EP24: Mysterious Cruise Ship Death of George Allen Smith

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whopping 65 countries not a bad deal right aside from an array of activities and dining experiences that you can experience on a cruise it's also well known that a lot of people go missing on cruises it's estimated that since the year 2000 roughly 300 people have gone overboard from cruise ships or fairies although we really don't know the exact figure because some Cruise companies choose not to report those incidents in order to preserve their reputation if someone is reported missing from a cruise ship it's safe to say we can deduce that most likely one of three things has happened they jumped from the ship they fell or they were thrown 26-year-old George Allen Smith IV of Greenwich Connecticut was a good-looking guy who stood fairly tall at 6'4 in and had dark hair and blue eyes he graduated with a business degree from Babson College in Welsley Massachusetts in the year 2000 and went on to work for his father the owner of cost cob liquor which ended up closing its doors in 2019 with the ultimate goal that one day George would take over the family business as George was focusing on his business goals he met 25-year-old Jennifer Hegel a gorgeous blonde Elementary School teacher from Cromwell Connecticut the two got married on June 25th 2005 and had a Cliffside ceremony at the Castle Hill Inn a Victorian Mansion in Newport Rhode Island please put your hands together for the new Mr and Mrs George Smith [Music] the and soon got an apartment in the grenwich suburb of Byam for their honeymoon the couple was looking forward to celebrating their new lives together on a two-week Mediterranean cruise on Royal Caribbean's International Cruise Ship the MS Brilliance of the Seas the crews would make stops in Greece turkey and Italy among other locations just a few days after their wedding on June 29th they boarded the cruise liner and checked into State room number 9062 which was on the ninth deck of the ship the Brilliance of the Seas was set to depart just before sunset on the French Riviera headed for its first stop lorno Italy when they docked at lorno the Smiths caught a taxi into Florence along with a family that they' met on board the Asin family of lagona Hills California Dr Jerry Askin was a podiatrist celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary with his wife Bonnie and their three children 20-year-old Josh Asin was their oldest child a cute California kid who according to Jennifer seem somewhat of a handful while in Florence Josh had bought a bottle of absinth absinth is a potent anise flavored alcohol that is highly regulated in the United States mainly because of its main ingredient thjone a compound found in the plant wormwood which in high doses can be toxic or fatal Cruise operators still forbid the alcohol on board their ships for obvious reasons Josh obviously intended to bring the alcohol on board and had asked George if he could help him sneak it on George agreed and prior to boarding tucked the Bottle Into His waistband the ship left Italy's port and headed back out into the aan sea headed for the Greek island of mikinos on July 4th George and Jennifer spent the day in mikonos Walking amongst the islands whitewashed Villas and returned to the ship in the evening back in their cabin Jennifer got ready for dinner while George went out onto the balcony to smoke a cigar the two went to chops Grill the ship steakhous for dinner and then off to the Cino Royale for some gambling also on board this same Cruise were four passengers who will be referred to as the Russians 19-year-old Gregory Rosenberg of boa Raton Florida his 18-year-old cousin Zachary 16-year-old Jeffrey Rosenberg Zach's younger brother and their friend 20-year-old RAV or Rusty Kaufman of Brooklyn New York the Russians also headed to the casino that night where they encountered and met Josh Askin and began playing craps with him the Russians had already been causing some trouble on the ship Before Dawn on July 4th a security guard had found them drinking and smoking by the main pool on Deck 11 Gregory was acting arrogant and shouting obscenities the Russians had also been abusive and obnoxious to room service operators reportedly calling from Gregory's cabin cabin number 304 and placing obscenity laced orders which resulted in a visit from security another obscene call was placed from that room at around 1:00 a.m. on July 5th where one of the men yelled into the phone telling the operator that they'd better make sure to get their luggage tomorrow otherwise they'd throw them overboard a Security Supervisor then went to their room to admonish them and also told the room service operators not to pick up the phone if they received a call from room 3004 back at the casino Jennifer was playing poker with Greg Rosenberg while George met up with Josh and the two left for Josh's cabin on Deck n n to drink some of the absin that was snuck on board earlier that day on their way back to the casino George stopped by his own cabin to grab some extra cash and the two arrived back at the casino around 2:20 a.m. Walter Zisco a vacationing police officer had befriended the Smith and would later recall that George told him that he had $50,000 in