Utah Man Who Beat His Wife To Death On Cruise Ship During Anniversary Celebration Found Dead In Prison Cell

Kenneth Manzanares, the man who was rotting away behind bars for the senseless murder of his wife, has been found dead in his Alaskan prison cell.

The Utah native was recently sentenced to 30 years for beating Kristy Manzanares to death in 2017 while the couple was on board a cruise ship for their anniversary.

He was pronounced dead moments later, Alaska's Department of Corrections reveals.

There are several details that have not been release surrounding Kenneth's death -- but COVID-19 was not a factor.

According to the statement, foul play is not expected.

Kenneth was charged with killing his wife in July 2017.

Last month, he was sentenced to 30 years in prison, followed by five years of unsupervised release.

Kenneth was required to tell the court in detail what happened the fatal night he killed Kristy.

Kenneth and Kristy -- who had been high school sweethearts-- were on the cruise ship with their two daughters and extended family when the murder took place.

They were in their room with their daughters when they began arguing, with Kristy telling Kenneth she wanted a divorce.

He then recalled telling the daughters to exit the room. Kenneth hit his wife of several years twice with a closed fist.

Despite their children being out of the room, the girls saw and heard everything.

"Both [daughters] heard Kristy scream and attempted to reenter the cabin using the adjoining door when Kenneth told them 'don't come in here,'" the U.S. Attorney's Office said in a statement back in February. "They both went to the connected balcony and saw Kenneth straddling Kristy on the bed striking her in the head with closed fists."

Kristy's brothers arrived at the scene before Kenneth could throw his wife off the balcony, but it was too late.

Kristy's cause of death was blunt force trauma to her head and face.