Angelika Graswald (36) killed her fiance Vincent Viafore (46) by sabotaging his kayak and leaving him to drown

[Olivia]

Wow.

This case is so weird.

I agree. I did totally not expect that.

The woman accused of fatally sabotaging her fianc?'s kayak on the Hudson River has pleaded guilty in the case.

Angelika Graswald entered a guilty plea to criminally negligent homicide, a felony that could see her imprisoned for 1 1/3 to four years, according to her defense attorney. The time that she has been incarcerated in the case would count toward the sentence she serves, the Orange County District Attorney's Office said.

Graswald is accused of removing a drain plug from Vincent Viafore's kayak in April 2015 and pushing a floating paddle away from him after his kayak capsized 50 miles north of New York City. Graswald was charged with murder, to which she previously pleaded not guilty.

Viafore's body was found floating a month later about a mile downriver. Viafore, 46, had not been wearing a life jacket, authorities said.

A Cornwall police officer testified last summer that Graswald appeared calm and emotionless when she was rescued.

Graswald told another investigator she had pulled a plug on Viafore's kayak and manipulated the ring on his paddle, state police senior investigator Aniello Moscato testified.

Neither prosecutors nor the defense were able to previously comment due to a gag order. Prosecutors said after her arrest that Graswald had been hoping to collect $250,000 in life insurance.

The defense had maintained Viafore's death was accidental, and Graswald previously denied murder and manslaughter charges.


Source: Woman Accused of Killing Kayaking Fiance on Hudson River Pleads Guilty | NBC New York http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local...#ixzz4nnPvdAd4

[highhopes]

Perhaps her attorney advised she pleads guilty. Considering time served she may be released very soon where as if found guilty she could get life. I don't know. The whole thing makes no sense and to me seems like an accident. I believe she wasn't happy in their relationship due to his sexual demands and probably didn't care much that he died as she said. But that isn't murder or manslaughter.

[bowieluva]

Perhaps her attorney advised she pleads guilty. Considering time served she may be released very soon where as if found guilty she could get life. I don't know. The whole thing makes no sense and to me seems like an accident. I believe she wasn't happy in their relationship due to his sexual demands and probably didn't care much that he died as she said. But that isn't murder or manslaughter.

Yeah this is all I could think of, too. I think they probably said her 'confession' was too damning. I feel like this woman was largely convicted for having Eastern European emotions which really bothers me. I can't deal with cases where the most compelling evidence is 'this woman didn't act like an emotionally weak baby which we all know is how women are supposed to act!'

[daisylane]

Yeah this is all I could think of, too. I think they probably said her 'confession' was too damning. I feel like this woman was largely convicted for having Eastern European emotions which really bothers me. I can't deal with cases where the most compelling evidence is 'this woman didn't act like an emotionally weak baby which we all know is how women are supposed to act!'

Agreed. I still think it was all a shitty accident.

[Lily Rivers]

To give her a plea bargain w a max sentence of 4 yrs, they must not have had much evidence to go to trial with.

[DaniNYC212]

Perhaps her attorney advised she pleads guilty. Considering time served she may be released very soon where as if found guilty she could get life. I don't know. The whole thing makes no sense and to me seems like an accident. I believe she wasn't happy in their relationship due to his sexual demands and probably didn't care much that he died as she said. But that isn't murder or manslaughter.

Agreed. This case really bothers me. She didn't act like the grieving widow so she's a murderer? Maybe she hated the guy. Doesn't make her a murderer. There was no proof she did anything. This was based solely on the cops badgering her for a confession. If I was on a jury, I would never convict her based on what they had. She must have just decided this was the safest alternative.

[SalVal]

Since this thread had an update I was going to mention that they used this case as a story line on the soap General Hospital. They changed it a bit, but I recognized it right away. They changed it that the character got away with it and is a black widow character.

