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The latest | jury in donald trump's criminal trial enters second day of deliberations, jury in trump hush money trial resumes deliberations after rehearing instructions, testimony, man’s overboard death may be linked to davie unsolved murder.

Ian Margol , Reporter

DAVIE, Fla. – It has been more than 15 years since a Connecticut man named George Smith went overboard on a cruise ship. At the time, his death was considered suspicious and now the person who may have had answers about what happened on that ship has been murdered.

In July of 2005, 26-year-old George Smith went tumbling off a cruise ship balcony into the water below. Smith was never seen again and the mystery of how he went overboard has never been solved.

“Unfortunately, there’s a possibility that we may never find out now what happened to George,” Attorney Mike Jones, who represent’s Smith’s family, said.

Smith had just been married and he was on his honeymoon.

“At one point, at about 2 a.m., they were in a disco type setting at one of the bars,” said Jones “Unfortunately, George and Jennifer actually got in a fight and Jennifer stormed out of the club and left George behind.”

After she stormed off, Smith kept partying with a group of guys that he had met on the ship.

Hours later, the men say they walked Smith back to his room.

“They claim they just left the room, but the evidence revealed afterward was that it was an attempted robbery gone wrong,” Jones said.

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.

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.

In December of 2019, Rozenberg was murdered in front of his Davie home and police believe whoever murdered him had targeted him.

Rozenberg may have taken the truth of what happened to Smith with him when he died.

Davie police are hoping to find the truth behind his murder case now. And maybe help investigators solve the circumstances behind Smith’s death, too.

George Allen Smith IV

Royal Caribbean Honeymoon Tragedy

On July 5, 2005, my husband, George A. Smith IV, tragically went overboard during our honeymoon cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean ship, Brilliance of the Seas.

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Startling New Evidence In George Smith Case

It was a mystery that made headlines when a handsome groom vanished one night from his honeymoon cruise. Seven years later, the FBI says new evidence has surfaced that suggests he may have been murdered. INSIDE EDITION has the story.

It's a tantalizing mystery: A handsome groom goes overboard on his honeymoon cruise—his beautiful bride left a widow just 10 days after her wedding.

The body of 26-year-old George Smith has never been found. But now, 7 years after the tragedy that made international headlines, new evidence suggests that he might have been murdered. Incredibly, some of the men who were the last to see George Smith alive reportedly videotaped themselves joking about having thrown him over the side. Michael Jones is the Smith family attorney. "They make some mocking comments with vulgar language about George's death. From what I understand, it's horrifying to watch. And then, at the end, one of them stands up and makes a self-incriminating statement," said Jones. One of the men reportedly says on the video, "We gave that guy a paragliding lesson without a parachute." INSIDE EDITION's Paul Boyd asked George Smith's mother, Maureen, "What was your reaction when you heard what was said about your son?"

"I was devastated when I heard that. Devastated. Obviously, something really bad happened to my son," said George's mother, Maureen. The death of the businessman from Greenwich, Connecticut, came following a storybook wedding to his school teacher bride, Jennifer Hagel. For their honeymoon, they went on a Mediterranean cruise aboard the Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas. After a night of out-of-control partying in the ship's casino, George got so drunk, he had to be carried back to his state room and put into bed. At some point, he went over the balcony. A large bloodstain shows where he landed on a metal canopy before tumbling into the sea off the coast of Turkey. Hagel was found unconscious in a corridor. She says she cannot remember anything about that night.

In videotaped depositions obtained by INSIDE EDITION, two of the passengers who carried George to his room repeatedly took the fifth when asked about George Smith's death.

"Do you know if George Smith was murdered?" asked an interrogator.

"I invoke my Fifth Amendment right," replied passenger Josh Askin. "Do you know who killed George Smith?" asked the interrogator.

"I'd like to invoke my Fifth Amendment right," answered the other passenger, Zachary Rozenberg. In another deposition, his cousin, Gregory Rozenberg, who was serving 3 years in prison for selling drugs, denies murdering Smith. "Did you have anything to do with George's death?" asked an interrogator.

"No. Never did, never thought about it—No," replied Gregory. Hagel has moved on. She remarried and has a child. There's a rift between her and the Smith family they say will never heal.

"We are disappointed that she didn't fight for George how we fought for George," said Bree, George's sister. Bree and Maureen believe George was murdered in a robbery that got out of control. "I want to know who took my son away from me. He wasn't a Dixie cup that you throw over the side of a ship," said Maureen. And they're hoping the new evidence will lead to arrests. "We want the individuals that are responsible for throwing my brother George over his balcony at age 26 held accountable. We want them put in jail. We want them to rot in jail," said Bree.

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Fbi closes investigation into greenwich honeymooner's disappearance, the family of george smith iv vows to continue efforts to discover what happened to the 26-year-old greenwich resident nearly a decade ago..

Barbara Heins , Patch Staff

Nearly a decade after he disappeared while on his honeymoon cruise, the FBI in New Haven has closed its investigation into the disappearance of Greenwich resident George Smith IV.

In an announcement posted on the Justice for George Smith Facebook page , Smith’s family announced on Wednesday they “attended a meeting at the New Haven FBI during which we were informed by Patricia M. Ferrick, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s New Haven Division, that the Connecticut FBI is closing the investigation into George’s death. We were told by the Connecticut FBI that there was not enough evidence to prove that George had been murdered and that his death may have been the result of an accident!”

Smith’s family also said, “We are outraged and disgusted by this justice system.”

Find out what's happening in Greenwich with free, real-time updates from Patch.

Smith, 26, was honeymooning on the Royal Caribbean ship Brilliance of the Seas cruising between Greece and Turkey with his bride, Jennifer Hagel Smith, when he disappeared following a night of drinking in July 2005.

The Smith family intends to continue their pursuit of finding out what happened to George.

They said in their Facebook posting, “If anything positive came out of this meeting it’s that we are free to attempt to move George’s investigation to another jurisdiction, such as New York. Upon request from our attorney Michael Jones, the Connecticut FBI agreed not to block our efforts to move the case away from Connecticut and that will be our next step forward.”

The family is continuing its $100,000 reward offer for information that will help with determining what happened to Smith. The case, which has been the subject countless media articles and television programs and books, also prompted a series of Congressional hearings into the safety of the cruise line industry.

Naugatuck writer Joan Lownds — with the cooperation of the Smith family, published the book ‘Man Overboard — Inside the Honeymoon Cruise Murder,’ in 2011 which detailed the case.

Smith’s widow remarried in 2009 and is estranged from the Smith family. She accepted a $1.1 million settlement from Royal Caribbean Cruises.

Photo via Justice for George Smith Facebook page.

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Cruise Widow: FBI Said Foul Play Possible

By leanne gendreau • published june 8, 2009 • updated on june 9, 2009 at 8:57 am.

The family of a Greenwich newlywed who disappeared from his honeymoon cruise in 2005 says federal authorities believed he was the victim of foul play, according to thousands of pages of court records released Monday.

But the man's widow disagrees. The FBI told her there is a 50 percent chance he was the victim of foul play, she said.

George Allen Smith IV of Greenwich was celebrating his marriage with a cruise on a Royal Caribbean ship when he vanished somewhere between Greece and Turkey. His body never has been found.

The FBI has investigated Smith's disappearance, but no one has been charged. The Associated Press left a telephone message for the FBI, but the agency usually does not comment on ongoing investigations.

Attorneys for Smith's family asked his widow about a meeting with the FBI that included prosecutor Peter Jongbloed.

