right here tonight, the riv. >> the last words he ever said to you were call 911? >> her fiance in his kayak. >> a stunning turn in the notorious case "20/20" has been following for more than two years. >> the body was found. >> found floating. >> vincent viafore. >> now people are asking, why is she out of prison? she admitted she pulled the pluggen to his ckayak. why didn't you go over to him? >> i couldn't reach him. i am soaked. >> you feel the current and the wind. >> was it is fiancee who didn't seem to be grieving? >> you looked happy in that video. you just lost your fiance.

>> she says she is innocent, but what about those astonishing police interviews? >> i wanted him dead, and mow he's gone, and i'm okay with it. >> now she is free, and for the first time revealing every detail, answering all the questions she couldn't before. >> did you really want him dead? >> no. >> we are face to face with the woman in the water. >> two years, seven months and 22 days behind bars. some people say that's not enough time, that you got away with murder. >> i'm david muir. >> and i'm elizabeth vargas, and this is "20/20." >> reporter: an abandoned kingdom and an unforgiving river, with a mystery running through it. the woman at the heart of the case, the one they call the kayak killer, walks out of prison on a sunny afternoon four days before christmas, 2017. angelika graswald had been charged with the murder of her fiance, vince viafore.

>> she pulled the plug on her fiance's kayak and then watched him drown in the hudson river. >> reporter: facing a possible life sentence. until she was suddenly set free. >> angelika graswald is out of prison tonight after serving just over 2 1/2 years behind bars. >> reporter: viafore's outraged family says it's not right. >> four years for taking someone's life? no way. >> smile if you want. it's okay. you can smile. come on. walk with me. >> reporter: outside new york's bedford hills correctional facility, freedom and the media are waiting. >> we're not going to take my questions. >> reporter: her release sparking headlines. although, for now, angelika lets her attorney rich portale do the talking. >> she's grateful for this day. she's grateful to be able to breathe in the fresh air, walk in the fresh air. >> reporter: we first met her in 2015 in the orange county new york jail when she didn't know

if she would ever again see the outside world. tonight, we have a new interview under very different circumstances with questions she is only nowree to answer. why didn't you go right over to him and let him -- >> i couldn't reach him. >> reporter: -- how co -- why not? free.u ahere's the good news, ye reporter: "20/20"'s camas once again following angelika she tries to revive her interrupted life. driving away from prison, she reconnects with her younger sister back in latvia. >> ciao! [ speaking russian ] >> reporter: while she was locked up, she became an aunt. >> i love babies, they're so beautiful! >> reporter: angelika enjoys her first taste of freedom with friends. >> how does it taste? >> delicious. definitely better than jail food.

>> reporter: she borrows a guitar, strumming a metallica song. the tune is called "nothing else matters." ♪ an appropriate anthem for someone who just escaped a murder charge. ♪ and nothing else matters angelika's odyssey begins more than two years earlier, when she and vince embark on an ill-advised adventure. not quite up the creek without a paddle, but close enough. the hudson river snakes three -- 315 miles from the peeks of the ed a radirondacks all the way down to new york harbor. just before you reach the city, though, hidden between storm king mountain and breakneck ridge. you may spy a half forgotten place known as bannerman's island, a deserted island, crowned by the tumble down ruins of a castle. >> i love that place, yeah. >> reporter: why do you love it so much?

>> the history, the -- it's just beautiful. have you ever been? >> reporter: i have. >> i just love it. >> reporter: angelika graswald a native of latvia, living in poughkeepsie, new york, was drawn to the strange magic of the place, captivated by its eerie charm. >> you wouldn't expect a place like that in new york, you know? with a castle. who expects a castle here? i come from europe. there's castles all over the place there, but here, it's real. >> reporter: felt like a little bit of home maybe for you. >> yeah. somewhat. >> reporter: if the island was angelika's castle, vince viafore was her knight. they shared a love of the outdoors and kayaking, which she says they had done together about a dozen times. >> we both loved the river. we both loved being on water. >> reporter: what is it about it that's so alluring to you? >> being down to the earth, down to the water, good for pictures. good for sunsets.

