Texas man charged with murder of woman aboard MSC cruise ship

Jason Leon Watford said he ‘snapped’ after verbal dispute with the woman, before allegedly killing her in a cabin

A passenger of a Texas-based cruise ship has been charged with murdering a woman in their cabin on Sunday on the first day of their voyage.

Crew members aboard the MSC Seascape found the unidentified victim deceased and face down on the cabin floor, with Jason Leon Watford sitting in a corridor outside scrolling through his phone, according to an FBI affidavit that details the alleged crime.

Watford was arrested after the vessel returned to port in Galveston early on Monday, a day after embarking on a planned seven-day cruise around Mexico and the Caribbean. He is charged with one count of felony homicide and was scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court in Galveston on Tuesday afternoon.

The four-page criminal complaint, signed by Thomas Plew, an FBI taskforce officer assigned to maritime crimes, states that Watford admitted to investigators that he and the woman argued while eating in a restaurant on Sunday evening – while the ship was in the Gulf of Mexico and continued to fight after they returned to the cabin.

Watford, the document states, admitted that the escalation of the verbal dispute caused him to “snap”.

“He struck Victim 1 multiple times causing blood to emit from her mouth, and on to his shirt, pants, and hands,” the complaint said, adding that an FBI team found bloodstained clothing belonging to the victim on the cabin floor.

“Subject further advised that, at some point during the altercation, he began to choke Victim 1 with both hands. Subject stated that he also wrapped his right arm around Victim 1’s neck from behind while she was lying down.

“Subject stated that he applied pressure to Victim 1’s neck for approximately four to five minutes and released his hold only after becoming exhausted.”

A female member of the Seascape’s housekeeping staff raised the alarm when she brought towels to the cabin, saw blood on Watford’s hands and pants after he opened the door slightly, the affidavit said. She also said she glimpsed what appeared to be a woman lying motionless on the floor and alerted other crew personnel.

Three other crew members said they saw Watford leaving the cabin in different clothes than when he answered the door to the housekeeper. “Subject was observed sitting on the hallway floor outside the room scrolling on his smart phone,” the document said.

He was detained by the ship’s security team and handed over the FBI after Seascape docked in Galveston at about 5.30am local time on Monday. The ship returned to its itinerary later in the day.

No attorney was listed for Watford. The prosecution is proceeding in federal court, which has jurisdiction for crimes committed on board US vessels in international waters.