Man accused of killing wife on cruise to Mexico

SAN DIEGO – A cruise ship passenger was arrested Thursday for allegedly killing his wife during an argument in their cabin on a trip to Mexico, the FBI said.

The man was arrested by FBI agents after the 2,052-passenger Carnival Elation docked at its homeport in San Diego following a five-night cruise to Cabo San Lucas, authorities said. The identities of the couple were not immediately released.

The man and his 55-year-old wife got into a dispute in their cabin on Tuesday evening and she was killed, according to Carnival Cruise Lines and FBI spokesman Darrell Foxworth. Crew members found her body when they entered the cabin, Foxworth said. He would not say how she died.

The man was taken into custody aboard the vessel while it sailed home, Carnival said. Security kept the man in the brig until the ship docked at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, said John Gilmore, a spokesman for the Port of San Diego.

The San Diego County medical examiner arrived and removed the woman's body about three hours later, he said.

FBI agents took a U.S. Coast Guard vessel out of San Diego on Tuesday night and boarded the cruise ship before it reached land, Gilmore said.

Passenger Arlene Albi of San Diego said rumors started flying among passengers on Tuesday when they saw a security guard sitting outside the couple's cabin around the clock.

"I get up and go to the gym at 6 a.m. and he would be there," she said. "I'd look down the hall when I'd go back down, during the day, and he would still be sitting there. I don't know if it was the same guy, but there was always someone in front of that room."

The Elation departed San Diego on Saturday.

__

Associated Press Writer Solvej Schou in Los Angeles contributed to this report.