"Do you recall Mr. Jongbloed actually interjecting and looking right at you and saying, 'Jennifer, we also believe there was foul play,' meaning the Department of Justice and the FBI," an attorney for Smith's family asked.

Smith’s widow, Jennifer Hagel Smith, of Cromwell, disagreed.

After some back and forth, she eventually said an FBI agent told her he didn't rule out foul play or an accident.

"But the fact of the matter is, in his mind that it was 50-50," Hagel Smith said.

Federal authorities told her they didn't have enough information to indict anyone and they were near the end of their investigation, she said.

George Smith's family is challenging a nearly $1.1 million settlement Hagel Smith reached with Royal Caribbean. The deal was approved by a probate court, but Smith's family appealed to Stamford Superior Court.

Records from the probate hearing were released Monday.

Smith's disappearance followed a night of heavy drinking. The cruise line said his wife was found passed out on a floor far from their cabin.

Hagel Smith has said her husband's family refuses to acknowledge the possibility that George Smith's intoxication from alcohol and prescription drugs may have been a factor in an accidental death. Instead, she said they have insisted Smith was a victim of foul play despite a lack of evidence.

Smith was taking the antidepressant Zoloft and Clonazepam, which treats anxiety and panic disorders, according to Hagel Smith's attorney.

Smith's attorney says there was no evidence he took prescription drugs. They also say they did not receive witness statements or documents from Royal Caribbean.

In the appeal, Smith's parents and sister said his widow agreed to an inadequate settlement with the cruise ship line to avoid embarrassing disclosures about her conduct.

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New Evidence in Missing Cruise Ship Passenger Case Revealed, But Why is FBI Holding Back?

Written by LM&W Lipcon, Margulies & Winkleman, P.A. is made up of attorneys who are nationally recognized industry leaders in the field of maritime and admiralty law. Our team of cruise lawyers has well over two centuries of combined experience, has successfully handled over 3,000 cases, and has recovered over 300 million dollars in damages for our clients. Several of our attorneys have even been selected to “Best Lawyers” ® by US News & World Report every year as far back as 2016.

This weekend, 48 Hours reported on the mysterious disappearance of a cruise ship passenger whose case has yet to be closed. In the wake of two other passengers falling overboard from a Carnival cruise last week in Australia, the need to improve maritime safety regulations industry-wide is blatantly clear. Yet, the case of missing passenger George Allen Smith IV remains unsolved eight years after the tragic disappearance occurred and the cruise line on which he was sailing seems to have washed its hands of any responsibility in investigating the case.

Smith mysteriously disappeared from a cruise he was on for his honeymoon cruise nearly eight years ago. This Saturday night, 48 Hours aired a special titled “ 48 Hours: Murder at Sea? ” interviewing Smith’s loved ones and shedding new light into the unsolved case that many are calling a crime instead of an accident.

“You can’t look at the water and the sea without remembering what happened to George,” said Maureen Smith, the victim’s mother. “It’s got too many bad memories for me now.”

Smith’s family has maintained all these years that George was murdered by several men with whom George had an argument. And now, new evidence suggests there may be some truth to the allegations. A video tape created by the same men, and which has been in the hands of the FBI for some time, shows there may in fact have been a murder at sea all those years ago.

Smith disappeared from Royal Caribbean’s Brilliance of the Seas ship on July 5, 2005. Although his body was never recovered, bloodstains were found beneath the balcony of the cabin he was sharing with his new wife, Jennifer Hagel-Smith, who is now remarried.

The videotape in question was filmed by three Russian-Americans who have long been suspected of being involved in Smith’s disappearance due to their actions on July 4 and 5, before Smith was last seen. While it was reportedly filmed on the ship, shortly after Smith went missing, the video was only brought to the Smith family a few years ago.

In the video, the men film themselves joking about Smith’s death and make incriminating statements. The men first met Smith and his new wife on July 4. Everyone had been drinking and Smith and Jennifer ended up in an argument around 3:30 a.m., which resulted in Jennifer walking away alone. She ultimately passed out in a hallway.

Smith, however, stayed behind. After finding himself intoxicated a few minutes later, Smith was said to have needed the three Russian-Americans’ help returning to his cabin, and so they escorted him back, accompanied by a fourth man. The story of what happens next has been changed several times.

The Russians alleged they helped Smith back to his room, took off his shoes and put him to bed, however, passengers who were in their cabins near the scene recalled hearing a lot of noise and yelling from Smith’s stateroom around that time. One passenger even recounts hearing large objects like furniture being thrown across the room.

Another passenger reported the noise disturbance to the ship’s guest relation’s desk just after 4 a.m., but the ship’s crew did not respond until nearly half an hour later. Had they responded in time, perhaps Smith would be alive today.

At around 4:25 a.m., Smith went over the rail of his cabin’s balcony and landed several floors below on the metal awning over the lifeboats, then fell into the water. Bloodstains were discovered later that day which when tested, were determined to have been Smith’s.

The investigation appears to have been over before it even started. Ship crew members never even called Smith’s cabin to make sure everyone was ok. The next morning, crews cleaned the blood off the awning with a high-pressure hose, never even telling Jennifer about the blood stains.

But by far, the most incriminating piece of evidence in the case suggesting foul play was the video, which shows the Russian men commenting about Smith’s death, saying “we gave that guy a paragliding lesson without a parachute, and one man was even recorded flashing gang signs, claiming “Told ya I was gangsta” and making it seem as though he was proud of what happened to Smith.

Meanwhile, the Smith family is shocked that the FBI has not pressed any charges, or at the least, interrogated the men regarding the video, especially given the fact that one of the suspects is an ex-con who served three years in prison.

George Smith IV would have turned 34 this year. Sadly, he isn’t the only cruise ship passenger whose case remains unsolved. Hundreds of passengers have gone missing from cruise ships and nothing has been done to give the victims’ loved ones justice or peace of mind.

The International Cruise Victims Association (ICV) is dedicated to helping the loved ones of passengers who have been involved in crimes at sea, especially those who have disappeared at sea. But despite the many stories that have been published regarding missing passengers and the cruise lines’ blatant cover-up of overboard accidents, incidents are still happening to this very day that prove the cruise industry doesn’t seem to care much about passenger safety.

Hopefully Smith’s story will shed some light into the hidden world of cruise lines and how – more often than not – they fail to provide a safe environment for those onboard.

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Published on May 13, 2013

Categories: Cruise Disappearances , Cruise Line Crimes

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Honeymooner's disappearance: Was it murder?

Tuesday night on MSNBC’s “Rita Cosby Live & Direct,” two noted forensic scientists offered insight into the disappearance of George Smith. Six months ago Smith, a honeymooner from Connecticut, disappeared from his cabin on deck nine of the Royal Caribbean cruise ship Brilliance of the Seas . Dr. Henry Lee (of O.J. Simpson fame) briefly discussed his forensic examination this past Monday of the cabin occupied by George and Jennifer Hagel Smith when they were passengers on this ship. I was also there in Miami and saw Dr. Lee and his team as they went about taking various measurements and looking for forensic evidence in the bedroom and balcony of the cabin that had been occupied by the Smiths last May. Although the FBI is believed to have the carpet and other items of potential forensic interest from the cabin, Dr. Lee, who is working for George Smith’s wife, Jennifer, still conducted a belated “CSI-Miami”-type investigation. Looking for evidence of blood and other trace evidence, Dr. Lee also spent time 22 feet directly below the Smith’s former cabin, as it was there on a white metal awning used to cover a lifeboat that the bloody outline of a human body was photographed by a fellow passenger on the morning of George Smith’s disappearance. Although understandably cryptic in what he was willing to tell the media, Dr. Lee did suggest that he found something of some significance, perhaps evidence of blood, or scratches or cuts on the metal awning.

