Transcripts For WCAU Dateline NBC 20171216

Blow that idea apart. We recorded the conversation. And it was dynamite. What secrets lurked in these High School Hallways . She would just yell and holler, call her every name imaginable. The only mystery greater than who was why. A bad idea that became a horrible idea. A bad idea that went very, very bad. Im lester holt, and this is dateline. Heres Keith Morrison with under the desert sky. He waved at you for miles, the big neon cowboy. Wendover will is what they called him and his job these last 65 years has been to tempt travelers off interstate 80 at the utahnevada border, with this tiny gash of high desert, casino commerce and most leave lighter in the wallet. Knowing precious little about the stories wendover love to tell about the racers that come here to break speed records at the nearby bonneville flats, and about the local air base where the plane that took off for hiroshima. But theres also the story they whispered to each other up and down the little strip, the one that shocked them all, that puzzles them still about the terrible night when three families lost their teenage children. About the dark mysteries spawned under the pointing grin of wendover will. It was a thursday afternoon. A windy, late winter day in the high desert, here at the local high school, star runner Micaela Costanzo cleaned up after track practice. Mickey, as everyone called her, intended to walk home. Wasnt far, about a mile. Her usual ride, her sister christina was out of town. Before we had left, me and or my husband would always pick micaela up from school, and so we were, like, are you sure youre going to have a way home . This is something you do every day . This is something i do every day. It was the first time i left her. Mickey was 16, a junior. Clockwork reliable said her mother celia. Micaela is not your typical teenager. That girl would check in with me all of the time. So we have a routine. Im changing. Im going to be heading out. Im heading home. Im home. Always kept in touch. Always. To a fault. As the sun began to set, celia was still working at one of the local casinos expecting mickeys usual checkin call. She did not call me to tell me track practice was over and she was getting ready. She didnt call me to tell me she was walking home, and so i started calling her phone, and it rang and rang and rang the first time, and then i called it right back because that was unusual, and it was like you hit the ignore button. This is so not her. Now celia called christina 400 miles away in las vegas to see if she had heard from mickey. And i said, mom, shes probably at practice. And she says, no practice ended and shes not home. And i said calm down. Youre probably just missing her. Christina tried calling mickey, too. No answer. Im thinking, maybe for the first time in her life shes being a normal teenager. Mickey was the youngest of celias three girls. She was a star student and athlete, mature beyond her years. She liked to write poetry, short stories and she was pretty and very popular. She was the one out of all three of us girls that id say was just going down the path you would want any child to go down. She was doing it the right way, stereotypically. Bright. Talented, good looking. The trifecta. Yes. She had it all. One of those special kids said celia, born happy. She was always positive. She just had a different approach to life. She found the good in everything, in everybody. A depressive personality she was not. No. Oh, no. Not at all. Oh, and one more thing. Mickey and d. J. , her Middle Sister were inseparable. Id consider us twins. Everything we did we had to be together. If we werent at the same place we always had to know where the other was at all times. But now nobody seemed to know where mickey was. It was getting dark in the desert. Dark and cold. Celia bolted out of work early and rushed home hoping to spot mickey on the way or find her at the apartment, but only d. J. Was there. My mom came in and she said mickeys not here. Where is she because this isnt funny. I immediately went out and searched for her. Called her friends, called my friends. If you hear from mickey, you need to tell me. Word spread fast across wendover. By the time i called the police there were over 80 people starting to look. The police asked me, did you check with all of her friends . Did you go any place she would go . Im, like, yes, and theyre all panicked and theyre all out looking and everything. So they immediately knew something was wrong. Reporter the tiny West Wendover Police Department jumped on the case right away. Veteran detective, Donald Burnham was in charge. Theres no point in waiting. The longer you wait the bigger problem you have and the harder it will be to find them. Hours now since mickey was due home. Scared, upset, panic, worried because it was dark now and it was cold and she had no jacket and and in the bottom of my heart i knew something was really, really wrong. And you try to tell yourself, no, no, no, no, no. It cant be. Yeah. Then the police had an idea. Maybe mickeys cell phone, the one she always used to keep in touch, would give them a clue. So they checked her most recent calls. And there it was. One particular number that kept popping up just before mickey disappeared. Ten digits. Would they lead detectives to Mickey Costanzo or Something Else altogether . But maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. Because there are options. Like an unjection™. Xeljanz xr. A once daily pill for adults with moderate to severe ra for whom methotrexate did not work well. 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Im like this doesnt help. Mickeys sister was angry, terrified or both. I called her phone real mad and said this isnt funny. You need to tell me where you are and whats going on. I just kept calling her phone. Crying, begging her. Please answer. Please be okay. Eldest sister christina in las vegas attending nascar races with her husband had been telling people, dont worry. Shes just being rebellious. Not any more. I looked at my husband, and i said you need to take me home right now. He said what changed your mind . I said because nothing happens in wendover and something did. By now in wendover it was a local media event. I just hope we find this little girl safe. I never thought anything like this would ever happen in wendover. Not her to run away from home. Everybodys sad, but thats just hoping. Police were hoping, too, for a break. They had no solid clues. No eyewitnesses and nothing that pointed to mickeys whereabouts. I didnt believe she was dead. I was hoping maybe she was just somewhere and we would be able to find her at the time. That shed gone off to be with a friend and been irresponsible for once. We didnt know whether she met with foul play or being restrained and held somewhere against her will and we didnt know if it was a runaway juvenile, but we didnt know how far it had gone. Police started talking to everyone who knew mickey like her boyfriend javier. Called him down to the station for questioning. How was she acting lately . She was acting pretty