Housekeeper finds woman dead in cruise ship cabin, man standing at door with bloody hands, FBI says

(AP) - A cruise ship passenger was charged Tuesday with killing a woman after the vessel departed from Texas this weekend, telling FBI agents that he beat and choked her in their cabin after an argument caused him to “snap,” court documents showed.

The woman, who was not immediately identified, was found dead Sunday after 48-year-old Jason Watford opened their room’s door for a ship housekeeper with blood on his hands and clothes, according to an FBI affidavit filed in federal court. The housekeeper spotted the victim lying on the floor with facial injuries, and an investigator on the cruise ship contacted authorities.

Watford was taken into custody the next morning after the vessel returned to Galveston, Texas. A video posted on social media shows him being escorted off the ship in handcuffs.

Watford, of Tyler, Texas, made an initial federal court appearance on a murder charge Tuesday in Galveston, and was being held in a county jail. His public defender, Javier Martinez, did not respond to requests for comment by The Associated Press. His next hearing is scheduled for Nov. 16.

A man who said he is Watford’s son declined to comment Tuesday when reached at a phone listing in public records for relatives.

The death happened aboard the MSC Seascape, a towering white vessel that has 2,270 cabins and can host nearly 5,900 guests on five- and seven-night trips to the Caribbean, according to the company’s website.

In an interview with FBI agents Monday, Watford said he and the woman boarded the vessel together Sunday and started to argue while having dinner at one of the ship’s restaurants, according to the affidavit. The argument continued in their room, it said.

Watford told agents he struck the woman several times and “applied pressure” to her neck “for approximately four to five minutes” until he became exhausted, the affidavit said. He said she lay motionless for about 10 minutes until the housekeeper arrived.

Surveillance video showed that Watford entered the room at 7:46 p.m. and the victim went in about 25 minutes later, authorities said. At 9:15 p.m., he was seen on the video leaving the room wearing a different shirt and pants from when he answered the door for the housekeeper, according to the complaint, and sat on the hallway floor looking at his phone.

Investigators did not provide details on Watson’s relationship to the woman.

MSC Cruises said authorities told the ship to return to Galveston after the crew reported the passenger’s death, and that the vessel resumed its voyage Monday. The company said it was cooperating with authorities and providing support to those impacted.

Homicide investigations on cruise ships are uncommon. Earlier this year, a teenager was charged with murder and aggravated sexual abuse in the death of his 18-year-old stepsister on a Carnival Cruise ship out of Florida.

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Associated Press writer Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia contributed.