Federal judge calls cruise ship stabbings off Alaska’s coast ‘violent’ & ‘unprovoked’

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The public defender for a South African man prosecutors say stabbed multiple people on a cruise ship headed to Juneau early Monday morning said he planned to file a written motion about his client’s mental health during an Anchorage federal court hearing Thursday.

Federal Public Defender Ben Muse appeared on the phone with the suspect, 35-year-old Ntando Sogoni, saying the South African national has no ties to Alaska or the United States. Charging documents say Sogoni was employed on the Norwegian Cruise Lines ship Encore at the time of the stabbing, approximately 16.5 miles from Vancouver Island, off the southwest Canadian coast.

Federal Magistrate Judge Matthew Scoble called the evidence against Sogoni strong, saying the violent attacks appeared to be unprovoked, as he expressed concern for both Sogoni’s mental health and the community’s safety.

According to a criminal complaint, Sogoni was observed by other staff attempting to launch one of the ship’s lifeboats.

That’s when Federal Prosecutor Jack Schmidt described in court that after staff escorted Sogoni to the ship’s medical center to be assessed, Sogoni physically attacked a security guard and male nurse, then stabbed a 75-year-old woman who was also being checked and two security guards with medical scissors.

Schmidt said while the woman was continually stabbed and could have died if the security guards had not stopped and detained Sogoni, none of the three victims stabbing injuries were life-threatening.

Scoble said it would also be hard to know how to prohibit Sogoni from committing other attacks.

During the hearing, Muse gave up Sogoni’s right to require the state to provide evidence indicating guilt when he waived Sogoni’s right to a preliminary hearing.

Schmidt says Sogoni appears to have no criminal history prior to the attack. If convicted, he faces a minimum of 10 years in prison, with three years supervisory release, for felony assault with a dangerous weapon within maritime and territorial jurisdiction.

The possibility that Sogoni could be extradited was not mentioned during the Thursday hearing, but his public defender mentioned he had contacted South African legal representatives.

Sogoni’s next hearing is scheduled for May 23 at 2:30 p.m. at the Anchorage federal courthouse.