2nd Degree Murder on Carnival Cruise; Man Kills Wife

Earlier this month, Eric Newman of Topeka, Kansas was indicted for the second degree murder of his wife, Tamara Tucker.

According to the Kansas City Star, the indictment said Newman was traveling with Tucker on board a cruise ship called the Carnival Elation on Jan. 19. Court records didn’t specify Tucker’s cause of death, though a statement from a Carnival Cruise Line spokesman said a woman aboard the Carnival Elation on Jan. 19 “fell from her balcony to several decks below” and died.

The original investigation was handled by the ship crew as well as the Royal Bahamas Police Force’s Central Detective Unit before the case was handed over to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Falls from balconies on cruise ships can lead to terrible injuries and potentially death. While we do not know the details of this specific incident, it would seem that an argument occurred leading Newman to possibly push his wife over the balcony.

FindLaw.com describes second-degree murder in this way – it is ordinarily defined as: 1) an intentional killing that is not premeditated or planned, nor committed in a reasonable “heat of passion”; or 2) a killing caused by dangerous conduct and the offender’s obvious lack of concern for human life.

Want to speak with a Carnival Cruise accident lawyer? Call our law offices today.