Defending a man accused of killing three people, attorney Gary Pohlson took an odd angle in his opening statement.

He said his client is "guilty of all three murders."

Pohlson told a jury Tuesday that Skylar Deleon killed Arizona couple Tom and Jackie Hawkins, who were thrown off their yacht and bound to an anchor. He also killed another man he met in a work furlough program, Pohlson admitted. But the lawyer argued his client should not die for his crimes.

"My goal is simply to save Skylar Deleon's life," Pohlson said in a 15-minute opening statement.

The concession is not the same as a guilty plea. Pohlson said he will dispute some details of the prosecution's case. The attorney indicated his client should not face the death penalty because others involved will have different outcomes of their cases.

Deleon is accused of killing the couple in 2004 to steal their yacht, as well as a man he took thousands of dollars from the previous year. The 29-year-old former child actor has pleaded not guilty to murder and murder for financial gain.

The defense strategy stunned Ryan Hawks, the 32-year-old son of Tom Hawks, who came to hear testimony.

"I was blown away," Ryan Hawks said. "Thank God I was sitting down."

Pohlson said outside court that he told jurors Deleon was guilty to maintain his credibility when he argues they should preserve his client's life. Orange County prosecutor Matt Murphy said he wasn't surprised by the strategy.

Earlier, Murphy told jurors the couple took a cruise off Southern California thinking they were showing off their yacht, the Well Deserved, to an interested buyer and ended up pleading to be spared death.

"The evidence is going to show that is how Tom and Jackie Hawks died, begging for their lives," Murphy said.

Deleon has allegedly boasted that he was a star on the "Mighty Morphin Power Rangers" but apparently only had a small part in one episode.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Deleon, who they say drafted a plan to kill the Hawkses after learning they were planning to sell their 55-foot yacht in November 2004.

They say Deleon feigned interest in buying the nearly half-million-dollar yacht, then enlisted the help of two men to overpower the Hawkses on the cruise before forcing them to sign over paperwork for the yacht and killing them. Continued...