Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Kayak Killing: Angelika Graswald accused of sabotage’s fiancé boat

Episode Date: April 11, 2017

A trial nears for Angelika Graswald, the woman accused of murdering her fiancé by pulling a plug on his kayak during a Hudson river outing. Prosecutors say Graswald wanted to end their troubled relationship and collect on a $250,000 life insurance policy. Defense lawyers say it was an accident and her confession was coerced by cops. Nancy Grace & Alan Duke discuss the case in this episode. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Murder and manslaughter charges in the death of missing kayaker Vincent Villafior. Prosecutors say his fiancee, Angelica Graswold, removed a plug from Villafior's kayak so it would fill with water. Sometimes people remove them because they get in the way. Sometimes they just fall out and it's never been a big deal. Prosecutors say Graswald also tampered with the paddle, moved it away from Villafuore as he struggled to stay afloat

in the 40-degree water. A possible motive? $250,000 in life insurance benefits. This is Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Angelica Graswald pleaded not guilty to murder and manslaughter. Graswald's defense team says Viafore died in a boating accident after the couple had been drinking. The judge has set bail at $3 million cash. Graswald continues to remain behind bars.

She's facing life in prison. He's dead. She's alive. Hmm. Right there. The hair on the back of my neck stands up. These two go out on a romantic kayaking trip, and bam, he ends up dead, and she miraculously survives. Of course, I'm talking about Angelica Griswold. Griswold's trial is delayed yet again, and it is a disgrace, but it is inching toward a jury trial. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories, and this is a case that certainly needs a light shined upon it. I'm talking about Angelica, or as some people say, Angelica Graswald.

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Blue Apron, a better way to cook. Angelica Graswold is accused of murdering her fiancé. The trial was set for Valentine's Day. Then somehow she squirmed out of that. It was set for March 13. She squirmed out of that. It was set for March 13. She squirmed out of it again. Pretty soon, she's just going to die of old age. Her fiancé remains dead in the grave.

She is accused of murdering him by kayak. This is a so-called kayak killer. And I know exactly where this happened. I've been in this exact spot before. There is so much evidence in this case. What happened is she claims they were going out on a kayaking trip. It was in the afternoon of April 19, 2015. It is now nearly the two-year mark and still nothing.

Angelica is out with her fiancé, Via Four, and they're on the Hudson River. And they're going to Bannerman Island. And it's very calm waters. Now, Bannerman Island, it looks like just enough land cropping up out of the Hudson River to have a castle of sorts on it. True, dilapidated, unlivable, but it looks like an old castle there. So this is around four o'clock in the afternoon. On their return trip, and a lot of people boat to it, they walk around on it, they look at it. On the return trip, 7 p.m., she says the seas become turbulent with waves and currents and wind. And I've got to tell you, from Bannerman Island

to the mainland, I could almost throw a softball that far. It's not that far. So how do you get turbulent waves, currents, wind to capsize? Now he's in his own kayak, she's in hers. Kayaking and hypothermia experts have stated it was a dangerous day to be out on 46 degree waters without a life jacket or wetsuit. But they didn't have that far to go. I would think he could swim to shore. Now, they were veteran kayakers. Interesting, the amount of water entering the small hole on top of the kayak could be minimal compared to the amount of water that splashed into his open cockpit. So, to Alan the Duke, Duke, what is the theory, Alan? How is the state going to prove murder? They're going to show that the kayak sank because it took

on water, and they're theorizing, well actually, get right down to it, they're going to say she confessed. I mean, that's the main thing that they've got, that they did this long interrogation with her. And at the end of it, she says, okay, so I'm free. He's dead. I killed him. That's exactly correct. The investigator testified under oath that Angelica Graswell confessed to sabotaging her fiance's kayak because of their sour relationship. She says she wanted to be free. Now, this is a New York State police investigator, and he stated in open court under oath, she confessed that she caused his death, Vincent's death, by sabotaging his kayak. She was upset over their souring relationship. Now, she says she felt trapped, but other sources say he's the one that wanted to end it and poof before it could before

he could end it he dies now isn't that a co-incuding alan fortunately they did have a 250 000 life insurance policy with her as the beneficiary so all is not lost nancy oh so she'll be able to dress in style for her murder trial on that quarter of a million dollars. Quarter of a million dollars still won't get her bail because her bail was set at $3 million. Now, she reportedly says, and this is under oath by Donald DeCarto, I wanted to be free. I wanted him gone. I wanted to be myself. And this is just 10 days after Viofor's kayak capsized and he disappeared under the rough waters. Now, he goes on to say that she says, she didn't just say, I did it. She explained how she did it, that she removed the plug from his kayak.