Dr. Lee had already indicated that he had been able to conduct three of five experiments that he wanted to do while onboard the ship. One test he wanted to run was squashed by the cruise line. Dr. Lee wanted to throw a manikin the same height and weight as George Smith over the cabin balcony railing to see where, and how, it would land on the life boat cover below. Dr. Lee believed it important to his investigation, but the cruise line was probably right in its refusal to allow this experiment. For one, it is presumed that Smith disappeared while the ship was under way and at sea. Therefore throwing the manikin from the balcony to the metal awning below while the ship was tied up in port would be nothing like a ship moving at 20 knots in a rough sea, perhaps with sea spray washing over the ship. Further, at the time Dr. Lee proposed conducting the test, 2500 new passengers were boarding Brilliance of the Seas and would have witnessed the test. Also, there were dozens of TV cameras pointed at the balcony, waiting for the “money shot,” one that would have been shown dozens and dozens of times as the “dummy” arched over the railing and hit the awning over two stories below. Probably not a good marketing photo op for the cruise line….

The second forensic scientist to be interviewed on MSNBC Tuesday night was Dr. Lawrence Kobolinski (Dr. K). Dr. K offered an interesting perspective to this case, especially noting that I continue to suggest that the three options to explain Smith’s disappearance, ruling out natural causes of course, are homicide, suicide, and accidental death. Dr. K offered his belief that the Smith’s cabin was indeed a crime scene and that Smith had been murdered. He based this on the amount of blood seen in the passenger’s photograph of the life boat cover, one that appears to show a significant amount of “red” on an otherwise white metal surface. He further suggested his belief that this loss of blood would be consistent with Smith having been stabbed with a knife and then thrown over the cabin railing by persons unknown. When he hit the awning, Smith might have been dead already, or might have died shortly thereafter. Dr. K evidently does not believe the blood loss is attributable to, say, a possible head injury sustained from a fall of 22 feet.

Were Dr. K to be correct in his analysis, this act of foul play might then be laid at the feet of one of the last three or four men to be in Smith’s cabin with him. At the assumed time of George Smith’s death his wife was lying unconscious on the same deck, but half way around the ship, apparently having become lost on her way back to her cabin. Inexplicably, she was curled up in a dead-end hallway on the 9 th deck. Again, if Dr. K is correct, there could be, even some 6 months later, trace evidence of blood in the room, on the walls, ceiling, furniture, that an application of a Luminol-like spray might uncover. CSI fans will know that Luminol is often used at crime scenes in the visualization of blood. It is highly sensitive and can usually locate faint blood that is invisible to the eye. When sprayed on surfaces where blood is evident, the Luminol will make the blood patterns appear a bright green.

If I continue with Dr. K’s theory, then there would probably have been blood on the clothing of the assailants, something that would have been evident to a crime lab had the clothing of any such suspect been seized by Turkish authorities in their very limited investigation aboard ship the day Smith disappeared. And then there’s the question of how Smith’s body disappeared from the awning where he apparently fell, or was dropped. Did he lie there bleeding for an unknown time period, then perhaps awake and attempt to climb down from the awning, slipping instead into the dark and unforgiving sea? Or, again were he the victim of foul play did he lie there under the now-frightened eyes of his assailant or assailants, who now had to somehow climb down onto the lifeboat awning him or themselves to slide or push Smith to his watery grave?

We still don’t know the truth. The cruise line has turned over approximately 98 surveillance tapes from various cameras throughout the ship, tapes that some suggest depict an argument between the Smiths shortly before George disappeared, one in which witnesses suggest that Jennifer kicked George in the groin because he called her a “hussy.” Others suggest that the surveillance tapes do not show the corridors, halls or passageways leading to the cabins, so there would be no footage of who came and went from the Smith’s cabin that fateful night. But if the tapes showed staircases or elevator entrances, for example, the timing on the tapes could depict who entered, say, the elevator on the Smith’s floor at about the time George is believed to have gone overboard. After all, how many people were up and about the halls between 4 and 5 a.m. that morning? And the key cards would show who used a key to get into a state room at that time of the morning. Finally, there are witnesses, both eye and “ear,” on either side of the Smith’s cabin who either heard or saw some evidence of a possible argument or people leaving the cabin at that hour of the morning.

This investigation has deteriorated into a she said (Jennifer Hagel Smith), they said (the cruise line) type of case. Jennifer has gone on national television recounting how she was mishandled by cruise line personnel. Cruise line defenders say that at the time they thought they had done what was needed to help Jennifer and to facilitate the investigation. The parents of George Smith continue to demand answers to the ultimate fate of their son and seek reform concerning the investigation of crimes on the high seas.

There are now two distinct cases that are interwoven but need be separated. First there is the criminal investigation trying to determine the fate of George Smith. Was he just so intoxicated that he pushed a chair against the rail on the balcony, sat on the railing to get some air and think out the events of the evening, and simply fell overboard? Or was he murdered as suggested by Dr. K, perhaps during the course of an argument or even an attempted robbery? And now comes the buildup to a civil law suit by Jennifer (and perhaps the parents of George Smith) against the cruise line with deep pockets. Somehow today everything in our world eventually evolves into a law suit. Somebody is always trying to hold someone else responsible for the actions of another, no matter whether right or wrong. “We demand that someone pay.” Attorney and host of MSNBC’s “The Abrams Report” Dan Abrams is right to suggest that this “how Jennifer was treated afterwards” aspect of the case pales alongside discovering what really happened to George. After all, isn’t he the ultimate and true victim in this case? But he left behind a “grieving” widow and a family who obviously loved him, all of whom want this matter resolved, even though Jennifer’s in-laws have suggested their belief that she has been less than forthright with them in this case but perhaps that is because the FBI has asked her not to talk about the investigation…

In this case there are plenty of victims and plenty of personal and professional responsibility to go around. Some suggest that George and Jennifer Smith were drinking way too much the night he disappeared, perhaps mixing “routine” alcoholic drinks with “Absinthe,” a dangerous concoction at best. That Jennifer and George argued that night was evident. Jennifer left the bar first, with George, accompanied by three or 4 young men, leaving later. Others report their arguing was evident that night and it appears obvious that the newlyweds did not go to their room at the time that George disappeared, this with George overboard and Jennifer passed out, unconscious or just asleep in the hall many feet away. Then there is the questions concerning the three or four young men that accompanied George back to his room just prior to his disappearance. Were these young men the cause of the loud noise coming from the Smith’s room? Did they have anything to do with the blood found in the cabin and with Smith going overboard? And what about the ship’s personnel? When they responded to complaints of loud noises in the Smith’s cabin shortly after 4:00 a.m., should they have gone into the room, walked out on the balcony and looked down some two decks below, perhaps where Smith still lay? Or should they have done this at about 4:45 a.m. when they wheeled Jennifer into her room and placed her on the bed just a few feet away from the sliding glass door to the balcony, and the lifeboat awning just below?