fine. If there was something wrong she would vent. Shes not one of these girls that hides her feelings, like puts her emotions in her. Could they believe the boyfriend . When they pulled mickeys cell phone records something odd stood out at the very time she disappeared. There were a lot of texts and phone calls transpiring immediately after school and just up until 5 00. And then they stopped. Abruptly stopped at the time she left the school. Those calls and texts pinging off the local cell phone tower were all from one number. Definitely having communication back and forth. There was something going. Something. The last calls were made to a kody patten. Kody patten . Who was he . Certainly not her boyfriend, but as any kid knew, he was a friend, in fact, one of mickeys oldest friends. They grew up together. Did they ever date . Micaela was not allowed to date until she was 16. Im sure it was puppy love, what i call puppy love. Kody was an 18yearold senior at mickeys high school. Big handsome football player, once lived in the same apartment complex as the costanzo family and now he was engaged with another girl and lived with his fiancees parents. Police brought kody in for a talk as well. Last time i seen her was about 5 30. And that was where . At the school. She was with somebody . I thought it was her boyfriend because it was a her boyfriend being javier . Yeah. Kody wasnt sure it was javier, but he seemed and probably was exhausted. Hed been out the night before searching for mickey. Do you have any questions for me . Yeah. Find her, please. Search teams combed the desert outside of town. Police, volunteers. Mickeys sister, d. J. I remember i was out searching and i remember dropping on the ground and i said i really dont think shes alive. Theyre like you need to think positive. Reporter but where was she . She wasnt at school. She wasnt with a friend. She apparently wasnt in town, and its a very big desert around wendover. So much space to get lost or to hold a person against her will or god knows, to hide a body. Celias last hope, through her sleepless night, had been seeing mickie show up at school in the morning, wondering what all the fuss was about. When she didnt go to school on friday morning, i knew i wouldnt see my daughter alive. And i felt like a failure as a parent. Not just for micaela, but for dj too, cause i couldnt make her better. I went to my moms house. And i told her that i was going to go find my sister. Even though shes not okay, i will bring her home. And for whatever reason, in my mind, at that point, i knew that i was gonna find her. And i wasnt gonna find her the way we wanted to, but that i was gonna bring her home. All night christina roamed the rugged landscape alone. I stopped and looked at any little mound of dirt that looked weird, and i went to to the gravel pits. So close, had mickey called out, her sister would have heard her. But, of course, that wasnt possible. And pause. Not even in your vocabulary. So when a cold sore tingle strikes you act on it. Only abreva can heal a cold sore in as little as two and a half days when used at the first sign. It starts to work immediately to block the virus and protect healthy cells. Nothing heals a cold sore faster. And because abreva acts on it. You can too. Act on it, with abreva. 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Out here, the great empty basin sprawls 180,000 square miles and then saturday morning one of the searchers noted something that looked sort of odd out here in the middle of nowhere. Fresh tire tracks veering off the dusty, desert road. He followed them. He stated he seen some stage brush that seemed disturbed that was covering some ground so he looked underneath the sagebrush and saw what he thought appeared to be blood and decided he needed to call the authorities. This is the area they call the gravel pits. Police took the camera to record what they might find there. You move the sagebrush and gently dug into the area and found what we thought was part of a human body. Did you just uncover the body then . No. No. We backed out of the area and contacted the crime unit to come in and exhume that area for evidence. Crime scene investigators from reno. Reno was 400 miles away, nine hours by car. Still nothing more to do until they arrived so they sealed off the area and waited. Just as mickeys sister christina, still searching, drove by. I just felt like your heart sink. I saw the Unmarked Police car driving on the gravel pit road that i was on the night before, and i just i just sunk. Only one thing that could mean. So she rushed home and went to pick up her mother and went to see the police chief and he said, weve found a body. So we called off the search and i guess out of hope, i said, well, can you see her . And he said, no. I said, well, then you dont know its her. He said, youre right, christina, but shes the only one missing so were pretty sure its her. But they couldnt know for sure, said the chief, until the Forensics Team arrived the next morning. And i said, youre going leave her out here again all night . He said, yes, we have to, and i remember saying then im not leaving. And he told us we had to, and he said ill have somebody out here all of the time, and i said, it shouldnt be strangers. She shouldnt be left with strangers. So then to look at me and tell me well all be here. She wont be alone. Made me feel pretty good. As good as you can feel. Then police made it public. Shallow grave was discovered. The contents of which are unknown. Because the discovery was outside city limits, the case came out of the jurisdiction of the Sheriffs Department 110 miles away in nevada. Detective Kevin Mckinney raced down i80 and met the Forensics Team the next morning. We started sifting and it didnt take very long once it started. It was mickey. In a shallow grave, beneath a clump of sagebrush five miles from home. It was very emotional. The age of the victim and the brutality, i guess, disturbing would be the word. Mickey had been beaten, cut, stabbed, repeatedly. Several jagged slashes across her face, neck, head, the blood loss had saturated the ground underneath her. It was kind of personal. Uhhuh. It was very aggressive. It was not a precision type of injury. And then those policemen had to go to mickeys family and tell them what they found. