Kenneth Manzanares, who pleaded guilty to murdering his wife, 39-year-old Kristy Manzanares, on a cruise ship in Alaska on July 25, 2017 | Composite photo, St. George News

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) – A Santa Clara man awaiting conviction after pleading guilty of second degree murder on an Alaskan cruise had brain abnormalities.

Kristy and Kenneth Manzanares, photo location and date not given | Photo courtesy of Kristy Manzanares Facebook, St. George News

Defense Attorney Jamie McGrady filing states that this, along with a then undiagnosed bipolar disorder and “problematic combination of prescribed medication and alcohol, resulted in an aberrant episode of violence” by Kenneth Manzanares, who pleaded guilty on February 7 2020 to the murder his wife Kristy.

Manzanares played soccer, wrestled and boxed when he was younger and had a history of “testosterone supplementation,” the file says.

Manzanares lawyers say in the file that they are seeking a 7 1/2 year prison sentence. Prosecutors say in a separate file that they will recommend life imprisonment, saying Manzanares “committed the worst crime one person can commit against another”.

An attendance report is cited in both documents in which a range for sentencing guidelines was calculated between 14 and 17 1/2 years. They also paint various pictures of Manzanares’ relationship with his wife Kristy.

U.S. assistant attorney Jack Schmidt said in a court case the night Kristy Manzanares died in 2017 that the couple argued in his cabin over Kenneth Manzanares’ behavior over dinner. Kristy Manzanares told her husband to get off the ship in Juneau where it was en route and was referring to a divorce, the file says.

Two of the couple’s children tried to get into the room when they heard their mother scream and witnessed part of the attack from a balcony, according to Schmidt’s file, in which the attack is described as brutal and violent.

The indictment also states that Kenneth Manzanares said he had broken television remote controls in the past when he was angry and pounding holes in walls and physically restraining his wife.

Kristy Manzanares, Seattle, Washington, July 2017 | Photo courtesy Miranda Barnard, St. George News

Manzanares lawyers say this is “not a case of simmering resentment and dysfunction that led to an argument”.

The McGrady filing states that police officers interviewed “dozens and dozen” of witnesses and family friends “looking for signs of marital problems,” such as money problems or domestic abuse, and “found none of them.”

Kenneth Manzanares had no explanation as to how or why the attack took place, according to the McGrady file, and he “appreciates the gravity of what he did”.

“Although he has understood more about himself, his impairments and deficits, he knows that this is not an excuse and that this explanation is unlikely to give comfort to those who loved his wife,” said his lawyers’ file.

The sentencing is scheduled for next month.

Written by BECKY BOHRER, Associated Press.

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