This is a classic “who did what to whom,” but this is real life and real death. George Smith should have been starting the next phase of his life, but instead he has vanished, probably never to be seen again. Dr. Henry Lee is a great forensic scientist, but he’s not a magician. He can’t make linking physical evidence appear if it was never there to begin with, or if it has disappeared in the last six months. If, as Dr. K suggests, this is a murder investigation, then who committed the murder and how do you solve the case? If more than one assailant is responsible, someone may get a plea bargain and someone else life in federal prison. Reality is that it may take someone’s statement to break this case open. But it may take linking physical evidence to convict in the absence of a body. This is a mystery to be solved by investigation, and a civil suit to be resolved by litigation. No matter how you look at it, George Smith will never get to talk about the results of these cases. It is the investigators and the forensic scientists who must become George’s voice now that he can no longer speak for himself, this while family and friends grieve his loss and the rest of us wonder who and how and why?

Clint Van Zandt is an MSNBC analyst. He is the founder and president of Inc. Van Zandt and his associates also developed , a Website dedicated "to develop, evaluate, and disseminate information to help prepare and inform individuals concerning personal and family security issues." During his 25-year career in the FBI, Van Zandt was a supervisor in the FBI's internationally renowned Behavioral Science Unit at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. He was also the FBI's Chief Hostage Negotiator and was the leader of the analytical team tasked with identifying the "Unabomber."

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Cruise Ship Deaths and Disappearances: A Honeymooner Vanishes Overboard and Other Mysteries

Honeymooner goes overboard: accident or foul play.

On his July 2005 honeymoon cruise, George Smith IV, 26, of Greenwich, Connecticut, went overboard into the Mediterranean as his Royal Caribbean ship traveled from Greece to Turkey. Smith’s family — citing accounts of other men with him in his cabin and the sounds of arguing before a “thud” was heard between 4 and 5 a.m, when Smith's wife returned to their room after a night where both had been drinking — said they believe he was murdered. The FBI investigated for 10 years before telling the family they couldn’t prove his death was a homicide and not an accident, a decision that "outraged and disgusted" Smith's relatives. His body was never found.

Cruise Ship Deaths and Disappearances: George Smith, More

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New leads in 2005 cruise ship disappearance of newlywed George Smith IV as FBI's Russian mafia team joins investigation

By Michael Zennie Updated: 10:50 EDT, 6 January 2012

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Investigators, including the FBI's Russian mafia team, are investigating whether four young men - among them three Russian-Americans from Brooklyn, New York - were responsible for the 2005 disappearance of newlywed George Smith IV while he was honeymooning aboard a luxury cruise liner in the Aegean Sean.

Royal Caribbean officials believe Mr Smith, 26, went overboard between Greece and Turkey just 11 days after he and his 25-year-old bride Jennifer Hagel were married in a beautiful New England ceremony.

Now, Mr Smith's family in Greenwich, Connecticut, says he was the victim of foul play, although cruise officials ruled his death an accident and no one was ever arrested in his death.

Man overboard: George Smith IV (left) disappeared in the middle of the Aegean Sea during a honeymoon cruise with his young bride Jennifer Hagel in 2005

The Smith family's lawyer, Michael Jones, claims new documents released by the cruise line cast suspicion on four young men who were last seen escorting a drunken Mr Smith back to his state room cabin in the early morning hours of July 5, 2005.

Josh Askin, who was a San Diego State University student at the time of the disappearance, failed an FBI lie detector test when interviewed about the events of the night Mr Smith disappeared, Mr Jones told the New York Post.

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Additionally, when Mr Jones gave the student a deposition, he invoked his fifth amendment rights against self-incrimination, Mr Jones said.

Askin and three other young men -- Rostislav “Rusty” Kofman and cousins Greg and Zachary Rozenberg -- were the last known people to see Mr Smith before he vanished, according to Mr Jones.

Kofman and the Rozenbergs are naturalized Russian-American citizens who live in Brooklyn, New York.

Mystery: Mr Smith and Ms Hagel were on a $10,000 cruise aboard the Brilliance of the Sea when Mr Smith disappeared between Greece and Turkey

'The evidence suggests that Josh Askin and the boys know more than they have let on,' Mr Jones told the Greenwich Time newspaper.

'It's time for them to come forward and tell what they know about George's disappearance.'

According to Mr Jones, Askin overheard Ms Hagel asking about where her husband was and, unprompted, Askin asked 'if blood was found outside the cabin,' the New York Post reported.

Blood was later discovered smeared on an awning under the balcony of Mr Smith's cabin.

Additionally, Mr Jones claims Askin told his girlfriend that Mr Smith had $50,000 in his cabin and that his 25-year-old bride was playing $200 hands of blackjack in the ship's casino.

No closure: Jennifer Hagel, center, attended a US House Government Reform subcommittee hearing that came in the wake of her husband's death

Askin's lawyer says Askin and the three Russians 'had nothing to do' with Mr Smith's disappearance.

Attorney Keith Greer said Askin passed a previous polygraph test and only pleaded his fifth amendment rights after FBI officials said they would prosecute him for perjury his statements to them were different from his grand jury testimony.

Mr Greeer said Askin was across the ship with the three Russians when Mr Smith vanished.

Mr Smith, who was from a wealthy family in Greenwich, Connecticut, was on a $10,000 honeymoon cruise package in a stateroom aboard the ocean liner Brilliance of the Sea.

After he disappeared, suspicion first turned to his young wife Ms Hagel. However, she revealed that she was found passed out in the ship's casino about 4am the day her husband disappeared.

Crew members hoisted her into a wheelchair and rolled her to her cabin, where she awoke the next morning, she told the New York Times.

Royal Caribbean later agreed to pay Ms Hagel and Mr Smith's family $1.3 million and turn over all of its documents related to the investigation.

Share or comment on this article: New leads in 2005 cruise ship disappearance of newlywed George Smith IV as FBI's Russian mafia team joins investigation

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MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF: George Smith

Episode Summary

In 2005 George and Jennifer Smith boarded a cruise ship for their honeymoon, never realizing that only one of them would make it home. George is presumed to have gone overboard, but the circumstances around his death are perplexing and his family is still fighting for answers to this day.

Episode Info

George and Jennifer Smith

Photo Source

George and Jennifer

Blood on the cruise ship

Blood on the bed

Rusty Kofman

Zack Rozenburg

Greg Rozenburg

Join our fan club to listen to this episode and more.

** Please note ** All Fan Club episode sources are listed directly on their episode show notes in the Fan Club app.

Putin's Skyfall missile failed a test and exploded in a deadly nuclear accident, the US says

A report from a US State Department official on Thursday provides a clearer picture as to how the August 8 Skyfall accident occurred at a secret Russian military testing range.
"The United States has determined that the explosion near Nyonoksa, Russia, was the result of a nuclear reaction that occurred during the recovery of a Russian nuclear-powered cruise missile," the official wrote. "The missile remained on the bed of the White Sea since its failed test early last year, in close proximity to a major population center."
Amid confusion and obfuscation from Russia and speculation from analyst, the report gives a clearer picture of how the accident, which killed seven Russians, occurred.
Visit Business Insider's home page for more stories.

An August 8 nuclear accident near Nyonoksa, Russia, was caused by a nuclear reaction that occurred while Russians were attempting to recover a nuclear-powered cruise missile submerged in the White Sea after a failed test last year.

A report to the UN General Assembly First Committee on Thursday by Thomas G. DiNanno, the deputy assistant secretary and senior bureau official at the State Department's Bureau of Arms Control, Verification, and Compliance, ended months of speculation about the exact cause of the accident, which killed seven Russians.

While experts at the time determined that the cause was a nuclear-reactor explosion and tied it to the 9M730 Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile, which NATO calls the SSC-X-9 Skyfall, DiNanno's report gives a clearer picture of how the accident occurred.