cash with him on the cruise money that he had gotten in part for a wedding gift other passengers also recalled the couple telling them that they had anywhere from 14,000 to $50,000 in their cabin although it wasn't clear if the Smiths actually had that amount with them George's family finds it unlikely that they did but that didn't matter because people believe that they did according to George's mother Moren Smith the couple looked prosperous to others like they were wealthy Jennifer wore a huge diamond wedding ring from a South African Jeweler and George dressed well and wore an expensive brightling watch which had been a wedding gift from the best man in case you were curious because I was so I looked it up a brightling watch can run anywhere from $3,000 to $40,000 also at the casino was the casino supervisor Lloyd Batha who had become quite chummy with George throughout the cruise several passengers reported that Jennifer appeared to be flirting with Lloyd Josh asins said he witnessed Jennifer and Lloyd nestled together on a couch although no one else had witnessed that but instead others had said that Jennifer was so intoxicated she couldn't stand up and was hanging on a man named Dominic Maza a 24-year-old auditor from New Jersey Maza said that night he thought jennif was simply drunk but not flirting with him when the casino closed the Smith Josh Asin and Lloyd boa all left and rode a glass elevator up to the Star Quest disco on Deck 13 around 2:30 a.m. on the elevator Josh said he noticed something awkward that Lloyd had his arm draped around Jennifer the three Russians had also made their way to the Disco once at the Disco one Gomez the bartender remembered seeing the Russians Josh Askin and George and Jennifer talking near the revolving bar around 3:00 a.m. after last call Greg Rosenberg ordered four more vodka shots which he gave to George Jennifer and another man George didn't seem to be too inebriated at this point when Juan Gomez left the bar at 3:25 a.m. George was standing near the piano and Jennifer was standing at the bar talking to Greg Rosenberg Troy Gonzalez a cleaner at the Disco observed Josh Greg Zack and Rusty drinking shots from their own liquor bottle which they were trying to hide at around 3:30 a.m. several passengers heard George and Jennifer get into an argument and George called Jennifer a hussy fellow passenger Margarita Chavez then saw Jennifer push George and kick him in the groin some who witnessed the argument said the kick was playful While others said that George bent over in extreme pain then Jennifer walked out of the casino with an attitude and without George according to one passenger with Lloyd Batha close behind Lloyd both's attorney though said that's not what happened he said the ship's records indicate that Lloyd did not leave the Disco with Jennifer he left with friends at 3:15 a.m. entering his girlfriend's cabin at 3:25 a.m. some witnesses cooporate his story and saw Jennifer leaving the Disco unaccompanied tro Gonzalez the cleaning employee saw Jennifer stumbling and followed her to the elevator to make sure she got down to her cabin floor safely but when Jennifer got off the elevator she turned right instead of left toward her cabin came to a dead end and passed out on the floor leaning against a door after Jennifer left the Disco George remained there for about 15 minutes then by 3:45 a.m. he was so drunk on vodka and absin that Josh Askin and the Russians decided to take him back to his cabin once they got to the cabin and realized Jennifer wasn't there George made them search the Disco on Deck 13 and the pool area on Deck 11 for his wife the group did a quick 10-minute search and returned to the Smith cabin number 9062 without having found Jennifer by 4:00 a.m. next door to the Smith's cabin in room 9064 were cleat Hyman and his wife and he heard a group of men enter the Smith's cabin according to Zachary Rosenberg the men then took off George's shoes and helped him into bed George was passed out and not moving about 10 minutes later CLE Hyman was woken up by loud yelling coming from the Smith's room this yelling sounded what I would liken to a drinking game where individuals are encouraging somebody to uh take shots or chug beer or something of this nature suddenly though there was an argument uh out on the Smith balcony this argument appeared to be uh between three maybe four uh male individuals after about 2 minutes of the argument uh we heard one one lone male voice uh repeatedly say good night good night like they were ushering uh someone out of the room he heard the front door open and male voices outside the door I looked out and saw three male uh individuals walking away uh from the room the time was 4:18 a.m. what's interesting is that several witnesses report George leaving with four men not three and that according to Captain Bill Wright the senior VP of Fleet operations the investigation confirmed that four men did in fact bring George back to his room so what happened to the fourth person did he stay inside the room with George and quietly sneak out or did cleat Heyman make a mistake at this point we heard just a lone male voice in the room we heard what sounded like the cupboard doors being uh closed loudly uh and also sounded like Furniture being