Prosecutor: Ignore his race

What does a small man, with a small accomplice, do with an elaborate plan to subdue a retired Newport Beach couple and kill them out at sea for their money?

According to prosecutors, he looks for help.

That’s where Senior Deputy Dist. Atty. Matt Murphy told jurors during closing statements Tuesday that the defendant, John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 43, came into the picture during the slayings of Tom and Jackie Hawks in November 2004.

When Skylar Deleon and Alonso Machain realized they couldn’t kill Tom Hawks alone, they turned to Myron Gardner, a co-worker from Long Beach, Murphy said.

Gardner turned down the job, but ended up connecting the men with Kennedy, a suspected Long Beach Insane Crips gang member, prosecutors said.

In a two-hour closing argument, Murphy went through the defense’s case point by point for jurors, hoping to erase all doubt among the jury that Kennedy is innocent.

Murphy focused his time on his case’s three strongest points: the testimony of Machain and Gardner, who testified Kennedy helped kill the Hawkses, and cell-phone records that put Kennedy’s phone likely near the scene of the crime and match Machain’s testimony.

This case is all or nothing, either Kennedy was on the boat, or he wasn’t and is innocent, Murphy told jurors. They have to choose who to believe — Machain and Gardner, or Kennedy.

Machain admitted during testimony that he helped Deleon force the Hawkses to sign over their legal rights to their finances and boat before tossing them off their yacht, Well Deserved, tied to an anchor. He also told jurors that Kennedy was promised money to help. He spared no details during his testimony, and didn’t seem to minimize his involvement, police said.

“He makes himself look like an absolute monster,” Murphy said. “And, that ladies and gentlemen, has the ring of truth.”

There was also no reason for Gardner to lie, Murphy said. Both he and Kennedy testified they had no problem with each other around Nov. 15, 2004, the day the Hawkses were killed.

As for phone records, Murphy pointed to the back-and-forth between Gardner and Skylar, and Gardner and Kennedy. Evidence showed a series of calls between them all within minutes of each other, which Machain testified was when the third man was brought in.

When the defense pointed to Kennedy’s work with a North Long Beach church in the years leading up to his arrest, Murphy said bluntly, “So what?”

Skylar Deleon went to church, Jennifer Deleon went to church, Murphy said. Both have been convicted for the Hawkses killing. Kennedy isn’t a good man, he’s what a friend called a “hypo-Christian.” A play on the word hypocrite.

If discrediting Machain and Gardner because they hope for leniency in their own cases didn’t work, Murphy said the defense then turned to racism as a possible defense.

The jury’s race didn’t become a factor at first, Murphy said, until the defense raised the “shameless” argument that Newport Beach and Long Beach police detectives are inherently biased against black gang members, if not black people in general.

Kennedy is black, and testified that he avoids dealing with whites in all circumstances outside of work. The jury, including alternates, is all white.

Murphy took the chance to voice his frustrations at a defense that at times, has seemed to slow the trial for no good reason at all.

“Race has absolutely nothing to do with this, so why are you being dragged through this every 15 minutes?” Murphy pleaded to jurors. “It’s the red herring of red herrings. The defendant is not a victim. ... The entire investigation could disprove the defendant’s involvement. If he was innocent.”

To circle the point home to jurors, Murphy showed a stack of money on the courtroom projector, saying, “That is the one color that mattered. The color green.”

Kennedy’s attorneys will give their closing argument this morning.

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