Video shows final moments before toddler’s fatal cruise ship fall
Editor’s note: The Wiegand family’s attorney allowed a reporter and senior editor for the IndyStar, which is part of the USA TODAY Network, to review the Royal Caribbean surveillance footage that shows toddler Chloe Wiegand’s fall. IndyStar and USA TODAY have not obtained a copy of the video, nor is it being published on our platforms.
Chloe Wiegand is happily making her way toward the big windows of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship when she first enters the frame of surveillance footage capturing her final moments.
Following closely behind the excited toddler is her grandfather, 51-year-old Salvatore “Sam” Anello. He watches her as she approaches the windows of the ship, then docked in Puerto Rico. Anello appears to lean over an interior railing in front of the windows.
Anello lifts Chloe onto the railing. In an instant, she’s gone. Other passengers on the ship can be seen rushing to the windows as the 18-month old falls from the 11th story window.
That silent footage from the July 7 incident is a major part of two cases currently in progress in the wake of Chloe’s death. One is a criminal case in which Anello, of Valparaiso, Indiana, is facing a charge of negligent homicide.
If convicted, the charge carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison.
The other is a civil case as the Wiegand family sues the cruise line, alleging that Royal Caribbean failed to protect Chloe and other passengers with dangerous windows that are not compliant with current safety standards.
Footage released
There were no plans for the footage to be released, but the security video was broadcast Tuesday night on a program which aired on Puerto Rican station Mega TV. It remains unclear who is responsible for leaking the footage, and what impact it may have on the pending litigation.
Michael Winkleman, the attorney representing the Wiegand family in the civil case, allowed IndyStar to view the video Wednesday morning and describe what takes place within it. IndyStar did not obtain a copy of the video.
In the clip, Anello can be seen lifting Chloe up to bang on the window, which he told investigators he believed was closed. The family said it was something Chloe used to love to do while attending hockey games.
The family said that they had not wanted the video released to protect their older child.
“The family publicly asks the Puerto Rican authorities, why was this footage released?” the Wiegand family said in a statement released through Winkleman. “Why do you continue to inflict such heinous emotional distress on our family? Haven’t we been punished enough by the loss of Chloe?”
The family requested an independent investigation into the leak.
Puerto Rico Attorney General Dennise N. Longo Quiñones said in a statement that her office is unaware of how the outlet obtained the video.
“A careful review of said video confirms, however that Salvatore Anello is guilty of negligent homicide as charged,” the statement reads. “The evidence collected in this case corroborates his criminal responsibility. We hope and expect Chloe’s family fully cooperates with our proceedings and that justice prevails in this case with conviction.”
Winkleman said he would not speculate on why the video was leaked, but discussed how Royal Caribbean could make changes to their windows to increase passenger safety.
He said a screen or steel guard could be added to the windows to keep children from falling when they are open. Other options include locking the windows or limiting them to only open 4 inches.
“Last but not least if you’re not going to do any of those things, which Royal Caribbean did not, then put a warning,” Winkleman says. “If you put that right there on that railing, Sam is going to be alerted to it and we’re not going to be talking about Chloe’s death.”
Royal Caribbean declined to comment on the leak and the pending court cases.
IndyStar has reached out to prosecutors and Anello’s criminal attorney for comment on the leak.
Ortiz previously told IndyStar surveillance video of the incident is consistent with the grandfather’s assertion that he believed the window was closed.
“My client thought that the window was closed,” Ortiz said. “Nothing in the video is inconsistent.”
Anello appeared in court in Puerto Rico Tuesday for a pretrial conference, where prosecutors said they discussed the possibility of resolving the case without the need for a trial with his attorneys.
“Currently, no plea agreement has been reached between the parties that would take care of the charges,” Justice Department officials said in a statement released Tuesday. “During the hearing that took place this morning the court set a further status conference for January 27, 2020. On that date Salvatore Anello’s trial date would be set.
“The Government continues to resolutely prosecute this case and remains confident that the defendant will be convicted as charged.”
Police in Puerto Rico initially said Anello told officers he lost his grip while holding the girl outside the window on the 11th deck, the Associated Press reported.
In an Oct. 28 news release, Quiñones and other officials said Anello “negligently exposed the child to the abyss through a window on the 11th floor of the cruise ship.”
Kim Wiegand, Chloe’s mother, said on the day that civil suit was announced that the family does not and never has supported the pursuit of criminal charges against Anello.
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