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Ex-HAL crewman pleads guilty to attempted murder

Ex-HAL crewman pleads guilty to attempted murder
A former Holland America Line room service attendant faces a maximum sentence of life in prison after confessing to brutally attacking a passenger in anger over a perceived insult to his mother.

Ketut Pujayasa, an Indonesian citizen, told a federal court in Florida the charges of aggravated sexual assault and attempted murder of a Nieuw Amsterdam passenger were true, the Sun-Sentinel reports. He attacked the woman in her cabin in February when the ship was off the coast of Honduras.

She was airlifted to a hospital in Florida and the crewman was fired and turned over to US authorities. He initially entered a 'not guilty' plea.

The Sun-Sentinel said sentencing is set for Dec. 8.