"Russia also has much to answer for regarding the August 8th 'Skyfall' incident," DiNanno wrote.

"The United States has determined that the explosion near Nyonoksa, Russia, was the result of a nuclear reaction that occurred during the recovery of a Russian nuclear-powered cruise missile. The missile remained on the bed of the White Sea since its failed test early last year, in close proximity to a major population center," according to the assessment.

"It's good to have confirmation on these questions," Joshua Pollack, senior research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, told Insider, adding that the report confirms many of the findings of CNS researchers.

Watch: The world's largest cruise ship just landed in Miami — here's what it's like on board

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Watch CBS News

Murder at Sea?

By Richard Schlesinger

July 5, 2014 / 11:01 PM EDT / CBS News

Produced by Lourdes Aguiar and Peter Shaw

On July 5, 2005, George Smith disappeared from his honeymoon cruise.

This week, his family announced a $100,000 reward for information leading "to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible."

In the beginning, suspicion surrounded George's new widow. But the FBI soon turned its focus to a group of young men -- the last to see George alive.

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.

"You know, sometimes you still think, 'Ah, he might still be out there,' cuz we don't have a body. We don't have a body," Maureen Smith told "48 Hours". "It doesn't get any easier. And you know what? If we had our answers for George and know what happened, maybe. We don't know."

For nine years, Maureen and George Smith have been tormented. They don't know what happened to their 26-year-old son aboard that cruise ship.

"We just have to keep pushing the buttons. And we won't let it go. It's our son," said Maureen.

It wasn't supposed to be this way. George Smith IV had seemed destined to have it all.

Maureen Smith described her son as a "Fine young man. Handsome ... Hard working. He was just an all-around great kid."

"He was the funniest guy, you know?" George Smith III said with a laugh. "I would sit and have a couple of beers with him and he'd make me laugh for the whole night. And besides he was so good looking the girls just fell all over him. He was a just a lot of fun. He was a great guy [voice catches]."

George was about to take over his father's liquor store in Greenwich, Conn.

"George made the store. He was much more of a lively guy than I and loved to talk," George said of his son. "He had that gusto in him and he really wanted to take the store and build it."

"He always called me the old man because I wasn't into modern tools and techniques [laughs] like he was. So I was the old man."

"I was the dinosaur that he had to deal with," George said laughing.

George's future seemed even brighter when he met Jennifer Hagel, an aspiring schoolteacher.

"I was overwhelmed with her because she had this dynamic personality," Maureen explained. "She was very fun-loving like him. Very attractive. ... And he was really happy with her."

George and Jennifer Hagel smith on their wedding day

After a three-year courtship, George and Jennifer were married in a ceremony overlooking the sea.

"It was a really lavish affair in Newport, Rhode Island," George's older sister, Bree Smith said. "It was a storybook wedding. It was absolutely beautiful."

Bree remembers the day very well and how excited they were to go on their honeymoon.

"They were so excited to be starting their life together," she said.

"And they couldn't wait to start their cruise."

"I can remember shaking his hand in the street and saying goodbye to him," said George's father.

"Who would have thought that less than two weeks later, George would be missing," said Bree.

In late June 2005, Royal Caribbean's "Brilliance of the Seas" set sail from Barcelona. Aboard with the Smiths were fellow honeymooners Paul and Galina Kvitnisky.

"We sat down next to one another and ... since the first day, we became acquainted," said Paul Kvitnisky.

The couples hit it off immediately.

"They were really great ... they were just normal down to earth, happy people," said Galina Kvitnisky.

"I would say we spent a lot of time together ..." said Paul.

"They loved the sites. I remember they were talking a lot of pictures. Like, everywhere they went they were, like, always with the camera," Galina recalled.

And back on the ship, they socialized into the early morning hours.

"I think he enjoyed himself a lot, you know -- having a drink or two," said Paul.

"He didn't have a good tolerance for alcohol. He would have like four beers ... and you could see that he was pretty much drunk," Galina added.

Around midnight on July 5, 2005, the two couples headed for the casino. It would be the last night of George's life.

Casino security cameras also captured George at the casino. This is the last known image of George from that night.

Jennifer, who can be seen on casino security cameras, spent much of her time at the blackjack table. George, also captured on tape, headed for his usual spot at the craps table.

"And he was just having fun at the table. You could see that right away," said Paul.

George was soon joined at the table by another shipboard acquaintance -- California college student Josh Askin. "48 Hours" spoke to Askin in 2006.

"Hung out with them a little bit, nothing too in depth. ... Jennifer played a little blackjack. I played a little craps with George," Askin said. "There were a lot of other people around as well, who'd been on the cruise so far."

Also making the rounds that night were a group of Russian-American students -- cousins Zachary and Greg Rozenberg, and a friend, Rusty Kofman. Askin had met them on the cruise as well.

"Everyone who was 18 pretty much congregated in the casino," Askin explained. "Everyone was in high spirits."

And George and Jennifer were high rolling. At one point, George, who can be seen at the casino with Askin, went back to his own cabin to fetch extra cash for Jennifer.

"I think George looked prosperous," Bree commented. "Additionally, he had a really nice watch ... which was a Breitling watch, was worth a bit of money."

And Bree wonders if someone on the ship was getting the wrong idea about her brother.

"People may have made assumptions that George was a millionaire, even though he wasn't," she said.

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.

"And I just remember telling him, 'It's time to call it a night,'" he said.

Paul wishes his new friend had listened. Two hours later, George Smith would be gone.

A STARTLING DISCOVERY

As the sun rose over Kusadasi, Turkey, on July 5, 2005, 16-year-old Emilie Rausch stepped onto her balcony to snap some photos.

"It was around 7:30 in the morning ... and I noticed something on the overhang of the lifeboats..." she said.

Instead of a spectacular sunrise, Rausch's camera captured a huge bloodstain on the lifeboat canopy.

"I just assumed someone had died there," Rausch said at the time.

Security quickly determined the occupants of room 9062 were unaccounted for and snapped pictures of the room. Then they began paging the Smiths.

"I had a stateroom attendant outside my room and I said, 'You know, you should probably go into that guy's room and wake him up, because he's not gonna hear that page,'" Askin said. "'Because he was probably still sleeping.'"

In another cabin, Paul and Galina Kvitnisky were startled by a visit from ship personnel.

"And that's when the guy came in, and he said, 'Have you seen George?' And I'm like, 'What do you mean have I seen George?'" said Paul.

"And we said, 'What's going on?' And he kinda told us he's missing. We were like, 'Missing!?'" said Galina.

By now, they had been summoned to Guest Relations; Jennifer was also there. She had been located at the ship's spa getting a scheduled massage. The crew soon delivered the crushing news: George was presumed overboard.

"She just kept saying that she doesn't remember what happened," Galina said. "'I can't remember. I can't understand. I don't remember.'"

Jennifer said she had almost no memory after leaving the casino.

Jennifer said she had almost no memory after leaving the casino and that when she had awakened in the cabin, George wasn't there. She had just assumed George had stayed with Paul and Galina.

"She's shocked and panicked and she doesn't understand what's going on," Galina explained. "She just kept sayin' that, 'I wanna call my dad. I wanna call my dad.'"

Half a world away in Connecticut, the Smiths were trying to absorb the shock from the call from Jennifer's dad.

"It's disbelief," said Maureen Smith.

"You know, we just couldn't believe it," said her husband, George. "He's gotta be on the boat."

