It was an admission of attraction rather than guilt. As Angelika Graswald entered the state police barracks in Montgomery last year, she confided in Investigator Donald DeQuarto. “The first time I saw you,” she told him, “I thought you were cute.”
Inspector DeQuarto testified at Ms. Graswald’s pre-trial hearing at Orange County Court last Monday. He told the district attorney that Ms. Graswald alluded to his cuteness as he brought her in for questioning on April 29.
He had met her 10 days earlier at St. Luke’s Cornwall Hospital in Newburgh, after the kayaking incident that had led to the death of her fiance, Vincent Viafore.
Ms. Graswald consented to go back to the barracks for questioning, and later asked the investigator to look up the phone number for Mr. Viafore’s sister, Laura. At the time, Ms. Graswald said, she was supposed to be married in August — either in Latvia or on Bannerman’s Island.
After about an hour, the investigator drove Ms. Graswald back to her car at Plum Point, and heard her say that she was going to Laura’s house. At one point, she looked toward the river and yelled “Vinnie.”
A week later (on April 26), the investigator called Ms. Graswald and asked her to come in the next day to discuss more details. She agreed but didn’t show up. When the inspector called her, she said she had been at the animal sanctuary, having a good time, and just went home.
The next day, she offered the same explanation for not showing up. “I would think this would be your number one priority,” Inspector DeQuarto told her.
Ms. Graswald arrived with Laura at 7:30 p.m. (April 28), and acknowledged that the accident had “happened under suspicious circumstances.” Later, when she heard that the rescuers had seen her using her cell phone, an apparent contradiction of her story, she said she really didn’t feel well, and wanted to go home.
Before leaving, she pulled out a gift card for Investigator DeQuarto, and later offered him a handcrafted figurine that she had made. He turned down both gifts, explaining that he was not allowed to accept them.
Ms. Graswald then asked Laura to go out with her for steak and wine, but Mr. Viafore’s sister said she didn’t feel up to it. So Ms. Graswald suggested that Laura could leave without her. “I’ll just have him [the investigator] bring me home,” she said.
Once again, the answer was “no.” Mr. DeQuarto said he couldn’t take her home if she already had a ride.
The next day Ms. Graswald went to Bannerman’s Island to do a “release of flowers in memory of Vinnie.” The state troopers were there checking the shorelines. And her interaction with the troopers led to her being arrested after she was returned to the barracks for several hours of questioning.
While Investigator DeQuarto was testifying, Ms. Graswald sat next to her attorney and gazed at the yellow pad in front of her. Sometimes it looked like she was writing. Her expression never changed.
