FBI Investigates Suspected Homicide Aboard MSC Seascape After Ship Returns to Galveston

Updated 16:59 UTC, Nov 11

The FBI has identified the woman who died aboard MSC Seascape as Susan Watford, the wife of Jason Leon Watford, FBI spokesman Connor Hagan said, the Associated Press reported. Hagan said a child was found unharmed when law enforcement responded. A Child Protective Services spokesperson told KPRC the child is in foster care, and KHOU reported it is not known whether the child was inside the cabin during the incident. The Galveston County medical examiner performed an autopsy and confirmed her death was a homicide, KHOU reported. A charge is an allegation, and Watford is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Updated 02:51 UTC, Nov 11

Jason Leon Watford made his initial appearance in federal court in Galveston on Tuesday afternoon and is being held in custody pending trial, according to court records reported by CNN. The court appointed Alex Omar Rosa-Ambert as his public defender, and Rosa-Ambert declined to comment on the case, CNN reported. His next hearing is scheduled for November 16. The Associated Press reported that Watford remained in the Galveston County Jail after the appearance. A charge is an allegation, and Watford is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

Updated 17:57 UTC, Nov 10

Federal prosecutors have charged Jason Leon Watford, 48, with murder in the death of a woman aboard MSC Seascape, according to a criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of Texas and reported by CNN and USA Today. The earlier statement in this article that no formal charges had been announced is superseded by the complaint. A charge is an allegation, and Watford is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.

According to the complaint, Watford told FBI investigators that he and the woman argued at a restaurant aboard the ship on Sunday evening and that the argument escalated after they returned to their cabin. He told investigators he "snapped", struck the woman multiple times, and choked her with both hands and with his right arm around her neck from behind while she was lying down, applying pressure for four to five minutes and letting go only after becoming exhausted, CNN and USA Today reported. The complaint says the woman was found with multiple facial injuries.

The complaint says the woman lay motionless on the cabin floor for about 10 minutes before a housekeeper delivering towels saw her lying face down and saw what she thought was blood on Watford's hands and pants, and called for help. Watford did not contact ship security or medical personnel, according to the complaint, and security footage showed him leaving the cabin in different clothes and sitting in the hallway scrolling on his phone.

Court records set Watford's initial appearance in federal court for Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET, and no attorney was listed for him, CNN reported. If convicted, he faces up to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, according to the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas. The woman has not been publicly identified, and authorities have not said how she and Watford knew each other.

Updated 09:34 UTC, Nov 10

Galveston County Sheriff's Office records name the man taken into custody as Jason Leon Watford, 48, of Tyler, Texas. Watford was booked into the Galveston County Jail on Monday on an FBI hold for an on-view murder investigation, and passenger video broadcast by FOX 26 Houston showed officers escorting him off the ship in handcuffs after it docked. Federal authorities have announced no formal charges against him.

The Galveston County Medical Examiner's Office has confirmed to ABC News that the person who died was a woman. Her identity has not been released, and it is not known whether she knew Watford. An autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday. Jail records reviewed by CBS19 show Watford was arrested in September 2024 for assaulting a family member and was sentenced to 15 months of probation in November 2024. The FBI said on Monday that the suspect's identity was being withheld while the victim's family was notified, and it has released no cause of death.

The FBI is investigating a suspected homicide aboard the MSC Seascape cruise ship after the vessel returned to Galveston on Monday, November 9. FBI Houston said it is responding to the suspected homicide on the ship, which had left Galveston only a day earlier on a planned seven-night Western Caribbean cruise.

Ordered back a day after sailing

MSC Seascape departed Galveston on Sunday, November 8, for a 7-day Western Caribbean excursion to Mexico and Honduras, the New York Post reported, citing the FBI and CruiseMapper. The sailing did not get far. Cruise Fever reported that the ship made a U-turn around 12:20 AM on Monday and returned to the Port of Galveston after authorities ordered it back following a reported guest incident.

MSC Cruises gave the same account of the return. "On reporting a guest incident aboard our ship, we were instructed by the authorities to return to the Port of Galveston," a company spokesperson said. Authorities believe the incident took place aboard the ship before it docked in Galveston on Monday, People reported, citing a post by the FBI Houston field office.

A joint response in Galveston

An FBI Maritime Liaison Agent based out of the Texas City Resident Agency is coordinating the response, the bureau said. The agent is working with the U.S. Coast Guard, the Port of Galveston Police Department, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and MSC Cruises.

"FBI Houston is responding to a suspected homicide that occurred on the MSC Seascape cruise ship," the bureau said in its statement. The statement gave no account of what happened aboard. The FBI said that since this is an ongoing investigation, no additional details will be provided at this time.

What officials have not released

The FBI has released no victim identity, no cause of death and no suspect information. It has not said at what point during the short sailing the suspected homicide occurred, beyond the belief that it took place before the vessel docked on Monday. No agency named in the FBI statement has announced an arrest, and the bureau has not said whether anyone is being sought.

MSC addressed the limits on what it can say in its own statement. "As this is an active investigation, we cannot provide more details," the spokesperson said. "Our thoughts are with the guest's family and friends at this difficult time."

Ship leaves port and sails on

The stop in Galveston did not end the sailing. "We are cooperating fully with the investigation and providing support to those impacted," the MSC spokesperson said. "The ship has since left the port and resumed its planned itinerary."

MSC Seascape has been homeported in Galveston since late 2025, Cruise Fever reported. The ship is back at sea on the Western Caribbean route it started on Sunday, while the FBI investigation continues in Texas with the Coast Guard, port police and Customs and Border Protection. The bureau has said the next details will not come while the investigation stays active, so the central facts of what happened aboard remain with investigators for now.