The Texas woman killed on a cruise ship after her husband allegedly snapped has been named, as it has also been revealed that a child was involved in the fatal incident.
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child → kill → incident
Jason Leon Watford, 48, allegedly beat and strangled his wife, Susan Watford, to death inside their cruise ship cabin on Sunday.
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Watford → beat → Sunday
His wife's name was confirmed by FBI spokesman Connor Hagan on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.
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Press → confirm → Tuesday
A child was also found unharmed in the cabin when law enforcement responded.
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enforcement → find → cabin
Watford was interviewed by FBI agents on Monday and allegedly said that he and his wife had started arguing while eating at a restaurant onboard the MSC Seascape ship, per an affidavit filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of Texas on Monday.
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he → interview → Monday
He returned to their cabin on deck 10 of the massive ship around 7.46pm and his wife followed shortly afterwards at 8.11pm, where their argument continued escalating, according to the legal filing.
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argument → return → filing
Watford said that caused him to 'snap' and hit his wife several times, causing blood to come out of her mouth and onto his shirt, pants and hands, the affidavit said.
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affidavit → say → shirt
He then began choking Susan out with both hands and also wrapped his right arm around her neck while she was lying down, per the filing.
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she → begin → filing
Watford allegedly told authorities that he choked Susan for 'approximately four to five minutes and released his hold only after becoming exhausted.'
Jason Leon Watford, 48, allegedly murdered his wife inside their cruise ship cabin after arguing with her
His wife's name was confirmed as Susan Watford by the FBI on Tuesday, as it was also revealed that a child was found unharmed in the couple's cabin
Watford allegedly told FBI agents that he choked out his wife with two hands and applied pressure to her neck for roughly four to five minutes
Watford appeared in federal court Tuesday in Galveston, from where the MSC Seascape had departed over the weekend for a weeklong cruise of Mexico and Honduras.
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Seascape → tell → Mexico
He told a judge that he understood the allegations against him and waived his right to a detention hearing during his initial appearance, CBS 19 reported.
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CBS → tell → appearance
Watford will remain in custody.
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Watford → remain → custody
He is scheduled to return to court next Monday morning for a probable cause hearing.
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He → schedule → hearing
The affidavit said Watford opened the door of his room to briefly speak to a housekeeper, who observed what she thought was blood on his clothes and a 'motionless female lying face down on the floor.
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she → say → floor
Watford left his room around 9.15pm wearing a different shirt and pants than what he was wearing when he interacted with the housekeeper, per the affidavit.
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he → leave → affidavit
He was allegedly seen sitting on the hallway floor outside the room while scrolling on his smartphone afterwards.
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He → see → smartphone
Throughout all of this, the affidavit alleged that Watford never notified the ship's security or medical personnel about his wife.
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Watford → allege → wife
Watford allegedly also said that he wrapped his right arm around Susan's neck while she was lying down
Watford allegedly told the FBI on Monday that he and his wife began arguing while eating at a restaurant onboard the massive MSC Seascape cruise ship
Ship passengers said the alert 'Mike Echo at level 10' was broadcast across the ship around 10pm on Sunday, with the FBI notified roughly an hour later.
Watford was detained by security and the ship turned around, returning to the port of Galveston around 5am Monday.
Videos shot by people on board showed Watford being led away from the cruise ship in handcuffs by police and federal agents.
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Watford → say → police
He was booked into the Galveston County Jail on a federal hold and charged with murder.
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He → book → murder
If convicted, Watford faces up to life in prison.
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Watford → convict → prison
MSC Cruises said that they had been 'instructed by the authorities to return to the Port of Galveston' after a 'guest incident aboard our ship' was reported.
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incident → say → ship
The cruise line was 'cooperating fully with the investigation and providing support to those impacted.'
A handcuffed Watford was taken away from the ship, booked into the Galveston County Jail and charged with murder
A photo taken by a passenger showed the moment
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photo → cooperate → moment
Watford was previously arrested in September 2024 for assault causing bodily injury to a family member.
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Watford → arrest → member
His wife Susan told an officer that her husband grabbed her wrist during an argument over money in Smith County, roughly 100 miles east of Dallas, according to court records cited by the AP.
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husband → tell → AP
Susan allegedly recorded audio of the incident in which her husband could be heard becoming aggravated as she yelled at him to back away.
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she → record → him
She ran and used a stun gun to defend herself, according to the reported court records.
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She → run → records
Watford ended up pleading guilty to assault causing bodily injury to a family member and was placed on community supervision for 15 months.
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Watford → end → months
The Daily Mail has reached out to Javier Martinez, a public defender who was assigned to represent Watford, for comment.
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who → reach → comment
The Aporia