[SalVal]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...ng-prison.html

Woman, 37, convicted of killing her fiance after she sabotaged his kayak is leaving prison just SIX WEEKS after sentencing

Angelika Graswald, convicted in 2015 death of Vincent Viafore, on Thursday will walk out of Bedford Hills Correctional Facility
She pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide in July and was sentenced on November 8 to 16 months to four years in prison
Graswald has been in jail since her April 2015 arrest, which counted toward her time served
Graswald, who is a US permanent resident, could face deportation to her native Latvia after her 16-month parole

[Boston Babe 73]

Apparently she now admits that she did it on purpose:

Latvia-born Angelika Graswald, 37, pulled the drain plug from Vincent Viafore's boat, which led to him drowning in the Hudson River in New York in April 2015.

Investigators became suspicious of Graswald after she was seen posting videos on social media of her doing cartwheels, and even a picture of herself in a kayak with the comment: 'If only I could have paddled harder, dammit.'

Graswald, who was released from prison just six weeks after she was convicted, admitted in a 11-hour interview with authorities that she grew tired of sexual demands.

Graswald pulled the drain plug from a kayak (pictured) that she was on with Viafore, which led to him drowning in the Hudson River in New York in April 2015

Some of these demands included requests for threesomes, which never happened, but Graswald said would often be fought about.

She also admitted that she felt trapped in the relationship and sometimes wished he was dead, saying: 'I wanted to be free'.

Another motive was the $250,000 that she stood to gain from two insurance policies.
(More at link)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...x-demands.html

[TupeloHoney]

That's all the stuff she said during interrogation back in 2015. I don't know why Daily Mail is presenting it as new info. Maybe the authorities released the interrogation video? Not sure.

[Boston Babe 73]

That's all the stuff she said during interrogation back in 2015. I don't know why Daily Mail is presenting it as new info. Maybe the authorities released the interrogation video? Not sure.

I'm confused, because just a couple of pages back in 2016 people were vehemently defending her saying that she didn't do it. Others were claiming that it was on purpose. Maybe nobody posted it in here?

[TupeloHoney]

I'm confused, because just a couple of pages back in 2016 people were vehemently defending her saying that she didn't do it. Others were claiming that it was on purpose. Maybe nobody posted it in here?

Hazy posted it on 9-12-15, Page 3. (What ever happened to Hazy, I wonder?) I'm too lazy to read the thread again, but I think some folks believe she was coerced into a confession. I, however, do not. I believe she really did take the paddle he was floating on away from him and let him drown, just like she said.

[Boston Babe 73]

Hazy posted it on 9-12-15, Page 3. (What ever happened to Hazy, I wonder?) I'm too lazy to read the thread again, but I think some folks believe she was coerced into a confession. I, however, do not. I believe she really did take the paddle he was floating on away from him and let him drown, just like she said.

That's exactly what I always believed too. I wasn't buying the "she was coerced " story.

[Jp1129]

That's exactly what I always believed too. I wasn't buying the "she was coerced " story.

I completely believe she was coerced...I saw something about this not too long ago...saw the interviews with her and they twisted a lot of what she said and she finally just gave in and went with it...I think she feels some guilt because subconsciously she wanted this, but I think it was an accident

[bermstalker]

This girl put in the claim for his life insurance money. Girrrrrrrl.

https://nypost.com/2018/01/24/kayak-...urance-policy/

[Boston Babe 73]

IMHO she's guilty. I don't buy that she was coerced. I buy it in many cases, but not this one.

[Words Words]

IMHO she's guilty. I don't buy that she was coerced. I buy it in many cases, but not this one.

Same.

[brumby]

Idk, I remember in a previous relationship, where he was such a dick, that I just didn't want to be in the relationship any longer but like alot of people in that situation I doubted my self worth and just kept putting up with it. But then came the day when it appeared he was having a heart attack and I have to say it entered my head not to go all pro-active and just see how it 'pans out'...I get the vibe that that's maybe what's happened here. Doesn't make it right, by any stretch of the word, but that police interrogation doesn't actually have her saying she KILLED him, it just has her admitting that she wouldn't have minded if he wasn't able to rescue himself, and now he's dead, she's ok with it...

[Boston Babe 73]

Idk, I remember in a previous relationship, where he was such a dick, that I just didn't want to be in the relationship any longer but like alot of people in that situation I doubted my self worth and just kept putting up with it. But then came the day when it appeared he was having a heart attack and I have to say it entered my head not to go all pro-active and just see how it 'pans out'...I get the vibe that that's maybe what's happened here. Doesn't make it right, by any stretch of the word, but that police interrogation doesn't actually have her saying she KILLED him, it just has her admitting that she wouldn't have minded if he wasn't able to rescue himself, and now he's dead, she's ok with it...