So he went under. She said she felt fine, that she was over it, and she felt, quote, free. Thoughts? She's now saying that she didn't really want to confess, but she was just telling the investigators what she thought they wanted to hear after a long, grueling session of being interrogated and that it wasn't sincere,

that that was a false confession just to get them to leave her alone. A long, grueling session. It was 11 hours. It was 11 hours. That's not long. That's about a regular work day for most people. 8 to 10 or 11 hours.

Yeah, but to have these investigators. I mean, I'd get to the DA's office at 8, and I wouldn't get to leave until 7. So wah, wah. But that's a job I would not want to have, is to sit there and be being interrogated for 11 straight hours about something, especially if I didn't do it. Well, that's what you get when you murder somebody, Alan.

Okay. Alan, if you didn't do it, why would you say you did it? She wasn't- There are false confessions, Nancy. She wasn't threatened. She wasn't tricked. You don't believe there's ever any false confessions? Are you telling me that?

You think every confession is for real. But 11 hours, I don't know. That is proof that you love. That was just proof that you love to hear yourself talk. Because I already said yes. I think there are some false confessions. Yes, I do. I think sometimes people have been beaten.

They have been threatened. They have been beaten. They have been threatened. They have been tricked. Here, her punishment, her pressure, her intimidation was she sat her booty in an office chair for 11 hours. You know, spare me the false confession BS on this one, please. This is actually what's been delaying this trial is a psychological evaluation. They just did that. Yeah. I mean, they just announced that.

Yes. A psychological evaluation that the defense has just revealed that they're going to introduce and use in court. And now the prosecutors are saying, well, you know, we didn't know this. And so we're going to need some time to examine this aspect of it and prepare for trial. That's what's been delaying it lately. You know what? You know what? I could not be happier because this is what happens when you use a psychiatric defense. You have to say, I did it, but I was under a mental duress or I was emotionally disturbed. I was just flat out

crazy people. So basically, if you go with a psychological or mental defense, you got to say you did it. And then the jury's going to hear how she was perfectly fine with no signs of any mental distress up until she got busted for killing him. Then she suddenly got real distressed, okay? Now, here's the other thing, false confession. So after 11 hours of sitting her tushy in an office chair, she confesses, but she doesn't just say I did it. She explains how she did it, removing the plug from his kayak and stashing, stashing the plug in their home. She also allegedly removed a piece of his paddle. And once he's in the water and struggling without a life vest, she allegedly snatched his only paddle from him. Well, you know,

this kayaking thing is not as dangerous as it sounds. And I mean, that's that Hudson River is not like a raging river at that point. It's more like a lake. But that plug. It's a river. It's not like they're an open sea for Pete's sake. Yeah, I know. That's what I'm saying.

It's fairly calm. The kayaks of the Caribbean. You know, this is not Johnny Depp out there in a storm. I've looked at these kayaks. This kind of a plastic kayak that was used has a plug. It's at the aft end. That's the rear for people who don't know these nautical terms. At the aft end, there is a plug.

You can pull it out, and it does allow water to seep into the kayak. Oh, Alan, only you can make pulling the plug complicated. It's not that quick. Pull the plug. That doesn't inherently mean, there's one of those words, that you're going to sink. And as far as the paddle, what's the deal with the paddle? If the boat's sinking, why do you need a paddle? Here's the thing.

Try to get to land before it fills up with water. Can't this guy swim? Pulling the plug. And then. Is it her fault he can't swim? Stashing the plug in their home. Now, hold on. Wait a minute.

Whoa, whoa, wait a minute. Wait a minute. She went on to describe why she did it. And here it is, Alan. I hope you're sitting down. I am. She explained how Vince, the fiance, made sexual demands on her. Oh, no.

That he wanted sex. And that made her feel trapped and want to be free. I've got a surprise. Every man wants sex okay that's the headline bam i don't care what kind of sex they want they want sex and that's just the deal and they weren't even married oh my you know your words not mine i couldn't care less who sleeps with who cats and dogs sleeping together don't care but what i do care about is a dead body that floats up on top of the Hudson River. That's what I care about.

