She sank her fiance’s kayak. Now she wants to cash in on his insurance, family says.

It’s been almost three years since Vincent Viafore’s body was found in New York’s Hudson River after a kayaking trip, and his family says “it’s been a nightmare.”

Now they want to make sure Viafore’s fiancee, Angelika Graswald, 37, doesn’t collect almost half a million dollars from Viafore’s accidental-death insurance policy after serving prison time for his drowning, The New York Post reported. But Graswald is fighting against their efforts.

Graswald pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide last July, admitting to pulling the plug in his kayak when she knew he wasn’t wearing a life vest. But in order to keep her from the money, his family will still have to prove that she “recklessly” caused his death, a judge ruled last week, The Poughkeepsie Journal reported.

“Of course she was reckless,” Viafore’s mom, Mary Ann Viafore, told the New York Post. “She removed the cap, and the kayak filled up and he went in the river. And then she did something to the paddle.”

Authorities said Graswald had pushed the floating paddle away from Viafore, 46, as his kayak capsized, the publication reported.

Graswald has maintained her innocence in the ill-fated trip to Bannerman Island on April 19, 2015, saying through her lawyer, that she’s “not a murderer” and would do anything to bring Vince back if she could, The Washington Post reported.

But according to a letter from Viafore’s family’s lawyer, the act of removing the plug while the man had “no protection when he went into the very cold water” is what killed him, the Poughkeepsie Journal reported.

Prosecutors in Orange County, New York, had alleged Viafore’s substantial life insurance policy was a motive for why she’d want him dead, according to the Washington Post. They also said the Latvian native wanted out of the relationship.

Graswald didn’t forfeit her claim to Viafore’s life insurance with her plea, The Poughkeepsie Journal reported. Her lawyer, Richard Portale, said in a letter to the court that Graswald “would be entirely within her rights if she chooses to lay claim” to Viafore’s death benefits.

This story was originally published January 25, 2018 at 3:21 PM with the headline "She sank her fiance’s kayak. Now she wants to cash in on his insurance, family says.."