Cruise passenger charged in wife’s killing aboard ship
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — U.S. prosecutors say a Utah man has been charged with murder in the death of his wife aboard an Alaska cruise.
Acting U.S. Attorney for Alaska Bryan Schroder said Thursday that Kenneth Manzanares was charged after his wife, Kristy, was found dead with a severe head wound in their cabin aboard the Princess Cruises ship.
An FBI criminal complaint says Kenneth Manzanares told an acquaintance who later walked into the blood-splattered room that he killed his 39-year-old wife because she wouldn’t stop laughing at him.
Manzanares was scheduled to appear in federal court by videoconference from Juneau later Thursday.
Utah court records show that he has no criminal history.
Princess Cruises said the woman died Tuesday night on the Emerald Princess, which was carrying 3,400 passengers and 1,100 crew members on a weeklong trip that left Sunday from Seattle. The ship docked in Juneau, Alaska, on Wednesday morning.
Few details about the case were released as investigators went about their work. Passengers were kept aboard the ship for much of the day Wednesday, prompting some grumbling.
“You feel sorry for the family but a lot of people had to wait,” said Lloyd Barrows, a passenger from Alberta.
The Emerald Princess was diverted to Juneau because of the investigation. The ship arrived in Juneau early Wednesday, and passengers were kept on board for more than eight hours before they were allowed to disembark. While on board, some scoped out their surroundings with binoculars or took pictures of the grey, rainy scenery, while others watched the comings-and-goings in the restricted-access area leading to the ship. Some waved to onlookers on shore.
The scene was somewhat harried as people got off the boat and they tried to figure out if their shore excursion was still on, where they needed to go and if they needed to make alternative sightseeing plans.
Suzanne Ragsdale of Houston said passengers were notified late Tuesday about security issues and told over the public address system Wednesday morning that there had been a death.
She said being on board for so long was “awful” and that her kids were bored.
Her family had hoped to see Mendenhall Glacier, a popular local destination, and to do some whale watching. She said she was able to rebook a whale-watching cruise for Wednesday evening.
“I was hoping we’d be cruise people. We may not be after this,” she said.
Californian Zane Edwards, who was travelling with his family, said efforts were made to take care of passengers. There were games in the main atrium and movies playing in theatres, he said.
Edwards said this is his first trip to Alaska, though he’s been on other cruises. “It’s like a mini city. Things are going to happen,” he said.
Kevin White of Mesa, Arizona, said the cruise had otherwise been great. “We’re just ready to continue on,” he said.
Earlier, several people, including at least one child, were escorted by authorities off the vessel in separate groups. Some wore white and grey hooded sweatshirts, with hoods or umbrellas in some cases obscuring their faces.
The groups were whisked away in vehicles with dark-tinted windows that waited in a restricted area of the port.
No further schedule changes were expected for the cruise, which was set to leave late Wednesday bound for the southeast Alaska town of Skagway.
Conversations were underway to offer passengers compensation for lost time.