By Tori Richards

October 31, 2006

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And when he wasn't doing that, he was flying airplanes, skydiving, bungee jumping or motorcycle racing. Life was one big adventure for Jarvi, but it was also an endless struggle to beat a drug addiction that left him desperate for money and way too gullible. So when his world collided with Skylar Deleon's in 2003, it set in motion a chain of events that could only result in one outcome — Jarvi's untimely death at age 45.

Jon Jarvi

Two days after Christmas in 2003, his body was found sprawled along a Mexican highway between Tijuana and Mexico. Police learned that someone had slit Jarvi's throat at the bottom of a ravine but he fought to live by crawling up to the roadway for help.

Skylar Deleon

Deleon has been charged with killing him as part of a con aimed at swindling Jarvi out of $50,000, money that he had taken out as a loan against his condominium in Orange County, Ca.  Last week charges were dropped against Deleon's wife Jennifer for helping cover up the crime. An Orange County Superior Court judge ruled that Jennifer's alleged actions occurred in neighboring Los Angeles County and that any charges should be filed there.

Jennifer (Henderson) Deleon

However, Jennifer is still going to trial this week on two counts of murder in connection with a scheme to shanghai a couple's yacht and dump their bodies into the ocean. Next year, her husband will be tried for those murders at the same time as Jarvi's.

"I just would hate for her to be scott free when all is said and done," said Jarvi's sister-in-law, Jeanne. She and Jarvi's mother, Betty, have been attending every court appearance and still plan on doing so. Jarvi's father died several years ago.

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Contact Tori Richards at NewsWriter2@aol.com

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