Angelika Graswald: Less Than an Ounce

Vincent Viafore, 46, an engineering firm employee from Dutchess County, New York, often kayaked the Hudson River. His fiancée, Angelika Graswald, 35, had come to the United States from Latvia in 2000 as an au pair. On the cold, windy evening of April 19, 2015, the couple set off back from Bannerman’s Island toward their launch spot at Plum Point.

Viafore, who wore no life vest, capsized in rough water. Graswald called 911 and was pulled from the water herself; his body surfaced on May 23. Ten days after the capsize, State Police questioned her for about 11 hours. She told them she had pulled the plug out of his boat and taken his paddle, and that she had wanted him gone. She was charged with second-degree murder, and prosecutors noted she stood to receive about $250,000 in insurance. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide.

Her lawyers argued the confession was coerced, and their tests suggested the small plug, set on top of his boat, let in almost no water. On July 24, 2017, she admitted criminally negligent homicide, the least serious homicide offense in New York law. That November she was sentenced to 16 months to four years, and with credit for time served she was released on December 21, 2017. In August 2018 she reached a confidential settlement with Viafore’s family.