I saw an interview with her and she was stone cold. Regardless of whether or not you would be okay with someone dying, I'd assume you'd still have some kind of emotion over it.

[blighted star]

I 100% believe it was a false confession after reading a forum I found where experienced kayakers were discussing her case.

I linked their thread pages back but I don't think many people read it.

The model of kayak they were using has a documented complaint history for dangerous capsizing in relatively good conditions but her boyfriend took her out in 4ft waves - & he was the more experienced kayaker. I'm not surprised she feels ambivalent, he almost killed her too

http://www.injusticeanywhereforum.co...p?f=123&t=3294



Edit if anyone wants to read it, maybe start where K1_paddler starts posting

I'm trying to get a post link that'll go straight to it, hope this works ...

http://www.injusticeanywhereforum.co...164886#p164886

[brumby]

I 100% believe it was a false confession after reading a forum I found where experienced kayakers were discussing her case.

I linked their thread pages back but I don't think many people read it.

The model of kayak they were using has a documented complaint history for dangerous capsizing in relatively good conditions but her boyfriend took her out in 4ft waves - & he was the more experienced kayaker. I'm not surprised she feels ambivalent, he almost killed her too

http://www.injusticeanywhereforum.co...p?f=123&t=3294

That link didn't work (for me at least)...

[blighted star]

That's weird? They're going through for me? Try searching "injustice anywhere angelika graswald" then scroll towards the bottom of pg 1 until you find K1_paddler's first post & go from there (unless you feel like reading the lot - if you do though, be warned, there's a really annoying poster through most of the thread)

[blighted star]

I have no probs with this. I still think she was totally screwed over & her conviction is unsound. He was the more experienced kayaker, he chose to use a totally unsuitable kayak in life-threateningly dangerous conditions. Plug or no plug he would've been swamped & his kayak had a known design fault that caused that model to become heavily waterlogged at one end - even in relatively good conditions.

It's sheer luck she didn't drown with him

https://www.newyorkupstate.com/hudso...insurance.html

Upstate NY 'kayak killer' to collect on dead fiance's life insurance
Updated 12:10 AM; Posted 12:11 AM

By Geoff Herbert gherbert@syracuse.com
syracuse.com

An Upstate New York woman dubbed the "kayak killer" will receive some of her dead fiance's life insurance, according to multiple reports.

Angelika Graswald was convicted last year of killing Vincent Viafore, her husband-to-be, by pulling the plug on his kayak during a paddle on the Hudson River in 2015. Graswald, a Latvian national, was sentenced to four years in prison after admitting to criminally negligent homicide in the Poughkeepsie man's death.

The Hudson Valley Post reports prosecutors believed her motive was to collect on Viafore's $491,000 life insurance policy, of which she was entitled to 45 percent. His family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Graswald to stop her from collecting the money.

CBS reports Graswald returned to court on Monday seeking the money from his life insurance policy. Attorneys said she and Viafore's family reached a settlement entitling her to at least a portion of the death benefits, but would not say how much.

"There is a financial settlement, the amount of which is confidential," Graswald's lawyer, Anthony Piscionere, said.

Viafore's mother previously pledged to stop Graswald from getting any of the payout because she "caused his death," but apparently softened her stance.

"It's time to let this family move on," Allan Rappleyea, the attorney for the Viafore family, added.

Graswald admitted she pulled the plug from her fiance's kayak in the Hudson River and watched him drown, allegedly moving his paddle away from him. Fox News reports she then reported him missing; his body was found a month later.

She was released in December 2017, just one month after being sentenced to four years due to nearly three years of time already served behind bars.

Piscionere said she was still entitled to Viafore's death benefits despite pleading guilty to criminally negligent homicide.

"The criminal plea did not disqualify our client from taking these funds. They still had to prove that she recklessly or intentionally committed this murder, and I think that was going to be a very high bar for them to meet," Piscionere told CBS.