Okay. So did he call off the engagement though? That I don't know. I think he wanted out that that's what and she was upset about their quote, souring relationship. Can I tell you something else? All your I want to say jabbering, but that would be rude. So I'm not going to say jabbering. I'll just think it. I won't verbalize it. Let me say, all of your, let me just say, analysis that there was torture and coercion involved. It's on video. They videoed it. He videoed her confession. I couldn't be happier. I think it's crazy for them to try a mental defense, but to each her own, if that's the way she wants to go. But they're claiming mental defense. That's the new thing. Or they may claim it. The latest thing is they're heading to

court and they go, oh yeah, right. She has an emotional problem. This is after two years they decide that she has an emotional problem. So another hearing has now been planned because it's been rescheduled. Alan, how do you find out two years into it that you have a mental problem? I don't know that people necessarily find out they have a mental problem. They're told they have a mental problem. I mean, I may have one, and I don't know that I've got it. Well, I can tell you you don't have a mental problem. You're told they have a mental problem. I mean, I may have one and I don't know that I've got it. Well, I can tell you, you don't have a mental problem. You're fine.

Thank you. Thank you. And I have a doctrine. It's a jurist doctrine, of course, but that's, you know, I'm dispensing all the medical advice I can. But the lawyers, how can they decide, like basically on the eve of trial, that they have a mental evaluation they need to bring up. I think it may be that they have just come up with this strategy fairly recently because they certainly didn't inform the prosecution about it. But you got to give them credit for trying using all the tools in the toolbox, right, Nancy? Yeah, I do agree with that. I got to give it to

them. It'd be malpractice if they didn't, if it could help. If she, here's the deal, if she gets a delay for another couple of months, she's innocent until she's proven guilty. So it's another day. But she's still locked up. Another day of being innocent for her insurer, and I'm paying for her food and boarding. Now, here's the thing about that confession. The judge ruled that the interrogation video will be seen. Virtually all of an 11-hour police interrogation in which she makes a series of incriminating statements will be seen by the jury. So, I mean,

once that happens, where can you go? You got to go with mental defense. This was a huge blow to the defense. Her defense lawyers had vigorously tried to keep that interrogation tape and other statements out of evidence. But there was no reason to keep it out. Let me ask this, though. This is what I was wanting to get to. She was charged with murder and manslaughter. Now, if he knew he couldn't swim, I'm assuming he couldn't

because he didn't. And he didn't have a life jacket, a life vest on, and he was in this flimsy, vulnerable kayak. Doesn't he have some responsibility for the fact that he drowned? I mean, there's no evidence that she jumped in and pushed his head underwater and drowned him. I mean, it's sort of a passive way of murder or manslaughter, if that's what it is. Other than, oh, I pulled the plug. Other than that. Let me quote Batman yet again. That's Lego Batman.

I hate everything you just said. Because it's full of lies. He could swim. And it was not a flimsy kayak. And regardless if it was a $250 kayak or $2,500 kayak, you pull the plug, you're going down. And this woman is a native of Latvia. And she comes over here, she meets up with him. She has a quarter of a million dollar life insurance policy, two of them listing her as a beneficiary. She says the relationship's gone sour and that she pulled the plug and hid it in the house and a ring from his paddle. I mean, I don't know what more you want, but what I'm irritated about

right now, aside from his death, is jerking the system around by delay, delay, delay, and now suddenly jumping up with a so-called mental defense. Actually, the prosecution asked for this current delay, so... Another thing that legal experts are whining about is that the medical examiner stated that this manner of death was a homicide, citing the kayak drain plug intentionally removed by another. And, of course, all the lawyers go crazy, claiming the medical examiner's office overstepped its bounds by mentioning the drain plug when their orders are to examine the body. But the truth is, medical examiners often determine, they determine cause and manner, and they have to look at surrounding circumstances to decide. Sometimes,

was it homicide or accident or suicide? Just like if there's a needle and a syringe next to the body, they're able to note that, right? It's the same thing. The plug was pulled, just like a needle. Absolutely. So, Alan, that's where it stands right now. And I think you may have missed your calling. I think that although you're a dashing young journalist, you may should have been a defense lawyer because you certainly have all those impulses and not judging. Was that a compliment or what? We'll stay on it.

The kayak murder case, I don't know what it was. Again, a big thank you to our sponsor today, Blue Apron, who makes home-cooked, affordable, and simple, delicious meals at home available for working moms and dads so you can have that family moment around your table with a delicious meal and you know what goes in it and you know what's good for your children. Blue Apron, you made that possible for me yet another night in a row. Thank you, Blue Apron. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Thank you, Fran, for being with us. And Angelica or Angelica, whatever, I'm on to you, girl. This is an iHeart Podcast.