Toni Fratto sentenced: Mormon girl, 19, gets life in jail for beating Micaela Costanzo to death
'This is a violent killing as I've ever observed': Judge sentences Mormon woman, 19, to life in prison for beating lady, 16, to death with shovel
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A Mormon teen has been sentenced to life behind bars for helping her boyfriend beat his ex-girlfriend to death with a shovel in a criminal offense the judge branded 'as violent as I've ever seen'.
Toni Fratto, who shall be eligible for parole in 10 years, avoided a death sentence via coming into a plea deal in January and agreeing to testify towards her former boyfriend, Kody Cree Patten, 19.
She admitted they had kidnapped 16-year-old Micaela Costanzo after school in March 2011. They took her to the desert, killed her and buried her in a shallow grave near West Wendover, Nevada.
Punishment: Toni Fratto, 19, cries as she is handed the utmost sentence - life with probability of parole - for her part in the brutal homicide of Micaela 'Mickey' Costanzo in March 2011
Fratto, 19, admitted she had hit the woman, a promising student known as 'Mickey', in the back of the top with a shovel and sat on her legs while Patten slashed her throat, the Deseret News reported.
Judge Daniel Papez gave Fratto the maximum penalty the regulation lets in. She has been sentenced to life behind bars and must serve a minimum of 18 years with the potential for parole in 10.
'This is as violent [a killing] as I've seen in two decades at the bench,' Papez stated. 'The attack on Micaela was brutal, it was once vicious, it was violent - all shockingly so.'
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SharePapez described the sufferer as 'blameless a victim as you should imagine'. Costanzo was a best pupil and sports activities celebrity at the school, as well as the editor of the student newspaper.
Prosecutors claimed in the trial final July that the couple, who were planning to get married, murdered Costanzo as a result of she have been texting Patten asking to get back at the side of him.
Judge Papez advised the court docket it took a long time for her to die in the brutal killing.
Regret: Fratto was once found to blame of kidnapping 16-year-old Costanzo (proper) along with her boyfriend and taking the girl to the wasteland. They beat her to death, slashed her throat and buried her in a shallow grave
Fratto, who wept in courtroom because the judge handed down the punishment, had not been a suspect until she came ahead to her boyfriend's attorneys and confessed to her phase in the crime.
Her defence lawyer John Springgate pointed out that no forensic proof linked her to the scene so it was once her confession that led to her arrest.
He painted an image of the female killer as a 'sheep' who used to be now not absolutely in keep an eye on of her actions, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.
Tests proved Fratto had the psychological and emotional adulthood of a 15-year-old and used to be under the affect of Patten, who was once 'jealous and possessive and separating', Springgate said.
Security cameras at their faculty had shown pictures of Patten choking Fratto; Springgate mentioned it was once no longer an isolated incident. He added that it was Patten who had accrued the materials for the killing.
Arrested: Although no forensic evidence linked Fratto to the scene, she admitted her section to lawyers
'Manipulative': The defense staff claimed Fratto's boyfriend Kody Patten, who goes on trial this summer season for his phase in the homicide, was controlling and steadily beat her
Acknowledging that Fratto were a well-liked scholar with no legal history, the pass judgement on agreed it was once 'puzzling that an individual like you might want to participate in one of these terrible crime'.
Her mom Cassie testified that her daughter had started to change ahead of the homicide. Patten had stayed with them for six weeks prior to the crime as they feared their daughter would leave otherwise.
Now, away from the regulate of her boyfriend, Fratto is the person they knew before he came into their lives, Cassie mentioned.
Weeping forward of her sentence, Toni Patten mentioned in court on Monday: 'I would love to apologise for my movements and the tragedy that has happened. I do know what I did was incorrect.
'I'm sorry for what I did to Micaela and for what I did not do, protect her. It does now not alternate what happened. But I do imply I'm sorry.'
Grisly finish: The sufferer's frame used to be discovered buried in a shallow grave in the wilderness round five miles clear of West Wendover High School, Nevada, the varsity all three attended
But there used to be little forgiveness from the circle of relatives of the sufferer. Costanzo's mother Celia pleaded for the maximum sentence for Fratto.
'There’s a part of me that’s just been ripped away and I’m now not entire. There’s not a day, not a moment, not a 2nd that I don’t consider her,' she mentioned.
The sufferer's father, Theodore, had also asked for the utmost penalty, announcing he nonetheless felt he was 'dreaming' concerning the murder. 'I don't need not anything just right for her, ever,' he stated of the killer.
As she used to be passed down the utmost sentence, some audience contributors cheered, as Fratto put her head in her fingers and sobbed.
Kody Patten is due to stand trial in July. Fratto could also be referred to as to testify at his trial.
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