Salvatore "Sam" Anello, the 51-year-old grandfather charged with the falling death of his granddaughter off a cruise ship in July, has given his first interview after months of staying silent. Sitting down with CBS This Morning, the Indiana grandfather recalled in heartbreaking detail what happened the moments before, during, and after 18-month-old Chloe Wiegand plunged 150 feet to her death from a Royal Caribbean cruise liner. And even now, some four months later, he says he feels like he's living in some kind of a bad dream.
In a preview of the segment, which was expected to air November 26, Anello fought back tears as he spoke of the little girl he cherished so much.
"It seems like it's all not real," he said. "She's such a beautiful little girl. Perfect little girl."
The Wiegand family, which has steadfastly proclaimed Anello's innocence in the devastating accident, has repeatedly described the grandfather as loving, responsible, and particularly devoted to little Chloe.
On the day of her death on July 7, Chloe and her family were enjoying their Freedom of the Seas cruise, and were gathered in a children's play area on the 11th deck of the cruise liner. According to the toddler's parents, Kimberly and Alan Wiegand, who spoke with Today several weeks after the incident, Anello had been standing close to Chloe as the cruise ship docked in San Juan.
The little girl, who was used to banging on the glass partition as she watched her older brother's hockey games, wanted to get a closer look. So in a matter of seconds, Anello lifted her up and placed her on a railing that had a wall of glass windows in front of it.
However, Anello made one fatal miscalculation: The panel of glass that he thought was in front of Chloe as he stood her on the railing had been removed.
In the blink of an eye, the toddler suddenly tumbled forward beyond Anello's grasp, and fell to her death on the platform below.
"I remember trying to find her on the floor and then I saw her fall," Anello told CBS This Morning. "I saw her fall the whole way down."
"I saw her fall and I was just in disbelief," he continued, looking pained as he spoke. "I was like, 'Oh my god.'"
Anello recalled being "in shock" for several moments afterwards, and barely able to move.
"And then, I just remember screaming I thought there was glass," he continued. "I thought there was glass there. I still say it to myself. It's just I kind of relive it all the time and I … I just thought there was glass there. I don't know what else to tell you."
In late October, Anello was formally charged with manslaughter by authorities in Puerto Rico.
He has since been released on bond, and is awaiting a court hearing next month.
In the meantime, his lawyer, José G. Pérez Ortiz, has spoken out to say that he's confident surveillance footage captured from the ship deck will back up Anello's version of events and refute any misleading claims that the grandfather acted negligently or "dangled" the toddler over the edge.
"What I saw with the video, it's pretty consistent with what my client has told me," Ortiz told the IndyStar of the footage, which has not been released to the public. "My client thought that the window was closed. Nothing in the video is inconsistent."
