JACKSONVILLE, Fla – A Kansas man has pleaded guilty to murdering his longtime girlfriend during a cruise from Florida to the Bahamas last year, the Justice Department announced Friday.
Eric Duane Newman, 55, of Topeka, Kansas, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Julie A. Robinson of the District of Kansas to one count of second-degree murder for killing Tamara Tucker.
According to the admissions made in connection with the plea, Newman and Tucker boarded the Carnival Elation cruise ship Jan. 18, 2019, in Jacksonville, to take a round-trip voyage to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. Newman and Tucker were staying together in a cabin room on the 13th deck of the cruise ship.
Shortly before midnight, Newman got into an argument with Tucker inside their cabin. The argument escalated about 12:15 a.m. when Newman choked Tucker and then pushed her over the balcony. She plummeted two floors to her death, landing on the 11th deck.
Tucker died of blunt force trauma as a result of the fall. At the time, the cruise ship was sailing on the high seas in international water, approximately 30 nautical miles from New Smyrna Beach, Florida.
Sentencing is scheduled for March 18 before Chief U.S. District Judge Julie A. Robinson.
The FBI’s Jacksonville Field Office conducted the investigation with the assistance of the FBI’s Topeka Field Office. Trial Attorney Rami S. Badawy of the Criminal Division’s Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine E. Kenney of the District of Kansas are prosecuting the case. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs and the Commonwealth of the Bahamas Office of the Attorney General also provided assistance.