A Texas man is facing a federal murder charge after he admitted to killing a woman on a cruise ship after an argument the two had that began at a restaurant on the ship and continued in the room they shared, causing him to “snap.”
According to ABC News, 48-year-old Jason Leon Watford was charged with murder in connection with the horrifically violent encounter on the MSC Seascape, which returned to Galveston early Monday. The killing reportedly took place on Sunday, and as soon as the ship, which was traveling to Honduras, returned, Watford was escorted off by law enforcement and booked into the Galveston County Jail, where he remains.
A criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of Texas Galveston Division states that a housekeeper called other employees after seeing “what she believed to be blood on Subject’s hands and pants as well as a motionless female lying face down on the floor” while providing towels to the room. According to the affidavit, Watford told FBI investigators that “he struck Victim 1 multiple times,” and that “at some point during the altercation, he began to choke Victim 1 with both hands.”
“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,” the report claims. “Subject stated that, after releasing his grip, Victim 1 lay motionless on the floor for approximately 10 minutes before MSC Housekeeper A.D. knocked on his door.” An autopsy on the female victim is expected to be performed on Tuesday, according to the Galveston County medical examiner.
According to NBC News, a security camera captured Watford entering the room at 7:46 p.m. ET that Sunday, and the woman, who, of course, hasn’t been identified by name as of yet, arriving at 8:11 p.m. No one else was seen entering the room, but the housekeeper was shown arriving at 9:02 p.m. to provide towels.
Unsurprisingly, this incident doesn’t represent the first time Watford has had a run-in with the law. Smith County Court records reportedly show he was sentenced to 15 months of probation with 30 hours of community service after being convicted of an assault on a family member causing bodily injury in August 2024.
The FBI is investigating the crime in coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard, Port of Galveston Police Department, Customs and Border Protection, and MSC officials “as is customary with crimes aboard a cruise ship,” the bureau said.
We will update this story as more details emerge.
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