Lawyer for Fiancee of Missing Kayaker Says His Client Should Be Released From Jail

The lawyer for the 35-year-old woman charged with murdering her 46-year-old fiancé, who vanished on April 19 when his kayak capsized on the Hudson River, spoke to reporters for the first time on Friday, saying that his client still hasn't been indicted and should be freed.

Authorities allege Angelika Graswald intentionally killed Vincent Viafore, of Poughkeepsie, while the two were kayaking in choppy waters off Cornwall-On-Hudson in Orange County last month. Viafore's kayak overturned, dumping him in the water; his kayak was found but his body has not been recovered.

Graswald's attorney, Richard Portale, said Friday outside the Orange County Sheriff's Office that there has been a lack of transparency on the part of the government and that it has failed to show evidence that Viafore was murdered or that he is even dead.

"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.

Graswald, who has been in jail for 10 days, was arrested last week while placing flowers on Bannerman's Island, an island in the Hudson near the spot where she and Viafore had gone to kayak the day he disappeared. Authorities would not discuss the method, manner or motive of the alleged murder.

They said the charges against Graswald stem from inconsistencies in her story.

"We've been stonewalled," Portale said. "We've been given different answers, inconsistent answers. She's indicted, she's not. Murder in the second degree, not murder in the second degree." 

Graswald, who is Latvian and uses several aliases, according to authorities, was remanded to jail after her arraignment last week.

Portale said his attorney comes from a different place with very different cultural norms and that even though she looks like she's doing fine, she's "struggling inside." 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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