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach, and i screamed and i just dropped, and i just kept screaming. The one thing i will never, ever forget in my entire life is watching my daughter d. J. Scream the scream i havent heard from her even as a baby and fall to the ground in shock and disbelief. She physically did what i felt like i wanted to do, but i couldnt do it because im the mom, and i had to keep myself together. I had to be the strong one. And so she had a News Conference and said what at this point everybody in town was thinking. Please, ladies and gentlemen, this is not over yet until the person or persons responsible are brought to justice. But why mickey of all people . Not an enemy in the world, at least as far as anybody knew, and yet here at the crime scene, one clue. One weird, awful clue. There was a zip tie that was bound around her wrist. What did that say to you . It indicated to me that she was restrained and was likely taken from that school against her will. Somebody kidnapped and murdered her with unimaginable brutality, but who and why . Then another clue. One of the officers going through surveillance videos from the school found the grainy image of mickey just outside the girls locker room and she wasnt alone. Where is it you wanna go . Where is it you wanna go . Check it out oh, dude. Im sending it to him. Where is it you wanna go . Where is it you wanna go . Where is it you wanna go . Where is it you wanna go . Thank you. Where is it you wanna go . Where is it you wanna go . Hey hey. Whatcha doin on your computer . Whats a computer . Youre so cold, come in whats wrong . Its dry. Your scalp . Mine gets dry in the winter too. Try head and shoulders dry scalp care it nourishes the scalp and. Keeps you up to 100 flake free head and shoulders dry scalp care its raining men the weather girls its almost christmas dad. Hi. Hi. Make the holidays a treat with kelloggs rice krispies. Reporter now the tv trucks roared in from salt lake and all around northern nevada, poking about in little West Wendover, demanding an answer. Exactly what happened to that perfect daughter, that pretty and popular 16yearold Mickey Costanzo . Justice demanded an answer. The police chief supplied a nonanswer for the evening news. We dont have a suspect and we dont have a person of interest, but we are getting leads all of the time. But we can tell you now there were a couple of things about the murder the chief did not disclose when he spoke to the media. Its true there were no hairs or fibers or fingerprints pointing to any particular suspect, but there was a person of interest. We started doing a little digging. We went back to the school. We obtained some video surveillance. Remember what mickeys friend kody patten said, he saw her leaving the school with someone whom he assumed was her boyfriend javier. The video showed kody indeed had been with someone. Prior to mickey leaving the school we saw kody patten leave the same doorway. Kody patten, thats the someone she was with. Kody, the childhood friend who had been calling and texting with mickey just before she disappeared. Kody patten was probably the last person who had seen her due to the fact that she left through the southwest doors and he was in that area. Why didnt kody tell him that. The detectives went to mickeys mother celia to find out more about kody. Kody is a very interesting young man. Kody could be the sweetest person in the world and then turn right around and not be okay. Kody has a tough temper. Kody has a hot temper. Kody had been struggling at school and at home with his parents, so much so that kody left and moved in with his fiancee, toni fratto and her parents, cassie and claude, mormon family. Very devout. I just wanted to extend a hand to him to help him get through school. We became his second family, and more importantly, we were really invested in his success. But you really cared for him, right . Of course. Yes. He was like a son to me. But when the police asked to talk to kody yet again, it wasnt claude fratto, but his actual father kip patten who was brought him to the station. He looked like your average High School Student to me. Tall, lean, cleancut, polite. Very selfconfident. Did you sleep okay last night . Why not . Ive slept horrible since mickey went missing. How come . Its one of my friends. Kody rehashed the story he told the cops a few days earlier how hed been calling and texting mickey asking for help to move some car parts and then he saw her walking toward the front door of the school. I said, okay, are you all right . She said yeah. Im fine. Okay, well, no worries. Have a good one. All right. That was it. He had seen her at the front of the school with her boyfriend and everyone else had last seen her exiting out the back of the school. Not to mention the Security Camera that showed mickey walking toward the rear exit. No one else around but kody himself. So what are you getting at . What im getting at is youre not being totally truthful with us. Yes, i am. No, youre not. Reporter but there was no getting around it. Video doesnt lie. The video from the school indicates to us that you were waiting for her. Okay . I wasnt. Because the time she disappeared. And that was time she died, and you were involved. I wasnt involved in her death i think you were. I know you were now. I did not kill Micaela Costanzo i dont think you planned on it. I dont think you intended to. I didnt. I didnt do anything. Reporter and then kody asked if he could spend a minute alone with his dad. So the detectives left the room, and kodys father kip went in, closed the door. What happened in there . Couldnt tell exactly, through the door. But it didnt sound happy. Not at all. Unstop right there im about to pop a cap of mmm fresh in that washer. With unstopables inwash scent boosters by downy. Ah, its so fresh. And its going to last from wash to. Wear for up to 12 weeks. Unstopables by downy. Three days after Mickey Costanzos brutalized body was unearthed in the desert, a family tragedy of a different kind was playing out in the Wendover Police department. Mickeys childhood friend kody patten had asked for a few minutes alone with his father kip behind a closed door. I didnt hear what was said, but at one point i heard some wailing from the father. I could hear him yell. It sounded to me like he was crying. And then a few minutes later the detectives walked back into the interview room. His father told him he needed to tell us what happened. Be a man. Uhhuh. No telling what a lawyer might have told young kody patten, but this was a father who had just heard the worst news of his life from the lips of his own son and so here is what he said to kody. You got to start fixing this now as much as you can what you did is heinous, kody. I dont want to abandon you at all, okay . Youve got to do whats right for micaela as well. And this is what kody told them. That he picked up mickey at the school and when they started driving that mickey insisted kody break up with his fiancee toni fratto and date her, instead. That when he refused she started yelling at me and she said that its because im not leaving toni and then she started pounding on my chest and stuff. By this time, said, kody, they were out of the car. Out in the desert. She hit him, he said and then he pushed her. She fell down and hit her head and she just laid there and was looking at the sky and, like, her eyes started to turn black. And i didnt know what to do. I just sat there and she started to, like, shake and seize. Kody insisted he tried to check her pulse and got nothing and then he said she started flopping so he grabbed a shovel from the car. And i tried to hit her on the head, right here somewhere, trying to just knock her out and it hit like, right here and it tore it up pretty bad. He was very tearful. We had to stop several times to allow him to gain his composure back. A couple of times he told us he