GUILTY NY - Vincent Viafore, 46, Newburgh, 19 April 2015 - #2

[Abcdefgh]

Greetings WebSleuths,
Right on, Angelika pleaded GUILTY!
But I am still confused about something, help me out please?

When I read of the Orange County District Attorney's Statement, it states this important fact:
"The plug, which was missing from Vincent Viafore's kayak, was eventually recovered from the center console of the car Graswald was driving."
>snip

As JerseyGirl notes above, the kayaks were stored inside the apartment.
Heck, doing some WebSleuthing myself, I found awhile back that the drain-age plug can be seen still screwed in where it belonged after Vinny had returned from his last paddling adventure and then stored the kayaks inside the apartment.

Raskal,
the new kitty is even seen lurking under the open stern cargo hatch of Vincent's blue kayak.

Have a look:


Angelika Graswald has said that she unscrewed and removed Vinny's Drain-age plug screw from his kayak so the kitty could play with it, right?

Where was the Raskal, the kitty cat, going to play with Vinny's drain-age plug?
In the car she was driving?
Hmmmm...
RW

Could you be a little more direct with your point?

The drain plug, from start to finish, was a red herring. It had nothing to do with the fact that a guy who probably had a few beers didn't do well kayaking.

I'm honestly not able to figure out what point you are trying to make but I can vaguely guess that you are trying to replay the 'murder conspiracy drain plug' story. Is that correct?

 

[JerseyGirl]

Graswald's sentencing is expected to take place on November 1.

Portale said with the time she’s already been in custody she would likely be out by late December.

http://time.com/4871848/angelika-graswald-vince-viafore/

 

[RWright]

Could you be a little more direct with your point?
<snip>

Allow me to help clue you in, Abcdefgh...

Both kayaks were stored,
all winter long, after their last usage,
in the apartment Vinny rented, behind the couch, ok?
Angelika did not have a job at the time, ya dig?

Angelika supposedly said she unscrewed and removed Vinny's Drain-Age Plug
so that their new kitty cat, Raskal, could play with it.

That pic I posted is from a little over a month before their last kayak paddle.
I have the same model of kayak as Vinny Viafore owned, I know this kayak well,
as I do my other kayaks.

All of the photo's I've seen on Angelika's IG account or Facebook account never show the kitty playing with the Drain-Age Plug, just Raskal playing with other things, of which I have previously written about online.

The last publicly seen photographs of Vincent Viafore's kayak
show his Drain-Age Plug Screwed in, just where he had left it
after his last kayak paddle, comprende?

Somehow,
Vincent Viafore's Drain-Age Plug Screw was found by Detectives/Cops
in the car that Angelika was driving.
How did it get there?

You would think that it would have been found in the apartment, no?
Who is gonna un-screw and pull out a plug from a kayak and take it down the stairs
so that the kitty can play with it, in a car? Pfffft.

IIRC,
and I do,
Angelika, when she was asked questions at the hospital about what had happened out there on The Hudson that evening, well she kinda panicked when a cop/volunteer firefighter picked up her lifejacket that evening. Why? Did she have the Drain-Age Plug Screw with her then, in her lifejacket? Before she placed it in the car she was driving, a memento, so to say?

They had apparently gotten into a fight the evening before.
Vinny had canceled/postponed their wedding, I seem to recall.
My belief is that Angelika somehow/stealthly removed the Drain-Age Plug before or as the return trip from Bannerman Island to Plum Point started/happened. She has stated wanted Vinny dead. And she was glad he was gone, IIRC...

What are your thoughts?
RW

 

[Abcdefgh]

Allow me to help clue you in, Abcdefgh...

Both kayaks were stored,
all winter long, after their last usage,
in the apartment Vinny rented, behind the couch, ok?
Angelika did not have a job at the time, ya dig?

Angelika supposedly said she unscrewed and removed Vinny's Drain-Age Plug
so that their new kitty cat, Raskal, could play with it.