moved after about 8 minutes of this it was totally quiet Pat and Greg lawyer The Neighbors on the other side of the Smiths in cabin number 9060 didn't hear a drinking game like cleat did but did witness hearing the same movement of furniture as if the cabin was being trashed suddenly there was a lot of noise coming from the room and what sounded like someone throwing Furniture in the room against the wall or floor cabinets being shut and the toilet being flushed two cabins down from the Smith's room Carlos Manaka who was in cabin number 9066 heard the commotion as well and agreed that it sounded like Furniture being tossed after about 2 minutes of total silence however there was a large what I would call a horrific thud it was so loud that it reverberated through cleat heyman's cabin and it sounded as if someone fell out on the balcony following the thud no one heard anyone leaving the Smith's cabin but one passenger reported hearing a woman scream right after the noise about 5 minutes later both cleat and the lawyers heard two sets of wraps on the Smith's cabin door it was the ship security who were responding to cleat earlier phone call Greg opened his door and told security that you guys better get in there because that room is trashed security knocked on the door got no response then walked away without investigating any further they did not go into the room at the same time as the commotion is going on in the Smith's cabin the Russians are back in Cabin 3008 Zack and Rusty's room the group claimed they then ordered a ton ton of food from room service if you recall room service was not allowed to answer if a call came from room 3004 Gregory's room however the room serice supervisor said the Personnel answering the calls would have recognized the men's voices and knew not to respond to their request according to the Russians the food was delivered 15 minutes later and when it arrived there was such a ridiculous amount of food that they took photos of it and of course the date and time were affixed to those photos what's interesting is that according to the ship's logs they had no record of any room service being ordered or delivered to room 3008 that morning meanwhile one of the ship's plumbers finds a passed out Jennifer Smith resting against the door at the end of a hallway on Deck N9 right outside a crew only room and five Doors Down from Josh's room five other crew members including two security Personnel came to the scene where Jennifer was lying they didn't move her but applied ice cubes to her face to try to wake her up records aren't clear at this point if Jennifer woke up and was coherent enough to tell them her room number or if she had some kind of identification or key on her but we do know that two crew members went to her room to locate her husband when the crew members entered the Smith's cabin George wasn't in the room a wheelchair was brought to Jennifer to assist her and take her back to her cabin when she's ushered in the room the ship staff didn't notice anything unusual the furniture was not thrown around like the neighbors claimed to have heard and the room was in normal order the balcony curtain was closed and not moving suggesting that the sliding glass doors behind the curtain were also closed the staff leaves Jennifer to rest in the room and she goes to sleep it's now about 4:50 a.m. at 5:15 a.m. ship Pass Key logs showed that Josh Askin arrived back to his room according to Josh he then went to bed about an hour later the ship arrived in kusadasi Turkey its next port a call by 8:30 a.m. the passengers are disembarking the ship 16-year-old Emily Rous decided she wanted to take some pictures with her new digital camera she headed back to her cabin on Deck s and on the way noticed blood stains that were several feet long on top of the 12-ft metal Lifeboat canopy that hung over the lifeboats and was located below the passenger balconies in the blood stain there were patterns that appeared to be handprints and Footprints and an impression of fingers at the canopy's edge when I took the picture one of the things that made me think that this could have been blood I saw a handprint running off the side of it right here I don't know maybe a hand other passengers also began noticing the blood stain and security was called to the site a tally is then done of the ship's passengers and three are reported missing George and Jennifer Smith and one other passenger the third passenger is located and the ship begins to page The Smiths by this time Jennifer had woken up in her cabin she didn't remember anything that had happened the night before not the fight with George not her leaving the Disco alone or passing out on the deck N9 hallway she didn't remember security officers waking her up with ice cubes to her face or being returned to her cabin by wheelchair she also didn't seem too concerned that George wasn't in the room with her assuming he had spent the night in a friend's cabin she got up put on flip-flops didn't change her clothes grabbed her purse and walked to the ship Spa to check in for her morning couple's massage appointment she arrived at the spa and checked in a whole hour and a half early which was 4 hours after being put to bed drunk Jennifer was wearing the same clothes she wore the night