was getting physically ill while he was describing details to us. Kody continued saying he panicked and to stifle the sound he cut her throat. And then she stopped. I didnt know what to do. I was going to call my dad, but i knew that he would freak out. So i put her in the little grave thing i dug by the big bush, and i covered her up and i took the clothes over in the gravel pit area and burned them. He stated he was a own and he was alone and with micaela and he never indicated anyone was present or aware of it. He did it alone. Did he tell anybody why . No, he did not. They arrested kody then, cuffed him, charged him with murder. He intended to join the marines after high school. Now he could face the Death Penalty. Patten has been enrolled as a student in the West Wendover Junior Senior High School and has been attending until the time of his arrest. It was after he confessed, after theyd put him in jail, that kody finally hired an attorney, john olson. His specialty is keeping accused killers off death row. But kody, unlike some of olsons other clients, didnt seem at all like a crazed killer. You obviously got to know him reasonably well. What sort of family did kody have . Nice family. Theyre working people. They seemed to be fairly close. They did a lot of things together. Reporter of course, thats kodys attorney talking. But even mickies family, the very people youd expect would demand the Death Penalty, in fact felt a quite different emotion. I was completely shocked. Its not the person that i knew. And my husband was there. And i said, kody didnt do this. He would never hurt her. And he says, babe, he did. And i said, then somebody made him do it. And i said that every single day since then. Somebody made him do it. Today were out here to test peoples knowledge about type 2 diabetes. So you have type 2 diabetes . Yes i do. True or false. Type 2 diabetes more than doubles your chance of dying from a cardiovascular event, like a heart attack or a stroke. That cant be true, can it . Actually, it is true. And with Heart Disease, your risk is even higher. In fact, cardiovascular disease is the 1 cause of death for adults with type 2 diabetes and Heart Disease. But there is good news. Jardiance is the only type 2 diabetes pill with a lifesaving cardiovascular benefit. Jardiance is proven to both significantly reduce the chance of dying from a cardiovascular event in adults who have type 2 diabetes and Heart Disease and lower your a1c. Thats good to know. 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And get to the heart of what matters. This season, get 4 lines of unlimited data for 100 per month on the cricket unlimited 2 plan. Plus,switch now and get up to four free lg fortune phones. All on a network that covers over 99 of americans. Cricket wireless. Something to smile about. In this home. We count our blessings. Uh, this one. Both when theres a little and a lot. There you go. What matters most is made at home. Now with more icing. I tabut with my back paines, i couldnt sleep and get up in time. Then i found aleve pm. Aleve pm is the only one to combine a safe sleep aid plus the 12 hour pain relieving strength of aleve. Im back. Aleve pm for a better am. It was, everybody said, a measure of Mickey Costanzos sunny personality, her sweet goodness that they had to rent wendovers 1,000seat concert hall to make room for her funeral. She was, people said, everybodys daughter. This entire town suffered as if this town was her parent. Im really glad all of you came here, because we can see how many people loved her like we did. And one by one they wept as they said goodbye and remembered micaela so cruelly murdered as the ideal young woman, the pride of West Wendover high. She was many things to many people, a friend, a fellow student, a teammate and an inspiration. In fact, perhaps the only friend who didnt attend the public, funeral, didnt witness its outpouring of emotion and grief was one of her oldest playmates kody patten. Kody, of course, was in a jail cell awaiting trial for murdering her. Naturally, a lot of people in town had come to see that boy as evil incarnate, the villain who had snuffed out the life of their princess and yet, even to mickeys family it was more puzzling than that. It was simply inexplicable. He would never hurt her. I dont understand why he ended up confessing to it. Im still, like, theres something more to this story. More partly because kodys story of what happened just didnt make any sense especially that bit about how mickey demanded kody dump his fiancee toni and date her, instead. Impossible said celia. Mickey had her own steady boyfriend and out of respect for toni, had been going out of her way to avoid getting anywhere near kody. Micaela never liked confrontation. She did not like drama. She hated drama. If it was going to cause an issue she would stay away. Anyway, everybody knew about kody and tonis engagement and saw them flash their engagement rings. He, the 66 soontobe marine and she made it her business to tame his temper and set him on the road to righteousness. She even persuaded him to convert to the mormon church. She was determined to be kodys savior, if you will. The person that helped him to graduate. She was going make him happy. Helped him be happy. The person that helped him get into the marines. She encouraged that. She encouraged him to do his school work and she encouraged him to keep on track to graduate and she encouraged him to try and be a better person. Now the man toni so badly wanted to save was facing the Death Penalty and she stuck by him, sent him love letters and promised to be faithful and true and often drove the four hours to visit him in jail. They talked on the phone sometimes too and this, being jail, those calls were recorded. Not to see you every day and talk to you, like, things to think and everything. Um, hold you in my arms or anything. Its just hard. Yeah. I know. Its hard for me, too. It really is. Tonis parents visited kody sometimes to provide support and also to ask a particular question. I said, i dont understand this. Why did you do this . Why did this happen . And he just said, i dont know. I cant tell you anything. I dont know. But by now kodys lawyer had told him stop talking. Tough case. Real tough case. Because the chances of his getting the Death Penalty were quite high. I think they were very high. It was the identity of the victim. It was the brutality of the killing. It was the poignancy of the photographs in the case, it would break your heart. Not to mention kodys confession that made mounting a defense all but impossible. I think he regretted doing that because the confession early on was the strongest piece of evidence against kody. What kody had in mind when he told them that he was involved in the killing or that he did the killing, god knows. But the more he studied kodys confession, the more olson came to believe just like mickeys family did that something about it didnt add up. So olson hired a seasoned investigator, a former secret Service Agent named bill savage. Asked him to find out what he could about kody, the murder and that boys