That pic I posted is from a little over a month before their last kayak paddle.
I have the same model of kayak as Vinny Viafore owned, I know this kayak well,
as I do my other kayaks.

All of the photo's I've seen on Angelika's IG account or Facebook account never show the kitty playing with the Drain-Age Plug, just Raskal playing with other things, of which I have previously written about online.

The last publicly seen photographs of Vincent Viafore's kayak
show his Drain-Age Plug Screwed in, just where he had left it
after his last kayak paddle, comprende?

Somehow,
Vincent Viafore's Drain-Age Plug Screw was found by Detectives/Cops
in the car that Angelika was driving.
How did it get there?

You would think that it would have been found in the apartment, no?
Who is gonna un-screw and pull out a plug from a kayak and take it down the stairs
so that the kitty can play with it, in a car? Pfffft.

IIRC,
and I do,
Angelika, when she was asked questions at the hospital about what had happened out there on The Hudson that evening, well she kinda panicked when a cop/volunteer firefighter picked up her lifejacket that evening. Why? Did she have the Drain-Age Plug Screw with her then, in her lifejacket? Before she placed it in the car she was driving, a memento, so to say?

They had apparently gotten into a fight the evening before.
Vinny had canceled/postponed their wedding, I seem to recall.
My belief is that Angelika somehow/stealthly removed the Drain-Age Plug before or as the return trip from Bannerman Island to Plum Point started/happened. She has stated wanted Vinny dead. And she was glad he was gone, IIRC...

What are your thoughts?
RW

You use a lot of words to not really say anything. I can see you are trying to construct an idea, a scenario, but you are building on sand.

As was pointed out elsewhere, he paddled to the island and would have taken his kayak out of the water for a while. If it was full of water on the way over he would have emptied the water and put a makeshift plug in before he put the kayak back in the water and left.

 

[Abcdefgh]

I've looked a little more at this case and there is really only one question remaining...

The confession, the 911 call, the drain plug, nothing seems to be as the police portrayed them. Here are some more links if a person wants to research.

http://highlandscurrent.com/2015/09/18/48-hours-airs-murder-on-the-hudson/

https://www.outsideonline.com/2156301/8-reasons-why-angelika-graswald-wont-be-convicted-murder

http://abcnews.go.com/US/york-kayak...ation-video-reveals-details/story?id=33696436

... so the one question that remains\

What else are the police lying about in this case?

-

edit to add
Not trying to be rude and no offense is meant to any of the police who tried to add a measure of sense to this case, if there were any, but the appearance is, based on the evidence and the totality of the case, that the police targeted that woman because they perceived her as being vulnerable. They saw a soft target, realized they could profit, and pounced. That is what criminals do. Does that make the actions of police who target innocent people in opposition to facts criminal? Should police be held to some standard of accountability when they use their office to prey on those they perceive as vulnerable? Or should police be allowed to do that? Or should there be some line of who police are allowed to do that to? Like they can do it to black people but not attractive women? Or to foreigners but not Americans?

 

[Abcdefgh]

Actually one more question occurs...

In this case, had there not been publicity, the woman probably would have gone to prison. Even with publicity, and a mountain of evidence indicating that they were 'overzealous', the police still refused to own up to their mistake, deciding instead to attack their victim to the extent they could get away with.

So the next question...

Who else have they done this to? Are there a bunch of cases like this in that police department that simply involved a less attractive victim, so nobody challenged the police version? Did the chief of police in that town encourage the prosecution even after the police facts were discredited? Is there something about that victim that caused the people in that police department to go into attack mode? Maybe a high level police officer, or even one of the investigators directly involved, had some misfortune involving a relationship with an Eastern European blond, and saw the opportunity to exact revenge? :thinking:

 

[RWright]

Hiya Abcdefgh,
In any photographs publicly seen of Vincent Viafore out kayaking on the local waters with his girlfriend, Angelika, well his Drain-Age Plug is always seen screwed in, right where it belongs. Have a look:


+



Somehow the Drain-Age Plug was not screwed in on the 1 trip that, apparently, had the roughest water conditions that these 2 kayakers had paddled in, as far as what any publicly viewable photographs show.