>> reporter: vince's mother, mary ann, says vince loved a good time. >> he's the guy who was the life of the party. he had these dance moves that everybody would get around him and cheer him on. >> what an awesome guy. >> reporter: why do you think the two of you clicked? >> we had a lot in common. he was, he was just like me. very open, friendly. um, risk-taker. he was adventurous. he liked living on the edge. >> reporter: both had been married twice before, but angelika and vince were ready to take the plunge again. >> we were gonna go to my country and get married on the baltic sea. >> reporter: on the beach. >> yeah. >> reporter: why there? >> why not? because my family wouldn't come here and i wanted them to be there. and we also wanted to go to bannerman's island and take pictures there with the castle in the backdrop. >> reporter: for your wedding? >> i just, i love that place, yeah.

>> reporter: and then one sunday afternoon in april 2015, as traffic cameras confirm, they set off in vince's white jeep for an adventure. their first time kayaking to bannerman's island. so it was his idea to go there that day. >> well we both wanted to go. >> reporter: you both wanted to go -- >> yeah. >> reporter: -- you both wanted to go to bannerman's island that day. >> yes. >> reporter: it was a bad idea. experts say their kayaks were wrong for the river, more suited for a lake or a pond. the water was cold, just 48 bone chilling degrees. and then there was the forecast. do you remember what the weather was like specifically that day? >> it was a little cold. but it was, you know, it didn't look dangerous or anything. >> reporter: according to the local news, a storm was brewing. >> clouds will be increasing later this afternoon into tonight and then showers develop before dawn. >> reporter: angelika says as usual, vince didn't wear a lifejacket that day, but she says he insisted she put one on. after a few beers, and a couple hours taking pictures on the

island, the sun is low. they hurry for their kayaks and head back across the hudson. but angelika says the river is rough, swamping vince's kayak, pitching him into the water, dark and killing cold. angelika says vince yells at her to call 911. >> but i don't see him, oh my god. >> can you see the kayak still? >> no. the kayak went underwater. oh my god. >> alright, we've got a boat in the water already heading down to you, okay? >> okay. the wateis very cold, i'm afraid he's -- oh my god. >> what made it so serious was the time of the year. >> reporter: jeff schaack, in charge at a nearby yacht club, helped coordinate rescue efforts. >> it was april and it was cold out. >> i think he drowned, i need him to be rescued. >> okay. where did you guys go into the river? >> the boat is coming towards me right now. >> reporter: angelika's 911 call ends abruptly.

somehow at that moment she too capsized and went into the deadly cold water. >> where did you guys go in at? angelika? >> reporter: a rescue boat quickly plucks angelika from the river. what condition was she in? >> she was obviously cold, wet, uh, frantic. >> reporter: but vince had simply disappeared on that dark april night. allowed by the riv. >> it changes your whole world. of course, you hope he made it to shore or he was unconscious somewhere. >> reporter: whatever happened to vince, police quickly begin to suspect it may not have been an accident. when we come back, angelika volunteers to help police out with their investigation, and finds herself in an awkward position. astonishing admissions caught on tape. she says she can explain what she said in jail, what she says

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>> reporter: while kayaking on the hudson river, angelika graswald lost the man she says was the love of her life. but even as she helped search for vince viafore's body, her behavior struck some as strange. as cold as the river. vince's mother, mary ann. >> she wasn't sitting there crying, that's for sure. i don't know. she just went about her business. >> reporter: business like posting a light-hearted video, doing a cartwheel. >> woo! yay! >> reporter: and five days later, at a memorial gathering at a bar, breaking out in a karaoke version of "hotel california." ♪ in the hotel california >> reporter: but that was nothing compared to what police

say angelika did 10 days after vince disappeared in the river. she had taken flowers to bannerman's island for vince. detectives follow. one of them claims angelika takes him aside and blurts out a jaw-dropping confession. she wanted vince to drown. she pulled the drain plug on his kayak so it would fill with water and sink and removed a ring connecting the two halves of his paddle. but none of that alleged confession was recorded. so police bring angelika to the barracks. at 3:25 in the afternoon, they lead her to the interrogation room, and the unblinking gaze of the camera. >> all right. goyour water, right? >> yeah. >> how you feeling? >> cold. >> cold? >> reporter: angelika is about to talk her way into a jail cell. >> you have the right to remain silent anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. >> reporter: police say earlier that day, angelika told them she did nothing to help vince. but that's not what she says in the interrogation room. >> you watched him drown. i know it's difficult. i know this. >> no.