confession. Some of the details that mr. Patten reported didnt quite pass the sniff test to me. Mickeys wounds, for example, so severe, so brutal. They certainly didnt seem to be the result of an accident as kody had claimed or from a shovel of all things. Horrible, slicing disfigurement to mickeys face. What did that say to you . A great deal of rage by someone. Why would kody have done that to a childhood friend . There had to be more to the story. He wondered if kodys fiancee, toni fratto would provide more insight. I was kind of curious, like where is mickey . Whats going on, you know . Where could she have gone . So, olson spoke to toni himself. Did she have any idea why he absolutely none. No idea. Was she as devastated as other people seemed to have been . I would describe her aspect as dead pan. I would describe her as emotionless. How did that strike you . Odd. Very odd. Mickeys sister d. J. Also remembered how after the murder toni just seemed to shut down. She refused to look at me. Refused. I understand that youre not going to be social because its your significant other doing this, but she wouldnt talk to certain people anymore that she normally would. Who knew what wheels were turning in that young womans brain and then early one spring morning in april toni fratto climbed into a car with kodys father, kip patten and she didnt tell her parents. They were out of town. Toni was wearing just her pajamas and brought nothing with her as if she assumed shed never be coming back. I was wondering if an electric toothbrush really cleans better than a manual. And my hygienist says it does but theyre not all the same. Who knew . I had no idea. So she said, look for one thats shaped like a dental tool with a round brush head. Go pro with oralb. Oralbs rounded brush head surrounds each tooth to gently remove more plaque. And unlike sonicare, oralb is the only electric toothbrush brand accepted by the American Dental Association for its effectiveness and safety. 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And its addictive, you want to keep doing it, you know . Bellas, you are the i am inside of all of you. Thats weird. One last show together. I love you awesome nerds. Byebye bellas. [ grunts ] Pitch Perfect 3. Rated pg13. Miim alive and have a second chance. James im thankful for the help and the opportunity that i received. Darlene im thankful to be able to help people in crisis. Vanessa im thankful that addiction is treatable, and that help is available. Christie new jersey is experiencing a heroin epidemic fueled by opioid painkillers. But if you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, i want you to know we are here for you. This Holiday Season, choose help. Call 844 reach nj or visit reachnj. Gov. Returning to our story, a my heart sank. A desert town has been rocked by the brutal murder of a teenage girl. Rage by someone. Her killer, one of her oldest friends who has confessed. He looked like your average High School Student, clean cut, polite. But some say his story doesnt add up. I was shocked. He would never hurt her. Now his fiancee is about to reveal her secrets when it comes to that terrible night in the desert that detectives an the family literally dont know the half of it. I had to know exactly what happened to my daughter. Everything. No matter how bad. Everything. Here again is Keith Morrison. Reporter it was one of Mickey Costanzos favorite places, the High School Track where she won so many races. Now on a bright spring day in may 2011, two months after her murder, a somber celebration was under way here. It would have been mickeys 17th birthday. I bought a cake, balloons, took it down to the high school, invited her friends and that was the hardest day next to finding out she was murdered. Apparently murdered by a childhood friend, kody patten. Hed confessed at the city jail the Death Penalty a possibility, a distinct possibility or so everyone thought, but as they celebrated mickeys life, was there something about her death they didnt know. Several days earlier kodys legal team had a surprise visitor. Kodys fiancee, toni fratto. She arrived wearing her pajamas and with kodys father at her side said she was ready to tell the lawyers the story. So are you willing to proceed . I think so, yeah. We talked and we recorded that conversation with her permission and it was dynamite. Youre about to hear a whole new version of mickeys murder and would turn the case upside down. Am i to believe that you, in fact, were present when the girl got killed . Yes. And here, from the lips of this quiet little teen came a horrifying story. Kody wasnt the only killer. It began for her, she said, with a text from kody saying i have her. Meaning mickey was in an suv and wanted toni to join them. Kody picked her up and the three drove around, ending up at the gravel pits. Then mickey and kody got out of the car and she started yelling at him and then pushing him. I looked away just for, like, a split second and then heard, like a loud thud on the car or whatever. So i had got out to see what happened. What did you see that had happened . Micaela was on the ground, and she wasnt really moving at that point. She said kody started digging what appeared to be a grave and when he finished with mickey lying semiconscious on the ground they both started kicking her, punching her, hit her with a shovel. She wasnt moving, and so we had moved her to the grave, and then we were kind of standing there deciding what what what do we do . We didnt know what really, we had just done. I remember, like, holding down her legs and, um, we had slit her throat. Who cut her throat . It was both of us. It was both of us. To kodys defense attorney, words that changed anything. Toni fratto freely admitting that she had also murdered mickey. All of a sudden it changed from one crazed killer to two people who committed a homicide. It gave us something to point the case towards other than kodys acts. Two killers sharing the guilt. Maybe with some good lawyering his client could escape the Death Penalty after all. Why toni said those things was almost beside the point for olson, anyway, but not for tonis parents, not when they found out. No one that knows toni would have ever seen this coming. It just isnt possible. Their daughter hadnt even been a suspect, not even a person of interest. Now she confessed herself into a murder that could send her to death row. My immediate thought was that shes been coerced into saying this. Somebody made her do it. Yes. Yeah. What person popped into your head . Kodys dad. Kodys father, kip patten, the man who delivered toni to a meeting with kodys lawyers, denied a request to appear on the program, but he insisted n toni and it was her idea to meet with kodys attorneys. He just drove her there because tonis parents were out of town. Do you think sometimes that she thought i cant do this with my parents present. I have to wait until theyre gone before i can go and confess to this terrible thing . I dont know. Possibly so, but weve always been very, very open. Or possibly a misguided attempt to save kody . But shed only succeeded in