before and no blood was seen on her clothing when the ship security staff located her at the spa they brought her to security where they told her that they had been scouring the ship for her husband but that he couldn't be found and may have gone overboard 20 minutes after Jennifer is located The Smith's room is sealed and a guard is posted outside the door later that day one of the male passengers that was seen with George the night before is brought in for questioning they ask him if he knows where George is and he's told that it's suspected he went overboard the guy asked if they found blood while at Port in Turkey Turkish police board the ship just afternoon on July 5th they took blood samples of the Lifeboat canopy and investigated cabin number 9062 for Clues they found two lawen shaped blood stains on the Smith's bed sheets that measured about 2 cm long which after later testing was determined to be George's blood it's been speculated by Moren Smith George's mother that the blood stains were from George's brightling watch Being Pride off his wrist Turkish authorities refused the ship's request that the interviews take take place exclusively on the ship Jennifer Smith Josh Askin and the Russians were brought to a kusadasi police station that day where they were questioned by Turkish police Josh's father Dr Jerry Askin videotaped the interrogation of his son the cruise line claimed that the videotape did not exist however the tape was later obtained by the show 48 hours and shown on their April 8th 2006 episode you took George to the room he was very drunk this is yeah but you're missing a lot Josh let her read the story is the same is it the same story let her read you guys are missing a they're missing a whole huge part though the show revealed that after the interrogation was over Turkish police told Josh that Jennifer was a suspect Josh immediately became protective of Jennifer and insisted that the Turkish police talk to the casino manager Lloyd who Jennifer was with that night Josh told them that the group did not have a party in George's cabin and they didn't argue but that he used the bathroom in the Smith's cabin while the other guys the Russians tucked George in bed when he exited the bathroom he said a verbal goodbye to George but never actually saw where George was in the room Rusty Kaufman and Gregory and Zachary Rosenberg were questioned but denied having any involvement in The Disappearance the ship's employees were also being questioned about the incident and cabin attendant Francis cidro claimed that after the date of The Disappearance Josh asked him whether video cameras were installed in the corridors yes they were a cidro said and Josh asked asked where but aedra refused to tell him so Josh walked away later on the morning of George's disappearance Josh was sitting by one of the ship's pools when he spoke to passenger Margarita Chavez the same passenger who saw Jennifer kick George and allegedly told her the room service is what saved us yet another incident was reported where two or three nights following George's disappearance while passengers were still on board the ship Joan Cox the head cleaner on the ship was riding an elevator with Josh and his girlfriend Corey Adams Cox claimed that Josh said got me in trouble almost got me arrested in turkey and I know more than they think I know after the interrogations were completed by Turkish authorities everyone including Jennifer Josh and the Russians were allowed back onto the ship on the night of July 6th another incident occurred on the ship involving the Russians an 18-year-old from Georgia returned to her cabin to find her 18-year-old roommate trembling and shaking when asked what happened the girl said that she was raped and that the incident may have been videotaped when asked who did it she said Jeff Greg and Rusty that she knew of the in inent began with the individuals mention drinking vodka in the jacuzzi on Deck 11 the 18-year-old girl began to feel buzzed so she got out of the hot tub Jeff and Greg asked her where her cabin was and said that they'd walk her back to her room but instead took her to one of the Russians cabins allegedly according to her statement Jeff got on top of her while Greg got the video camera the woman described in detail having sex with Jeff Greg and Rusty Greg asked her to speak directly into the camera including naming him as the executive producer he basically wanted to record the incident so if she said she was raped he'd have the incident on tape showing otherwise when Rusty began having sex with her she claims she blacked out according to the woman Josh Askin was in the room but not involved in the sexual assault on July 9th while the ship was docked in Italy the three Russian men along with the askan family are forced off of the ship in Naples and are questioned about the rape allegation the men admitted they had sex with the woman and videotaped it but said it was consensual Italian authorities reviewed the allegations but then dismissed the matter claiming that they didn't have jurisdiction the investigation continued with Royal Caribbean and the ship's Captain had his own theory of what happened saying that he thought he saw a butt print in the dew on top of the SMI balcony railing he claimed that