GALVESTON, Texas (Court TV) — A man accused of killing a woman aboard a cruise ship is expected to make his first appearance in a U.S. court Tuesday afternoon.
Jason Watford (booking photo via i45NOW)
Jason Watford, 48, is charged with murder in the death of a woman identified only as “Victim 1” in court documents, who was found dead in her room on the vessel.
A housekeeper on board the MSC Seascape alerted security after trying to deliver towels to a room and seeing a body on the floor, investigators said. The housekeeper also reported that Watford, who answered the door, was covered in blood.
Because the cruise ship was in international waters, the FBI took jurisdiction of the case and interviewed Watford after he was taken into custody. Watford told federal agents that he and the victim boarded the boat together on Nov. 8 and began arguing while eating at a restaurant on the ship. He returned to the room first, he said, and the victim followed about 20 minutes later.
Watford allegedly told the FBI that he and the victim continued to argue in the room in an escalating dispute that “caused him to ‘snap’,” according to charging documents reviewed by Court TV. Agents said that Watford admitted to hitting the victim multiple times, “causing blood to emit from her mouth and onto his shirt, pants and hands.”
Investigators said the defendant described choking the victim after hitting her, eventually wrapping his arms around her neck from behind while she was lying down. Watford allegedly said he “applied pressure” to her neck for “approximately four to five minutes and released his hold only after becoming exhausted,” agents said. He said the victim had been lying motionless for about 10 minutes when the housekeeper knocked on the door.
MSC Seascape (i45NOW)
When security responded to the room, Watford had changed into clean clothes; blood-stained clothing was found on the floor of the room, along with the victim’s body.
Investigators did not release a cause of death but noted the victim had “multiple facial injuries” when she was found. No one was seen entering or leaving the room the defendant and victim shared that evening, charging documents said.
If convicted, Watford faces a potential sentence of life in prison.
In a statement to Court TV, a spokesperson for MSC Cruises said, “On reporting a guest incident aboard our ship, we were instructed by the authorities to return to the Port of Galveston. We are cooperating fully with the investigation and providing support to those impacted. The ship has left the port and resumed its planned itinerary. As this is an active investigation, we cannot provide more details. Our thoughts are with the guest’s family and friends at this difficult time.”
Watford’s arrest comes almost exactly one year after 18-year-old Anna Kepner was killed on a Carnival Cruise ship. Kepner’s stepbrother, Timothy Hudson, 16, had been sharing a room with the teen and is charged with aggravated sexual abuse and first-degree murder in her death.
