New details have emerged regarding the 2015 drowning death of Vincent Viafore, the New York man found dead in the Hudson River after his fiancee sabotaged his kayak.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, 37-year-old Angelika Graswald was booked into jail in April 2015 and ultimately sentenced in November to as much as four years in prison as part of a plea deal.
After receiving credit for time served, she has since been released on parole.
While Graswald received criticism for posting what were interpreted as insensitive or even celebratory social media posts in the wake of Viafore’s death, she reportedly told investigators that she was moved to kill him over his incessant “sex demands.”
Prosecutors argued her motive was a pair of life insurance policies totaling $250,000.
Graswald said the couple regularly argued over Viafore’s recurring requests, which often included bringing another individual into their sexual relationship, according to the Daily Mail.
According to the suspect’s statement to police, she regularly felt trapped in the relationship and flirted with the thought of her fiance’s death.
“I wanted to be free,” she reportedly said.
During the interview, detectives asked her if she removed the plug from Viafore’s boat because of her desire to see him dead.
“Yes,” she said. “At some point, yes.”
Graswald is currently serving a 16-month supervised sentence at a halfway house. She could be deported back to Latvia, the country she left to pursue an opportunity in the U.S. as a nanny nearly two decades ago.
Regardless of her motive, some say Graswald’s crime warranted a harsher punishment.
“Four years for taking someone’s life away? No way,” Viafore’s mother, Mary Ann, told reporters after the sentencing hearing late last year.
[Featured image: Angelika Graswald and Vincent Viafore/Facebook]