Death on the River

by Diane Fanning

  “But you’re not familiar with the different stages of grief?”

  “The actual ones in the book, no, I can’t say that I am.”

  “Have you investigated homicides before?”

  “Can’t say that I have.”

  “So, this would have been your first homicide, correct?”

  “I didn’t know it—I went there for a missing person that was in a kayak. So, I—the case was not—it turned over to the state police or the state police took it, so I can’t say that [it] really would have been.”

  “But, at the time, you [had] never investigated a homicide, correct?”

  “Never [had].”

  “Okay. So, this would have been your first homicide, yes?”

  ADA Julie Mohl rose to her feet. “Objection, Judge.”

  “He gave an answer, Mr. Portale. Sustained.”

  Portale then took Bedetti step by step through the dispatch process that brought him to the river that night, questioning the officer’s responses as if he doubted every word. His tone of voice and abrupt movements made his impatience obvious. Portale established that although the patrol sergeant sent him to the river, the officer had gone to the hospital on his own.

  Then Portale asked, “When you wrote the supporting deposition we talked about, that’s Defendant’s N for identification, what did you use to help your memory in writing that deposition?”

  “My brain,” Bedetti said. “I was at home when it happened. They came to my house and did it, the investigators.”

  “Did you have your notes?”

  “I had nothing. They just pulled in my driveway and there I was doing the lawn.”

  Portale turned to the name Victor that Bedetti had originally written in his incident report. The lawyer hassled him for saying that Angelika gave him that name at the hospital.

  After that, the defense attorney nitpicked the details of each encounter the officer had had with Angelika. He posed accusatory questions about why Bedetti was asking his client questions instead of helping her get off the boat or get on the gurney. Portale was doing everything he could to make Bedetti appear to be a non-caring oaf.

  The police officer defended himself as best as he could, pointing to the fact that she had been able to walk and talk and seemed to be medically sound. He insisted that he had stopped questioning her once the paramedics began checking her vitals.

  The lawyer moved on to the ringing phone Bedetti had heard at the dockside, ridiculing the officer’s inability to replicate the sound. “What else, if anything, did you do to locate that phone?”

  The officer explained that the Cornwall Police Department had a screen capture of the original 911 call and were attempting to call the phone to see if they could find it. “My concern at that point is, if she had the phone, if it was in the river with her … we can attempt to get a ping on it, so we can locate a smaller area of a recovery or rescue location.”

  “My question to you is: What did you do physically at that time to locate the phone that you heard ringing at the foot of the gurney?”

  “I went down and picked her life vest up. I verbally said, ‘Whose phone is ringing?’ and no one responded. And like I testified, the female paramedic looked at me, I don’t know, awkward [like] she doesn’t understand what I’m looking to do.”

  “Move to strike what she thought,” Portale snapped.

  “I’m not going to strike that, for the record,” said the judge. “Continue.”

  “I picked up the life vest and the minute I picked the life vest up, Miss Graswald, who was laying on the gurney, sat up. Almost like I had a string attached to the life vest and her. She sat up. I looked at it real quick, inspected it, and I kind of looked over at her. And now she is being distracted, if you will, from being medically checked out. So I put the life vest back down and then she laid back down.”

  Portale’s badgering didn’t end there. He ferreted for additional details about Bedetti’s search for the phone on the scene, for the definition of “command post,” and whether his vehicle or another was the command post. Then he questioned Bedetti about the location of the gurney, its height and its length, and the distance from Angelika’s hands to the life vest.

  The defense attorney then addressed why Bedetti had decided to follow Angelika to the hospital. “She had stated that the phone was in the river. But you had heard what you thought was her phone ringing. That didn’t add up to you, correct?”

  “Weird,” Bedetti affirmed.

  “And so, for that and other reasons, you wanted to go to the hospital and try to straighten it out. What were some of the other reasons you were suspicious?”

  “Just a general reaction, after witnessing somebody perhaps disappear in front of your eyes. [To] come back very matter-of-fact. Picking the life vest up, her sitting up. And then laying back down. Then, at the hospital, just wanting to ask me how long before hypothermia set in.”

  “Because of these reasons that you just stated, you went to the hospital to question her further?”

  “Yes. Because she was the last one seen with somebody. Somebody needs to go speak to her and talk to her and find out, because there [were] so many people and it was confusing. At this point, there’s three agencies: the state police, the Cornwall police, New Windsor police, the New Windsor side, all involved. And I got to be quite honest with you. I’m one of them no-nonsense, ‘let’s get down to the hospital and figure it out, while you’re all gonna sit there and figure out who’s gonna take it over.’”

  Asked for further explanation, Bedetti continued, “The river’s a touchy situation with everybody, as far as geographical area. You know, the center line of it. Dutchess County. It gets monotonous.”

  After more tedious badgering, including senseless questioning of whether or not the black bag actually qualified as a purse or not, Bedetti was temporarily released for the lunch recess. In all likelihood, the police officer was probably hoping for a miracle to keep him from having to return to the witness stand. Unfortunately, he didn’t get one.

