Maritime Love Affair Cut Brutally Short

'I was Always Watching My Back'

Last week, notary Kathleen Harris told jurors from the witness stand that she was duped into doctoring documents for the DeLeons and then threatened with violence if she didn't continue to cooperate with the plot.

Harris met the couple through a mutual friend named Adam Rohrig. Harris claims she met the couple at an extended-stay hotel, where they asked her to backdate and notarize documents they had laid out on the bed that were related to the Hawkses' boat.

"I really didn't know it was going to be fraudulent," Harris said of the documents she notarized. Though her normal fee was between $50 and $250, the prosecution says she received $2,000.

"I did not know how much he paid me until I got in the car," Harris said. But she also said that Jennifer DeLeon promised her more money "when this is all over."

Harris said she didn't feel right about the transaction, so she called Rohrig to inquire further about the DeLeons. She said Rohrig told her during a phone conversation several days later that she'd need to take care of more documents, or that Skylar DeLeon, who he said had ties to the Mexican drug cartels, would come after her family.

"I was going to do whatever I needed for me and my family not to be killed," she said.

Rohrig, she said, then gave her physical descriptions of the Hawkses and "he told me to tell the detectives that I met Tom and Jackie by the yacht to sign the documents."

Harris said she repeatedly lied to investigators in interviews, saying she wanted to tell the truth, "but I was scared for my life. I was told he [DeLeon] had killed over 20 people."

"I was always watching my back, I always felt like someone was after me," she said.

Harris received immunity from the prosecution in exchange for her cooperation.

Murphy reportedly said Tuesday that closing arguments in the trial could come as early as this week.