On 25/6/2005, George Smith and Jennifer Hagel celebrated their wedding in Newport, Rhode Island. 26-year-old George was poised to take over his father's liquor store in Greenwich, Connecticut, while Jennifer worked as a teacher. Both eagerly anticipated their Mediterranean honeymoon cruise.
"I remember shaking his hand on the street and saying goodbye. Who could have imagined that less than two weeks later, George would be gone," George's father recalled the newlywed couple's joyful departure for the airport.
In late June 2005, the Royal Caribbean cruise ship "Brilliance of the Seas" embarked from Barcelona, Spain. Aboard were the Smiths and another honeymooning couple, Paul and Galina Kvitnisky. Sitting near each other, they quickly became acquainted.
Around midnight on 5/7/2005, both couples went to the ship's casino. This was the last time George was seen alive.
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George Smith and Jennifer Hagel board the Royal Caribbean's "Brilliance of the Seas" on 29/6/2005. Photo: CBS |
George Smith and Jennifer Hagel board the Royal Caribbean's "Brilliance of the Seas" on 29/6/2005. Photo: CBS
According to casino security footage, Jennifer spent most of her time at the blackjack table, while George played craps with another acquaintance, 20-year-old Josh Askin, a University of California student vacationing with his father.
Several other passengers were also present, including a group of Russian-American students: cousins Zach and Greg Rozenberg, and their friend Rusty Kofman. At one point, George returned to his cabin to get more money for Jennifer.
According to Paul, both Jennifer and George were intoxicated when the casino closed. "I remember telling him, 'It's time to end the night'," Paul recounted, wishing his new friend had heeded his advice.
A sudden disappearance
At approximately 7:30 AM on 5/7/2005, a passenger stepped onto their balcony to photograph the sunrise and discovered a large bloodstain on the lifeboat canopy below.
Security personnel quickly determined that the couple in cabin 9062 was missing. They then notified the Smith family back in the US.
Jennifer was found at the ship's spa, where she had a scheduled massage appointment. The crew delivered the devastating news: George was presumed to have fallen overboard somewhere between Greece and Turkey.
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A large bloodstain on the metal canopy of a lifeboat. Photo: CBS |
A large bloodstain on the metal canopy of a lifeboat. Photo: CBS
Shocked and distraught, Jennifer insisted she had no memory of what happened after leaving the casino. She said that when she woke up in their cabin, George was gone. She assumed he had stayed with Paul and Galina.
Turkish police boarded the ship to investigate, with Royal Caribbean documenting the process.
Josh Askin and the Russian-American group – Rusty Kofman, Zach, and Greg Rozenberg – gathered in the ship's lounge. They had been partying with George the previous night.
The four men's story began at 2:30 AM after the casino closed. While taking the elevator to the disco, Josh claimed he noticed some odd behavior from the casino manager, Lloyd Botha, such as putting his arm around Jennifer.
At the disco, they snuck in a bottle of liquor and drank together. Rusty said he observed Jennifer kick George in the groin, but couldn't hear what they said to each other. Jennifer then ran out of the disco, with the casino manager following her.
They claimed they didn't know where Lloyd and Jennifer went. By 3:30 AM, the disco closed, and George collapsed on a chair. They helped him back to his cabin.
At 3:52 AM, they entered the Smiths' cabin. The ship's keycard log recorded the time, but Jennifer wasn't there. George suddenly said he wanted to find his wife. They took him to the ship's solarium to search, then returned him to his cabin at 4:01 AM.
The group claimed they put George on his bed and helped take off his shoes: "After we got him back to his room the second time, we closed the door, never saw him again...".
Strange sounds in the night
Just after 4 AM, passenger Clete Hyman, a vacationing police officer, heard shouting from the Smiths' cabin, sounding like a drinking game. Minutes later, an argument erupted on the Smiths' balcony, seemingly involving 3 or 4 people, according to Clete's testimony.
The group of young men insisted they never went onto the balcony.
"After about two minutes of arguing, my wife and I heard a male voice repeatedly saying 'Good night'... as if seeing someone out of the room. I looked out and saw three men walking away," Clete continued.
Rusty's lawyer argued that all four left together, and because of Rusty's large build, Clete might have missed the fourth person.
What Clete heard next became the subject of much speculation: was George alone in the room?
"At this point, we only heard a solitary voice in the room. We heard the sound of closet doors slamming shut and furniture being moved," Clete stated.
Greg and Pat Lawyer, in the cabin across from the Smiths', also heard the commotion and similar sounds of someone throwing things.
After about two minutes of complete silence, Clete heard a horrific thud. That sound is believed to be George hitting the metal canopy of the lifeboat around 4:30 AM. Around the same time, Jennifer was found unconscious in the hallway. The four young men claimed they had all returned to their rooms and ordered room service.
Accident or murder?
As details surrounding George's disappearance emerged, speculation about Jennifer also arose. She maintained she had no memory of what happened.
Jennifer wasn't the only one under scrutiny. The media questioned the four young men and whether George's disappearance was an accident or if he was pushed overboard.