  After recess, court resumed with ADA Julie Mohl objecting repeatedly that Portale’s questions had been asked and answered prior to the lunch break. The judge sustained some of them, but not all. Portale continued plowing well-tilled territory, obviously attempting to keep the witness off balance.

  The defense attorney badgered him about the exact location of where he’d placed Angelika’s vest, stepping on Bedetti’s answers every time he spoke. Mohl objected to his interruptions.

  Freehill told Portale, “It’s not a yes or no answer. Let him elaborate.”

  “Try it,” Portale said to Bedetti.

  “I picked the vest up. When I picked the vest up, like at the scene, Mrs. Graswald sat back up. Hear me out,” the officer pleaded when he noticed Portale preparing to interrupt.

  “Objection,” Portale barked. “Move to strike. I want to know where he put them.”

  “Judge, he asked the question,” the assistant district attorney said.

  “He is answering the way he wants to answer it,” Portale complained. “I ask you to instruct him to please tell me where he put them.”

  “I believe he’s doing so,” the judge said.

  “He actually is not. He’s actually trying to—”

  “I’m trying—” Bedetti said.

  “I think he is,” Freehill said, “so, overruled.”

  “I’m trying,” the police officer said. “I can answer?”

  “You can continue,” the judge responded.

  “Withdrawn,” Portale said, and then asked, “Where did you put the clothes?”

  “Go ahead,” the judge encouraged the witness.

  “So, when I picked the vest up, she leaned forward again—”

  “Objection!” Portale exclaimed. “Move to strike.”

  “I’m not striking that,” Freehill said.

  “I put the vest down. It was next to where—”

  “Withdrawn,” Portale said again. “Was there a locati
on in the room where you placed the clothes, yes or no?”

  “I need to explain,” Bedetti plead.

  “Just because you don’t like the way the answer is going, you don’t get to withdraw your question,” the judge reprimanded the defense attorney.

  “I don’t like his answer,” Portale said. “And I don’t like the ruling either. So, I’m withdrawing the question and asking a new question.”

  “I don’t believe you can do that,” Judge Freehill said. The court reporter read back the question and Freehill instructed the witness to “go from there.”

  “So, when I picked up the vest, Mrs. Graswald sat up like she did at the scene. I look at the vest real quick. Now I don’t know if she is sitting up because I have the vest in my hand, or if she is fixated on this bag on the floor. So, I simply took that vest and put it on the other side of the chair. So now I can make eye contact with her, to see which one is more concern to her or not. Put the vest back down, which was probably a foot away from where it originally was. That’s moving on the other side of the room or across the room or what—it was about a foot. Then I picked up the bag for her and handed her the bag.”

  The judge told Portale to ask his next question. The lawyer decided to quibble with the witness about his description of “across the room.” When he didn’t like the officer’s answer, he turned sarcastic. “Did you learn that in your training at the police academy?”

  The judge sustained the prosecutor’s objection to that remark.

  Portale continued, “Did you testify on direct that you asked Miss Graswald whether or not she was using or [she] and Vincent were using some waterproof equipment or material or something?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “What does that mean?” Portale asked.

  “Yes or no,” the judge prompted the witness.

  “Could you just, rather than nodding or saying ‘uh-huh,’ could you just say yes or no?” the attorney parroted.

  “My apologies,” Bedetti said.

  “Okay,” Portale said.

  The judge was not pleased. “I thought I took care of that, Mr. Portale.”

  “I was trying to help you.”

  “I don’t need help,” the judge said.

  “I’m a helper. I’m sorry.” Bedetti explained that he wanted to know if Angelika had a waterproof container with her, hoping she did and the phone was in it and still functional. Then he answered, “Uh-huh,” again. Once more the judge said, “Yes or no.”

  “Yes. I apologize. My bad. Yes,” the embarrassed witness responded.

  Portale had the gall to ask the judge, “Do you need my help?”

  “I do not,” was the judge’s terse response.

  Portale proceeded in his attempts to make Bedetti look foolish for not having his Miranda Rights card with him in the courtroom and for the error corrections on his original report.

  Then questions moved to the timeline that Angelika had given him on April 19, 2015. Portale pressed him about the accuracy of the times in his notes and the times he stated on the stand. After that, he turned to questions about any state police he talked to at the scene. Bedetti reminded him, “The fire department is actually in charge at that time, not the police. This was actually a recovery mission, so the fire department is actually in charge.”

  Finally, the defense released the witness. On redirect, the prosecution established that Bedetti had never put Angelika in handcuffs, had never put her under arrest, and never saw her again after that evening.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  The state then called Trooper Andrew Freeman to the stand. He had worked for the New York State Police for three and a half years and was working the 7:00 pm to 7:00 am shift on the evening of April 19, 2015. He reported to the Cornwall Yacht Club after the 911 call and was sent to the Cornwall branch of St. Luke’s Hospital. He was re-routed from there to the Newburgh location. He testified that he had spoken to Angelika briefly before Investigator DeQuarto arrived.

  “And once Officer DeQuarto arrived, did there come a time that the defendant left the hospital?” Mohl asked.