incriminating herself. She doesnt believe that shes confessing to the Law Enforcement. Shes talking to kodys attorneys, asking them if its going to help. But toni didnt have an attorneyclient relationship with kodys lawyers, no protection. No privilege. So they turned her statement over to Law Enforcement and when the detective donald burner reviewed the transcript of tonis confession. I determined we had probable cause to arrest her just based on her own admission. Toni fratto just 18 was booked, held without bail, facing perhaps a capital murder charge, same as kody. I, in my heart of hearts knew toni had something to do with it because they were a couple. It was very hard for me to know she was at School Wearing his engagement ring, acting like nothing had happened and she knew nothing about it when i knew she knew. I said, i am so glad that she is now sitting and facing what he is. Now now it makes sense. But little toni fratto hardly seemed like a killer. She was a beauty queen at 13. West wendover junior miss, in fact, devoutly religious, too, and extremely close to her parents. She always went to church with us. A lot of kids, you have to force them to get out of bed and go. It was never that way with toni. She had goals in her life. She knew exactly where she wanted to go. A truly responsible child. Yes. Absolutely. Outside of her family, toni had very few friends, except kody, of course. From the moment they started dating in the ninth grade they were virtually inseparable. She loved him. She thought she loved him. He was very, very possessive. Did not like her time taken up by anyone else but him. Now the frattos remembered a possessive, controlling kody, so big and strong. And when they thought about it that way, they wondered, what was the real story behind their daughters confession . This holiday, the real gift isnt whats inside the box. Its whats inside the person who opens it. Give ancestrydna, the only dna test that can trace your origins to over 150 ethnic regions. And open up a world of possibilities. Save 20 for the holidays at ancestrydna. Com. Tha. Oh, burnton gravy . Ie. Gotta rinse that. Nope. No way. Nada. Really . Dish issues . Throw it all in. Cascade platinum powers through even burnton gravy. Nice. Cascade. Elko, nevada, gold rush town, saloons, casinos, even brothels, four in the middle of town. Good business citizens according to police. Nearby, theres also an historic courthouse, the stage for preliminary hearings for the teenagers accused of that brutal murder that so far, not a Single Person could explain. Least of all Mickey Costanzos mother celia. Before the hearing she studied every grisly photo and braced herself for what was coming. I had to know exactly what happened to my daughter. Everything. No matter how bad. Everything. Every autopsy photo that was taken of my daughter i saw. I saw it all because i did not want to go into a courtroom and see my daughter like that for the very first time. There were separate hearings for toni and kody, two occasions for celia to hold up under questioning. Hes right over there and hes in a red jumpsuit. Two occasions to hear emotional and incriminating confessions. I tried to, like, check her pulse and stuff. And i couldnt get anything and she was just flopping. Kody, no surprise, was bound over for trial at which everyone knew he could face the Death Penalty and toni, pale and gaunt in her dark blue jump suits, toni listened to excerpts of her quite stunning confession. After that she wasnt really breathing or anything, and so we kind of just stood there. We were crying because we didnt know what we had just done. It was brutal. It was painful. It was long. It was torturous, and those two could not ever get away with it. They could not walk away free. But people couldnt help, but notice that the two kids told very different stories. Remember, kody said he was alone while toni insisted she was with him and they murdered mickey together. Tonis parents simply couldnt believe despite her confession that their sweet, diminutive daughter was capable of such a monstrous act . Can you imagine her doing those things, perhaps striking with a shovel or with a knife . I dont believe she did anything with the knife. No fingerprints, no dna. The striking her with the shovel was an order from kody. An order from kody. That was the answer to the questions to the frattos and behind it, a terrible secret. Over the years, said the frattos, cody had given toni lots of orders. He was extremely possessive, and more than a foot will taller than little toni and was often angry and abusive. He would yell at her. He would be pushing her around. He would be restraining her, throwing her down. In fact, just two months before mickeys murder the School Surveillance camera caught an agitated kody appearing to get rough with her at her locker. There was an instance that occurred in the hallway at Wendover High School that depicts kody grabbing toni around the neck and realizing hes 66,shes 51, but toni declined to file charges. Her explanation was that if Something Like this happens he will not be accepted into the marines and i dont want to stand in the way of that. You have to realize what her goals were and her expectations and her final result of all of this was to get him into the marines. And perhaps get him out of her life . Now after the murder and tonis confession, the frattos looked back on their daughters relationship with kody with new eyes. Toni, they decided, was an abused woman. She was living in fear of what she thought the repercussions would be if she brought it out. So fearing kody might kill her, too, tonis parents insisted their daughter had no choice but to cooperate with kody, the murderer. Her participation, as people say, in what happened that night was strictly out of fear, controlling, manipulation and orders by the one that she had already been suffering abuse from for two years, three years. But she participated in the attack. Participated. Participated under extreme orders. Orders. She was afraid that she would be the one lying next to micaela if she did not follow his orders that evening. To which kodys attorney john olson responded. Baloney. Why do you say that . Baloney. Theres nothing in their relationship ever that would indicate that she was ever abused by kody. Reporter even so, toni fratto was bound over for trial, just like kody, and was now sitting in a jail cell, facing the daunting prospect of losing her life not to kody patten, but to lethal injection. Unless what if toni told a whole new story about her role in mickie costanzos murder . A story that just might eventually set her free. Now make sure theres bows lets go whoo preseeeeeents reload but we didnt get you anything. woman whoa, whoa, whoa. You do realize everyone wins . Presents for them, kohls cash for you announcer kohls. Give joy. Get joy. Use pantene shampoo together with 3 minute miracle daily conditioner. Their prov formula is like a multivitamin. Making your hair 2x stronger see the difference when you add 3 minute miracle daily conditioner. 