George pushed a chair up to the balcony sat on the railing and accidentally fell overboard the railing is 50 in high only a few inches wide and if you recall George stands at 6' 4 in tall when the first journalistic investigation of the incident was done by Vanity Fair in 2006 they agreed with the captain's interpretation of what happened that a drunk George Smith was sitting on the railing maybe smoking a cigar when a wave knocked him backwards into the waters below according to George's family and wife in the days following his disappearance they requested information from the cruise line numerous times but were only informed by Royal Caribbean that they had no news they were never informed the Turkish authorities were conducting a criminal investigation into George's disappearance and they didn't tell them there were suspicious circumstances surrounding his disappearance either his family also didn't know about the neighbor statements about what was heard coming from The Smith's cabin that morning or that authorities had found blood in his cabin as well as on the metal overhang below his balcony later in the investigation although George's family had been in contact with Jennifer they broke off contact with her because she was refusing to talk about George's death or about the night of his disappearance Jennifer claimed not to remember anything about that night which led the Smiths to believe she was hiding information after the incident the ship had failed to lock down the ship in Turkey passengers and crew members were free to disembark the ship potentially taking crucial evidence off the ship with them the Turkish authorities investigated the incident for approximately 2 hours after the ship's crew members had already contaminated the crime scene the Turkish police were then rushed off the boat so the cruise ship could make the next protocol on schedule with the potential murderers still on board the ship on July 29th the FBI announced they were getting involved in investigating The Disappearance of George Smith the crime scene was reviewed and again evidence was collected biological evidence was found on the balcony that could include blood semen and bodily fluid but it wasn't indicated what exactly was found the blood on the overhang appeared to have something drug across or through the blood as if something was dragged off or slid off the overhang there is an area on the overhang where the blood is dense like a small area where blood is collected possibly where a primary wound would be if the wound was on the front side of George and he grabbed the overhang it would explain the bloody handprint found on the overhang inside of the Smith's cabin there was a bloody spot the size of a fist on a towel and bloody tissues were found in the cabin as well as the small spots of blood on the sheet there were also reports of a small amount of Blood on the rug the FBI also has the photos of the Russians with the food ordered from room service and the photo timestamp which placed them in their room at the time of Smith's disappearance Josh Askin took an FBI administered polygraph test and failed when he was questioned about George he didn't answer instead invoking his Fifth Amendment rights Askin did however pass a polygraph test prior to the FBI administering their version on June 29th 2006 a lawsuit was filed by the Smith family the lawsuit said that the cruise line deliberately and intentionally portrayed the incident as an accident and hampered a full-blown appropriate investigation into the facts and circumstances of George a Smith's death the lawsuit also claimed that the cruise line delayed reporting the incident to the FBI instead reporting it to the Turkish authorities knowing they would be unable to conduct a prompt and thorough investigation George's family the Smith family had their attorney and private investigators Look Into The Disappearance The Smith's family attorney Michael Jones obtained video footage that involved three of the Russians the last known persons to see George Alive Jones learned of the tape during a phone conversation with a Royal Caribbean lawyer in the video which was filmed on the afternoon of July 5th just hours after George went missing the men were were sitting around a table on the ship passing a video camera around making comments and joking about George's death one of the man stands up at the end of the tape hunches his shoulders and flashes gang signs and says told you I was ganga sort of as if he was bragging about doing something to George all four of the men with George that night were deposed by Michael Jones Jennifer Smith ref refused to be deposed during questioning Josh asins invoked his Fifth Amendment rights after the deposition of Josh which didn't provide much additional worthwhile information Keith Greer askin's attorney told Michael Jones to question Greg Rosenberg Josh claimed that Greg had disappeared from room 38 when they ordered room service it seemed that asins knew more than he was letting on particularly when it was disclosed that he failed the FBI polygraph exam Gregory was questioned and also administered an FBI polygraph exam however it was inconclusive because he had ADHD when Zachary Rosenberg was deposed by Michael Jones He invoked the Fifth Amendment do