The Honeymoon Cruise Ship Mystery: The Bride Speaks Out

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0:45They want to know, do you see me? Do you hear me? Does what I say mean anything to you? You are listening to The Oprah Winfrey Show, the podcast.

0:59It's a headline-making mystery that has people all around the world asking questions. Jennifer Hagel and George Smith were married on a cliff overlooking the ocean in Newport, Rhode Island. Shortly after, the young couple set sail on a dream honeymoon. By all accounts, the newlyweds were having a wonderful trip as the ship made its way through the deep blue waters of the Greek Isles. In the early morning hours of July 5th, Jennifer and George Smith were with friends they met on board, gambling, drinking, and enjoying their first few days of married life. But crucial details of the tragic events that followed grow hazy.

1:37Witnesses from the bar that night claim the couple was extremely intoxicated. They say Jennifer and George argued before going their separate ways. Later, George, along with four male passengers, went back to the Smiths' room. When they didn't find Jennifer, the men continued to search the ship. At 4 a.m., George returned to his room. This is the last time anyone admits seeing him alive. Shortly after, a vacationing police officer in an adjacent room heard loud voices and a commotion. Security came but heard nothing and left. 4.20, more commotion next door in the room and the balcony. Smith's neighbor then heard what he described as a horrific thud.

2:23Jennifer's whereabouts after she left the bar are unknown until 4.30, when staff found her unconscious in a corridor, a considerable distance from her own cabin. Crew members helped her back to her room and saw nothing out of the ordinary. It was just before 5 in the morning. 7 a.m., Emily Roush, a teenager vacationing with her parents, snapped this picture of a long blood stain on a metal overhang below the Smith's cabin. Around 8 a.m., Jennifer woke up in her room and made her way to the spa for a couple's massage appointment without George. She would later say that she simply thought George had slept in a friend's room.

3:0410.15 a.m., Jennifer is confronted with the horrifying news that there was reason to believe her husband had gone overboard in open water out at sea. So speculation about what happened that night has run rampant. Was George murdered? Was Jennifer somehow involved? Gayle King was a news anchor for over 20 years and is a total news junkie who follows every story. The cruise ship mystery has a hold on Gayle because the newlyweds are from her home state of Connecticut. And a few days ago, we sent Gayle on special assignment to talk to the woman at the center of this storm, the young bride whose groom has been lost at sea for over six months.

3:50Would you tell us your version of what happened that night? I remember being at the casino. I remember being around George. I remember being around, you know, some familiar faces. But at some point, you two become separated, you and George. I do not remember the last, you know, words or time we saw each other. I remember very vaguely leaving the casino area to go to this revolving bar or something like that. I was around George, and then I remember nothing. Apparently, you know, the night... Why don't you remember anything, Jennifer, do you think? That is extremely haunting to me, especially when people can say that you are doing anything and you can't recollect something and it's frightening.

4:37Had you been drinking? We had been drinking. Had you been drinking heavily? We must have been drinking heavily. I don't remember anything. What were you drinking? I have no idea. We were on our honeymoon. We were drinking socially and just toasting to our life together. But we're not the type of couple to go to bar and be doing shots and be doing these sorts of things that's been said about us all over the media. On this night in question, I think that it has been said that, you know, George is playing these drinking games or drinking with these younger passengers or giving alcohol to younger passengers.

5:14I mean, people have said all sorts of things. People have said that I got in a really bad fight with George and that he called me names and I need him. No, I heard that he called you names and that you kicked him in the groin and he was doubled over and that you two had a very nasty fight on the last time you were seen together. And then I stormed off. Yes. Are you saying that's not true? I'm not saying one way or the other, but I guess the only thing I would like to say is that if that is the last encounter that I had with my husband, if that is it, then that is something that I will have to carry for the rest of my life.

5:54I can't remember anything from a certain time period. We just are angry people. George would never call me names. And you would never meet him in the drawing. I would never do something like that out of anger to George. You're not saying it didn't happen. You're just saying you don't remember. I don't remember any of it. This just doesn't happen. I never, not in my life, never made it home somewhere or never lost time. That doesn't happen to me. Why did I end up on the ninth floor hallway or in some corridor found by five people, some security officers, some maintenance people? Your room was on deck nine, and we're told that you were on deck nine on the other side away from your room.

6:34Around 4.30 a.m. That you were so wobbly you had to be escorted by a wheelchair to your room. Do you remember any of that? None of it. None of that. It's still just someone sleeping outside on their honeymoon at 4.30 is odd. It's very strange. It's all very strange. I know. I know. And I have to say, I went there, I was just as skeptical as I can hear everybody in the audience saying, how could you not remember? Yeah. How can you one minute be talking to someone and the next minute you don't? But she truly, truly doesn't remember. That's what you believe. I honestly do believe her. Okay. Well, the last time she saw her new husband alive, they were on their honeymoon aboard a luxury cruise ship.

