Honeymooner's disappearance: Was it murder?

There are now two distinct cases that are interwoven but need be separated.  First there is the criminal investigation trying to determine the fate of George Smith.  Was he just so intoxicated that he pushed a chair against the rail on the balcony, sat on the railing to get some air and think out the events of the evening, and simply fell overboard?  Or was he murdered as suggested by Dr. K, perhaps during the course of an argument or even an attempted robbery?  And now comes the buildup to a civil law suit by Jennifer (and perhaps the parents of George Smith) against the cruise line with deep pockets.  Somehow today everything in our world eventually evolves into a law suit.  Somebody is always trying to hold someone else responsible for the actions of another, no matter whether right or wrong.  “We demand that someone pay.”  Attorney and host of MSNBC’s “The Abrams Report” Dan Abrams is right to suggest that this “how Jennifer was treated afterwards” aspect of the case pales alongside discovering what really happened to George.  After all, isn’t he the ultimate and true victim in this case?  But he left behind a “grieving” widow and a family who obviously loved him, all of whom want this matter resolved, even though Jennifer’s in-laws have suggested their belief that she has been less than forthright with them in this case but perhaps that is because the FBI has asked her not to talk about the investigation…

In this case there are plenty of victims and plenty of personal and professional responsibility to go around.  Some suggest that George and Jennifer Smith were drinking way too much the night he disappeared, perhaps mixing “routine” alcoholic drinks with “Absinthe,” a dangerous concoction at best.  That Jennifer and George argued that night was evident.  Jennifer left the bar first, with George, accompanied by three or 4 young men, leaving later.  Others report their arguing was evident that night and it appears obvious that the newlyweds did not go to their room at the time that George disappeared, this with George overboard and Jennifer passed out, unconscious or just asleep in the hall many feet away.  Then there is the questions concerning the three or four young men that accompanied George back to his room just prior to his disappearance.  Were these young men the cause of the loud noise coming from the Smith’s room?  Did they have anything to do with the blood found in the cabin and with Smith going overboard?  And what about the ship’s personnel?  When they responded to complaints of loud noises in the Smith’s cabin shortly after 4:00 a.m., should they have gone into the room, walked out on the balcony and looked down some two decks below, perhaps where Smith still lay?  Or should they have done this at about 4:45 a.m. when they wheeled Jennifer into her room and placed her on the bed just a few feet away from the sliding glass door to the balcony, and the lifeboat awning just below?

This is a classic “who did what to whom,” but this is real life and real death.  George Smith should have been starting the next phase of his life, but instead he has vanished, probably never to be seen again.  Dr. Henry Lee is a great forensic scientist, but he’s not a magician.  He can’t make linking physical evidence appear if it was never there to begin with, or if it has disappeared in the last six months.  If, as Dr. K suggests, this is a murder investigation, then who committed the murder and how do you solve the case?  If more than one assailant is responsible, someone may get a plea bargain and someone else life in federal prison.  Reality is that it may take someone’s statement to break this case open.   But it may take linking physical evidence to convict in the absence of a body.  This is a mystery to be solved by investigation, and a civil suit to be resolved by litigation.  No matter how you look at it, George Smith will never get to talk about the results of these cases.  It is the investigators and the forensic scientists who must become George’s voice now that he can no longer speak for himself, this while family and friends grieve his loss and the rest of us wonder who and how and why?

Email Clint at

Clint is a frequent contributor to The Abrams Report, Weeknights at 4 & 6 p.m. ET on MSNBC TV

Clint Van Zandt is an MSNBC analyst. He is the founder and president of Van Zandt Associates Inc. Van Zandt and his associates also developed LiveSecure.org, a Website dedicated "to develop, evaluate, and disseminate information to help prepare and inform individuals concerning personal and family security issues." During his 25-year career in the FBI, Van Zandt was a supervisor in the FBI's internationally renowned Behavioral Science Unit at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He was also the FBI's Chief Hostage Negotiator and was the leader of the analytical team tasked with identifying the "Unabomber."

MORE FROM PROFILER'S PERSPECTIVE

Honeymooner gone in a heartbeat

Honeymooner gone in a heartbeat Murder and mayhem in Richmond Van Zandt: The media, the NSA and the Patriot Act Van Zandt: 'Tookie' stirs up death penalty debate Van Zandt: Cause of death? Unknown Van Zandt: Who knows what evil lurks? Van Zandt: Why some say Natalee may still be alive Van Zandt: Comparing the L.A. and Paris riots Van Zandt: No easy answers in Pa. case Van Zandt: Pirate attack - This is not a drill   Add Profiler's Perspective headlines to your news reader: