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Home / World

Woman killed fiance after 'growing tired of his sex demands'

By Mary Kekatos, Jessica Finn, Ashley Collmnan, Snejana Farberov
Daily Mail·
15 Jan, 2018 08:14 PM3 mins to read

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Woman found guilty for drowing fiance by sabotaging kayak. Source: News 12

A woman who pleaded guilty to killing her fiance by sabotaging his kayak claims she did so because she grew tired of his "sex demands".

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, the Daily Mail reports.

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."

Angelika Graswald stands with her attorneys Jeffrey Chartier, left, and Richard Portale during her sentencing at the Orange County courthouse. Photo / AP
Angelika Graswald stands with her attorneys Jeffrey Chartier, left, and Richard Portale during her sentencing at the Orange County courthouse. Photo / AP

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.

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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 US$250,000 ($342,000) she stood to gain from two insurance policies.

When asked if she felt relieved that he was dead, she answered: "Yes."

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Investigators asked whether she had removed the plug because she wanted Viafore, 46, to die.

"Yes, at some point, yes," she replied.

When asked if she felt relieved that he was dead, she answered: 'Yes.' Photo / Facebook
When asked if she felt relieved that he was dead, she answered: 'Yes.' Photo / Facebook

Graswald pleaded guilty to criminal negligent homicide in the death of her fiance. In exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors dropped the more serious charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter.

On November 8, she was sentenced to between 16 months and four years in prison, but was released after just six weeks because the two-and-a-half years she spent locked up in an Orange County jail after her April 2015 arrest counted towards the sentence.

After her release, Graswald will spend 16 months being supervised in a women's halfway home.

At the end of that, a judge may decide to deport her to her native Latvia, which she left in 2000 after she came to the US as a nanny.

The bride-to-be (pictured) admitted to hastening her fiance's demise by pushing a floating paddle away from him. Photo / Facebook
The bride-to-be (pictured) admitted to hastening her fiance's demise by pushing a floating paddle away from him. Photo / Facebook
Angelika Graswald, 37, who pleaded guilty to killing her fiancé, 46-year-old Vincent Viafore, by sabotaging his kayak claims she did so because she grew tired of his 'sex demands'. Photo / Facebook
Angelika Graswald, 37, who pleaded guilty to killing her fiancé, 46-year-old Vincent Viafore, by sabotaging his kayak claims she did so because she grew tired of his 'sex demands'. Photo / Facebook

The victim's family members previously slammed Graswald's sentence as an injustice.

Graswald and Viafore went kayaking on a choppy Hudson River near Bannerman Island on April 19, 2015.

Prosecutors said Viafore's kayak started sinking after Graswald secretly removed a drain plug.

The bride-to-be admitted hastening her fiance's demise by pushing a floating paddle away from him.

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Graswald was originally charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter, but took a plea deal in July, just weeks before her murder trial was set to start.

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. Photo / News 12 Westchester
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. Photo / News 12 Westchester

Through her lawyer after the sentencing, Graswald said: "I loved Vince very much and miss him terribly.

"I don't believe I was treated fairly. This entire process was incredibly one-sided and unjust."

But the victim's mother, Mary Ann Viafore, said she doesn't believe a word Graswald says.

"Four years for taking someone's life? No way," she told CBS New York in November. "My son was a good man and everybody loved him and we miss him very much. I don't ever want to see her again if I don't have to."

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