But the Smiths had not yet been told about that bloodstain or the investigation now under way on the Brilliance of the Seas. Turkish police had boarded the ship; Royal Caribbean documented the forensic investigation.

And in the ship's lobby, they rounded up Josh Askin and the group of Russian-Americans -- Rusty Kofman and Zach and Greg Rozenberg. They had all partied with George the night before.

"I mean, I just didn't know what was going on. I knew I did nothing wrong and that's all that mattered to me," said Askin.

Video secretly recorded by Askin's father shows the police interview. Rusty Kofman appears to be shocked when he hears about the blood:

Rusty Kofman [Turkish police interview]: Blood? [Puts his hand to his mouth] No! That's crazy.

The video only captures snippets of what has emerged over the years as a very complex story -- a story and a timeline that would be dissected and debated for years. The men's story has never changed. As a group they tell Turkish police, "After we dropped him off, the second time, we closed the door, we never saw him again ... Never saw him again."

The young men's account begins at 2:30 a.m., after the casino closed. It was on an elevator to the disco when Askin says he noticed some odd behavior from casino manager Lloyd Botha.

"There was maybe a time when Lloyd, the casino manager put his arm around Jennifer and we thought a little awkward moment. It was just a little awkward for a second," said Askin.

At the disco, the party was in full swing and the guys smuggled in a bottle of potent liquor called absinthe.

"They were having shots of absinthe. They were having shots," said Albert Dayan, an attorney who represents Rusty Kofman.

"48 Hours" spoke to Dayan in 2006. He says there was tension between George and Jennifer at the disco.

"Rusty does not hear what is being said but he does observe Jennifer kick George in his groin," he explained.

Jennifer storms out of the disco and, according to Zach Rozenberg, Rusty Kofman and Josh Askin, the casino manager followed after her. Askin would emphatically make this point when questioned by Turkish police later:

Josh Askin [Turkish police interview] : She has no idea what happened! She was with another man ... The casino manager Lloyd. You need to get him in here.

The men claim they didn't know where Lloyd and Jennifer went, but by 3:30 a.m., the disco was closing and George was in bad shape.

"George was kind of slumped over in a chair ... I asked my buddies, ' Will you help me take him home real quick?'" Askin told "48 Hours."

"When they're walking to his cabin ... they are literally carrying George," said Dayan.

At 3:52 a.m., the guys enter the Smith cabin. The ship's key entry log records the time, but Jennifer is not there.

Turkish official on interview video : Did you see her? Guys : No ... she wasn't in the room. She wasn't in the room.

"George all of a sudden expresses a wish to go search for his wife ... at this time the boys are having a loud discussion, debate about whether they should assist George," Dayan explained.

The group heads out again and, after a brief search of the ship's solarium, they return George to his cabin at 4:01 a.m.

"I went to the restroom right when I went in ... I probably saw him for like a minute ... 30 seconds," said Askin.

"And they actually lay - George -- on his bed. Take off his shoes ... and he displays a tremendous gratitude towards these young men. In fact he hugs and kisses one or two of these young men," said Dayan.

As a group, the men told Turkish police, "And that was the end of it. ... We were all together ... But just remember not at one point or at no time did he ever seem angry or anything at all."

But shortly after 4:00 a.m, passenger Clete Hyman, a vacationing deputy police chief, hears a disturbance next door.

"My wife and I were awakened by yelling coming from the Smith cabin. This yelling sounded what I would liken to a drinking game," he said.

A few minutes later ...

"Suddenly though, there was an argument out on the Smith balcony. This argument appeared to be between three, maybe four individuals," said Hyman.

But Rusty Kofman's lawyer insists that the men never went out on the balcony.

"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. "I looked out and saw three male individuals walking away from the room."

Three males walking away? Then where was the fourth man? Dayan insists all four men left together.

"Rusty is a pretty wide -- type of a -- a young man," Dayan pointed out. "I believe that the -- witness just failed to observe the fourth one."

What Clete Hyman hears next would become the subject of endless speculation: was George alone in the room?

"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.

Greg and Pat Lawyer, in the cabin on the other side of the Smiths, hear something similar.

"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."

"...after about two minutes of total silence, however, there was a large, what I would call a horrific thud," said Hyman.

That thud is believed to be the sound of George Smith hitting the metal canopy around 4:30 a.m. About that same time, Jennifer is found passed out in a hallway. As for the men, they say they were all back in their cabin ordering a lion's share of room service.

"Oh, they were definitely in their own cabin. In Zach's and -- Rusty's cabin ordering food at that time," said Dayan.

But as it would turn out, the young men's alibi would be called into question.

ACCIDENT OR FOUL PLAY?

As the details surrounding George Smith's disappearance emerged, so had speculation about his bride, Jennifer.

The widow went on "Oprah" to defend herself:

"Not only to lose your memory but to have nobody believe you," Jennifer Hagel Smith told Oprah Winfrey. "I don't know what happened."

Jennifer wasn't the only one in the spotlight. There were questions in the national media about the young men and about George's disappearance - was it an accident or was George pushed overboard?

The FBI would begin an investigation that would span 9 years and remains open to this day. At the time, the ship's captain described it as a likely accident -- theorizing that an intoxicated George sat on the railing and simply fell off.

"I think that's outrageous. I think that's disgusting," said Bree Smith.

The Smiths never bought the accident theory.

"The blood is compelling evidence," Bree said. "There was blood in the room."

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.

"In addition to the blood, there were sounds of -- a fight, a struggle inside my brother's room," said Bree Smith.

The Smiths hoped that getting access to Royal Caribbean's investigative case files would provide some answers and brought in attorney Mike Jones to help them.

"What it's not about is an accident, and what it's not about is a suicide," Jones told "48 Hours". "It's about a murder."

Jones immediately got to work, setting his sights on the ship's documents and the four men last seen with George.

"I took Josh Askin's deposition first," he explained.

Mike Jones : Do you if George Smith was murdered? Josh Askin : Invoke my Fifth Amendment right. Mike Jones : Do you know who killed George Smith? Josh Askin : Invoke my Fifth Amendment right.

"That's a yes or no answer," Jones commented.

Josh Askin took the Fifth on everything:

Mike Jones : In late June of 2005 did you go on a Royal Caribbean cruise with your family? Josh Askin : I evoke [sic] my Fifth Amendment right.

"I had him take the Fifth as to his date of birth, his name," said attorney Keith Greer, who represents Askin. "And so I told him, 'The only way we're gonna do this, Josh, is if every single question you're asked, you plead the Fifth.'"

Greer says that Askin has always been cooperative, speaking freely to everyone, but there came a point when he had to shut him down. The feds were getting aggressive.

"And they told us that if Josh ever says anything that is different than what he said before the grand jury, anything, they will fly him back to Connecticut on perjury charges," Greer explained. "I couldn't have that happen."

Attorney Albert Dayan says Rusty Kofman got the same treatment and has stopped cooperating with the FBI.

"The more he wanted to speak with them, the more he wanted to tell them what happened, the more they accused him of foul play," he said.

During his deposition, Rusty Kofman didn't plead the Fifth, but his memory on a lot of things seemed a bit rusty:

Mike Jones : And when you say "we put him to bed" ... who put him to bed? Rusty Kofman : I don't have a recollection of that right now. Mike Jones : Josh said that he actually used the bathroom at that point, do you remember that? Rusty Kofman : I don't have a recollection of that.

Zachary Rozenberg also invoked his right against self incrimination.

