Kids ‘saw husband beat wife to death on cruise ship after she asked for divorce’
A MAN has pleaded guilty to beating his wife to death after she asked him for a divorce during a family cruise, according to officials.
Kenneth Manzanares, 42, confessed to , Kristy Manzanares, in July 2017.
The couple, their daughter and other family members were aboard the Emerald Princess in waters outside .
On the night of July 25, Kenneth and Kristy, 39, got into a verbal fight “about Kenneth’s behavior that evening,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska said in a .
During the argument, Kristy asked Kenneth for a divorce and told him to get off the cruise ship in Juneau so that he could travel back home to .
At that point, prosecutors say, Kenneth told a young child and their daughter to leave the room and moments later they both heard the mom “scream.”
The kids tried to reenter the ship cabin from an adjoining relatives’ cabin, but Kenneth supposedly told them: “Don’t come in here.”
The children went to the rooms’ connected balcony and saw Kenneth “straddling Kristy Manzanares on the floor, and striking her in the head with closed fists.”
Kristy’s two brothers and her dad showed up on scene and apparently saw Kenneth “grab Kristy’s body and drag her toward the balcony.”
One of Kristy’s brothers grabbed her ankle and pulled her back in.
Roughly 13 minutes after the entire encounter began, first responders tried to “perform life-saving measures on Kristy Manzanares, but were unsuccessful.”
Kristy ultimately died from blunt force trauma to her head and face, the attorney’s office said.
Kenneth was arrested the next day and had been in federal custody ever since.
said Friday that Kenneth pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree murder in his wife’s death.
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"Every year, millions of visitors come to Alaska to marvel at the stunning scenery of ” U.S. Attorney Schroder said in a statement. “The vast majority have a safe experience that provides a lifetime of memories.”
“However, on those rare occasions where a crime is committed on a visitor, especially a brutal crime like the murder of Kristy Manzanares, rest assured the Alaskan law enforcement community will act to bring the perpetrator to justice.”
Kenneth Manzanares faces a maximum sentence of life in prison and also could be fined up to $250,000.
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