Hudson Valley ‘Kayak Killer’ to Receive Fiance’s Life Insurance
The woman convicted in the drowning death of her finance reached a settlement and will collect on some of her fiancée's half-million dollar life insurance policy
On Monday, after months of negotiations, lawyers announced a settlement between Angelika Graswald and the family of her fiancé.
In July 2017, Graswald pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide in connection with the drowning death of her fiancé, Vincent Viafore, 46, of Poughkeepsie, on April 19, 2015.
Prosecutors believed her motive was to collect on Viafore's half-million dollar life insurance policy. Viafore's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Graswald to stop her from collecting the money.
As part of the settlement, Graswald will receive an undisclosed amount of Viafore's life insurance policy.
"There is a financial settlement, the amount of which is confidential," Graswald's attorney Anthony Piscionere told CBS.
Graswald admitted she pulled the plug from her fiancé’s kayak in the Hudson River. She also confessed that her actions resulted in Viafore’s death, adding she knew conditions that day were dangerous and she “deviated from the standard of conduct that a reasonable person would have observed in the situation.”
She also allegedly moved the Poughkeepsie man’s paddle away from him as he was drowning in the 46-degree Hudson River.
Graswald spent nearly three years in prison. She was officially released from prison in December 2017.
As part of the settlement, Viafore's family agreed to drop their lawsuit against Graswald in exchange for Graswald dropping an appeal of her conviction.
"It's time to let this family move on," Viafore family attorney Allan Rappleyea said, according to CBS.
It's unclear how much money Graswald will receive, but Viafore named Graswald the beneficiary of 45% percent of his death benefit, which comes out to around $491,000.
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