A cruise ship passenger is facing a federal murder charge after standing accused of killing his wife in their cabin aboard the MSC Seascape.
Jason Leon Watford, of Tyler, Texas, allegedly admitted to the FBI that he beat and strangled his wife for several minutes until she was motionless following an argument on the ship the evening of Sunday, November 8, according to an affidavit viewed by Us.
He was arrested Monday, November 9, after the cruise ship docked in Galveston, Texas.
The FBI confirmed the woman’s identity as Susan Watford, Jason’s wife, according to reports.
FBI spokesperson Connor Hagan said in a statement to NBC 5 DFW that, “A child was involved in the situation and was found uninjured by the FBI and law enforcement partners,” and noted the child was “part of the family.”
The child is now in foster care, the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services confirmed to the outlet.
The child was located inside the cabin where Jason and Susan were staying at the time of the incident, per NBC affiliate KPRC-TV.
Jason’s court-appointed public defender, Alex Omar Rosa-Ambert, declined to comment on the case when reached by Us via email on Wednesday, November 11.
A cruise ship investigator alerted the FBI to Susan’s death, which occurred over international waters, after she was found dead in the cabin “with multiple facial injuries,” according to the affidavit.
A housekeeper who went to deliver towels to the room initially encountered Jason with what appeared to be blood on his hands and clothes, then noticed Susan lying motionless, face down on the floor, the affidavit states. The housekeeper ultimately notified other cruise ship employees, resulting in Jason being detained by ship security personnel.
Jason later told FBI agents that he and his wife had boarded the ship earlier in the day on Sunday, before they got into an argument at a restaurant that evening, per the affidavit.
While in their room following the argument, Jason said he and his wife “continued to engage in an escalating verbal dispute that caused him to ‘snap,’ and he struck [her] multiple times causing blood to emit from her mouth and onto his shirt, pants, and hands,” the affidavit states.
He then allegedly strangled her.
Susan’s foster sister, Breana Chappell, told Fox 26 Houston that Susan “was a beautiful soul who genuinely brought smiles to everyone she met” and a mother to several children.
“I grew up alongside her, watched her grow into the woman she became, and had the privilege of watching her become a mother,” Chappell said. “And let me tell you, she absolutely rocked motherhood. Her children were her world.”
Chappell told the outlet that Susan’s children were “robbed of a lifetime of memories with their mother, and she was robbed of watching her babies become the people she dreamed they would be.”
Jason allegedly previously assaulted Susan in 2024, per court records viewed by NBC 5 DFW. He pleaded guilty in connection with that incident.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for confidential support.