We know that Vincent's Drain-Age Plug Screw was found
and recovered by police investigators.

So where was Vinny's Drain-Age Plug Screw found?
In the center console of the car Angelika was driving?
And she stated she removed it so the kitty cat could play with it?!?
Hmmmm.
Right...
RW

 

[RWright]

Greetings Abcdefgh,
I've mentioned that I too have a 'Fusion 124' kayak, the same model of kayak that Vincent Viafore owned and paddled. The same model of kayak that Angelika unscrewed + then removed the Drain-Age Plug from.

As I doubt, from reading your posts here on WebSleuths, that you ever paddled this kayak, in calm, flat, glassy conditions, or in windy choppy, white-capping conditions, well allow me to show you a video I made awhile back that will show a person what Angelika, being Vincent Viafore's paddling partner, his wing-girl, so to say, would have seen as they paddled together, ok?

[video=youtube;I3-MHsMdB4A]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3-MHsMdB4A"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3-MHsMdB4A[/video]

This vid shows what the stern, the rear of the kayak looks like as it deals with water.
You DO NOT want to paddle this model of kayak with-out its Drain-Age Plug screwed in in windy, choppy, bumpy conditions, for the wind driven swells will cause water to constantly wash over the stern, with-out much of it crashing into the cockpit seating area.

Get afew gallons of water in there,
the kayak stern will always be under,
and the kayak will indeed fill up, faster and faster,
and sink under the waters surface.

And you then better swim to shore
or get assistance from your paddling partner,
in Vincent's case, his wing-girl.

So how long did it take Angelika to get her cell phone out
and call 911 for help as Vinny was in 48° water?
20 minutes or so?
Pfffft.
RW

 

[Abcdefgh]

RWright, not sure why you are so intent on defending the mistakes of the police.

1) The guy paddled from his starting place to Bannermans Island, pulled the kayak up above the water line and at that point if it was heavy he would have emptied the water and if he thought it needed the drain plug he would have used a makeshift.

2) As noted many other places, the drainplug is not where most of the water enters in choppy seas. If the water was rough, and if the kayak flooded, most of the water would not have been through the drain plug hole.

3) As for "murder conspiracy", you have to really reach to even imagine that if she took the drain plug out to mess with him that it was a murder conspiracy. It's sort of the equivalent of tying somebody's shoelaces together, but even more mild.

4) The one single thing that would have indicated murder intent would have been an obvious injury to the body such as a bullet in the head, a drug that put him out, etc. Once the police had the body they should have looked all over for a small caliber bullet hole, then paid thousands for every kind of toxicology test for sedatives etc. After that, and based on that, they should have apologized and let her go.

5) The guy was drinking, without a pfd, on a real trashy kayak in cold water. <modsnip>

 

[flourish]

I hadn't read much about this case until the 48 Hours episode which aired last week. They took an identical kayak and did experiments with it which showed more water came into the part where the person sits than comes in through the tiny hole from the missing plug. I mean, that hole was TINY and on top of the craft, not on the bottom where it would surely take in water. The general conclusion was that this was indeed an accident, and that it was a combination of factors which led to his death...a combination of factors which would be difficult, if not impossible, to predict and coordinate to ensure his death--the water conditions and temperature, his blood alcohol level, the timing, whatever.

I know all the intricacies to a case can't be presented thoroughly in a one hour show, however, I was convinced that this was an accident, despite some definite odd behavior of Angelika. I feel the guilty plea/plea agreement was her best option and while she obviously feels some guilt, I just don't see this as a murder.

 

[RWright]

Hiya Abcdefgh,
Defend The Police?
Nah.

