By Laura Connor From Daily Mirror UK

The two bodies were found on a Holland American Line cruise ship which had docked in Puerto Rico

A couple have been found dead on a cruise ship in an apparent murder-suicide.

The couple, who are both 56, were found dead in a bloodied cabin on a Holland American Line (HAL) cruise ship as it docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

They have not yet been officially identified, but are from Cleveland, Ohio, police said.

Police Sgt Ricardo Cruz said: “We don’t know yet whether an object was used or what the motive was.”

Cruz said blood was found in the cabin aboard the MS Ryndam, but it was unclear how the couple died.

The two bodies were discovered when crew hadn’t seen the couple for a while and went in to check on them.

HAL said in a statement: “We are terribly saddened by this tragic event and our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of these guests at this difficult time.”

The 1,800-passenger ship is set to call at St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands later today as part of a two week cruise to the Southern Caribbean.

Police in Salem, Ohio, where the couple are from, said they were familiar with them from a “freak accident” in December, American website Morning Journal reports.

Detective Dave Talbert said the woman had been sent to hospital with a knife injury just days after the couple’s honeymoon, in what he called a “very strange, very bizarre” incident.

When Talbert visited the newlyweds as part of his investigation he said they seemed normal and all the wife said was how much of a “great guy” her husband was.

Talbert said the pair had been unpacking from their trip when the husband had gone to place something in a closet and found an old military dagger he had in his collection of war relics.

He walked across the hall to show his wife, who was sitting on the edge of the bed before tripping on a throw rug and falling into his wife with the knife, which went into her chest.

The couple have not yet been officially identified
Talbert said the wound was not serious or life-threatening and required no surgery. She was treated and released from the hospital and detectives spoke to both the husband and wife at length about what happened.

Their stories were consistent with what they saw at the scene after getting a consent to search the house and take the dagger into evidence.

Talbert said he was “convinced it was an accident”, adding that the husband immediately took his wife to hospital.

The FBI have now taken over the investigation on the HAL ship, with FBI spokesman Moises Quiñones saying authorities are on scene investigating.

A spokesman for HAL told the Marine Link website: “The cabin was immediately secured, and the authorities were notified, including the FBI. We are cooperating fully with the investigation, and the authorities will make the official determination on what occurred.”

The bodies were found in a stateroom by crew members and it is still unknown when the deaths occured.

The crew hung a sheet in the hallway and roped off part of the ship after the bodies were found, Cruise Fever website reports.

IMAGES:
MS Ryndam FBI investigation: The couple were staying in a stateroom.
MS Ryndam – Wikipedia
For more on this story go to: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/caribbean-cruise-ship-deaths-couple-5451282

Related story –UPDATE:

Salem couple found dead on cruise ship

By Greta MitterederFrom WKBN27

SALEM, Ohio (WKBN) – A newlywed Salem couple in their 50’s on a 14-day Caribbean cruise were found dead on the ship in an apparent-murder suicide on Thursday.

Police in Salem said the FBI called them Thursday night to identify the couple. The Holland American cruise ship was docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico when a cleaning crew found their bodies in a bloody room.

“All we know is that a big FBI evidence team went in with all kinds of things, and in and out with photographs,” cruise ship passenger Daniel Freeman said.

Police have not released their names, but our news team spoke with their neighbors on East Fourth Street in Salem.

“She stayed to herself,” Georgia Garten said.

Garten lives across the street and said she knew the wife, Darla Mellinger.

Our news team confirmed her October marriage to John Banner through notices published in our print partners, the Salem News and Lisbon Morning Journal. The newspapers gave us photos of the couple.

Garten said she is shocked to hear of their deaths.

“I think that is kind of scary,” she said.

Police said they don’t have much of a history with the couple other than what they call a freak incident in December.

“I knew the names sounded familiar and I had gone and checked our reports. I recalled the event in December involving the two of them,” Salem Police Det. Dave Talbert said.

Talbert said it appeared John Banner accidentally stabbed his wife after they just got home from their honeymoon cruise. The couple’s stories matched, but Talbert said it was a bizarre case.

“The gentleman has retrieved an old war relic that he had, which was an old military style dagger, and had gone from one side of the room to the other where she was sitting on the edge of the bed unpacking her suitcase and had allegedly tripped over a throw rug and had fallen into her with the knife and she sustained a stab wound to the center of her chest,” Talbert said.

The FBI is not yet releasing how the couple died.

For more on this story go to: http://wkbn.com/2015/04/03/salem-couple-found-dead-on-cruise-ship/