Kenneth Manzanares, 41, flew into a rage with Kristy, 39, during a voyage to Alaska with their three children and a large party, including other relatives.
After a huge row when she told him she wanted a divorce, two children saw him beating her with his fists then trying to throw her over a balcony.
But staff who found the bloody scene in the couple’s cabin at first thought it could be part of that night’s murder-mystery themed dinner.
And some people on board the Emerald Princess thought the captain’s urgent announcement telling the crew to rush to the scene must also be part of the entertainment.
Passenger Megan Morr revealed: “The captain announced , ‘Everyone, we need all medical, security, all personnel to deck 9 and deck 14’. He was very worked up. People were running through the hall with blood all over them”
The family, from Santa Clara in the US state of Utah, had set off from Seattle, Washington, on a week-long cruise along with 3,400 other passengers.
When their row first broke out Manzanares told two children who were in the couple’s cabin to leave but then they heard “blood-curdling” screams and tried to get back in.
From a connecting balcony they saw Manzanares on top of his wife hitting her, then trying to throw her over a balcony. The ship’s security and medics were called but could not save her life.
Asked what happened after the ship docked in Juneau, Alaska, Manzanares told police he had snapped because his wife “would not stop laughing at me”.
He admitted hitting her “once with a closed fist, seeing blood and striking another time”. He said he had no memory after that point and told detectives: “My life is over.”
The couple had been married for 20 years and Mrs Manzanares was an estate agent with Sotheby’s in St George, Utah. An autopsy found she was killed by blunt force trauma to her head and face.
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