.
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: With the water. It really does. It changes everything. Thank
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: you so much for joining us on this deep dive.
• 51:26
  Speaker 1: It was an incredibly heavy, complex narrative to navigate. but
• 51:30
  Speaker 1: a vital one for understanding the mechanics of deception. Take
• 51:33
  Speaker 1: care of yourselves, maintain a healthy skepticism, trust your instincts,
• 51:37
  Speaker 1: and we will see you on the next deep dive.