i didn't just watch him drown. i tried to do something about it. >> now, did you really wanna save him? >> yeah. yeah. somehow. if he did not say call 911, i would have paddled the [ bleep ] out of myself and got to him somehow. >> reporter: while the detective in attorney rich portale says other officers search her and vince's apartment and find one of his guns is missing. >> and when they realized there was a gun missing, that's when they really cranked it up. 'cause that's when they thought, "well, maybe she shot him." >> reporter: almost three hours into the interrogation, at about 6:20, the detective brings in his partner to play the bad cop. >> how are you? >> hi, how you doing? i'm matt. >> reporter: they want to know

about the drain plug on the kayak, and a ring that secures the paddle, both missing from vince's kayak. >> how long before you guys went on your kayaking trip did you take that ring? was it the same day? >> i didn't take the ring. >> you killed him. >> no, i didn't kill him. >> reporter: angelika and the detectives, spending the nht in a stuffy little room with no windows and no clock. four hours in, they bring her coffee, pizza, even -- at about 7:00pm, a cigarette. >> cigarette. matches. ash tray, okay? >> reporter: at times, when she's alone in the interrogation room, unaware there's a camera rolling, angelika loosens up with yoga. even a little hopscotch. but why would angelika want vince gone in the first place? the motive, police say, is a hard-boiled crime classic. >> and he had a life insurance policy. >> yeah. >> and you were on it? >> yeah.

>> reporter: she tells police six months before his death, vince added her as a beneficiary to his life insurance. another motive, may have been all those demands she says he made in the bedroom. >> he always wanted sex. >> yeah. >> and you to do sexual things? >> well, yeah. >> okay. >> he wanted threesomes, porn, everything. >> okay. >> and i was not ready. >> reporter: angelika says vince was threatening to call off the wedding if she didn't do the things he wanted. >> did it upset you that he -- >> yes. very much. >> sort of switched that he did not wanna marry you? >> yeah, of course. who proposes to somebody and then changes their mind? >> reporter: but the thing many find most shocking comes early in the evening, angelika freely admitting vince's death left her feeling relieved. >> when you watched him in the water, was a part of you saying, "my worries are going away now." >> yeah. >> and, "i'm free?" >> yes. >> and were you almost -- >> euphoric?

>> euphoric that he was gonna be gone? >> i just -- i was -- >> you felt that way? >> yes. i still do. >> you still do? >> reporter: then, at about 8:30 that night, she starts talking about her dark side. >> what are your feelings and emotions knowing that this is about to happen? that when you're going -- >> i'm like, ripping in two halves. you know, angels and demons. >> what's the demon side saying? >> the demon side, it's not a good side. you guys don't want to see that side of me, nobody does. that side was telling me this is gonna happen, let it happen. just let it. but the good side was -- save him, save him, save him. you can do it. you can do it. you're strong. >> why did the demon side win out? >> well, 'cause of the way he was treating me, you know.

>> reporter: just after 9:00 p.m., six hours into the interrogation that would go on for 11 hours total, angelika, bleary-eyed and worn down, blurts out what could be the most incriminating statement of all. >> you killed vinnie. right? >> you're the one telling me. >> no. i'm asking you the question. >> you want me to admit it. >> i want you to, i want you to tell me the truth. >> i am telling you the truth. >> and what is the answer to that question? >> i didn't. >> no. >> i didn't want him. >> angelika. what is the true answer to that question? >> all right. i'll give you the [ bleep ] statement. >> what is it? >> i wanted him dead and now he's gone. and i'm okay with it. i'm okay with that. >> reporter: that's cold, but is it a confession? if only we could to ask angelika to explain.

