SANTA ANA – Opening statements began Tuesday in the trial of a man accused of murdering a couple who allegedly were chained to an anchor and thrown off their yacht at sea.

Authorities allege Skylar Deleon, 29, pretended to be interested in buying the boat and then did away with Tom and Jackie Hawks on a test cruise off Southern California.

Prosecutor Matt Murphy took jurors through an alleged timeline of the killing.

Jackie Hawks called a friend on Nov. 15, 2004, to say she and her husband were going out to sea with prospective buyers of the yacht, he said.

Days later, worried friends and relatives started calling around and searching for the couple.

“On Thanksgiving, they knew that something was horribly wrong,” Murphy said.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Deleon, who has pleaded not guilty to murder and murder for financial gain.

Deleon was once a child actor. A listing for Deleon on the Internet Movie Database Web site says he appeared in one 1994 episode of the “Mighty Morphin Power Rangers” TV show. He is not listed in the program's regular cast.

The Hawkses had planned to sell their $440,000 yacht, based in Orange County's Newport Harbor, to spend more time in Arizona with their grandson.

Prosecutors say Deleon feigned an interest in the boat and enlisted two men to help him overpower the couple and force them to sign over ownership of the yacht before throwing them overboard.

The bodies were never found.

Ryan Hawks, 32, says he has delayed taking a full-time job so hecan sit through the trial and represent his father and stepmother.

Jennifer Henderson, Deleon's former wife, was convicted in 2006of murder and murder for financial gain for her role in the deathsand was sentenced to two terms of life in prison without parole.

Three other men have pleaded not guilty to murder and murder forfinancial gain but have yet to stand trial.

The jury will also consider a separate murder charge againstDeleon in the death of a man he met in a work furlough program in2003 while serving time for burglary.

Prosecutors suspect Deleon took $50,000 from the man, thenslashed his throat and dumped his body in Mexico. Deleon alsopleaded not guilty to that charge.