Cruise Worker Tried to Kill Woman, Toss Her Overboard

Ketut Pujayasa says it was an act of revenge
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 19, 2014 8:28 AM CST
Cruise Worker Tried to Kill Woman, Toss Her Overboard
The MS Amsterdam cruise ship, operated by Holland America Line, sits docked Monday, April 26, 2010, in Seattle.   (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)

A cruise worker angry over an alleged slight by a passenger says he took revenge by attacking and raping the woman and attempting to throw her overboard, authorities say. Ketut Pujayasa, 28, confessed to the Valentine's Day crime aboard Holland America's MS Nieuw Amsterdam, which left Fort Lauderdale on Feb. 9 for the Caribbean. Pujayasa says he delivered breakfast to the victim's room Thursday, but had to knock three times before she answered—and he claims he heard her say, "Wait a minute, son of a b----!" Late that night, the 31-year-old woman says she was attacked in her room, raped, beaten, and strangled, the South Florida Sun Sentinel reports.

Pujayasa says he used his master key to enter her room, where he fell asleep on the balcony waiting for her to return. He admitted to hitting her with items including a laptop and a curling iron and choking her with cords from the curling iron and the phone. He tried to push her overboard, but ultimately left because someone was repeatedly knocking on her door, he says. He then says he jumped from balcony to balcony, half-naked, broke into another room, and fled to his cabin, where he told his roommate to call security to report that he had killed someone. The woman was airlifted to a Florida hospital, and Pujayasa was arrested on charges of attempted murder and aggravated sexual abuse. (More cruise ships stories.)

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