A Texas mother warned her daughter not to go on a trip with her abusive husband days before she embarked on an unfortunate journey.
asserted
she → warn → journey
Susan Watford, 31, was found dead in her cabin on board the MSC Seascape on Sunday night.
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Watford → find → night
Her enraged husband, Jason Leon Watford, allegedly thrashed and choked Susan to death in front of their young child on the first night of a cruise.
uncertain
husband → thrash → cruise
Susan’s adoptive mother, Dorothy Mast, told KPRC that she had urged her daughter to ditch her plans with the husband.
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she → tell → husband
‘I had asked her not to go,’ Mast said, but Susan paid no heed to her advice.
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Susan → ask → advice
Jason, 48, was charged with murder in the US District Court overnight after allegedly admitting to the crime during an interrogation by FBI agents.
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Jason → charge → agents
The couple's toddler was in the cabin when Susan was killed, but was unharmed and is in the care of child protection agents.
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Susan → kill → agents
Jason appeared in Galveston federal court on Tuesday, where he waived his right to a detention hearing during his initial appearance.
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he → appear → appearance
Susan Watford, 31, was found dead in her cabin by a MSC Seascape employee on Sunday night while she was on a trip with husband
Susan's husband, Jason Leon Watford, allegedly thrashed and choked her to death in front of their young child on the first night of a cruise
Susan, a mother of three, was aware of her husband’s alleged abusive history but she saw this vacation as an opportunity to work on the marriage, Mast said.
‘As she told me, “Mama, he did everything the court said he had to do,”’ the mother added.
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mother → find → everything
Mast was referring to an older case when Jason was convicted of assaulting his wife.
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Jason → refer → wife
Susan had told an officer in 2024 that her husband grabbed her wrist during an argument over money and she had to use a Taser to defend herself.
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she → tell → herself
Susan’s adoptive mother, Dorothy Mast (seen above), warned her not to go on this trip but her daughter said she wanted to give her marriage a chance
Jason initially denied attacking her, but eventually pleaded guilty to assault causing bodily injury to a family member.
He was put on probation for 15 months after the incident.
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He → see → incident
‘He took his anger management classes.
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He → take → classes
He did his counseling.
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He → do → counseling
He did his community service,’ Mast said.
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Mast → do → service
Mast added that Susan had decided to divorce the man if the cruise did not go as planned.
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cruise → add → man
Worried about her daughter, Mast kept in touch with Susan while she was on the ship.
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she → keep → ship
Mast said she did not panic when she could not get in touch with her daughter after their departure, thinking that Susan might be busy.
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Susan → say → departure
‘I tried calling her,’ she said.
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she → call → her
‘She didn’t answer.
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She → answer → ?
So I figured, well, you know, she’s busy.’
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she → figure → ?
It was later established that Mast’s call came after Susan was allegedly killed by Jason.
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Susan → establish → Jason
‘She was a great daughter and liked to learn,’ Mast said as she remembered her beloved daughter.
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she → like → daughter
Jason allegedly told the FBI on Monday that he and his wife began arguing while eating at a restaurant and it quickly escalated when they returned to their cabin
This was not the first time Jason became aggressive with Susan.
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Jason → tell → Susan
In 2024, she told an officer that her husband grabbed her wrist during an argument over money and she had to use a Taser to defend herself
MSC Seascape left Galveston on Sunday for a cruise of Mexico and Honduras but by that evening Jason and his wife were arguing over dinner.
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Jason → tell → dinner
Jason stormed out of the restaurant and was seen on security camera footage returning to their cabin on deck 10 of the huge ship alone at 7.46pm.
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Jason → storm → 7.46pm
Susan came to the cabin at 8.11pm and the couple continued to argue.
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couple → come → 8.11pm
The husband told investigators that the argument escalated until he 'snapped' and punched his wife in the face several times, the charging affidavit alleged.
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affidavit → tell → face
He allegedly hit her so hard that his blows 'caused blood to emit from her mouth and onto his shirt, pants, and hands'
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blood → hit → shirt
At some point during the attack, he began to choke Susan with both hands and 'wrapped his right arm around [her] neck from behind while she was lying down.
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she → begin → neck
'[Jason] stated that he applied pressure to [her] neck for approximately four to five minutes and released his hold only after becoming exhausted,' the affidavit alleged.
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affidavit → state → hold
The husband was seen on security camera footage leaving the room two minutes later, wearing different clothes, and sitting on the floor outside scrolling on his phone.
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husband → see → phone
At no point did he notify the crew about the condition of his partner despite her lying motionless on the floor inside.
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her → notify → floor
A housekeeper knocked on the door to deliver fresh towels 10 minutes after the incident and saw Jason opening the door slightly.
The housekeeper immediately told MSC security that she saw blood on his hands and pants, and a woman lying on the floor in the room.
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she → knock → room
Jason was hauled off the ship in handcuffs after it turned around and returned to port in Galveston, Texas, early Monday morning.
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it → haul → Galveston
He will remain in custody and is scheduled to return to court next Monday for a probable cause hearing.
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He → remain → hearing
If convicted, he will face life in prison.
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he → convict → prison
The Aporia