Mike Jones : Was there a commotion in the room? Zach Rozenberg : I'd like to invoke my Fifth Amendment right ...

The only one who appeared forthcoming was Greg Rozenberg. In 2010, Mike Jones found him in a Florida prison:

Mike Jones : And why are you here in prison? Greg Rozenberg : Trafficking

Greg was serving three years for trafficking oxycodone, he says, to support his expensive taste:

Greg Rozenberg : I'm fanatic with clothes, jewelry, watches that's why I'm in here man. Mike Jones : But murder is a different deal. Greg Rozenberg : Murder is a different deal man. I don't have it in my heart to kill nobody man. Mike Jones : Did you have anything to do with George's death? Greg Rozenberg : No. Never did, never would, never thought about it, no.

Greg brought up that room service party:

Mike Jones : What did you eat? Greg Rozenberg : Tuna fish sandwiches, I know that. We had like tuna fish sandwiches and I think cheeseburgers ... I know we had some of that fast food type. We were just infatuated with the fact that we could order anything we wanted.

"You know, they ordered so much food, and they couldn't have killed George because they were in the room eating the room service," Jones told "48 Hours". "I mean, it's a nice story, but it doesn't work."

In 2010, Mike Jones finally got his hands on those Royal Caribbean internal documents.

"The room service party is pretty much blown by the information we got from Royal Caribbean. I mean that's a big fact," he said.

The ship's records show that although several short calls were made from Zach and Rusty's cabin to room service after 4:13 a.m., there is no record of any order of any kind.

"The handwritten records show that the room service was never delivered," said Jones.

"Was it human error they didn't write it down?" Keith Greer asked.

Greer insists the room service party did take place, but it was never really an alibi to begin with since it would have been delivered after George went missing.

"The food service itself doesn't prove that they were in a certain place at the time George went over 'cause George goes over about 4:20 in the morning. So at that point in time really the only alibi they have is each other," he explained.

If the ship's records raise some questions about where the men say they were that night, they also cast doubt as to where they implied Jennifer was -- remember the casino manager the guys say she left with at the disco?

"She was with another man ... the casino manager Lloyd," Josh Askin had said.

"And that -- that didn't happen. That just didn't happen," said Jones.

Other witnesses say Lloyd did not leave with Jennifer and key records show that he entered his girlfriend's cabin at 3:25 a.m., while the Smiths were still in the disco.

"And he had gone to his girlfriend's room. And she was able to corroborate that," Jones said. "So, I think Lloyd became the victim of this attempt by the Russians and by Josh Askin to deflect attention from themselves."

As for Jennifer, several witnesses saw an unsteady Jennifer leave the disco alone at 3:30 a.m.

"There are some witnesses from the cruise ship -- cruise ship employees that actually escorted her onto the elevator and tried to help her get off the elevator on her floor before she ended up going the wrong way on -- on deck nine," said Jones.

An hour later, Jennifer was found passed out in that hallway around the time George went overboard. Lloyd Botha and Jennifer both passed FBI polygraphs.

"The people that the Russians and Josh were pointing fingers at both came through the -- very cleanly on their polygraphs," said Jones.

Still on the FBI's radar are the four men. And the discovery of a homemade videotape only raises more suspicion.

"It's ridiculously provocative," Jones said of the videotape.

PROVOCATIVE VIDEOTAPE

For the last few years, Mike Jones has been trying to reignite a case he believes has gone cold in the Connecticut FBI office.

"...Unfortunately, obviously, after eight years, this has become, pretty much, a cold case," he said. "I mean, if you talk to the FBI, they'll say it's active and open, but I don't really believe that."

And Jones also doesn't believe the account of the four young men last seen with George Smith:

Mike Jones : When you left George in his bed, all you guys left, no one stayed behind? Greg Rozenberg : Nobody stayed behind, we all left.

"There's a lotta evidence to suggest that that was not as simple as -- as the Russian men and as Josh have said," Jones said. "You look at the behavior of these young men. ...they're not good boys or good Samaritans."

Royal Caribbean documents show complaints were made against some of the men for smoking, sneaking liquor and verbally abusing ship employees.

"They were dropping F-bombs on the room service people," said Jones.

And two days after George Smith went overboard, an 18-year-old passenger came forward with a major allegation of sexual assault.

"She stated that she was in one of their rooms, one of the Russians' rooms, and that there was group sex with her with some of the Russians," said Jones.

In the woman's statement, she says she was "completely intoxicated" and in between "blackouts", remembers having non-consensual sex with Greg Rozenberg, Rusty Kofman and Jeffrey Rozenberg -- Zach Rozenberg's younger brother.

"And they actually videotaped the group sex," Jones said. "And the fact that they videotaped themselves doing this, I mean, who does that?"

Rusty Kofman's lawyer says the sex was consensual.

"That whole escapade was non-criminal in nature. The tape itself revealed that," said Albert Dayan.

Josh Askin's lawyer, Keith Greer, says Josh did not have sex with the young woman -- but he was there.

"Josh walks into the room and there's one of the Russian boys having sex on the bed with the girl and another one of the boys filming it. And Josh was concerned," Greer explained. "It became clear to him very quickly that the boys weren't ... taking advantage of her. The girl was taking advantage of the boys."

Before he left CBS News to rejoin the New York City Police Department, John Miller investigated the case for "48 Hours."

"People [who] have seen that videotape have told me that the person holding the camera is doing kind of a narration and asking her questions and she's responding to them. But as this continues she's crying," Miller pointed out to Greer.

"I haven't heard anything about any crying from anyone," Greer replied.

Royal Caribbean had had enough and rounded up all of the young men and their families for a tense meeting with the ship's lawyer.

Josh Askin's father was again recording:

Lawyer : The FBI has asked us to detain your sons ... we're gonna have to ask you to have your sons go to their cabin and they're gonna have to remain there.

The group angrily denied the allegations.

The four men and their families were then removed from the ship in Naples, where Italian police looked into the rape allegation and washed their hands of it saying they had no jurisdiction. No one has ever been charged in the sexual incident and lawyers for the men believe the tape saved them.

"But for that tape, they could've been charged for something that they did not commit," said Dayan.

But that tape may come back to haunt them. The tape -- in the FBI's possession -- contained something else: a lunch meeting filmed by the Russian-Americans just hours after George went overboard. Josh Askin was not present.

"They pass a video camera around filming themselves commenting about George's death in a very callous way," Jones explained. "And they're laughing and joking very callously about him being wealthy ... And certainly the way they were talking, they either knew or they had a pretty good sense of what had happened."

A source close to the investigation has told CBS News that on the tape, one of the men -- Rusty Kofman -- refers to George going "parachute riding" off his balcony. It is not an admission, but it's at the very least provocative -- and there's more.

"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."

Jones says that young man was Greg Rozenberg.

"And I just don't understand how the FBI could have had this tape in their possession and still we sit here," George's sister, Bree said. "Get the guys in there. Question them!"

Lawyers for Zach Rozenberg and Rusty Kofman declined to comment on the video. In the spring of 2013, John Miller tried to see if Kofman himself could provide any more answers.

"There's a statement made on videotape where you say George went parachute riding off his balcony," Miller confronted Kofman.

"I have no comment. Please contact my lawyer and then we can arrange a time to speak," he replied.

Greg Rozenberg's lawyer says Greg didn't know George was dead at that point and that his client was just making a stupid comment.

"I don't think they're kidding around. It's just not something you would just come out and say you're kidding around," George Smith III said. "Because if you didn't do it, why would you be saying it?"