you know how George Smith died I'd like to invol my Fifth Amendment right do you know if George Smith was murdered I'd like to invoke my Fifth Amendment right do you know who killed George Smith I'd like to invoke my Fifth Amendment right Rusty Kaufman was also deposed but due to an agreement with his attorney it's not known what he said or how he did on the administered polygraph in 2010 Gregory Rosenberg was sent to prison for three years for trafficking oxycodon in order to support his desire for clothes jewelry and War watches Gregory Rosenberg and what's your date of birth 111 1987 and how old are you right now I'm 23 years old okay and uh and where are we right now Florida State Prison and um why are you here in prison trafficking you know what I'm saying so something from that night just doesn't make sense none of it does none of it makes sense why would somebody want why would somebody want to go overboard that's a millionaire anyway that why would somebody want to kill himself that that has everything in life going for him seems outgoing seems like he got a beautiful wife she like got a good family so you don't think it was an accident no I de in the camera dude did not kill himself all right so he didn't kill himself and you don't think it was an accident I don't think he slipped and fell and uh at 6 fle over the boat somebody hurt dude man somebody what somebody hurt him man somebody heard him somebody heard an innocent loving man man and I've had many nights where I couldn't sleep thinking about what's going on did you have anything to do with George's death no never did never would never thought about it no okay did he did any of your cousins no how about Josh no I could say no I don't think he's that type of dude you think it was somebody from the cruise line could be I don't know do you think Jennifer was involved no comment how about Lloyd bothan no comment none of the men in the video or any of the men that were seen with George that night have been charged with any crimes and all of them State they had nothing to do with George's death on June 29th 2006 Royal Caribbean International agreed to a settlement of $1.3 million with George Smith's estate which included Jennifer and the Smith family the settlement was paid out in May of 2008 as part of the settlement Royal Caribbean agreed to hand over its investigative file on George's disappearance to Jennifer and the Smith family the file included w statements made to the cruise line and to the Turkish authorities as well as statements from cruise ship employees in 2009 Jennifer Smith remarried had two children and still lives in Connecticut Jennifer has been criticized for her behavior the night that her husband went missing however she insists it was an accident caused by George being drunk that night her and her attorney are convinced there were passengers on board that were involved in her husband's disappearance Jennifer also took a polygraph test she passed and is not considered a suspect following the settlement the investigation continued into 2012 the case was referred to the mafia division of the FBI and the TV program dat line suggested a theory that the death of George was likely a robbery gone bad in 2015 the FBI officially closed the investigation telling the family that there wasn't enough evidence to prove George had been murdered and that his death may have been the result of an accident Josh Askin filed a civil suit against the cruise line alleging invasion of privacy claiming emotional distress false imprisonment and breach of contract the suit asked for a minimum of $155,000 in Damages this case has been rampant with theories one Theory suggests that George and Jennifer were roofed since blackouts and Amnesia are side effects of those types of drugs also what's interesting is that that night and subsequent morning is the only time that Jennifer has ever suffered a complete blackout in loss of memory George Smith's body has never been found the the Smith family continues to believe that George was murdered on the ship and they are offering a $100,000 reward for information leading directly to an arrest and conviction of parties of interest in the case it's hard to theorize even with the witness testimonies what exactly happened to George Smith early that morning did he fall off the railing as the captain theorized or was he thrown over the railing what bothered me about this case was not just the sounds coming from George's room as witnessed by the neighbors but the amount of Blood on the canopy we may never know what happened as the last people that saw George Alive are keeping very quiet what we do know is that excessive alcohol use and boats do not make a safe combination I'm hoping this case doesn't deter you from going on a cruise and if you do here's a bit of advice drink responsibly always be with someone you trust and uh stay off those balconies thank you for listening please check out our website atth crimes shack.com where you can find links to all our social media platforms this podcast is currently sponsorless and as a listener you can help support the show by purchasing merchandise subscribing to my YouTube channel becoming a patreon member or just by buying me a coffee any and all support is much appreciated [Music] [Music]