7:14And that was six months ago. Today, Jennifer Hagel-Smith is at the center of the mystery that has everybody, including the FBI, asking questions. Gail, my best friend King, who's been following this story, sat down with Jennifer yesterday. When you wake up, what do you see? What do you remember? I wake up. I remember that we, George and I, have massage appointments. The first thing I thought was he must have slept in Paul and Galena's room. But you don't think it's strange that your husband on the honeymoon might be sleeping in someone else's room? It would be very strange. But at that point, I obviously wasn't, you know, the sharpest knife in the drawer.

7:49I was just found unconscious four hours earlier. Very groggy, probably not thinking straight. But you don't think rather than go to a massage appointment, let me find where George is? I made an assumption that he was with our friends, that he must have done that. So in your mind, he's not missing, really? No. People need to remember that George and I have known each other for over three years. We've lived together for a year and a half. We have all the trust in whatever in the world with each other, and he's my best friend. I'm not looking at his character in question or, oh, he's... So you're not suspicious?

8:23You're not suspicious? So what was your relationship? Would you describe yourselves as a happy couple? We were just so happy. We were in love from Go. So how do you first learn that there is a problem? I remember coming out and being approached by these men and having them just say, you know, we are looking for George and we found blood and whatever. There's been conflicting and contradicting reports about whether there was blood in your room. Was there blood in your room? We now have reason to believe that there's some blood in the room. But you didn't see it. Right. And Jennifer, you hear that and you think, what?

9:02What did you think that meant? That that was it, you know, your life's over, that that's it. And they characterized it as an accident. They said it was an accident. He must have lost his balance and gone overboard. And at that time, I had no reason to speculate anything other than what they told me because I didn't know anything. But why do you think that you have no recollection? I can't even speculate. people are going to slam me either way. If I say, you know, oh, baby, I was drinking too much. I'll get slammed. I'm the drunk bride. If I say, well, maybe I was drugged, they'll say, oh, she's just making excuses for herself.

9:40No matter what I say, it doesn't matter. Jennifer is here. Has that ever happened to you before, that you've had so much to drink, you forgot what happened? No, and I think that we were eight days into our honeymoon. We were meeting great people. We were having a fabulous time. And when you're in vacation mode, you're in, like, la-la land all the time. And so that morning, when I didn't put on my FBI hat and think, oh, my God, let's solve this, you know, mystery, I didn't realize that there was at the time until I was approached. Approached. But there was a part of me, too, over the thought after the Runaway Bride story that, did you really kind of screw up?

10:19And then you're trying to cover your tracks. You didn't really want us to know that, you know, I had been drinking heavily. We had had this fight. Things were not going so well. So now you say, look, I don't remember nothing about nothing, which sounds very suspicious. Right. Right. And to that you said... And I said, you aren't the only one who thinks like that. Everybody wants more from me. I want more from me. The FBI, I took... I sat and took a polygraph with the FBI about that. I, you know, every single person in the world is looking at me like, yeah, right. And, you know... Why were you given a polygraph?

10:53Did they ask you, did you kill your husband? Um, they asked me if I was in the room. Had I seen him go overboard? Did I get in a fight with him? Did I have doubts about my marrying George? Did I have second thoughts? Everything you can possibly imagine. And the answer was no, no, no, no. And it's so frustrating. And then I remember feeling this sense of, you know, for the first time since this happened, a sense of almost relief that, thank God they were able to test my yes-no, you know, power. Thank God there's a tool out there that they can actually use because not only to lose your memory, but then to have nobody believe you, and then to have people question you.

11:30And on top of it, you just want to say, forget everybody. I just lost George, so why do I even care what you think anyway? Like, why do I even care what the world thinks about me? This is about George. And also because you seem so calm and collected. Yes. You seem very calm and collected. And I think what, you know, people are used to seeing or think they want to see is a hysterical bride. Well, since day one, this has been, like, shocking to me. Like, it shocks you to your core when something like this happens. You don't think you have strength in your life to go forward, you know, to put one foot in front of the other.

12:14As soon as I learn this news, I end up spending a day, you know, in Turkey without George, flying home to my family by myself on this plane we had left together. I'm halfway around the world. It's like you get back and you don't even realize you're just, I, you know, I'm in bed with my parents every night because I can't sleep by myself. It's like we were dealing with our own grief and loss and tragedy. I didn't even realize that this could be foul play or that there's something more to it. I thought, oh, my God, I was told it was a tragic accident. So I come home, and my family, we're just a mess.