when "20/20" contin just that. >> "i wanted him dead, and now he's gone." why would you say that? why would you say that if you didn't mean it? >> reporter: stay with us. mitzi: psoriatic arthritis tries to get in my way? watch me. ( ♪ ) mike: i've tried lots of things for my joint pain. now? watch me. ( ♪ ) joni: think i'd give up showing these guys how it's done? please. real people with active psoriatic arthritis

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dismissed. >> reporter: graduation day, at the west point military academy. one of the rites of spring. and on the nearby hudson river, another sign of the season. local lore has it that at any given moment there are 100 bodies in the hudson river, but come spring, those lost souls rise again. >> when someone dies in the hudson over the winter it's usually around that may when their body comes up because of the changes in the weather. >> reporter: on graduation day, 2015, police securing the river for the west point ceremony get an alert. >> they answered a call from another boat that there possibly was a human body floating down the river a little south of

bannerman's island. >> reporter: investigative reporter, nina shutman. >> i raced down to see what i could find out. they had found him. he had been found. >> identified as vincent vee fore. >> reporter: vince viafore had drowned while kayaking in the river more than 30 days before. but he had gone far, just about a mile down from bannerman's island. angelika is already in jail charged with murder, but disappointingly for investigators, vince's remains provide no incriminating clues, certainly no indication he'd been shot. >> at about 10:40 a.m., an indictment was made public in orange county court the indictment names ms. graswald. >> reporter: undaunted, prosecutors charge ahead, orange county new york district attorney david hoovler announcing a grand jury has officially indicted angelika for

second-degree manslaughter in addition to second-degree murder. the d.a. says angelika did it by removing the plug from vince's kayak and a connector ring from his paddle. >> the kayak itself as well as an item on the paddle -- >> reporter: angelika's defense attorney rich portale also spoke to the media that day. >> they're trying to paint her as a murderer, you know, when in fact, she was just a fiancee who was very much in love, who was following the person she loved in a kayak across stormy, rough waters. >> reporter: we first met the woman the tabloids branded the kayak killer in the orange county jail. in a room that also serves as the chapel where she said she regularly attended bible study. it can sometimes be a risky thing for you to talk publicly before a trial. why did you decide to do this interview? >> well, i just -- i needed a chance to let people know that

i'm innocent. i just, i'm being accused of murder, which i'm not capable of doing. >> reporter: i do need to ask you one specific question about something that you did say in the video interrogation. this is after six hours in that room and after you have repeatedly denied doing anything to hurt him. >> all right. i'll give you the [ bleep ] statement. >> what is it? >> i wanted him dead and now he's gone. and i'm okay with it. >> why would you say something like that? >> well they kept asking me the same questions like 100 times. i knew that i was innocent, i just told them what they wanted to hear. >> reporter: you just said what you thought they wanted to hear? >> i was, yeah, i was at my breaking point, i just, i had it. so i just gave 'em what they wanted. >> reporter: so what did she mean exactly, when she said she wanted to be free? >> what i meant was i wanted to be free from the lifestyle that we had. the nightlife, the strip clubs,

the threesomes. i didn't want any part of that, i wanted to be free from that. >> reporter: so you weren't saying i want to be free from vince, you were saying i want to be free from this particular lifestyle that vince is into right now. >> yeah. >> reporter: angelika says when she walked into that interrogation room she had no idea she was the prime suspect. >> they told me it was gonna be like a therapy session. they would try -- >> reporter: a therapy session? >> yeah. >> reporter: and did they actually use the words therapy session? >> yep. >> it's therapy for you. >> of course. >> and it's -- you'll be -- like i said, you'll feel better. >> you will, too. >> okay, i will. you're right. i definitely will. >> yep. >> reporter: what did you think that meant? >> i thought that meant that they're trying to help me and i can open up. and i didn't need a lawyer. >> reporter: pretty naïve actually. >> yeah, right? now i know. >> reporter: we ask her about her strange behavior after vince's death, remember she

posted that cartwheel, and sang "hotel california." at that bar. some people thought that your behavior after the drowning was strange. >> well, i never liked crying in public. i -- that's just not me. i much rather put on a happy face and that's what i did. i mean, i just lost my fiance, i was in shock. i was in denial. >> reporter: what do you mean by in denial? did you feel like it wasn't real? >> it still feels unreal. >> reporter: it still feels unreal? >> sorry. >> reporter: which part of it feels unreal? >> the part that he's gone. there i go crying in public.