But if George was murdered, the question has always been why? Mike Jones believes there is finally enough evidence to piece it all together.

"The first thing you look at is motive, OK," Jones said. "George and Jennifer dressed well. George had a very expensive Breitling watch. They, sort of, flashed the money at the -- in the casino."

What's more, witnesses heard George and Jennifer saying they had thousands of dollars in wedding money in their cabin.

"And this got around because there were other passengers not within the circle of the Russians and Josh who heard the rumors about the money in the cabin. We don't believe it was true, but perception is everything," said Jones.

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.

"The theory would be that they were arguing about whether or not one of them or -- or two of them should stay behind and see if they could find the money and take the watch, because George was in no position to argue or to put up a fight," Jones explained.

That arguing, Jones believes, is what Clete Hyman heard on the balcony. Jones also believes his theory fits with what the witness saw... just three men leaving.

"And one of them stays behind, starts to rifle through the drawers and the cabinets," he said.

Jones has a possible explanation for that blood stain.

"The blood is on the sheets ... the blood is in two sorta centimeter-long splashes. And almost looks like if you were taking off a watch -- and you pinched your skin ... it would be compatible with the -- the blood splatter that was on the bed," he explained. "While they're doin' that, George wakes up and says, 'What are you doin'?' A fight ensues which is consistent with the noises that people on both sides of the cabin heard. And George goes overboard. Other people hear the loud thud."

Josh Askin's lawyer, Keith Greer, argues that it's all nothing more than speculation.

"Even Clete Hyman ... and he even said that he did not hear the sounds that you would expect if there was a fight. You know, 'you dirty so and so,' the - the -- the smacking, the -- the kicking and stumbling and yelling. The two guys goin' at each other in -- in a fistfight. I just don't think it makes sense," said Greer.

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.

"I don't know why anybody's missin' the theme here. 'Cause there's one common element ... and it's too much alcohol!" he said. "And we can go and, you know, blame it on murder and - and -- and blame it on aggressive sexual behavior here. You know what? It's just everybody drinkin' too much and stupid stuff happening. That fits."

But does it fit with what Josh Askin was heard saying on an elevator?

NEW HOPE IN THE CASE

Mike Jones is a persistent man--and today his persistence may finally pay off.

Jones is meeting with the FBI in New York -- hoping to convince them to take over the George Smith investigation.

"There's a lot riding on today's meeting," Jones explained. "The New York office just makes sense. It's a bigger office, they have more - capabilities. ... They are more experienced with big cases."

And two of the men in question live in New York: Zach Rozenberg and Rusty Kofman, who is now a practicing attorney. As Jones sees it, a courthouse is exactly where these men belong.

"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.

And while Jones waits for an answer from the FBI in New York, the Smiths maintain the key to solving the case lies in California.

"Our theory is that Josh Askin knows what happened," Mike Jones said. "But we don't believe that Josh was involved in the actual, you know, tossing of George overboard."

To support his theory, Jones points to an intriguing clue uncovered by Royal Caribbean: a ship employee overheard Josh Askin speaking to a friend on an elevator.

"He said, 'I -- I know more than they think I know. Those [expletive] almost got me arrested in Turkey,'" said Jones.

Keith Greer argues the comments were taken out of context and Josh has nothing to hide.

"Do you think that Josh Askin has told you everything he knows?" Miller asked Greer.

"Absolutely, no doubt," he replied.

But Greer admits the FBI told Askin he failed a polygraph. Greer questions the test and the result.

"I think it's another rubber-hose ploy, you know, where just to freak Josh out and upset him more," Greer told Miller. "I think it was just the psychological war that they were waging on him and his family. ... Or they didn't take the time to do it right, one or the other."

Sources tell CBS News Rusty Kofman also was tested, and he too failed.

As for Greg Rozenberg, he was administered a private polygraph test:

Greg Rozenberg deposition: I took a polygraph but it was inconclusive because I'm ADHD as you can tell I like to move a lot. It was inconclusive ... ain't no lies that I need to tell.

According to Phil Houston, a former CIA case officer who for more than two decades specialized in detecting deception, "Generally it's much easier to tell the actual lie on your own."

"48 Hours" decided to bring in Houston to take a closer look at those depositions.

"Is there anybody of the group that particularly jumps out?" Miller asked.

"Greg stands out -- above and beyond everyone. There was just a ton of deceptive behaviors," said Houston.

In Houston's opinion, it's not what Greg Rozenberg says that seems deceptive; it's often what he doesn't say.

"What we should hear and see his focus on, 'I didn't do it. It wasn't me. You got the wrong guy.' But 'we' -- instead, 'we don't.' Where we hear his focus so many times are reasons why he wouldn't do this," he explained.

Greg Rozenberg : I in no way shape or form would ever do anything like that to an individual ...that's not me.

And it appears some questions are more difficult for Greg than others:

Mike Jones : Did they -- now did they find anything in either room that that was connected to George's disappearance

"He hesitates. He's clearly thinking. The question has thrown him for a loop. It's almost, 'What could they have found that -- that would've connected someone to the disappearance?" Houston said of Greg's reaction.

Greg Rozenberg : [Pause] No. Mike Jones : OK ...

Greg Rozenberg : No. No, of course not.

"And then it's like, as he thinks through it, he realizes, 'I've gotta answer the question.' So he goes, 'Well, no. N - no,'" said Houston.

"So he's thinking about something that is not gonna come out in his answer," Miller noted.

"That's correct. That's correct, something he's not sharing."

But Greg Rozenberg doesn't hold back on the one thing the Smiths would agree with. He says George's death was no accident:

Greg Rozenberg : George Allen Smith did not disappear, or kill himself or hurt himself, or slip and fall off the boat at 6'4" or however tall he is and just dive off ... I know that didn't happen. So uh ... Some, some, something crazy went down that night. And I hope one day that they find out the truth.

In the years following George's death, Jennifer has remarried and tried to move on. But for the Smiths, it's not so easy. This week, the family announced that they are offering a reward -- $100, 000 -- for information that leads directly to the arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible.

"We're hoping with this $100,000 reward ... this might just be the thing that we need to get the arrest and convictions. And I think with that reward that just may be the final piece of the puzzle that may finally end the injustice that's gone on for 9 years," Bree Smith told "48 Hours".

The FBI is giving the family new hope. The New York field office is now offering assistance and a team of new agents in the Connecticut office has been assigned to the case.

"I've got a lot of confidence in the new team ... and they're working very hard on this," Maureen Smith said. "They're very determined and they don't like what they see. ...So we're very fortunate to have them working for our family now."

Until the day the case is solved, the Smiths vow to not let George's memory die on that ship.

"We'll get justice," said George Smith III.

"We'll get justice," Maureen Smith agreed. "Somehow we'll get justice for George. Somebody will talk. And shame on them that don't. Shame on the people that have put us through this eight years of hell."

REWARD OFFERED

The Smith family is offering a $100,000 rewar d for information leading "to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible" for their son going missing from his honeymoon cruise.

Anyone with information is asked to call 1-844-651-1936 or send an email to [email protected]

Correspondent, "48 Hours," "CBS Evening News"

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Disappearance of George Smith
George Allen Smith IV (born October 3, 1978) was an American man who disappeared overboard from the Royal Caribbean International cruise ship MS Brilliance of the Seas in July 2005 under suspicious circumstances. His story has been reported on by Dateline NBC and 48 Hours and was depicted in a television film called Deadly Honeymoon, which still airs on Lifetime.
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