New York Times Bestselling Author Caitlin Rother Releases Updated Edition of DEAD RECKONING, Packed With New Details
I’m thrilled to announce that I’m working with WildBlue Press once again, this time to release a newly revised and updated version of my book, DEAD RECKONING, one of my most popular books .
So much has changed since the book was originally released in 2011 that I barely know where to start. But suffice it to say that this meaty update provides lots of up-to-the-minute new material, including recent photos, many of which can be found on the WildBlue photo gallery page for the book (wbp.bz/deadreckoninggallery) as well as a Cast of Primary Characters to make it easier to keep track of who is who.
One of the biggest, most recent breaking-news developments in this book, which tells the story of the murder of Tom and Jackie Hawks by transgender killer Skylar Deleon and her then-wife, Jennifer Henderson, is this: Skylar, one of two transgender women on death row at a men’s prison in California, has just legally become a woman.
That said, we are keeping the original portion of the book as it was first published, using the “he” pronoun for Skylar, because she was still presenting as a man until her arrival at San Quentin, where she transitioned, using hormones. We switch to the “she” pronoun in the updated section at the end of the book, which reflects her transformation and explains all the background in the proper context. We made this distinction, with no disrespect to the LGBTQ community intended, so as not to confuse readers with corrections throughout the book.
Representing herself without an attorney, Skylar petitioned the Marin County Superior Court in February 2019 to change her name to Skylar Preciosa Deleon and her gender to female. A judge granted her petition in May.
This move may put Skylar one step closer to achieving her goals of being transferred to a women’s prison and of obtaining taxpayer-subsidized gender confirmation surgery, which would surely anger the victims’ families as well as many of those who have followed this case since the Hawks were murdered in 2004.
A former child actor, Skylar has already gone by a number of other names. Born John Julius Jacobson, Skylar was named after her father, John Jacobson. John Sr. abused Skylar and both of his wives, and also served time in federal prison for drug trafficking.
Wanting to distance herself from this abusive man, Skylar changed her name to Skylar Julius Deleon around the time she met her future wife Jennifer, apparently because the name Skylar was ambiguous in terms of gender.
Although Skylar was still presenting and identifying as a man when she married Jennifer Henderson, Skylar had been trying on dresses since childhood and knew she wanted what was then known as a sex change operation. Today it’s referred to as gender confirmation surgery.
She wanted that operation so badly, in fact, that she was willing to kill Tom and Jackie Hawks for it.
Deeply in debt, Skylar and Jennifer concocted a scheme to steal the Hawkses’ yacht, the Well Deserved, and pillage their bank accounts. Sure, they wanted to pay off their $100,000 in credit card and other bills, but Skylar had already put down a $500 deposit for the surgery, and needed $15,000 to pay the balance.
Using their daughter and unborn son as pawns in their scheme, Skylar and her pregnant wife Jennifer brought their toddler, Haylie, in a stroller to the yacht to win the Hawkses’ trust. The ploy worked.
When Skylar returned with a young former jail guard named Alonso Machain, the Hawkses viewed Skylar as a promising potential buyer for the yacht. They also didn’t blink when Skylar came back for a final sea trial with Alonso and “Crazy John” Kennedy, an OG (original gangster) with the Long Beach Insane Crips, who posed as Skylar’s accountant. (Kennedy was nicknamed JFK during his trial, even though he in no way resembles our former president.)
Once they were out to sea, Skylar and his crew of criminals tied Tom and Jackie to an anchor and threw them overboard—alive—off the coast of Newport Beach.
Comments