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They don't know what happened to their 26-year-old son aboard that cruise ship. The Smith family is pushing for a bill to require cruise ships to be equipped with man overboard technology. "But the really-- sort of, incriminating statement is one of them stands up at the end of the tape and sorta hunches his shoulders and flashes gang signs and says, 'Told ya I was gangsta,'" Jones explained. "And that's in the context of the discussion about George's death, almost as if he's bragging about having done something to George." For 10 years, Maureen and George Smith have been tormented.
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They say they plan to fight for the case to be moved to another jurisdiction, such as New York. "Do you believe that George knows that you've been fighting -- that the family's been fighting this whole time?" Miller asked Bree. Greer thinks that there is a simpler explanation for all that took place aboard the Brilliance of the Seas -- the sex assault claim, George going overboard. Josh Askin's lawyer, Keith Greer, argues that it's all nothing more than speculation -- the so-called robbery and fight.
Who was George Smith?
Man's overboard death may be linked to Davie unsolved murder - WPLG Local 10
Man's overboard death may be linked to Davie unsolved murder.
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Jones learned of a potentially damaging videotape made by some of these men just hours after George disappeared. On the tape, Jones says the three Russian-Americans are seen and heard making callous remarks about George's death and at the end Greg Rozenberg says "I told you I was gangsta." "I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that my son was murdered on that cruise ship," Maureen Smith, George's mother, told CBS News' 48 Hours. "We were told by the Connecticut FBI that there was not enough evidence to prove George had been murdered and that his death may have been the result of an accident," the Smith family wrote in a Facebook post on Wednesday. "They pass a video camera around filming themselves commenting about George's death in a very callous way," Jones explained.
The Provocative Videotape
It is not an admission, but it's at the very least provocative -- and there's more. Jennifer said she had almost no memory after leaving the casino. They produced Marie Breheret, who said she had been at Jennifer’s side almost every minute she spent in Turkey. They issued a time line laying out everything they knew about what had happened, as well as a list of the “Top Ten Myths” about George's disappearance. When Jennifer agreed to discuss the case on Oprah, Royal Caribbean's president, Adam Goldstein, went on the show and apologized to her for how the incident was handled. On another occasion, Breheret took a call from one of the women who answered room-service calls.
Man accused of sexually abusing minor in Miami-Dade
None of the men in the video have been charged and all say they had nothing to do with George Smith's death. The Smith family has offered a $100,000 reward for information leading directly to an arrest and conviction in the case. "This is a case that should be solved. It's a case that -- frankly, I think it is solved. It's just a question of pulling together enough evidence to get an indictment and a conviction," he said. Jones believes that perception fueled a robbery attempt -- one that was hatched when they put George to bed and Askin had gone into the bathroom. "I have no comment. Please contact my lawyer and then we can arrange a time to speak," he replied.
A "48 Hours" investigation has uncovered failed polygraphs, questionable alibis and a provocative video made by some of the men just hours after George Smith disappeared. On July 5, it will be 10 years since George Smith disappeared from his honeymoon cruise. His family has been on a mission to find those responsible, but their long quest for justice is now in jeopardy. NEW HAVEN, Conn. (CBS/AP) The last time that Jennifer Hagel Smith went on a honeymoon, her husband wound up dead.
Hagel Smith has called those accounts "ridiculous" and "outlandish." Of the young men on the tape, only Rusty Kofman, via his attorney, Albert Dayan, has addressed it publicly, acknowledging that Kofman took part, but claiming the sex was consensual. Askin’s attorney says his client took no part in the incident whatsoever. The Rozenbergs’ attorney, Arthur Gershfeld, refuses to discuss it. On Thursday, July 7, an elderly passenger had a heart attack and died. After the ship docked at Naples the next morning, Breheret spent the day helping the widow.
A passenger in a neighboring room said he heard men arguing on the Smiths' balcony that night. The next morning passengers photographed a bloodstain on a lifeboat canopy beneath the couple's balcony. In 2005 George and Jennifer Smith boarded a cruise ship for their honeymoon, never realizing that only one of them would make it home.
He said Smith's family continues to believe he was a victim of foul play. Caught off guard, Royal Caribbean brought in a crisis-management team of attorneys from the Washington firm of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe headed by Lanny Davis, a special White House counsel to President Clinton. There is no suggestion that anyone seriously considered mounting an ocean search.
"There was what I call trashing of the room sounds," Greg Lawyer explained. "I thought somebody was throwing furniture around...either mad or having a good time so we dismissed it at that point." "At this point we heard just one lone voice in the room. We heard what sounded like the cupboard doors being closed loudly. And also sounded like furniture being moved," he said. "Suddenly though, there was an argument out on the Smith balcony. This argument appeared to be between three, maybe four individuals," said Hyman. And in the ship's lobby, they rounded up Josh Askin and the group of Russian-Americans -- Rusty Kofman and Zach and Greg Rozenberg. The one thing that was clear to Paul Kvitnisky that night, was that by the time the casino closed, both Jennifer and George were already drunk.
"There's a statement made on videotape where you say George went parachute riding off his balcony," Miller confronted Kofman. The four men and their families were then ejected from the ship in Naples, where Italian police looked into the rape allegation and washed their hands of it saying they had no jurisdiction. Photographs taken by Royal Caribbean inside the Smith cabin revealed two small lines of blood on the bed sheets. The Smiths say it was George's blood and another sign pointing to foul play. "After about two minutes of the argument, we heard one lone male voice repeatedly saying, 'Goodnight, goodnight' ... like they were ushering someone out of the room," Hyman continued.
The ship had covered nearly 200 miles the previous night; George Smith, or his body, could be anywhere. Jennifer, meanwhile, telephoned her parents in Connecticut, who broke the news to the Smith family. Her attorney, James Walker, has suggested that Jennifer may have been drugged. It’s also possible that someone led her to the alcove and left her there—and she forgot about it after a blackout. And it’s at least conceivable that she did in fact return to the stateroom and then left once more.
One person who may know something though is Gregory Rozenberg who was one of the men Smith was hanging out with that night on the ship. The next morning all that was left of Smith was a blood stain on an overhang below his cabin’s balcony and now, 15 years later, the case remains unsolved. This week, his family announced a $100,000 reward for information leading "to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible." On July 5, 2005, George Smith disappeared from his honeymoon cruise. That arguing, Jones believes, is what Clete Hyman heard on the balcony.
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