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"Suddenly though, there was an argument out on the Smith balcony. This argument appeared to be between three, maybe four individuals," said Hyman. "Rusty actually observes George get up from his seat, approach Jennifer and there is this exchange of words between them. Rusty does not hear what is being said but he does observe Jennifer kick George in his groin," he explained. And in the ship's lobby, they rounded up Josh Askin and the group of Russian-Americans -- Rusty Kofman and Zach and Greg Rozenberg.
Memories of Jennifer
A video tape created by the same men, and which has been in the hands of the FBI for some time, shows there may in fact have been a murder at sea all those years ago. Smith's attorney has cited reports of Hagel Smith's drinking and that she argued with her husband the night he disappeared, kicked him in the groin and left the ship's bar. Hagel Smith has called those accounts "ridiculous" and "outlandish." On July 5, 2005, my husband, George A. Smith IV, tragically went overboard during our honeymoon cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean ship, Brilliance of the Seas.
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For their honeymoon, they went on a Mediterranean cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas. After a night of out-of-control partying in the ship's casino, George got so drunk, he had to be carried back to his state room and put into bed. A large bloodstain shows where he landed on a metal canopy before tumbling into the sea off the coast of Turkey. But if the tapes showed staircases or elevator entrances, for example, the timing on the tapes could depict who entered, say, the elevator on the Smith’s floor at about the time George is believed to have gone overboard.
The Smith Family
We reached an agreement that Royal Caribbean would pay $1,060,000 and reveal all of its investigation materials regarding George’s death. Mr. Smith’s newly-wed bride, Jennifer Hagel, retained me to represent the interests of George’s estate against Royal Caribbean. I was tasked with trying to find out what happened and to hold those responsible for George’s death accountable. "This is a case that should be solved. It's a case that -- frankly, I think it is solved. It's just a question of pulling together enough evidence to get an indictment and a conviction," he said. "The New York office just makes sense. It's a bigger office, they have more - capabilities. ... They are more experienced with big cases."
"...Came up with the theory that after a long night of enjoying himself in the casino and the disco, George sat up on the railing ...and simply fell off," John Miller commented to Bree Smith. "Not only to lose your memory but to have nobody believe you," Jennifer Hagel Smith told Oprah Winfrey. But as it would turn out, the young men's alibi would be called into question. "There was what I call trashing of the room sounds," Greg Lawyer explained. "I thought somebody was throwing furniture around...either mad or having a good time so we dismissed it at that point."
He further suggested his belief that this loss of blood would be consistent with Smith having been stabbed with a knife and then thrown over the cabin railing by persons unknown. When he hit the awning, Smith might have been dead already, or might have died shortly thereafter. Dr. K evidently does not believe the blood loss is attributable to, say, a possible head injury sustained from a fall of 22 feet. Dr. Lee had already indicated that he had been able to conduct three of five experiments that he wanted to do while onboard the ship.
The Smiths say it was George's blood and another sign pointing to foul play. But the Smiths had not yet been told about that bloodstain or the investigation now under way on the Brilliance of the Seas. Turkish police had boarded the ship; Royal Caribbean documented the forensic investigation. A "48 Hours" investigation has uncovered questionable alibis, failed polygraphs and a provocative video made by some of these men just hours after George disappeared. "They pass a video camera around filming themselves commenting about George's death in a very callous way," Jones told 48 Hours. In July of 2005, 26-year-old George Smith went tumbling off a cruise ship balcony into the water below.
Lawyer Keith Greer
Jennifer said she had almost no memory after leaving the casino and that when she had awakened in the cabin, George wasn't there. "After we dropped him off, we closed the door, we never saw him again. End of story. End of story. Never saw him again," said Greg Rozenberg during a Turkish interrogation, Miller reported. "You can't look at the water, at the sea, without remembering what happened to George," Maureen Smith said. Hopefully Smith’s story will shed some light into the hidden world of cruise lines and how – more often than not – they fail to provide a safe environment for those onboard. After finding himself intoxicated a few minutes later, Smith was said to have needed the three Russian-Americans’ help returning to his cabin, and so they escorted him back, accompanied by a fourth man.
Five years later, cruise ship dissapearance leaves unresolved issues - The Advocate
Five years later, cruise ship dissapearance leaves unresolved issues.
Posted: Tue, 06 Jul 2010 07:00:00 GMT [source]
Man’s overboard death may be linked to Davie unsolved murder
Davie police are hoping to find the truth behind his murder case now. And maybe help investigators solve the circumstances behind Smith’s death, too. In December of 2019, Rozenberg was murdered in front of his Davie home and police believe whoever murdered him had targeted him.
The Smith family hopes that one day the case will be solved and say they will never stop fighting for George. The FBI is in possession of the provocative videotape and the Smith family wonders why more has not been done. Lawyers for the young men say that their clients did nothing wrong. No one has ever been charged in connection with George Smith's disappearance. Rumors and theories surrounding George Smith's disappearance began almost immediately. Early on, the ship's captain described it as a likely accident.
48 Hours reported last year that Michael Jones, the Smith family attorney, said a video involving three of four men who were the last to see Smith alive could be key in cracking the case. The family says they are "outraged and disgusted" at the FBI's decision to close the investigation. They say they plan to fight for the case to be moved to another jurisdiction, such as New York. One person who may know something though is Gregory Rozenberg who was one of the men Smith was hanging out with that night on the ship.
"They can say there's no conclusive evidence, they can shut down the investigation but they're not going to shut down me," Bree continued. "Nine, 10, 50 and I'm going to continue until there's answers and justice for George." "I never expected to be 67 and still sitting here trying to get answers for my son," George Smith said. "It's sad. ...we should be on with our life. ...But we're not." "We're hoping to generate more leads with the reward," Bree Smith explained.
Josh Askin's lawyer, Keith Greer, says Josh did not have sex with the young woman -- but he was there. In the woman's statement, she says she was "completely intoxicated" and in between "blackouts", remembers having non-consensual sex with Greg Rozenberg, Rusty Kofman and Jeffrey Rozenberg -- Zach Rozenberg's younger brother. "There's a lotta evidence to suggest that that was not as simple as -- as the Russian men and as Josh have said," Jones told John Miller. "You look at the behavior of these young men. ...they're not good boys or good Samaritans." "The more he wanted to speak with them, the more he wanted to tell them what happened, the more they accused him of foul play," he said.
Also, there were dozens of TV cameras pointed at the balcony, waiting for the “money shot,” one that would have been shown dozens and dozens of times as the “dummy” arched over the railing and hit the awning over two stories below. They believe there was foul play and point out that an "ear witness" heard an argument on George's balcony and George's blood had been found in the cabin -- two small lines of blood on the bed sheets. This weekend, 48 Hours reported on the mysterious disappearance of a cruise ship passenger whose case has yet to be closed. In the wake of two other passengers falling overboard from a Carnival cruise last week in Australia, the need to improve maritime safety regulations industry-wide is blatantly clear.
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