A Utah man who was convicted of murdering his wife on an Alaskan cruise has now been found dead in jail.
Kenneth Manzanares was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for the murder of wife Kristy Manzanares in 2017.
That sentencing was less than two months ago. Now the Alaska Department of Corrections is confirming Manzanares was found unresponsive in his cell. Efforts to revive the 43-year-old failed. Foul play is not expected at this time.
Kenneth Manzanares was on a cruise with wife Kristy Manzanares, their children, and other loved ones when he did the unthinkable. The two got into an argument during which Kristy asked for Manzanares to leave the ship. She also told him she wanted a divorce.
At that point, Manzanares asked their two daughters to leave the room. "Both [daughters] heard Kristy scream and attempted to reenter the cabin using the adjoining door when Kenneth told them 'don't come in here,'" the US Attorney's Office said, per People.
"They both went to the connected balcony and saw Kenneth straddling Kristy on the bed striking her in the head with closed fists."
Kristy's brothers arrived in time to stop Kenneth from dumping her body overboard. She received medical attention but couldn't be revived. Her cause of death was determined to be blunt force trauma to her head and face.
The high school sweethearts had taken the trip to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Kristy's death was shocking and devastating to those who knew and loved her.
Despite his arrest in 2017 for the incident, Manzanares was only just sentenced in June 2021. He was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison without the chance of parole, followed by five years of supervised release. He would not end up serving much of that sentence, however.
Alaska's Department of Corrections confirmed that a 43-year-old Manzanares was found unresponsive in his cell at Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau. Just minutes later, he was pronounced dead. Foul play is not suspected, and officials confirmed Manzanares did not have COVID-19.
