Cruise ship murder: Domestic violence history between couple

I do want to bring you guys here back in studio, okay? Since this past weekend, may have been Saturday or Sunday, we started following the murder investigation that took place on the MSC Seascape, right? That was the cruise ship that was leaving Galveston, heading to a seven-day trip. And we've been really digging into the history of this couple here. We now know the husband is federally charged for the death of his wife. Sacra Gray has been following all the ins and a history of domestic violence at the center of all of this. Yeah, so I call this going through the paper trail. We were able to look through court records and documents and see what Jason Watford's history looked like, specifically in regards to this relationship before the couple ever even stepped foot on this cruise ship. So we're learning as we look through his history that this was not the first time that he had allegedly laid his hands on his wife. So I figured the best way to walk through all of this is to give you a timeline. So let's actually start at the beginning of their relationship. In 2021 they were married according to Smith County County clerk records, they were married in Tyler, Texas and then Smith County Sheriff's Office records show that less than three years into their marriage, deputies were called out to their home for a domestic disturbance. In the arrest affidavit, Susan told deputies that she and Jason were arguing about money that escalated. She said he charged at her, chased her into the living room, grabbed her wrist and left left a red mark on her wrist. Now, investigators say Susan used a taser on him to try to get him to let go before she ran outside to eventually call 911. Now, Susan did tell the deputy during that that Jason had been abusive in the past. So she had rang that alarm bell that he had been abusive in the past. But when we talk about the punishment for that, Jason was arrested for misdemeanor domestic assault. Following that, two months later, he pleaded guilty. And then he was given 15 months probation. So I know when we talk about 2021 to 2024 to now 2026, time moves quickly because 15 months of probation means he was, his probation ended in February of this year. And so then nine months later is when he boarded that cruise ship with his wife. And now she is no longer here and there are children now without her because she had kids. She had kids. She had kids, all right. Thank you for going over that paper trail because I think it really does give us an idea of what was happening, right? All we knew of involving this couple was just the incident that initially took place. But now when you really give us that context of the history, it is a sad tale about domestic violence and what it really can result in, especially in our community and across the country, really. But you were able to speak to some domestic violence. Well, because I think when you look through the history of Jason Watford, the immediate question is, why did she get on that cruise ship with him when he had this history? He had been on probation. The big question is why? And how they explained it to me is, when we think of domestic violence, It doesn't start with a fist through the drywall. It doesn't start with strangulation. It starts with, you know, talking down on somebody and then it eventually escalates. And the other thing too is we always say, well, why don't you just leave? But they explained to me that even when you leave, it doesn't mean the danger immediately goes away. You could leave and the threat is still there. So oftentimes, that's what makes it difficult for victims to leave. Now, something I want to point out is that in the federal charging documents, he says he snapped. We've talked about that a lot since, you know, day one, we read through those documents. But the trauma counselor that I spoke to wanted to really push back on that phrase, he snapped. Because when we say snapped, it means something instantly happened. Yeah. Right, but when we look at the history, it paints a different picture that this was part of his history and part of their relationship story. I wanna play a piece of our interview that we did right there. There is no such thing as I snapped and I killed. Your behavior and your actions are your own. In this case, there was sustained violence, a history of violence, an abuser who has abused. And sadly, he committed the ultimate crime. We've seen homicides happen. Most frequently within the home of the victim, but they've happened in parking lots, in businesses, in family members' homes. There's really nowhere that's off limits. And something that these experts pointed out is we typically think of domestic violence as something that happens behind closed doors. And though, you know, the initial incident did happen at their home, they went on this cruise ship for a vacation. You know, it was supposed to be a family vacation. And so even though the scenery may have changed, the violence continued and the story stayed the same. The violence, the history of Jason Watford's violence continued even if they were in a different location. Sakra, thank you for going through those documents and really giving us a picture of what took place over the last couple of years. But again, if you know you or someone you know is in a very difficult domestic situation, please reach out, get help. Thank you so much for that, Sakra.