GUILTY NY - Vincent Viafore, 46, Newburgh, 19 April 2015 - #1

[gitana1]

Even you have to admit, bringing second degree murder charges against someone for inconsistent statements is a bit of a stretch, especially after a traumatic accident. How do they know what she told them is factual or not without being able to examine the body and see if it matches up with what she told them ?

We see tons of these cases here where the people in the forums are literally yelling through their screens for the cops to make an arrest, and they won't do it. They have motive, they have method, and they have opportunity....but they have no body, so they let the perp skip around town unimpeded. Sometimes for weeks, months and even years.

This case is pretty much the polar opposite of that, in just about every way. They make an arrest first, then they try to build a case around it. It's flimsy.

How do you know that? Once again, we do not know what the evidence is. It sure as heck isn't simply "inconsistent statements". I think it's clear those statements were what perked up their ears and made her a suspect. But the statements are not why she was arrested. Not on their own.

The point is, if the cops are keystone cops who arrest first and ask questions later, there should be a verifiable skewed ratio in that jurisdiction of arrests to indictments and arrests to convictions. I ask again, is there?

Finally, I'm not sure what's meant by "Even you have to admit..." I hope you're being nice!

 

[gitana1]

LAWYER CALLING FOR HER TO BE RELEASED FROM JAIL

The lawyer for Angelika Graswald said she hasn't been indicted by a grand jury in the death of Vincent Viafore and should be freed.

"If she's been indicted for murder in the second degree, which I think is going to be difficult to do, if that's the case just let us know," said Richard Portale, defense attorney.

Portale said Graswald has been held for nine days. The White Plains-based attorney now represents the 35-year-old murder suspect, although she has yet to have been formally charged.

"We've been given different answers, inconsistent answers, she's been indicted, she's not, murder in the second degree, not murder in the second degree, so I think everybody just wants some disclosure."

"We've had hours of conversations with Ms. Graswald and I don't know what evidence they could have , not only in the fact that there was a death, but that there was criminal means used to cause that death," Portale said.

http://7online.com/news/lawyer-calling-for-missing-kayakers-fiance-to-be-released-from-jail/707383/

How the heck is her status- whether she's been indicted or not- kept from her attorneys? Sounds like Stalinist Russia. She cat be held
long without an indictment. Is she being charged with something else? What's going on here.

Something tells me the cops are acting on more than a hunch but everyone is entitled to due process.

 

[sleuthinginca]

I'm sure I'm way off here...but has any thing been addressed as far as his financial situation? What if maybe they suspect this was a planned disappearance and by holding her it would make him come out or her to spill the beans. I know...this probably isn't the case. Just a thought. More likely they are holding her because she is a flight risk.

 

[hisjerseygirl]

I'm sure I'm way off here...but has any thing been addressed as far as his financial situation? What if maybe they suspect this was a planned disappearance and by holding her it would make him come out or her to spill the beans. I know...this probably isn't the case. Just a thought. More likely they are holding her because she is a flight risk.

Nothing wrong with thinking outside the box

 

[wfgodot]

This is an excellent thread btw. Good posting all.

 

[JerseyGirl]

"People [police and prosecutors] are unfairly judging her based on their perception of her conduct, that she was happy, that she didn’t seem to care," Richard Portale, the attorney representing Graswald, tells PEOPLE. " That’s when the police started to take notice of her."

"Who wrote the Facebook rulebook of protocol of what everyone's post means," asks Portale. "Why can’t you view the post of her happy pictures as 'I’m okay. I'm dealing with it and I'm okay.’"

Graswald is from Latvia, an eastern European country that was formally part of the Soviet Union, and Portale says her background might give insight into how she behaved following Viafore's death.

"They are taught to be hard, not to show sorrow, weakness and she was doing all in her power to be that person."

http://www.people.com/article/kayaker-facebook-posts-fiance-death

 

[JerseyGirl]

"I don't know what evidence they could have," Portale said. "Not only that there was in fact a death, but that there was criminal means to cause that death. I don't see it."

Portale said he demanded a hearing on Tuesday but that none was provided.

"We don't feel that this is consistent with our system of justice," he said.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NY-Lawyer-Kayaker-Fiance-Missing-Graswald-303158331.html

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/lawyer-woman-accused-killing-fianc-kayak-speaks-30923682

 

[steelman]

That darn defense attorney is making it harder and harder for them to frame her................

 

[BunnyHop]

"Graswald was remanded to Orange County Jail without bail after her arraignment, police said. The district attorney said a grand jury handed down an indictment, but it hasn't been unsealed and he hasn't officially presented charges."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/york-state-police-rushed-judgment-charging-woman-fiances/story?id=30921691

Interesting case for sure. My guess is there is more going on that we just don't know about.
Interesting comments at link.

