Woman pleads guilty in drowning death of fiance
Angelika Graswald faces 1 to 4 years in jail for tampering with husband-to-be Vincent Viafore's kayak during Hudson River trip
A woman accused of intentionally drowning her fiance in the Hudson River by tampering with his kayak in a plot to collect on his life insurance has dodged murder and manslaughter raps — pleading guilty Monday to the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide.
Angelika Graswald, 37, now faces as little as 1 1/3 to 4 years behind bars. But the permanent US resident will face deportation back to her native Latvia, prosecutors said.
Graswald admitted that she pulled the plug from husband-to-be Vincent Viafore’s boat before watching him drown as his kayak capsized during a boating trip in April 2015, prosecutors said Monday.
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She also admitted she knew that the ring for his paddle was missing, and that he was not wearing a life vest or a wet suit despite heading into dangerously cold and rough conditions.
Her lawyer had previously argued Viafore capsized because he’d been drinking, and the “pinkie-sized” drain plug — which was found in Graswald’s car — made no difference.
But Graswald told police, “I wanted him dead,” in an interrogation, during which she also bizarrely performed yoga poses.
She told cops Viafore — who would have been her third husband — had pressed her for “sexual stuff” she wasn’t ready for.
Graswald has been in custody awaiting trail. Her sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 1.
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