LA man arrested in wife's high-seas death

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(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-17 08:56

SAN DIEGO: A man was arrested Thursday for allegedly murdering his wife three days into a five-day cruise to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, authorities said.

Robert McGill was taken into custody from the Carnival Elation cruise ship more than six hours after it returned to San Diego on Thursday. The Los Angeles man will be charged with the murder of his wife, Shirley, who was found dead in the couple's cabin on Tuesday evening, said Keith Slotter, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego bureau.

Slotter said a passenger contacted ship's security Tuesday and expressed concern that Shirley McGill might be dead.

Crew members went to the cabin and found her body, but Robert McGill was not in the room. Slotter wouldn't say why the passenger who notified security was concerned, but said several hours may have passed before the body's discovery.

Robert McGill was taken into custody later and was held in the ship's brig until the boat docked around 6:30 am Thursday. The San Diego County medical examiner removed the woman's body about three hours later, said John Gilmore, a spokesman for the Port of San Diego. The FBI took McGill from the boat around 1 pm.

Slotter would not provide details about a possible motive or how Shirley McGill was killed. James Ramirez, an investigator with the San Diego County medical examiner's office, said an autopsy would be performed Friday. He did not know when results would be made public.

"We have suspicions at this time of how it was conducted but until that autopsy is done I can't comment ... on exactly how it may have occurred," Slotter said of the death.

Both the suspect and victim were in their mid-50s, Slotter said.

McGill will likely make a first appearance in US District Court in San Diego on Friday, said Debra Hartman, a spokeswoman for the US attorney's office.

It wasn't immediately known if McGill had retained an attorney.

Carnival notified the FBI of the death on Tuesday night. The FBI sent 20 agents Wednesday on a US Coast Guard cutter to intercept the cruise ship as it steamed home, Slotter said. They spent the night and part of Thursday morning interviewing McGill and more than 50 witnesses as shocked passengers disembarked.

Hundreds of new guests boarded the ship Thursday afternoon for another Cabo cruise that left around 4 pm.