Couple was celebrating anniversary on cruise

“Everybody thinks that there’s a big path that leads to something like this — and absolutely nothing. Just absolutely nothing,” Nicholls said in a phone interview from Santa Clara, Utah.

The FBI said a man and other people went into the couple’s room on the ship before medical workers and security officers arrived and saw Kristy on the floor covered in blood, according to court documents. She had a severe head wound, but the agency has not revealed other details about her death.

The man asked Manzanares what happened, and the suspect said, “She would not stop laughing at me,” according to an FBI criminal complaint. Manzanares then grabbed his wife’s body and tried to drag her to the balcony, but the man stopped him, the agency said. A security officer handcuffed Manzanares in a nearby cabin.

Nicholls has set up an online fundraising page for the couple’s three daughters. Like Kristy Manzanares, Nicholls works in real estate. Kenneth Manzanares works in auto sales and insurance, Nicholls said.

Nicolls said his goal is to help the couple’s daughters with whatever they may need, including funeral expenses. He said two of them are teenagers and one is a young adult.

“Their children are like my children,” he said. “They’re part of the family.”

He also said he does not want the world to see Kenneth as a monster.

“He was not a bad person any little bit, as far as we know,” Nicolls said. “Everybody has probably issues behind closed doors that nobody knows about, but these people were the perfect American family.”

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Follow Rachel D’Oro at https://twitter.com/rdoro .

Rachel D’Oro, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Couple was celebrating anniversary on cruise

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