0npq miim alive and have a second chance. James im thankful for the help and the opportunity that i received. Darlene im thankful to be able to help people in crisis. Vanessa im thankful that addiction is treatable, and that help is available. Christie new jersey is experiencing a heroin epidemic fueled by opioid painkillers. But if you or someone you love is struggling with addiction, i want you to know we are here for you. This Holiday Season, choose help. Call 844 reach nj or visit reachnj. Gov. Christmastime in West Wendover, nevada. Mickey costanzo had been dead for nine months. Christmas day, it was not fun for me. She was missing. Its not the same. And i dont ever think thats going to go away. I used to enjoy going and buying everybody christmas presents and wrapping them up and it wasnt the same. And then having to remember not to buy her something. Kody patten and his fiancee toni fratto spent the holidays in jail awaiting trial. On new years eve, kody turned 20. Early in 2012 a legal deal emerged. Kody would plead guilty to firstdegree murder, get life in prison, but with the possibility of parole, no Death Penalty and in exchange hed have to testify against toni. Kody took the deal and just as suddenly changed his mind. Instead, kody decided to take his chances in court, but just one day later the d. A. Offered toni a deal, not the same deal. Better. If toni agreed to testify against kody shed be allowed to plead to seconddegree murder with the chance of parole after just 18 years. By then toni would be just 36, and toni offered a chance to save her own skin by throwing kody under the bus said yes. She signed the plea papers right away. She said you know what . Enough is enough. The truth needs to be told, and im going to tell it. So on a chilly, january day, toni fratto was led from her jail cell to an office of the Sheriffs Department to tell her story and put her hand on the bible and promised to tell the truth. Im a person to tell the truth. And deep down, i wanted people to know the truth because i knew i knew kody wasnt going to come forward to tell the complete truth. For the next three and a half hours toni told a whole new story about how kody was upset with mickey. How he hated the sound of her voice. How things were building up and then the one detail of the story that did not change. The afternoon of march 3rd, that text from kody, one of over a hundred the two exchanged that day. Police werent able to recover any of them, but this one, said toni, was burned in her memory. What was the content of it . All it said was i have her. From here, the story changed and blame shifted toward kody. As they drove off into the desert, said toni, she looked back and saw mickey stuffed in the back section of the suv and mickey looked scared, said toni, with her hands up to her face. Kody looked determined and angry, she said and wouldnt talk to her. As they approached the gravel pits, said toni, kody right beside her in the drivers seat sent her a text and it said we have to kill her. Just kind of looked at him and kind of lipped, well, why . Kody pulled over, said toni and ordered her to stand guard as he dug a hole and he took mickey from the car and pushed her from the ground and demanded that toni hit her. All i remember is him pulling her hair back and i went up and had hit her in the face. In this new and entirely different version of her story, toni claimed she was an unwilling participant and insisted she backed off while kody started punching and kicking mickey and then he issued an order. I remember looking up at kody and him telling me, hit her with the shovel. Hit her with the shovel, and so i hit her in the back of the shoulder with a shovel. She said kody took the shovel back and whacked mickey on the head and then in the hole he dug, kody got on top of her, and i remember going up and holding her legs down so that shed stop kicking and then all of a sudden her legs went completely still and she wasnt moving. And that freaked me out, so i backed off and jumped up and walked off a little bit. Remember, in her first confession, toni claimed shed help cut mickeys throat. Not anymore. Her new story, kody used the knife alone while she, horrified, then backed off, but kept watching and listening. She had looked up at kody and asked am i still here . Am i still alive . And then kody ordered her to get in the car, she said, and sitting by herself, toni said she heard the last sounds of Mickey Costanzos life and then she said it was over. Kody buried mickey by himself. Once in the car, according to toni, they drove back into town and went to mcdonalds for a cold drink and then later they cruised across the state line into utah, pulled off into the desert and burned mickeys clothes and belongings. You cant tell me to this day why this happened . No. He never told you that . No. And with that, toni had her deal. The sworn statement she provided would now comprise much of the d. A. s case against her fiance, kody patten. In this new version of her story, kody was the killer and orchestrated the whole thing and she, terrified of kodys murderous rage was forced to go along for the awful ride. Not at all like her original confession. But was there more to tonis story . Well, maybe. Because just before she was arrested, toni left something behind. Something, in her very own words, that just might reveal the real motive for Mickey Costanzos murder. Shes nationd for her compassion and care. He spent decades fighting to give families a second chance. 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Make the holidays a treat with kelloggs rice krispies. Studying to be a dentist and she gave me advice. She said dad. Go pro with crest prohealth. 4 out of 5 dentists confirm these crest prohealth products. Help maintain a professional clean. And its the only toothpaste with the ada seal of acceptance for protection against acid erosion. The final technique in Law Enforcement, got two defendants get one to take a deal and testify against the other. It looked like that was about to work in the case of the West Wendover murder of Mickey Costanzo. Toni fratto appeared all set to tell the world that her fiancee, kody patten, after abusing her , for years, forced her to witness and even in a minor way assist in the killing. Apparently, like everybody else, she didnt know why kody did it, only that she, toni feared hed kill her too, if she didnt go along. Why was the question on the lips of just about every breathing, living soul in wendover, the idea that kody would brutally murder a childhood friend didnt make any sense, any more than the idea that toni would go to such trouble to visit kody in jail and whisper Sweet Nothings on the phone and send him love notes if she was deathly afraid of him as she claims. People had given up on the idea on getting any kind of an answer, when suddenly out of the blue a little gift appeared. Toni, had been keeping a diary. Before she confessed, toni gave it to kodys parents who turned everything over to defense investigator bill savage. In my opinion there was some valuable information in there with regard to tonis personality, her feelings. In this little book, toni poured out her