A crew member named Michael Dequito Monegro stabbed his supervisor to death on a container vessel that had set sail for Los Angeles. On Monday, he pleaded guilty to a federal charge, which according to prosecutors, bears a potential life sentence.

Filipino citizen, Monegro, entered a plea to commit violence on an individual vessel that could end up endangering the ship’s safe navigation, per the US Attorney’s Office. Monegro has been scheduled to be sentenced in September 2022.

Monegro had been employed on MSC Ravenna on a two-week run to Los Angeles from Shanghai in September 2020. That was when he accomplished the murder when the container ship was approximately 92 miles off the coast of Southern California, per the plea agreement.

Monegro had reportedly attacked the supervisor within a hallway located outside a locker room, the prosecutors said. The two men kept struggling and eventually, fell. Monegro climbed on his victim, stabbed him, pulled out another knife from the supervisor’s coveralls, and launched an attack with both knives despite other crew members trying to stop him. Some of them even threw a trash can at him.

The ship’s captain, chief engineer, and chief mate arrived and convinced Monegro, 43, to get off the other crew member, the victim, who passed away on the ship, the statement said.

It did not, however, indicate a motive for such an attack or mention the name of the victim. Monegro had been arrested about a week later when the vessel was docked at the Los Angeles port.

Reference: justice.gov

Background:

Crew Member Brutally Stabs And Kills Fellow Seafarer With Knife On Container Ship