A HUSBAND has been charged with murder after allegedly trying to throw his wife off a cruise ship causing her to hit balconies below, reports claim.

Eric Newman, 53, is accused of flinging Tamara Tucker, 50, from the 14th deck of the Carnival Elation vessel which set sail from Jacksonville, Florida, in January.

Cops initially thought Tucker fell accidentally after she was found dead with severe head injuries on the 12th floor on January 19.

They are now looking at the possibility Newman either pushed her or was trying to dispose of her body, the Kansas City Star reports.

Officers said Newman, described in an obituary as her "longtime love", did not realise the balconies below stuck out a little further than theirs.

There were reports of "significant amounts of blood" around Tucker's body, which was found two days after her 50th birthday.

Court records did not specify the cause of death but did note she "fell from her balcony to several decks below".

They were one day into a four-day cruise when Tucker was found dead, according to the US Department of Justice.

At the time, a Royal Bahamas Police Force spokesperson told the Miami Herald a US man was cooperating with authorities.

But by February, the investigation had been turned over to the FBI, the Freeport News reported.

An obituary stated Tucker had one son and had worked as a professor of social work at Park University for 10 years.

She had also served as a program director of the Child Abuse Prevention Association in Kansas City.

Newman made his first court appearance on Thursday and is due back