Cal man awaiting trial tries to slice off genitals

[ccharles000]

A man charged with murdering an Arizona couple at sea and dumping their bodies overboard tried to cut his penis off with a razor while awaiting trial, a sheriff's spokesman said Friday.

Skylar Deleon, 29, was briefly hospitalized after the March 13 incident, but was back in his cell the next day after the penis was reattached, said Damon Micalizzi, spokesman for the Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty against Deleon for the 2004 murders of Jackie and Thomas Hawks, of Prescott, Ariz. The couple disappeared after taking Deleon and three other men on a test cruise of their 55-foot yacht, which they hoped to sell, off the Southern California coast.

Prosecutors allege that Deleon and the others blindfolded and handcuffed the Hawkses once at sea and forced them to sign and fingerprint documents transferring ownership of the boat before tossing them overboard. Their bodies have never been found.

Deleon's ex-wife, Jennifer Deleon, was convicted for her role in the alleged plot and was sentenced in October to life in prison without parole.

Deleon's trial is set for Aug. 25.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/07/11/state/n151027D50.DTL