I just wonder why some folks who apparently do not kayak paddle in windy, choppy, white capping conditions like I often do, are defending a woman who intentionally stated that she un-screwed + removed her guys Drain-Age Plug, and has said that she wanted Vincent dead, and was glad he was gone.

You do know that Vincent had apparently canceled their wedding plans, right?


+


* * * * *


+

+


"And I'm OK with it"
"I'm OK with that".

What the heck???
Pfffft.

Our opinions on this case obviously differ.
See ya,
RW

 

[Abcdefgh]

... I feel the guilty plea/plea agreement was her best option and while she obviously feels some guilt, I just don't see this as a murder.

I agree that she felt some guilt, the interviewer picked up on that and guided her into taking responsibility for things she did not do. It literally seems that it got to the point where she would have agreed with anything the interviewer said. He could have said "You secretly wanted to harvest his organs to transplant into aliens on another planet, didn't you?" and she would have pondered the question a bit and said "Yes, yes I did. I know it's terrible but it was what I wanted to do. The aliens need organs."

As for "her best option", no doubt she did not have resources to take on the police department. Pleading guilty might get her deported and make her less accessible to followups from journalists so it works out well for the police. What she gets out of the charade is not clear.

Hiya Abcdefgh,
..

I just wonder why some folks who apparently do not kayak paddle in windy, choppy, white capping conditions like I often do, are defending a woman who intentionally stated that she un-screwed + removed her guys Drain-Age Plug, and has said that she wanted Vincent dead, and was glad he was gone.

You do know that Vincent had apparently canceled their wedding plans, right?...
RW

I don't know if that is accurate that he canceled the wedding plans, but based on the quality of your past 'facts', if I were going to bet it would be against that.

I have been on rough water a lot though not in a kayak in a long time, and when there is a problem with flotation, when a pontoon or bulkhead or whatever starts to ride low in the water a person notices it long before they sink. He upended his kayak, a mildly drunk guy probably clowning around, his kayak turns, he screams 'my beer, my beer, I dropped my beer' then he is in the water. She realizes that he will capsize her kayak too as he flounders towards her she may have paddled away a bit and yelled at him to hold onto his kayak or other flotation. He probably had street clothes and a jacket so he could have swum to shore if he were lucky before his muscles locked up. The Hudson river is not wide there, a few hundred yards or so, and he probably was near one shore when he flipped. The clothing would have made it hard to swim but maybe he got shocked by the cold and panicked, just flapped around until he couldn't use his arms to stay afloat because of the cold. The girl saved herself, the correct thing to do in that situation, but not very photogenic. She was in a difficult situation, did what was smart, tried to land on her feet and should have been left alone to recover, not attacked by predatory cops trying to get promotions.

 

[JerseyGirl]

The Dutchess County Surrogate's Court has directed Graswald, along with other involved parties &#8212; Viafore's mother, sister and life insurance companies &#8212; to appear on Sept. 28 and show cause why "an order should not be made determining" that Graswald has forfeited any interest in her fiancé's assets.

Graswald has no plans to fight for Viafore's life insurance proceeds, her criminal defense attorney has said.

Viafore's family is waiting to see if Graswald's attorney will be a "no-show" at the surrogate court appearance. An order to &#8220;show cause&#8221; requires a person or corporation to appear in court and explain why the court should not take a proposed action.

Graswald's sentencing is set for Nov. 1. Her attorney, Portale, said she will be paroled by late December; she's been in Orange County Jail since her April 30, 2015, arrest and the time she's served so far will count toward her time in state prison.

A native of Latvia and a U.S. permanent resident, Graswald may face deportation after her 16 months on parole are up. That decision would be up to a federal judge.

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/...-graswald-court-viafores-insurance/661429001/

 

[JerseyGirl]

Will Angelika Graswald try to collect her fiancé's insurance money?

That decision, according to her lawyer, won't be made until after she's sentenced for criminally negligent homicide in his death.