>> reporter: angelika denies she confessed to that detective on the island. she pleads not guilty to charges of std second-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. was there part of you that was in disbelief when they charged you? >> absolutely. >> reporter: i mean -- >> absolutely. like who, me? did what? it's ridiculous. >> reporter: so how plausible is the police theory? still ahead we return to bannerman's island and put it to the test. we actually performed an experiment on the river. we bought a kayak just like vince's. removed the drain plug, just as police say angelika did and sent a kayaker paddling back to bannerman's island. >> how did he do? >> reporter: good question. for the answer, stay with us. jardiance is the only type 2 diabetes pill proven to both significantly reduce the chance of dying from a cardiovascular event in adults who have type 2 diabetes and heart disease...

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this is going to be much easier now because we're going into the water. >> yeah, no kidding. >> reporter: this is plum point, on the hudson river. it's the very place is where vince viafore and angelika graswald set out on their fateful kayaking trip. when angelika and vince went out on this river -- >> yes. >> reporter: they, they launched straight from here to go straight across. you can see bannerman's island and the castle right there across. we've come here with todd wright, a professional guide and outdoor instructor. he's recognized as one of the top kayak safety experts in the world. working with us as a consultant,

he's in the same make and model kayak as the one vince owned. how quickly, after falling into water that cold, do you become incapacitated? >> there's that initial cold response and there's panic, your heart rate increases. >> reporter: you're basically hyperventilating. >> yeah, you're hyperventilating. being able to tread water or swim with any kind of efficacy becomes very, very difficult. >> reporter: back on shore, a close examination of the kayak shows something detectives may not at first have realized. that critical drain plug, effectively the alleged murder weapon, is not on the bottom of the kayak. it's on top! now this is the infamous plug. >> it is, yup. >> reporter: that prosecutors say angelika removed in a plot to kill vince. but this plug is what, half an inch in diameter? >> just look at how large the cockpit is -- that where -- where the seat is. um, there's a lot of water that can enter that. that's a big hole. this is a really small hole.

>> reporter: it's a tiny hole. watch. he conducts a demonstration, and all that gets in the boat. but if the waves pour over that open drain hole, very little finds its way into the kayak. >> about eight ounces maybe. >> reporter: the prosecution case is built on this, and by saying they wouldn't work correctly. >> by taking that plug out, you killed vinny, right? >> correct. >> did you remove the plug from vince's kayak with intent to kill him? >> no, i did not. >> did you remove the ring from the ores so he would not be able to save himself? >> no, i didn't.

>> reporter: so testing this theory, using the same, make and model as vince's, we removed the drain plug, and challenged an experienced kayak to go to bannerman's island, with no trouble. we actually performed an experiment on the river with the plug out. >> how did he do? >> reporter: he did fine. what does that tell you? >> there you go. >> it tells me that there was a rush to judgment in this case, and i don't know why. >> reporter: jeanine pirro is a former prosecutor and currently the host of "justice with judge jeanine," on fox news. >> is there any scintilla of evidence that tells you she wanted him dead? i haven't heard it. i mean, maybe the prosecution's got it. but i haven't heard it. >> reporter: i mean, isn't it possible the entire premise of the case is based on -- based on something that isn't in -- in fact, true? that a missing plug could sink a kayak? >> that kayak plug is a red herring in this case. it's got nothing to do with his death. >> reporter: pirro and abc news

chief legal analyst dan abrams are convinced the case against angelika is unconvincing. >> it does seem like a bizarre and incredibly risky way to kill someone. the notion that you're willing to risk that the person is going to fall out of a kayak and then potentially come to your kayak and -- >> reporter: and capsize you? >> and capsize you. >> you've gotta explain to me how she felt that she was far more secure at a 5-foot tall as a miniature woman than he was. if those waves were taking him out, wouldn't she be risking that those waves would take her out as well? >> reporter: the big problem for angelika, they agree, is what she says in that interrogation. >> right? by taking that plug out you killed vinnie, correct? >> correct. >> i think she makes some incriminating comments. she makes some -- >> reporter: yes, she does. >> she makes some statements which are not helpful to her. >> reporter: "i'm glad he's

