Dave Hawk to stand trial in murder

S. Valley man charged with killing ex-wife Debbie Hawk.

Published online on Monday, Aug. 18, 2008

HANFORD -- Dave Hawk will stand trial for the murder of his ex-wife, Debbie Hawk, whose disappearance two years ago bewildered family, friends and investigators.

Kings County Superior Court Judge Steven Barnes ruled Friday that prosecutors mustered enough evidence "for a reasonable person to harbor a strong suspicion" that Hawk, 50, killed for financial gain and ordered Hawk to trial.

Debbie Hawk, a 46-year-old pharmaceutical representative, was reported missing from her home on June 13, 2006, after her three children returned from a custody visit with their father. The house was in disarray, and her van was gone.

The vehicle was found a couple of days later in southwest Fresno -- its windows rolled down, keys in the ignition and a stolen license plate from Hanford on the rear bumper. Blood in the van and in Debbie Hawk's Hanford home was later found to be hers.

Intense searches in following weeks yielded no sign of the missing woman, and Hanford police dubbed the case a homicide in July 2006. Her body has not been found.

Dave Hawk was deemed a suspect in October 2006, but wasn't arrested until this past May. He remains in Kings County Jail without bail.

Barnes' ruling came as a blow to Hawk and his attorney, Mark Coleman.

"We're disappointed the judge held him to answer in view that there's absolutely no evidence that ties him to the crime," Coleman said. "They haven't proven that a murder's happened. ... Is there an inference that [Debbie's] gone, that she's dead? Yes, but they haven't proven it."

Potentially a capital offense

Debbie Hawk's relatives -- including her father, William "Bud" Triantis and sister Diane Triantis -- and friends wearing photo buttons of the missing woman smiled and patted one another on the back after Barnes' decision. They left the courthouse Friday without talking to reporters.

Larry Crouch, a Kings County deputy district attorney, said the stolen license plate on the van led investigators to believe the crime was planned; that narrowed their focus to people who knew Debbie Hawk.

"As we were looking at Ms. Hawk's circle, one name stood out clearly ... and that was Dave Hawk," Crouch said. He cited the pair's contentious relationship since their 2000 divorce, Hawk's "desperate" financial situation, and child-support litigation "that was about to reveal that Dave Hawk had stolen in excess of $300,000" from trusts set up for his children by their grandfather, Stan Hawk.

Mary Royer, Dave Hawk's girlfriend after he and Debbie Hawk divorced, testified Thursday that Hawk was angered when he was served papers in the ongoing custody dispute in December 2005.

"He told me these events aren't going to stop until she was dead," Royer said.

Crouch contends Hawk murdered his ex-wife "to cover up the financial crime."

The special allegation of financial gain makes the case potentially a capital offense, but prosecutors have not decided whether they will seek the death penalty.

Circumstantial case

In his argument Friday, Crouch said he believes Hawk planned to use an electronic stun gun purchased in May 2006 to disable Debbie Hawk, take her from her home, kill her and dispose of her body.

Police later found a stun gun during one of several searches of Hawk's home.

"I believe it was his intention to have her missing without any evidence where she went missing from," Crouch said, "and to have her car found in the possession of criminals in the Fresno area ... and therefore he would not be a suspect."

When the stun gun malfunctioned, Crouch said, Hawk "had to use alternative means to secure her, which led to blood being deposited in the house."

Crouch acknowledged his case is circumstantial -- there are no eyewitnesses, DNA, fingerprints, a murder weapon or even the victim's remains to connect Hawk to the crime.

"There's no physical evidence, but that doesn't mean I can't prosecute," he said. "It's fairly unusual [to not have a body], but that's not a concern to us proving our case."

Coleman said he thinks prosecutors will have trouble convincing a jury of Hawk's guilt: "At a trial, they have to prove beyond reasonable doubt; that's a tough standard, and I just don't think they have it here."

Coleman dismissed the stun-gun theory as "simply stunning." If it had been used, Coleman said, Hawk would more likely throw it away rather than keep it in the home.

Coleman said Hawk was with his son and two daughters the entire night his wife disappeared. He said no decision has been made whether any of the children will testify at trial. But, he added, "Dave will testify" in his own defense.

Before that happens, Coleman said, he will ask for the trial to be moved from Kings County to another part of the state because of intense news coverage of the Hawk case.

"Read the comments attached to news reports, blogs, Web sites, letters to the editor, and you see people have made up their minds that Dave's guilty," Coleman said Friday.

Prosecutor Crouch said he thinks local residents could decide the case fairly. "I think we ought to give a jury a chance to be selected; that's what's frequently done in these cases" before a change of venue is decided.