A Santa Clara man accused of beating his wife to death on an Alaskan cruise is set to appear in court for an arraignment Wednesday morning.
Kenneth Manzanares, 39, will appear in U.S. District Court in Anchorage via video conference from a courtroom in Juneau, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Manzanares waived a preliminary hearing earlier this month and was indicted by a federal grand jury last week for the death of Kristy Manzanares.
The couple and their three daughters were on a Princess Cruises ship off the coast of Alaska when, just after 9 p.m. on July 25, medical and ship security personnel found Kristy Manzanares dead on the floor of her cabin with a severe head wound, according to charging documents. Blood was spattered around the cabin and on the hands and clothing of her husband.
A witness told FBI investigators that when he asked Kenneth Manzanares what happened, he replied, “She would not stop laughing at me.”
Manzanares had attempted to drag his wife‘s body toward the cabin’s balcony, but the witness pulled her back into the room as security officers arrived, prosecutors said.
FBI agents took the man into custody July 26 in Juneau. Federal authorities have led the investigation because the death occurred in U.S. waters.
The couple’s three daughters, ranging in age from 13 to 22, were not injured and returned to Utah with family members.
A spokeswoman for the Santa Clara-Ivins police told The Tribune in July that there were no records of officers responding to the Manzanares home.