Man who killed his wife on Alaska cruise after she allegedly asked for a divorce gets 30 years in prison

A Utah man was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison in the beating death of his wife on an Alaska cruise in 2017, with a federal judge describing the crime as violent and brutal. Prosecutors had sought life in prison for Kenneth Manzanares, who pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder in the death of his wife, Kristy Manzanares. His attorneys requested 7 1/2 years.

Kenneth Manzanares looked back briefly, toward where two of his daughters sat in the courtroom, before being led out after U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess announced his decision. Manzanares' attorneys, in a court filing, said he had brain abnormalities that a defense expert deemed consistent with injuries caused by playing contact sports. This, combined with what was at the time an undiagnosed bipolar disorder and "a problematic combination of prescribed medication and alcohol resulted in an aberrant episode of violence," the filing states.