  “Yes, ma’am. I transported her from the hospital to the state police barracks in Montgomery.” He added that she’d sat in the front seat next to him and they’d talked about her harrowing experience on the river.

  ADA Mohl went through the same series of questions she’d asked Bedetti regarding Angelika’s demeanor, the absence of handcuffs, the language spoken, and the level of comprehension on both sides. Freeman’s answers echoed Bedetti’s on every point.

  “Did she ever ask you for an attorney while you were speaking to her in the car?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Did she ever tell you that she didn’t want to discuss what happened with you?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Once you arrived back at the state police headquarters in Montgomery, what did you and Miss Graswald do, where did you go?”

  “To the BCI offices. And then I left the station and I went back to the scene.”

  “After that point, Trooper Freeman, have you had any contact with her since your conversations with her on April 19?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Did you discuss with her how many times, if any, she had kayaked out to Bannerman’s Island?”

  “She said this was the first time, with Mr. Viafore.”

  “So, this is the first time the two of them had gone out to Bannerman?”

  “From what she told me, ma’am, yes.”

  Unlike the previous cross-examination, Portale’s questions to the trooper were fairly straightforward and were answered in kind. The defense repeated many of the queries presented by the state. The lawyer was curious to know if Freeman had spoken to Bedetti after he’d given his testimony that morning. If the defense wanted to demonstrate collusion between witnesses, Freeman’s response that he’d told the officer where he could find his lunch stopped that line of accusation as quickly as it started. Freeman showed no signs that he was intimidated by the defense.

  * * *

  Moving on, ADA Mohl called Aniello Moscato to the stand. Moscato began his career with the New York State Police in 1986. He became an investigator in 1994 and was promoted and assigned to the Montgomery barracks as a senior investigator in 2004.

  On April 19, 2015, Moscato was not on duty, but he reported to Cornwall Landing that night at about 9:00 nonetheless. Shortly after his arrival and discussions with the Cornwall Police Department, the state police took charge of the investigation.

  As Moscato took his seat facing the courtroom, an intimidating air of authority and command surrounded him like a shield. The animation in his eyes, however, showed a more lighthearted side of the man beneath the tough exterior. If you met him at a backyard barbecue, he’d seem more like an Italian teddy bear with a booming infectious laugh.

  ADA Mohl began, “As part of your investigation, starting when you first arrived on the nineteenth of April, did you have conversations with Angelika Graswald?”

  “Yes. On the nineteenth, I did not speak to Angelika. However, for the following day and for the following nine days, on and off, I had many conversations with her. We met with Angelika on the shores and in an attempt to try to locate Vincent Viafore.”

  “You spoke to her in person?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Did you also speak to her over the phone?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Did other members of your agency as well?”

  “Yes, they did.”

  “Over the course of that ten days, did there ever come a point where Angelika refused to speak to you?” Mohl asked.

  “No, not at all. She was very cooperative. And we became friends in that short period of time,” Moscato admitted. “My heart felt for her, as it did for the Viafore family.”

  “Objection,” Portale said. “Move to strike as non-responsive.”

  Stone-faced, the judge said, “Overruled. Denied. Continue.”

  Mohl took Mosca
to through the details of the arrangements he’d made for the use of the boat on April 29, 2015. Then the testimony moved to a discussion of that day’s events.

  After getting Moscato to identify Angelika in the courtroom, she asked, “What did you do once you got off of the boat?”

  “Well, like I said before, we wanted to go there to take a look around since nobody [had] been there since the nineteenth. And we took a look around the island, just for any kind of clues as to what maybe might have transpired and what could have happened. Before then, Angelika had told us that she had been on the island for quite some time with Vincent. So, we thought it would be a good idea to see if, maybe—she missed telling us something, or we overlooked something. So, we wanted to be thorough. And we needed to check the entirety of the island.”

  Moscato told the court about Angelika’s arrival on the island and his request for her to walk investigators through the last six hours she had spent with Vince.

  “Did the defendant agree to go through these steps and explain those things to you?” Mohl asked.

  “She did … she did. But, you know, obviously she was upset about everything going on. And she seemed a little bit uneasy. And I had to ask her to focus a couple of times and listen.… She had a hard time focusing on just a simple thing like ‘where did you dock the kayaks when you came over?’ She [was] pacing back and forth.”

  When she finally showed him the spot, Moscato was troubled. “What concerned me about where she said she had parked is that the guide wires were only about a foot above the level of the water,” he explained. “And it’s on a floating dock. So, regardless of the tide being in or out, it would be that same one foot. Nonetheless, she said that’s where she parked the kayaks and they got out.”

  “Did you note anything about her behavior when you were talking to her on the dock that stood out to you?”

  “Like I said, she was uneasy. She was pacing back and forth. She kept holding her stomach like it was upset. And she just had a hard time focusing. She had a very hard time focusing, but she had been through a lot, so, kind of understandable. And, you know, we, like I said, for the last nine days we met almost on a daily basis and we got to know each other. So, it was an amicable situation there. It wasn’t adversarial in any way. And, remember, you got to keep in mind, we still, nine days later, hadn’t found Vincent’s body. So we were concerned about finding his body.”