12:48What do you think happened? Well, now I know that something horrible has happened because I see all of the evidence, and I see it along with everybody else. I've learned a lot of information through the news, through the media, a lot of misinformation, too, yes. Do you think your husband was murdered? I think something bad happened to him. George wouldn't just go... George is not, you know, he doesn't... like, run into walls. He's very athletic. You're responsible. He's not... But, but, but, but, but this is the thing that's confusing. If you...was it...is it a fact that you had to be carried in a wheelchair because you were so...

13:25Out of it. Out of it. And you were out of it from drinking, not because... We have no idea. Well, we were definitely drinking, but not to an extent that something this wild happens. That you wouldn't remember. Both of us on the same night, and I have no recollection of that evening on the same night my husband is killed or... I mean, Oprah, they both had to be carried to their rooms, both of them. Both of us. In separate instances by separate people. That's what's so bizarre. And... I was also suspicious of you, Jennifer, because your in-laws are...you and your in-laws are now estranged, and you would think that something this tragic would bring the two of you together, not break you apart.

14:00Well, tragic...tragedy does both, Gail. But I would think that they would be united in their grief. I would think that they would...they would be... they would find comfort in each other. So what happened with your in-laws? I'm not a mom, or, you know, of course, not a father. And, you know, they lost their only son. George is George IV. There should have been a George V and a George VI. When I came home without George, I was always the one that lived. I'm the one that's there. I'm the one that made it home. Why wasn't I there to protect George? Why wasn't I there in that room? Why didn't I know answers?

14:36Why didn't I... I didn't have, and I still don't have enough. It's a bizarre story. But her in-laws think she's withholding information. I think they should know it now. Maybe you were drugged. Maybe you were drugged and don't know it. Well, I'm hoping and I think that they know now as they learn whatever. You know, I've taken a polygraph. I've done every step. And that this whole I don't know what happened is really, I don't know what happened. That it's hurtful to me that I don't know.

15:10I think we'd like to have a little more. I would like to have a little bit more from her. She hasn't given us totally everything that I think she possibly could. But I think she has stated that the FBI has requested that she keep certain things from that evening quiet. So, you know, that could be the reason why we don't have a... And I think the truth will come out. That was George Smith's parents and his sister, Bree. And so you were saying that you feel that they felt that you were the one that survived or that you were alive and he's not? You know, maybe that's my own just survivor's guilt.

15:45Maybe that's me thinking, you know, why wasn't it reversed? Do you feel guilty? Do you? I do feel guilty that I'm alive and he's not. You know, I would trade places with him in an instant. You do that when you love somebody. But I can't. I would want his parents to know that I would and that I can't, but that I'd want the same answers and the same closure they do. And because I can't provide it doesn't mean that I have more or that I don't care or that I... It's just very...it's frustrating. But now Jennifer's hired a forensic, one of the top forensic experts in Connecticut, Dr. Henry Lee, because you want to bring Dr.

16:25Lee in to look at the evidence in the room to see if maybe he can figure out what happened to George. Right. or if there was, in fact, a crime committed in the room. Right. But according to Jennifer, there was no blood in the room. But I thought George was in another room. I thought George... No, George was in their room. The commotion that everybody heard was in their room, but she was not in the room at the time. I was unconscious on our floor somewhere, like, opposite side of the ship. Yeah. She was brought... It happened with George, say, between 3 and 4, and she... I know it's very confusing.

16:54And she is brought into the room at 4.30, and nobody's in the room. So whatever happened to George happened before Jennifer was brought in the room. So what happened to George in the room and then George was taken out of the room or George left the room? The last key lock entry into the room when he was put back to bed was like 4.02 a.m. When he was put back to bed. When he was put back into the room. By whom? By the last young man. Other passengers on the boat. Other passengers on the boat. And then there was a noise complaint. there was a loud thud or something around 420. In the room. Yes. But you were not in the room, right?

17:33This is heard by people on either side. On either side of their cabin. And they're hearing lots of noise, lots of voices. It sounds like arguing. I mean, there's been speculation on what they actually heard, arguing men's voices. This guy next door is hearing it. He's calling security. Security shows up, I think... And everything is quiet. Like, I think security... The call was 402. I think security showed up at 4.30 or something like that. And by that time, things had quieted down. The thud had already occurred. They find me about the same time, 4.30, somewhere far from the room. They bring me back.

18:06Security finds you. Security finds me, then later brings me back. And they put me back into the bed. So they bring her into an empty room, and the room looks fine. There's no furniture overturned. There are no blood splatters, no blood stains. To the naked eye. To the naked eye. But there wasn't enough to think that there was a crime scene there, is the point I'm making. They put Jennifer in her bed, just lay her down. Because you are knocked out somewhere. Right. I brought back in a wheelchair. Whether it's drugs, whether it's alcohol, she's incapacitated. And they bring me back to the room. And the they is who?

