Man Charged With Felony Homicide After Woman Found Dead on Cruise Ship Cabin
Jason Leon Watford has been charged with one count of felony homicide over the death of a woman in his cabin aboard MSC Seascape, a cruise ship based in Galveston, Texas. Felony homicide is a charge for a killing treated as a serious felony under U.S. law. According to The Guardian, Watford was scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court in Galveston on Tuesday afternoon.
The ship had left Galveston on Sunday, the first day of a planned seven-day cruise to Mexico and the Caribbean. Crew members later found the woman dead, lying face down on the cabin floor. The ship returned to Galveston early on Monday, and at about 5:30 a.m. local time, ship security detained Watford and handed him over to the FBI.
Before the ship docked, a female housekeeping staff member had brought towels to the cabin. When Watford opened the door slightly, she saw blood on his hands and pants. She also glimpsed what appeared to be a woman lying motionless on the floor and alerted other crew. Three other crew members said they saw Watford leaving the cabin in different clothes from the ones he had worn when he answered the door. An FBI affidavit states that agents later found him sitting in a corridor outside the cabin, scrolling through his phone.
The criminal complaint, a four-page document signed by Thomas Plew, an FBI task force officer assigned to maritime crimes, sets out what Watford told investigators. He said he and the woman argued while eating in a restaurant on Sunday evening, while the ship was in the Gulf of Mexico, and that the fight continued after they returned to the cabin. Watford said the escalating argument made him "snap."
According to the complaint, Watford told investigators he struck the woman several times, and that blood from her mouth got onto his shirt, pants and hands. He also said he choked her with both hands during the altercation. He described wrapping his right arm around her neck from behind while she was lying down, and said he kept pressure on her neck for about four to five minutes, releasing only when he became exhausted. An FBI team later found bloodstained clothing belonging to the woman on the cabin floor.
The case is being heard in federal court, which has jurisdiction over crimes committed aboard U.S. vessels in international waters. MSC Seascape resumed its itinerary later on Monday, after docking in Galveston.
