Sentence is a joke.
Seems light for premeditated, but maybe they went with a lesser charge. I didn’t take the time to read your link so don’t know.
Even for a plea deal it’s a joke. She watched him drown
@PaddleDog52 said:
Even for a plea deal it’s a joke. She watched him drown
Says who? The prosecutor?
This has been a very strange case that has been going on now for over 2 years, and we’ve had several discussions on it here.
Who goes out in 48 degree water and high winds on the Hudson in April after a “few beers” in a glorified pool toy with no flotation and wearing no thermal gear and no PFD?
Personally I think the police pressured her into the confession and that she copped to the plea because it gets her out of jail - where she’s been for the past 2 1/2 years - by the end of this year.
It would seem the victim certainly shares some responsibility in this one if that is the case, I figured she had been in jail since the arrest for murder so that also is a consideration.
Fiancee? Murder? Weird?
@kfbrady said:
@PaddleDog52 said:
Even for a plea deal it’s a joke. She watched him drownSays who? The prosecutor?
This has been a very strange case that has been going on now for over 2 years, and we’ve had several discussions on it here.
Who goes out in 48 degree water and high winds on the Hudson in April after a “few beers” in a glorified pool toy with no flotation and wearing no thermal gear and no PFD?
Personally I think the police pressured her into the confession and that she copped to the plea because it gets her out of jail - where she’s been for the past 2 1/2 years - by the end of this year.
I read the article. What she did and said seals it for me. Plenty of idiots out here in early spring with nothing for protection.
I say life in prison with no chancd if perole if convicted. This women should never be free again.
@PaddleDog52 said:
I read the article. What she did and said seals it for me. Plenty of idiots out here in early spring with nothing for protection.
Try this one for a more balanced view…
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/interrogation-video-raises-key-questions-in-new-york-kayak-murder-case/
I was reading about kayaking-related lawsuits and ran across one from Hawaii. Man goes kayaking with wife, in a tandem, I assume. Returns without wife, who he says was somehow disappeared after a shark attacked and bit off her arm. Unknown where the rest of her went, but kayak, her paddle and her PFD all made it back. No sign of shark attack or blood on either the paddle, the PFD, or the kayak. Now, that, to me, sounds like the guy got away with one.
Meanwhile, somebody sued the kayak rental company because they let the couple go out on a windy day, after warning them to stay in a lee area. The story was they left the lee area and got blown out to sea, where the shark attack occurred. They also sued the government for failing to rescue them. The kayak company settled! The government fought the case and won. Seems like the guy got the kayak, paddle and his wife’s PFD back to shore by himself. Yes, there are a lot of holes in this story. You can’t make this up. Here’s two articles: https://www.overlawyered.com/2005/03/honeymoon-shark-attack-lawsuit/
http://www.igorilla.com/gorilla/animal/1999/shark_kills_honeymooner_in_hawaii_2.html
Moral of the story. If killing your spouse by kayak, do it in Hawaii, then sue somebody! Plus, the water is warmer.
@kfbrady said:
@PaddleDog52 said:
I read the article. What she did and said seals it for me. Plenty of idiots out here in early spring with nothing for protection.
Try this one for a more balanced view…
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/interrogation-video-raises-key-questions-in-new-york-kayak-murder-case/
now I am positive she did it.
Me too…
Dragging kayak strapped to the transom of a boat shoes nothing. It can’t float over a wave strapped down. If there was 4’ waves I doubt they would even launch.ed to go back. He’s a paid shill for the defender. You can by any expert you want to display what you want. Huge list of things she said and did that tells me she didi it. When she gets out she can go look for the real wave that killed him.
If I lost my paddling partner I would not be doing cartwheels. I would have saved them or died trying.
@kfbrady said:
@PaddleDog52 said:
I read the article. What she did and said seals it for me. Plenty of idiots out here in early spring with nothing for protection.
Try this one for a more balanced view…
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/interrogation-video-raises-key-questions-in-new-york-kayak-murder-case/
What puts doubt in your mind? Thamks
Like kfbrady I am in the region and have watched this one for quite a while. The woman is about as unsympathetic as someone could be, which certainly did not help her case. But neither of these people were really kayakers or possessed of minimal water skills to start with, in or out of a boat. It is incorrect to assess her actions from the point of view of having basic water skills. You had to be following this one from the first to see how screwed up it was, not jumping in a few years later when the prosecution etc has had time to put nice ribbons and bows on the case.
Do I think this woman is anyone I would want to know or trust? Hell no. But the ruling was based on at best a screwy history, and that is not completely fair either. The reality is that anyone who swears they know for certain what was right in this case is reaching beyond what is there.
I agree. A jury of her peers and a judge did what they think is right based on the evidence presented. I am fine with leaving it at that.
I see what juries are. Person on Menendez trial ask ,“what’s a US Senator” but that’s he system.
And my teachers always said there are no stupid questions!
@PaddleDog52 said:
@kfbrady said:
@PaddleDog52 said:
I read the article. What she did and said seals it for me. Plenty of idiots out here in early spring with nothing for protection.
Try this one for a more balanced view…
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/interrogation-video-raises-key-questions-in-new-york-kayak-murder-case/
What puts doubt in your mind? Thamks
While I agree with Celia that on several occasions she didn’t exactly come off as sympathetic, the police investigators absolutely grilled her for 11 hours straight - during which time she claims she had a miscarriage - and I think she made her “confession” just to stop the interrogation. English was not her first language and I don’t think she thoroughly understood what was going on - she even asked “who’ s Miranda?”
Then look at the level of kayaking knowledge of the prosecution, and probably the judge and jury. They made a huge deal about her removal of the drain plug. On these cheap Fusion 124 kayaks the plug is not on the bottom of the hull but on top of the rear deck, and it’s tiny, its purpose being to help drain any water out of the boat once you get it back to shore. She admitted she removed the plug but that was a while earlier and he’d been kayaking with it removed for some time. Here is part of one complaint about that exact model of kayak on Dick’s Sporting Goods website…
This “Fusion” kayak is made for fresh water and ocean kayaking, The problem is that it has a design flaw that is especially dangerous if you take on any water. The water goes down two channels (that serve no purpose other than to kill you) that lead into the stern, immediately making the boat stern heavy. If you don’t notice that the boat is sluggish because you are inexperienced - like my son - you will get into trouble if you are away from shore. As the stern gets lower, the kayak will fill with water and swamp…
Vincent Viafore was a big guy, and probably overloaded that kayak, particularly in rough weather and there is no doubt that conditions on the Hudson turned very nasty that afternoon. I think we’d probably all agree that his kayak was totally unfit for the conditions he found himself in. Also, if she wanted him dead why did she bother to make the 911 call, during which she certainly sounded extremely concerned?
And there are lots and lots of “holes” in the prosecution’s case, many of which wouldn’t be apparent to a non-kayaking judge and jury. The prosecution made a big deal out of her “watching him drown” and that “she moved a paddle out of his reach”, both ideas that the interrogators suggested to her and that she eventually agreed to. I’m not convinced she understood just how damming those statements would sound.
And finally, if the evidence was all so compelling, why didn’t they try her for premeditated murder, and why did this case go on for 30 months? I think they made a deal, getting her to agree to criminally negligent homicide, so that everything would go away nice and neatly. With her plea deal, the police and prosecution can all save face and she’ll be out of jail and free to go ahead with her life in a few weeks time.
I don’t think I’m a particularly gullible person and I’m all for justice and law and order, but I’m also all for reasonable doubt.