18:38I'm trying to... Royal Caribbean security. I was found by maintenance people and then somewhere in a corridor. Okay. Jackie and Bobby Friedlander were passengers on the Royal Caribbean cruise ship with Jennifer and George. They spent six days with the newlywed couple, and this is the first time that they are publicly sharing their account of what happened the night George vanished. Okay? What happened, do you think? My heart and prayers go out to Jen and her family and his family. We met the first night on the steps, walking down after dinner, and they were just so lovely and kind and nice, seemed so in love.

19:16We were traveling with our three daughters. We were celebrating our 20th anniversary. But you saw them that night, the last... the night in question, you saw them. Oh, absolutely. We saw them every day. Did they appear to be drunk? Did Jennifer appear to be drunk? Well, no. I mean, you know, throughout those days, we saw each other, passed always, talked. We're standing next to them at the pool. So we had a rapport for this time. That night in question, I happened to be sitting at the nickel machine just in view of the craft table, where Bobby would stand with George every night, and Jen was learning to play, and they were all having a great time.

19:52It was around 2.30 a.m. 2.30 a.m.? 2.30 a.m. I'm sitting playing the stupid nickel machine. But Jen comes over. She gives me a kiss. She sits next to me. This is 2.30. 2.30 a.m. Approximately. You know, I didn't check my watch. I knew it was late. The casino was closing. Jen kissed me, sat down next to me. Was she inebriated? Absolutely not. I mean, I'm like the kind, I'm like, they say, I'm the FBI. I know my kids. I smell everything. You know, I have teenagers. I didn't experience that at all. In fact, her words were perfect. Our conversation, I remember what she was wearing. I mean, I have that kind of memory.

20:29I said, it sounds like you all are having so much fun. I said, um... So when you heard this story and that this... That she was...that there was some suspicion, what did you think? In fact, I just want to... Thinking this is the couple we met. Yeah. Absolutely. She said, I hope in 20 years I have three daughters like you, that George and Jen and I, you know, George and Jen will travel like this. So those were her last words. And George also spoke with me that night. Jen walked out, I assume maybe back to her cabin or to the bathroom. You know, I didn't question her. George came back in. He had gone to the men's room.

20:59We spoke. He did not seem at all intoxicated, as far as I was concerned. I mean, I have to say, we didn't want to speak at all out of respect to Jen and George and his memory, his parents. I mean, this isn't something we want to be, you know... Even associated with that. Yeah, I mean, it's just so sad and terrifying. What do you think happened? I've read everything. I think it couldn't have been an accident. I've been on 28 cruises. I've never heard of this. While she's talking favorably about Jennifer and George, you'll find other couples who say, I saw them, they were fighting, it was very nasty, you were nasty to each other, you were flirting with other men.

21:36So that's why it's just such a bizarre story. But I, you know, after meeting her and talking to her, I believed her.

21:46So while sailing on their honeymoon, George Smith IV emailed his family back home in Greenwich, Connecticut. He said, we're having such a good time. Don't call me unless somebody dies or it's the end of the world. And that was the last time George and Maureen Smith heard from their only son. Since George Smith IV went missing, his parents have been very vocal about what they think went wrong. I think that that's a very easy scapegoat for Royal Caribbean to claim it was an accident because he had a few drinks. But because of the physical evidence in my brother's case, unfortunately for them, they could not cover up this crime.

22:27Blood was found on the awning outside Jennifer and George's room. Key evidence that something terrible had happened. The cruise line claims it secured the area and preserved the evidence. But the Smiths disagree. They were seen 7.30 or 8 o 'clock in the morning washing that off even before the Turkish police came on board. And then it was painted over before the FBI got on the boat. They knew there was blood there. It's fairly clear to me that my brother was murdered. There was no doubt once we heard exactly about the blood and about the way he fell onto the overhang, it wasn't like you fell overboard.

23:06It was like you were dumped overboard. I think the cruise ship is covering up evidence, and I think they swept evidence under the carpet. And they just don't want to admit that they got caught. Do you have to have something written on the wall to say, this is murder? Adam Goldstein is the president of Royal Caribbean International. He has not spoken publicly about this case until today. We're glad to have you here. Did you participate in a cover-up? We did not. Mm-hmm. But, Oprah, if I may, because this is my first opportunity, and I appreciate that you give it to me, and to have Jennifer here with me and her parents, to say how sorry we are that this happened.

23:47It's a horrible loss. I can't pretend to understand the magnitude of your loss, as you've described it. It's impossible for me, for my colleagues. But I do want to express our sympathy to you in person, and I appreciate this opportunity. There certainly is no cover-up. Within 20 minutes of the guest reporting that there was, apparently, a blood stain on the canopy, we had commenced a complete search of the ship, looking for several people, including... We very quickly were able to focus in on Jennifer and George's stateroom. Why? Because you'd heard noise the night before? Because we looked at the rooms that were right up and down above where the stain was.