Tom and Jackie Hawks wanted to sell their yacht -- the Well Deserved -- because they planned to move closer to their newborn grandchild in Arizona.
The 55-foot Lien Hwa trawler has two decks, two staterooms and hand-carved teak interior. The couple put about $50,000 into improvements.
All attractive features for any potential buyer.
But the Well Deserved will forever be associated with what happened on Nov. 15, 2004. That's when the Hawks were bound, tied to a 60-pound anchor and thrown overboard.
Long Beach residents Skylar Deleon, 29, and John Fitzgerald Kennedy, 43, were sentenced to death in the case. Investigators said Deleon, posing as a buyer and Kennedy, posing as an accountant, went aboard the Well Deserved under the guise of taking a test run.
In a video posted on the OCRegister.com, detective David Byington explains what happened next. Byington tours the boat and describes the confrontation between the Hawks and their attackers.
"I don't like being down here," Byington said while showing the camera crew the bedroom in which the Hawks were bound. "I don't even like being on this boat. I feel like I'm still invading their home. The worst part is they were downstairs for several hours, and they knew they were going to die."
The Hawks' dream boat will be for sale next week. The couple intended to spend some of the happiest years of their lives aboard the boat after Tom Hawks retired after 17 years as a probation officer.
They wanted to sell the Well Deserved so they could return to Arizona to live near their newborn grandson.
Tom Hawks' sons, both of whom are in their early 30s, were left with the responsibility of maintaining -- and now selling -- the boat. It will be placed on the market next week after it is returned to Newport Harbor, according to the newspaper.
Ryan Hawks, one of Tom's sons who lives in Carlsbad, said the yacht broker indicated it will be listed for about $229,000. That's about $70,000 less than the Hawks paid in 2002.
Investigators were holding the yacht until the end of the criminal cases.
