Was Angelika like many sociopaths, using smear tactics on the victim to justify their own actions? Or was she being honest about their sex life? Even if she was, she could have left him, as she left other men before. A friend of Angelika told me that threesomes are the desire of every male she’s ever encountered in the Poughkeepsie area. Did Angelika latch on to this view of the male population and adopt it as an excuse? Did Vince, like many others, have sexual fantasies that he liked to talk about but never really wanted to execute? We will never know.
* * *
Many who knew Vince were shocked by what they perceived as a bias in favor of the defense by the national media. One show provided a demonstration by the defense expert to prove the kayak plug could not have contributed to Vince’s death, while failing to mention the tests run by the state that showed the opposite. Others felt that interviews in another show were cherry-picked to present a version of the story that did not reflect the truth.
Was the media’s coverage slanted? It is difficult to determine, because the evidence is largely circumstantial. One of the first public voices to speak out against the state’s case was Jeanine Pirro, host of the television show Justice with Judge Jeanine. Defense attorney Richard Portale had worked for her election campaign when she ran for district attorney, and later worked in her office as an assistant district attorney. Portale and a woman who is an editorial producer for the news department of a major network resided at the same house. Did these relationships with the lead defense attorney color their perceptions? In all likelihood, we will never have a definitive answer to that question either.
* * *
From my point of view, Angelika is guiltier of wrongdoing than her sentence indicates. To me, it is clear that she had dark homicidal thoughts before April 19, 2015. Otherwise, much of what she said to investigators on the island and in her interview at the barracks would not have been uttered. Her exclamation that she felt “free” after her admissions on Bannerman indicates someone who felt enslaved by the secrets she kept.
As Laura Rice told the Poughkeepsie Journal, “I guess I felt that by her taking a plea, people were going to know that she actually had something to do with it. We will never know all the facts of what happened. But what we do know is, she said she was ‘free,’ she said, ‘He’s gone and I’m okay with it,’ she felt ‘euphoric’ after he was gone—you don’t just say things like that. She confessed to criminally negligent homicide. I just feel that if you’re innocent, you don’t plead guilty.”
In Angelika’s interview with police, she spoke about her angels and demons and how she was torn between the two. She spoke of the freedom she felt when she knew Vince would not make it back to shore. These words do not bloom in a grieving heart. These are deeply felt sentiments that had lurked unspoken for some time.
Did she plot to intentionally kill Vince by any particular means? I doubt it. I think she fantasized about his death and, when the right situation presented itself, she took advantage of it. She acted like an opportunist—ever on the lookout for a chance to make her dark dreams come true. She moved the paddle out of his reach. She hesitated to call 911 until it was probably too late to save Vince. She faked the capsizing of her own kayak when she knew rescue was imminent.
If there was no plea deal, would Angelika have been found guilty of second-degree murder or manslaughter? I believe there was a strong possibility of conviction. Juries, however, are unpredictable. You only need to look at the Casey Anthony case that I wrote about in Mommy’s Little Girl to witness that fact. To go to trial posed the risk that Angelika, too, would walk out of the courtroom with no conviction. That outcome would eliminate the only barrier to her claims on Vince’s insurance policies. She would have been entitled to her complete share, instead of the portion she received.
The short sentence given to Angelika was painful for those who loved Vince, but an acquittal would have been even worse.
Still, sixteen months for Vince’s life feels painfully inadequate. As Michael Goodwin of the New York Post put it: “Justice is supposed to be blind, not stupid.”
* * *
Vincent Alexander Viafore was an ordinary guy with an extraordinary heart who loved life and the people in it and was loved in turn by his family and a legion of friends. His death left a dark, icy void in many who knew him. Rest in Peace, Vinny.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My deepest appreciation goes out to Mary Ann Viafore. She was gracious with her time and with her heart. Talking with her about her son provided me with valuable information and with a sense that, on a basic level, I knew Vinny as a person. I send her my fervent wishes for healing. As a mother, I can only imagine the tremendous pain of her loss.
Thanks to Sean Von Clauss, Stacey Speirs Deneve, Amanda Bopp, and Kimberly Phillips for sharing the memories of Vince. And also to Mike Colvin, Joel Goss, and Sorluna de Butterfly for imparting their recollections of Angelika.
I also appreciate the hard work of Senior Investigator Aniello Moscato, Investigator Donald DeQuarto, and three court reporters: Yvonda Fantroy, Michael DeCelestino, and Cathy Morales.
For invaluable research assistance, I bow deeply to Mary Elizabeth Ciambotti. I am in your debt.
Thanks to Charlie Spicer, Executive Editor at St. Martin’s Press, for sticking with me when it went awry, and to Sarah Grill, who helped me beat this manuscript into submission.
Finally, to my incredible agent of eighteen years, Jane Dystel of Dystel, Goderich & Bourret—without her support, I would not have my long list of published books. And to my wonderful cheerleaders, writer friend Betsy Ashton and Wayne Fanning, the one man capable of keeping me balanced when the sky is falling.
ALSO BY DIANE FANNING
Baby Be Mine
Gone Forever
Her Deadly Web
Into the Water
Out There
The Pastor’s Wife
A Poisoned Passion
Sleep My Darlings
Through the Window
Under the Knife
Written in Blood
Available in print and e-book format from the True Crime Library of St. Martin’s Paperbacks
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DIANE FANNING is the author of the Edgar Award finalist Written in Blood: A True Story of Murder and a Deadly 16-Year-Old Secret That Tore a Family Apart, as well as ten other true-crime books (available from St. Martin’s) and the Lieutenant Lucinda Pierce mystery series. She lives in New Braunfels, Texas.
Visit her Web site at www.dianefanning.com, or sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
ine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Afterword
Acknowledgments
Also by Diane Fanning
About the Author
Copyright
DEATH ON THE RIVER
Copyright © 2019 by Diane Fanning.
All rights reserved.
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St. Martin’s Paperbacks edition / May 2019
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