Kristy Manzanares, 39, a real estate agent from St. George, Utah was sailing aboard Princess Cruises cruise ship Emerald Princess in Alaska on Tuesday, July 25, 2017. Manzanares who was a mother of three children, was cruising with her husband Kenneth Manzanares.

The couple were booked into two adjoining cabins D726 and D728 and were cruising with their daughter Kalie Manzanares, who graduated from high school in 2014. D728 is a Mini Suite with Balcony located on Dolphin Deck.

Other passengers reported hearing her screaming for her life around 2100 hours that night.

Her husband was arrested when Emerald Princess arrived in Juneau.

The next morning, passengers were told over the public address system there had been a death aboard. Passengers were talking aboard about what “compensation” they might receive from Princess for the inconvenience as a result of this cruise ship murder. Other passengers complained about not being able to disembark and the fact the “children were bored”.

Emerald Princess embarked from Seattle Washington at 1600 hours on Sunday July 23 for a seven-night Alaskan cruise. Emerald Princess then called at Ketchikan, Tracy Arm Fjord, Juneau, Skagway and Victoria British Columbia Canada before returning to Seattle.

The case is being investigated by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

The court complaint outlines what appears to be an attempt to toss her body overboard. He was caught by another occupant dragging her body out onto the balcony.

The following is the exact text of the criminal complaint against Kenneth Manzanares:

“On July 25, 2017 at approximately 10:13 PM, F.B.I. Special Agent Matthew Judy received a telephone call from Peter Brust, Company Security Officer, Holland America Group. Brust advised that there had been what appeared to be a homicide on board the cruise ship Emerald Princess. Emerald Princess personnel informed Brust of the preliminary facts, which Brust relayed as follows:

On July 25, 2017, at approximately 9:03 PM, Emerald Princess Security and Medical personnel had responded to an incident in cabin D726, occupied by registered guests KM [Kristy Manzanares] and Kenneth Manzanares .

KM. was found in the cabin and was pronounced dead by medical personnel at approximately 9:20 PM. KM. had a severe head wound and blood was spread throughout the room on multiple surfaces.

Security Officer Dippen Rai advised that upon arriving at cabin D726 he noticed blood on the hands and clothing of the occupant, Kenneth Manzanares. Security Officer Rai placed Manzanares in handcuffs and secured him into the adjoining cabin, D728. Kenneth Manzanares, is the husband of the victim, KM., and was detained by Security Officers when they responded to cabin D726.

Prior to Security Officer Rai arriving at the room, other witnesses entered the room they knew to be occupied by the victim, KM. and her husband Kenneth Manzanares. Upon entering, they observed Kenneth Manzanares had blood on his hands and clothing. One of the witnesses, D.H., advised that when he entered the room he observed KM. lying on the floor covered in blood. D.H. asked Kenneth Manzanares what had happened to which Manzanares replied, “She would not stop laughing at me”.

D.H. then observed Manzanares grab K.M.’s body and drag her toward the balcony in cabin D726. D.H. then grabbed the ankles of K.M.’s body and pulled her back into the cabin of D726. Soon after, Emerald Princess security entered D726 and restrained and secured Manzanares.

Later, when Manzanares was being processed during a search by the F.B.I. for physical evidence, he spontaneously stated, “my life is over.”

Brust further advised that the location of the Emerald Princess at 9:00 PM was at a latitude of 54 degrees 51.4 minutes North, and a longitude of 133 degrees 45.3 minutes West. Brust advised that the closest point of land was Forrester Island, which was approximately seven miles away.

The location of the Emerald Princess at the approximate time of the alleged crime, placed the ship in an area approximately seven miles away from the closest land, Forrester Island, Alaska.

The, “Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction of the United States,” is defined in Title 18 U.S.C., Section 7. 18 USC Section 7(1) defined the term to include, “The high seas, any other waters within the admiralty and maritime jurisdiction of the United States and out of the jurisdiction of any particular State … “

The extent of the, “Territorial Sea,” of the United States was placed at 12 nautical miles by Presidential Proclamation 5928 of December 27, 1988.

Because of the location of the Emerald Princess at the approximate time of the criminal act, there is probable cause to believe that the ship was within the Special Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction of the United States.

On 07 /26/2017, Special Agent Judy used the coordinates provided by Brust and confirmed the location of the vessel at the time of the call.”

UPDATE #1: Gofundme account is setup

This case is on the Cruise Ship Deaths website. Beginning on Monday, July 31, 2017 Cruise Bruise will begin to investigate and post trial documents for the entire trial as it unfolds . Also, see our Princess Cruises Schedule. Track Emerald Princess on our Alaska Cruise Ship Tracker.

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