Who is 'Kayak killer' Angelika Graswald? The true story behind Netflix's Confession Tapes

25 June 2019, 15:30 | Updated: 1 April 2020, 08:51

The Confession Tapes season two has been released on Netflix - here's everything you need to know about 'Kayak Killer' Angelika Graswald

The Confession Tapes, the Netflix series that examines police interviewees that may have provided false statements or had potentially been coerced into admitting a crime they didn't commit, has just released its second season.

One of the four new episodes looks at 'Kayak Killer' Angelika Graswald. Here's everything you need to know about her.

Who is Angelika Graswald and what happened to her?

Angelika called 911 in 2015 claiming that her husband Vincent Viafore was drowning in the Hudson River. She was later subjected to an 11 hour police interview at New York State Police Montgomery Barracks.

She claimed in the interview that her relationship wasn't perfect, due to the fact that her husband would often attempt to persuade her into sexual activity she was not comfortable with.

“I was stressed out, I was not in a right state of mind.”

Angelika said during the interview: “I wanted him dead and now he’s gone. And I’m okay with that.”

She was eventually charged with second-degree murder and second degree manslaughter in 2015.

She was at Orange County Jail waiting until her November 2017 trial, and in July 2017 she reached an agreement with prosecutors to plead guilty to the charge of negligent homicide.

She was sentenced to between one and a half and four years in prison for criminally negligent homicide, which was the maximum sentence she could receive for that crime.

The Confession Tapes also featured a recent interview with Angelika, in which she says: “When you are in a room like that and you have no windows, no sense of time, they take everything from you plus not sleeping for several days prior to that, I was exhausted.

Where is Angelika Graswald now?

She was released from Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women in December 2017. She currently resides at a Christian camp.

Angelika says on The Confession Tapes: “This is the cabin that is called the Hide-out and I come out here to just be alone, be with God.

“Having faith is what got me through this. Thinking back, when the interrogation was happening just the thought that I could have gotten up and left at any point never crossed my mind.

“I never thought that I could just leave. I thought that by speaking and telling them everything that I knew or I would just clear it up. I wouldn’t need a lawyer, I would just be free but boy was I naive.”