Man guilty after pair tied to anchor

A MAN has been convicted of murdering three people, including a couple who were tied to an anchor and thrown off their yacht off the Californian coast.

An Orange County jury found Skylar Deleon, aged 29, guilty of three counts of first-degree murder and special circumstances for financial gain and multiple victims.

Deleon’s attorney had conceded to the jury from the outset that Deleon was guilty but should not be put to death. The penalty phase of the trial will start shortly.

His attorney, Gary Pohlson, told reporters that he plans to convince the jury to spare his client’s life by having Deleon’s relatives and doctors testify during the punishment phase about his troubled past.

“He’s had a horrible, horrible life,” Pohlson said, noting that Deleon’s father abused him.

Tom and Jackie Hawks were thrown from their yacht in 2004 during a cruise to show the vessel to Deleon. He was also found guilty of murdering Jon Jarvi, of Anaheim, in 2003.

Prosecutors had said Deleon met Jarvi in a work furlough programme while serving jail time for burglary, and killed him in Mexico after Jarvi gave him $50,000 (€38,000).