Royal Caribbean Lawyer Hints At Hidden Clues in Honeymooner's Disappearance. Jan. 11, 2006

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By  Seamus McGraw

(Crime Library)  MIAMI, Fla .  Three days after honeymooner George Allen Smith vanished from a Royal Caribbean cruise ship off the coast of Turkey, three young men, all Americans, were put off the ship in Italy following the alleged sexual assault of a young woman aboard the ocean liner, Royal Caribbean officials said.

That assault is under investigation by the FBI, cruise line officials said Tuesday during a sometimes-testy teleconference with reporters. And though cruise line officials and their attorney, Lanny Davis, offered few details, citing the ongoing investigation into Smith's disappearance, they did offer a few tantalizing bits of information.

Among those was confirmation that at least two of the men discharged from the ship in Italy had been in a group of four who had twice escorted the Connecticut man back to his cabin in the hours before he was reported missing.

"Some of the individuals who were dismissed from the vessel were the same individuals who escorted George Smith back to his cabin," said Capt. Bill Wright, senior vice president for fleet operations at Royal Caribbean.

The cruise line hastily convened the press conference Tuesday to counter what it contends are "myths" about its handling of the case in the hours after Smith vanished during his honeymoon. The FBI is investigating the case, though no body has been recovered and no one has been charged.

The missing man's family, and his wife, Jennifer Hagel Smith, have alleged that the cruise line was not only lax in its security procedures before Smith's disappearance, but that it was callous in its treatment of her afterward, and that officials aboard ship mishandled evidence and attempted to cover up evidence of a crime.

Among other things, the family has alleged that the cruise line washed away bloodstains on a canopy below Smith's cabin and failed to secure the couple's stateroom. Royal Caribbean has emphatically denied both claims, arguing that its officials quickly notified authorities in Turkey and the United States about the case and that it cleaned the canopy only after investigators had examined it and given them permission to do so. Royal Caribbean also insists that the Smith's room was sealed for six days after Smith's disappearance.

Witnesses have told reporters and authorities that Smith and his wife were drinking in the ship's bar the night before he was reported missing. Hagel Smith has dismissed as "outlandish" reports in The Associated Press that quote a witness as saying that she had kicked her husband in the groin that night. Hagel Smith has also told reporters that she has no recollection of the events that followed, and cruise line officials have said that she was found the next morning sleeping on a floor in a corridor not far from the couple's cabin. Later that morning, she made it to her scheduled massage in the ship's spa. Hagel Smith says she has passed an FBI lie detector test and authorities have told reporters that she is cooperating with the investigation.

Cruise line officials on Tuesday said that they had already been searching for Smith when they found his wife and escorted her back to her room. Though family members have since said that there was evidence of blood in the room, Royal Caribbean officials said Tuesday that ship employees who took her to the room saw nothing amiss.

Davis, former President Clinton's onetime lawyer, who has been retained by the cruise line, said that contrary to previous reports, the bed in the cabin was made when Hagel Smith was placed on it. "That does have significance, as to why no blood was apparent to the individuals who placed Hagel Smith on the bed," Davis said.

He declined to elaborate. "The FBI has asked us not to comment on what, if anything, was found under the bedspread," he said.

Davis also challenged reports that ship officials had been summoned repeatedly to the cabin the night before Smith vanished, saying that the only report received came in about 4:05 a.m. from Redlands, Calif., Deputy Police Chief Cletus Hyman. Hyman, who was vacationing in the next cabin, complained of a loud drinking party, Davis said, but said it quickly settled down. By the time security guards arrived about 4:30 a.m., there was no noise coming from the Smith cabin, Davis said.

Tuesday's press conference is the latest salvo in a series of accusations and rebuttals between the Smith family and Hagel Smith and the cruise line. The crossfire is expected to resume Thursday when Hagel Smith's attorney, James M. Walker, holds his own press conference in Miami. Family members are not expected to attend and Walker could not immediately be reached for a preview.

 

Contact Seamus McGraw at seamusm@ptd.net

Seamus McGraw

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