Man 'murders his wife and tries to throw her body off cruise ship because she would not stop laughing at him'

Kenneth Manzanares has been charged following the incident on the Alaskan cruise

Passengers on the Emerald Princess disembark in Juneau, Alaska on Wednesday (AP)

A man has been charged with murdering his wife on a cruise ship because “she would not stop laughing at him”.

Kenneth Manzanares has been charged with the murder of his wife Kirsty after she was found in their cabin with a severe head wound during the cruise as it was sailing through Alaska on Tuesday night.

Medical workers and security personnel were reportedly called to the couple’s cabin at around 9pm but the mother of three was pronounced dead at the scene around 20 minutes later.

A witness, who arrived at the cabin before the crew said they found Manzanares with blood on his hands and clothes.

According to court documents, they said “blood was spread throughout” the room on “multiple surfaces” and Manzanares tried to “grab [the] body and drag her towards the balcony” but the witness intervened.

Manzanares reportedly told the witness “she kept laughing at me”.

The ship, the Emerald Princess, pulled into the state capital Juneau on Wednesday morning so FBI investigators could board.

The bureau is required to step in when deaths occur in international or US waters, rather than the local police.

One of the FBI agents who apprehended Manzanares also wrote that “he spontaneously stated ‘my life is over’” while he was being processed.

The couple, from St George in Utah, are believed to have been travelling in a larger group – including their children – on the ship, the Emerald Princess, during a week-long cruise which set sail from Seattle, Washington on Sunday.

Other passengers had been taking part in a murder mystery night on board the ship when the incident took place, leading some people to think it was a hoax initially, CBS reported.

Some told Fox13 that they had heard two men and a woman fighting on a balcony that evening and then a woman screaming for her life.

One passenger, Megan Morr, said: “People were running through the hall with blood all over them and trying to get security,

“He was very worked up, he said, "Everyone, we need all medical, security, all personnel to deck 9 and deck 14"; and that scared me because I'm on deck 14”.