 

[BunnyHop]

Ms. Graswald, a native of Latvia, kept her married name despite divorcing Mr. Graswald’s son in 2009. But online and with Mr. Viafore, she used a different last name, Lipska, said Kimberly Popovich, a longtime friend of Mr. Viafore.

Ms. Popovich said she was not sure that Mr. Viafore had known of her prior marriage. She said he was taken by her, in part because she was 11 years younger. Two months ago they had traveled to Eastern Europe.

On Wednesday, the authorities said, Ms. Graswald went to Bannerman’s Island, known formally as Pollepel Island, to lay flowers in honor of Mr. Viafore. Investigators were there as part of their search efforts, and it was while they were speaking there that the most glaring contradictions emerged.

The Orange County district attorney, David M. Hoovler, would not say whether there was a life insurance policy, a will or estate, that was set to go to Ms. Graswald after Mr. Viafore’s death. Of her possible motives, Mr. Hoovler said, “Not going to speak of it.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/01/n...yaking-accident.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0

Bumping this because I find it pertinent.
They were on the island investigating and she said something very incriminating IMO.
It could have been anything like where they launched, timing, where they went.....
Something that was totally contrary to evidence and original story. Maybe about the boat rescue. JMHO.

 

[BunnyHop]

That darn defense attorney is making it harder and harder for them to frame her................

I don't believe they are trying "to frame her". It was an accident from the beginning until something happened. We don't know what that "something" was.

 

[gitana1]

I don't believe they are trying "to frame her". It was an accident from the beginning until something happened. We don't know what that "something" was.

Yes. What possible reason would they have to try to frame her? That makes zero sense.

 

[SStarr33]

"Graswald was remanded to Orange County Jail without bail after her arraignment, police said. The district attorney said a grand jury handed down an indictment, but it hasn't been unsealed and he hasn't officially presented charges."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/york-state-police-rushed-judgment-charging-woman-fiances/story?id=30921691

Interesting case for sure. My guess is there is more going on that we just don't know about.
Interesting comments at link.

I didn't read all the comments, but most of the ones I read were hilarious especially the one about her ears

 

[JerseyGirl]

I went to the abcnews link and don't see comments. Where they pulled?

 

[pappa rob]

I went to the abcnews link and don't see comments. Where they pulled?

I was just there and the comments are at the bottom of the page.

 

[wfgodot]

Poor Reese Witherspoon. She had such a bright career.

.....

 

[silly1]

Request for bail

http://m.recordonline.com/article/20150511/NEWS/150519913/101019

 

[JerseyGirl]

Request for bail

http://m.recordonline.com/article/20150511/NEWS/150519913/101019

In his court papers, Portale notes that Graswald was scheduled for a May 5 preliminary hearing in New Windsor Town Court. That day, prosecutors filed notice with that court stating in part "that on May 4, 2015, an Orange County grand jury voted an indictment in the case."

The Orange County District Attorney's Office has characterized this affirmation as a notice of positive grand jury action, with the grand jury still working on the case. As such, the purpose of the notice would be to remove the case from the lower court to County Court jurisdiction.

Portale argues in his papers that the caption notation is "Arrest/Original Charge: Murder 2nd" on that DA's affirmation, "clearly indicating that an indictment has not been filed in favor of the crime of murder in the second degree."

Portale acknowledges that it's not unusual for prosecutors to hold open grand jury proceedings while they gather more evidence.

"Mr. Viafore remains unaccounted for and Ms. Graswald has not confessed to any criminal act," Portale wrote. "Therefore, as it is highly unlikely that the OCDA has been able to circumstantially prove that a death has occurred at this early stage of this investigation, there is little likelihood of a successful grand jury vote in favor of any homicide and any homicide count so voted would likely be infirm."

Because some kind of indictment action has been taken, Portale concludes, he asks that the County Court allow him to argue for bail for Graswald.

 

[Jmoose]

I wonder why he wasn't wearing a life vest? I've kayaked in the Hudson River, and it's no place for an outing (especially to Bannerman's Island) without a vest on. I don't even think you are allowed to land on that island

 

[BunnyHop]

Bail hearing Wednesday for fiancee accused in missing kayaker's death

CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. (WABC) --
A bail hearing is expected Wednesday morning for a New York woman whose fiance has been missing since a kayaking trip several days ago.

Angelica Graswald, 35, has been charged with second-degree murder in Vincent Viafore's death. State police said inconsistencies in Graswald's statements led to her arrest in his death.

The Orange County district attorney's office announced the charges against the Poughkeepsie woman last week when she was arraigned and remanded to the Orange County Jail with no bail.

It was, in the end, Graswald's own words during interviews with police that resulted in the charges.

http://7online.com/news/fiancee-accused-in-missing-kayakers-death-has-bail-hearing/697265/