At the time, the ship's captain suggested it might have been an accident, theorizing that an intoxicated George sat on the railing and fell.
Photos taken by Royal Caribbean inside the Smiths' cabin showed two approximately 1 cm long bloodstains on the bedsheet. The family said it was George's blood – a sign of foul play.
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The balcony of the Smiths' cabin photographed after the Turkish forensic investigation. Photo: CBS |
The balcony of the Smiths' cabin photographed after the Turkish forensic investigation. Photo: CBS
The FBI investigated George's disappearance for nearly 8 years, but the case remained unsolved. To access Royal Caribbean's records, the Smith family hired attorney Mike Jones. By 2010, Mike finally obtained the cruise line's internal documents.
The records revealed several short calls made from Zach and Rusty's cabin to room service after 4:13 AM on 5/7/2005, but no record of any actual orders.
Greg claimed he ordered tuna sandwiches and cheese after returning to his cabin after 4 AM. He said they couldn't have killed George because they were eating in their cabin. However, this wasn't an alibi, as the food could have been delivered after George's disappearance.
Furthermore, the investigation revealed that casino manager Lloyd didn't leave the disco with Jennifer as the four men claimed. Lloyd entered his girlfriend's room at 3:25 AM while the Smiths were still at the disco.
Attorney Mike believed Lloyd was a victim of the four men's attempt to divert attention.
As for Jennifer, witnesses saw her staggering out of the disco alone at 3:30 AM. Several crew members escorted her to the elevator. An hour later, Jennifer was found unconscious in the hallway around the time George presumably went overboard. Both Lloyd and Jennifer passed FBI polygraph tests.
A suspicious video
The four young men remained persons of interest for the FBI. Attorney Mike didn't believe their story, citing evidence suggesting a more complex series of events.
Royal Caribbean's documents showed complaints against them for smoking, smuggling alcohol, and insulting staff members.
Two days after George vanished, an 18-year-old female passenger reported a serious sexual assault. She alleged non-consensual sex with Greg, Rusty, and Jeffrey – Zach's younger brother – while "completely drunk" and "unconscious". The three men filmed the encounter. Josh witnessed the incident.
In a meeting with Royal Caribbean, the young men and their families denied the allegations. All four were subsequently removed from the ship in Naples. Italian police investigated the rape allegations but ultimately dismissed the case, claiming lack of jurisdiction. No one was ever charged in the sexual assault.
The video – in the FBI's possession – also contained footage of a lunch filmed by the three Russian-American students just hours after George disappeared. Josh wasn't present.
In the video, they passed the camcorder, callously commenting on George's death and joking about his wealth. Attorney Mike explained, "The way they're talking, they know or have a pretty good feel for what happened".
Rusty referred to George "skydiving" from the cabin balcony. Greg stood up at the end of the video, hunched his shoulders, flashed a gang sign, and said, "I told you I was a gangster." "In the context of this discussion about George's death, it's almost as if he's bragging about what he did to George," Mike observed.
The group and their lawyers declined to comment on the video.
The difficult pursuit of justice
Attorney Mike's theory was that Josh knew what happened but wasn't directly involved in throwing George overboard.
As evidence, Mike pointed to a clue uncovered by Royal Caribbean: a crew member overheard Josh talking to a friend in the elevator. He said, "I know more than they think. They almost got me arrested in Turkey."
Josh failed an FBI polygraph test. Rusty also failed. Greg's results were inconclusive.
In 2010, Greg stated that George's death was no accident: "George Smith did not disappear, did not commit suicide, or injure himself, or accidentally slip and fall off a 6'4" railing... I know that didn't happen. So... something crazy happened that night. And I hope one day the truth comes out."
If George was murdered, the question remained: "Why?" Attorney Mike believed the motive was robbery. George and Jennifer were well-dressed, spent freely at the casino, and George wore an expensive Breitling watch. Witnesses also overheard the couple mention having thousands of USD in wedding cash in their cabin.
Mike theorized that when they took George back to his room, the four men argued about whether to leave someone behind to find the money and take the watch. Mike suggested this argument was what Clete heard on the balcony. Mike also believed this theory aligned with the witness seeing only three men leave.
"One of them stays behind, ransacks the drawers and the closets. George wakes up, and there’s a struggle, consistent with the noise that the passengers in the two adjoining rooms hear. And George goes over. The others hear the big thud," Mike stated.
Josh's lawyer argued that there was a simpler explanation for everything that happened on the "Brilliance of the Seas": intoxication. "The common denominator between the sexual assault allegation and George going overboard is alcohol. People drink too much, and stupid things happen. It makes sense," the lawyer said.
On 9/1/2015, the Smith family was devastated to learn that the FBI had closed George's case. The FBI determined there wasn't enough evidence to continue the investigation.
Jennifer remarried and tried to move on. The Smith family vowed to continue seeking justice, "not letting the memory of George die on that ship".
In December 2019, Greg was shot and killed outside his home in Davie, Florida. The investigation is ongoing, and no suspects have been arrested.
Tue Anh (according to CBS News)