dead" is certainly not a helpful thing to say for your own case and a problem for the defense. >> i think it is. >> reporter: i just wanna ask you so you have a chance to answer this question. did you kill vince? >> no. >> reporter: that day. >> no. i didn't kill him. >> reporter: did you do anything that you knew might lead to him being hurt or him dying? >> no i didn't. >> reporter: or him dying in the river? >> no, i loved him. i didn't do it. >> reporter: when "20/20" continues, the case against angelika falls apart, and a new interview. what she says now that she could never say before. stay with us.

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>> reporter: angelika graswald was arrested and thrown in jail for manslaughter and murder in the drowning of her fiance, vince viafore. her attorney rich portale says it was a rush to judgment. >> she was a target from the moment she was pulled out of the water. they were always going to charge her with this. >> reporter: angelika spends two years dreading the day she will face trial. but that day never comes. it turns out the case against her is falling apart. for one thing, while angelika may have, at some point, for some reason removed the drain plug, vince apparently knew it was missing. >> we know that he knew that drain plug wasn't in, because he strapped the kayak to the roof of the jeep and he threaded the strap through the drain plug. and we have pictures of it.

>> reporter: look at the traffic camera video of them on the way to the river. freeze the frame, push in. vince appears to have secured kayak down by running a strap right through the open drain hole. photos also come to light showing vince kayaking on earlier trips with the plug missing and without a lifejacket. by the time angelika finally shows up in court to face her accusers in july, 2017, she says extensive media coverage may have poisoned the public against her. >> a lot of people read what they read in the press, and thought, "she's guilty." >> she made a statement about, quote, her demon side. >> it was kind of a mob mentality. >> could you please raise your right hand? >> reporter: but in the courtroom, a stunning refutation of all those arm-chair prosecutors. instead of facing life in prison, angelika gets the deal

of a lifetime. >> and is it appropriate to say you are pleading guilty voluntarily? >> yes, your honor. >> reporter: the district attorney reduces the murder and manslaughter charges allowing angelika to plead guilty to criminally negligent homicide. admitting that by removing the kayak plug and ignoring conditions on the river, she unintentionally killed vince. the district attorney had some expla explain to do. how his murder case ended up as a felony. >> there was a multitude in this case that could have gone both ways. >> reporter: the d.a. now says this was questionable whether they would convict her of murder or manslaughter. >> i thought justice was done by this plea, and it held someone accountable. >> i'm not blaming vince for his

debt, but he knew all of these things, and miss graswald is not his mother. >> by the corrections and community supervision. >> reporter: four months later, the judge sentences angelika to 16 to 48 months in prison. six weeks after that with credit for time served, she is set freeway. she agreed to give her first interview since being released to "20/20." >> you have maintained after your arrest, your innocence the entire time. and yet you ended up pleading guilty. >> i did. >> why? are you guilty? >> no. i'm like, "whoa, wait a minute. plead guilty? no way." then they would say, "okay, here's the risk. here's the chance to get out. you plead guilty, yeah, you have a felony." >> that's a pretty big deal. >> i'm freaking out. i'm like, "what do you mean?

i don't want, "felony" on my record. i'm not a felon. how do i live with that? how? it's not fair. it's not right. i didn't kill him. why? they said, "chance to go away for life, take a plea and get out in december. what do you want to do? live with the felony. so, it wasn't an easy decision to make, but i went that way because of everything taken as a package. >> you know though that by pleading guilty, people like vince's family, who firmly believe in your guilt, say, "see." >> i told you. >> i told you. >> yeah, i know. i know. >> reporter: now a free woman, angelika is no longer pulling any punches. criticizing the detectives who followed her to bannerman's island. >> they were bullying me. there were three guys surrounding me, bullying me.