Graswald had previously been directed to "show cause" at a hearing in Dutchess County Surrogate's Court on Sept. 28 if she wanted to argue that she shouldn't have to forfeit Vincent Viafore's life insurance proceeds.

But her attorney, Richard Portale, requested that any civil surrogate's court proceedings be put on pause until after Graswald is sentenced for her criminal charge. The surrogate's court postponed the appearance and directed the lawyers to appear for a conference a week after her scheduled sentencing.

If she tried to "assert a claim" to the assets before her Nov. 8 sentencing, Freehill might revoke her plea.

It's unclear if Graswald will decide to fight for Viafore's assets after she's sentenced in November.

Pagones, the surrogate's court judge, adjourned the original date to show cause and directed the lawyers to appear for an off-the-record conference on Nov. 15.

http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/...elika-graswald-sentenced-his-death/727477001/

 

[JerseyGirl]

Even in murder cases, the facts and circumstances can make a significant difference in the sentence imposed in a plea deal. Here are three examples from recent, high-profile cases:

Angelika Graswald

The crime: In April 2015, Vincent Viafore drowned as he and fiancee Graswald kayaked on the Hudson River. Graswald failed to appreciate the risks posed by cold, choppy river conditions, the alcohol Viafore had consumed and his lack of a flotation vest. She admitted to having removing a drain plug from his kayak, potentially destabilizing it. When his kayak swamped and he fell into the river, she did not aid him.

The charges and plea: Indicted on murder and manslaughter charges. She ultimately pleaded guilty in August to criminally negligent homicide, in return for a negotiated sentence of one-and-a-third to four years in prison. She is scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 8. Because she has been in custody for more than two years, she'll likely be paroled by the end of December.

Why: Police have an 11-hour video of an interview investigators did with Graswald when they arrested her, but prosecutors concede that she did not explicitly admit to killing Viafore. Photos were discovered showing that the drain plug had been out of Viafore's kayak for some time before his death, creating a problem for the prosecution's theory of the crime.

http://www.recordonline.com/news/20171021/plenty-of-variables-go-into-sentencing-of-criminal

 

[Niner]

Wednesday, November 8th:
*Sentencing @ 10am ET - NY - Vincent Viafore (46) (April 19, 2015) - Angelika Graswald (37), fiance charged with 2nd degree murder & 2nd degree manslaughter - pled guilty to a lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide on July 24, 2017, will be sentenced to one-and-a-third to four years in prison. Could be deported back to Latvia after sentence is served at end of December, 2017.

 

[Niner]

NY Justice Seeker&#8207; @NYJusticeSeeker 13m13 minutes ago

#AngelikaGraswald set to be sentenced TODAY for criminally negligent homicide in #fiancé's #death http://pojonews.co/2AhTJ9i via @pokjournal


Poughkeepsie Journal Retweeted
Nina Schutzman&#8207;Verified account @PoJoNSchutzman 18m18 minutes ago

Vincent Viafore's ex-wife Suzanne Viafore is here with a friend

Viafore's mom, Mary Ann Viafore, and sister, Laura Rice, are here in courtroom now

Orange County District Attorney&#8217;s Office Senior ADA David Byrne is here

Angelika Graswald defense attorney Richard Portale is here

 

[Niner]

Nina Schutzman&#8207;Verified account @PoJoNSchutzman [video=twitter;928271826970480640]https://twitter.com/PoJoNSchutzman/status/928271826970480640[/video]




Angelika Graswald set to be sentenced for criminally negligent homicide in fiancé's death (happening soon)


refresh your page if you can't see the picture!

 

[Niner]

Nina Schutzman&#8207;Verified account @PoJoNSchutzman 2m2 minutes ago

The court room is full, but it seems that most of the people in here are here for a different case. Media packed into jury box

Court officer just told media that Judge Robert Freehill will be handling this animal cruelty case first

The animal abuse case Freehill is taking first is apparently big over here



:waiting:

 

[Niner]