>> police say that while you were on bannerman's island, you confessed to murdering vince? >> they do say that. >> you said nothing of the sort? >> no. >> reporter: i tried once again to make sense of her jaw dropping admission in her videotaped interrogation. >> i wanted him dead and now he's gone. and i'm okay with it. >> why would you say that if you didn't mean it? >> i did have those thoughts when -- when we, when he pushed me to do things i didn't want to do. those thoughts did cross my mind like, "i wish you were just dead." but you don't mean it the way that people might think. like if you are in a relationship, how many times do you want to kill your, uh, kill your spouse? like going, "i just want to kill him!" like, but not in a way where you're gonna take a weapon or -- or whack his head on something. like you just say that. do you understand what i'm saying? >> i understand saying, "i'd like to kill you," i guess. i don't understand feeling like

i actually would like to kill somebody. >> well, i didn't feel like killing him. i didn't kill him. >> reporter: and now, in more detail than ever before, angelika recounts that kayak trip. the setting sun, the rough river, vince putting on a brave face. >> was he saying -- >> he was -- >> something to you? >> he said, "babe, this is an adventure of a lifetime." >> reporter: she says she will never forget her last glimpse of vince. >> the last i saw him was his head and his hand. just, like, one glimpse. that's the last image that i have. >> why didn't you go over to him? >> i couldn't reach him. i was paddling the whole time. i'm exhausted, wet, soaked, freezing, shaking.

>> we hear you saying, you can't see him anymore. >> yeah -- >> and at some point, you're hollering out to him -- >> hold on baby. oh my god. >> mm-hmm. >> do you ever hear him yell back? >> no. >> so the last words he ever said to you were, "call 911?" >> reporter: angelika says those are not the words she wants to remember. >> see the last words i want to remember are, "babe, this is the adventure of a lifetime." >> reporter: she may have pled guilty, but she says she no longer feels guilty. >> it's only human nature to think, if only i had done this, maybe -- >> oh, i'm past that. i -- i'm -- i can't do that anymore. >> reporter: still ahead, the fight over vince's life insurance. prosecutors said all along that your motivation for killing vince was the life insurance po

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possible ramification. >> are you concerned that once your parole is up, you'll be deported back to latvia? >> yes, of course. i mean, it's not right. i want to be able to choose whether i want to stay here or go. >> reporter: it may surprise you to hear that even though she pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide, because it was an involuntary homicide, angelika could still collect a share of his life insurance, reportedly worth nearly half a million dollars. >> prosecutors have said all along that your motivation for killing vince was the life insurance policy. do you think you're entitled? you're still named as the beneficiary. >> i signed over a paper that says it goes straight to my legal team because they deserve it, and that's that. >> so, any money that you would get would go straight to the

lawyers who have been fighting here for a year? >> mm-hmm. i wouldn't get any money. >> reporter: do you think you deserve money? >> it's just money. when i get a job, i'll make some. >> reporter: she knows there are those who will always believe she did something terrible out on the hudson the night that vince died. two years, seven months, and 22 days behind bars. some people say that's not enough time for a criminal negligent homicide that you got away with murder. >> there was no murder. >> what do you say? >> they can say whatever they want. i know the truth. god knows the truth. i'm at peace. >> reporter: since her release from prison, angelika has returned to the river's edge snapping pictures of the ice. in the sprung, she says she plans to go back to bannerman's

island with flowers for vince. >> i'm have, very muvery, very that place. >> reporter: why? now the scene is such tragedy for you. >> it's like completing a circle in a way. it's like facing your fear kind of, like -- >> reporter: so in the spring you will be back? >> yeah. >> to a place that draws you even now. >> i can't wait. i can't wait. i can't wait. an from all of us at "20/20" and abc news, thanks for watching. have a good evening. good night. >> coming up on "action news," troubleshooters goes after

answers to a family's burial brush off. it's thon time at penn state. we have a live report next. ♪ ♪ >> "action news," delaware valley's leading news program, with jim gardner. >> it is friday night. the big story on "action news" tonight is an accuweather alert. we have winter weather advisories with the approach of a storm that could bring as many