fears, her hopes, her deep insecurities and what kodys attorney thought was just perhaps a motive for murder. This, for example. She worried that kody would leave me for someone else. Cheat on me, but kody and i wont last forever. We wont get married. In here she wrote of her own terror that her relationship with kody wouldnt work out, and if so, was there no point in living. Im very angry today. So angry that im trying to overdose after i got off the phone with kody, i went and took four aspirins. In my opinion, a very troubled young lady. A troubled young lady who, in many ways, did not feel worthy, i gather. Thats correct. And who loved this guy, but at the same time was terrified of losing him. Yes. Afraid of losing him to the girl he had grown up with, the attractive and popular Mickey Costanzo. We might as well break up so he can get back together with her. He will be happier and can see her a lot. A lot more than he will ever see me. Theyre perfect for each other. Toni was jealous of mickey, and if she were out of the picture then kody and toni would be together. She was everything toni wasnt. Yes. Absolutely. They would be so happy together if i didnt steal him away. I know in my heart he really doesnt love me. The diary disclosed a real animosity that toni had for micaela. Right. No ones ever shown me any reason that kody had to hurt micaela, none. But toni . Toni had reasons. Was it possible she was the one that wanted mickey dead . That her big, strong boyfriend was just doing what she wanted . Mickeys sisters remembered. Toni used to get so upset if micaela was seen talking to kody and she would just yell and holler and say horrible things to micaela, you know. Dont talk to him and call her every name imaginable. An intensely jealous young woman said d. J. He couldnt be around girls especially my sister, but he couldnt go do certain things. She couldnt go do certain things and if one did what the other didnt like it was world war iii. And kody was, said christina, on a very tight leash. I must have been doing laundry or something and here kody came walking and said gotta go. I said you cant even talked to me . No, gotta go. Shell get mad. Who was the driving force in that relationship . She was. Having heard tonis sworn statement, kody knew his clients story of mickey dying after some sort of accident sounded like the coverup for a coldblooded murder and therefore that tonis testimony could send kody who was still facing trial, to death row. Part of toni frattos statement and what she said that at some point in time at this killing micaela sat up in the grave and said to kody, am i still here . Can i go home . Devastating. Yeah. Which is why, just weeks before the trial kody decided to plead guilty to firstdegree murder. That was the safest way to go. That was the way that would present at least a possibility that kody would see daylight again, and that would take the Death Penalty off the table. At kodys sentencing in front of a packed courtroom he made his case for eventual parole, pleading with the judge for mercy and begging mickeys family for forgiveness. The unimaginable pain. This has caused you. Then for the first time, kody spoke publicly about his fiancee and apparent partner in the murder, and the woman he protected, and never revealing she was at the crime scene. Listen to what he said now. To the court, i just want to say that i dont bear all of the blame. Did you hear that . Toni was not all to blame. Was kody implying that she played a role in at least some or most of the horrific stab wounds to mickeys pretty face. Theres no reason and no why no justification for it. I did it. Sorry is not enough, but i i i apologize for everything. Moments later, his sentence, a chance at parole after maybe 25 years. I sentence you for a term of life in the Nevada Department of corrections. There shall be no possibility of parole. It was justice, said mickeys family. But an odd feeling lingered. You have to sit there and go oh, my god. This person that i knew so well will never, ever have a chance at anything. Youre conflicted. I see the good in him. I see what he did. I want him to be punished for what he did, but i see that good side of him. Reporter both kody and the prison where hell spend his life turned down our request for an interview. But toni fratto . Different story. Toni had a lot to say about that dark night in the nevada desert and just what really happened to her romantic rival mickie costanzo. Its almost christmas dad. Its raining men the weather girls hi. Hi. When you have a cold, stuff happens. { sneezing ] shut down cold symptoms fast [ coughing ] with maximum strength alka seltzer plus liquid gels. This season, get 2 lines of unlimited data for 80 mo on the cricket unlimited 2 plan. Plus, get great deals on lg smartphones when you switch. All on a network that covers over 99 of americans. Cricket wireless. Something to smile about toni fratto, the exjunior miss beauty queen, was a tiny wisp of a girl in a prison suit when they brought her to see us. Im keith. Wed arranged our meeting in a small courtroom not too far from her cell. The sheriffs people agreed to let her mother watch from an adjoining room, separated by a thick, plate glass window. She could hear us, we could not hear her. So two lines of communication. Ours with toni, hers silently with her mother. We began by talking about kody, the fiance she seemed so afraid of losing to Mickey Costanzo. There are people who say that you were very jealous and that you manipulated him into committing murder. I was not jealous of micaela. Yes, that one thing that i had wrote in my diary, but that was way long early in our relationship. It never was brought up again. Nothing ever recent. Did you ever say to him get rid of her . Get rid of her or you lose me . No. Didnt say its her or me . No. Didnt give him that choice . Absolutely not. And then we talked about the night of march 3, 2011. When she and kody took mickey to the desert and ended her life. When you put yourself back there in your memory, what does that feel like inside . My heart just sinks and, you know, to be honest, its like it takes my breath away. Its hard to breathe and everything. Its not something, you know, you want to sit there and think about. There are differing stories so thats why i have to ask these questions. Right. And you hit her with a shovel . Yes. Why . Because i was told to. I did not want to do anything to her and everything, and he kept telling me over and over again. Just do it. Its okay. Just do it, and then i just remember him putting her down and him standing over her. She was struggling trying to get free. Right. Then you backed off. Yes. I dont know what he was doing up towards the top of her body. I could not see because he was standing in the way. And she insisted in contradiction to that first confession of hers that she did not help kody with that slashing and stabbing, and that you didnt hold the knife, that you didnt cut her. Correct. So it reduced your culpability. You could say that, yes. Im not trying to diminish my actions or anything of what i did, but i wont take responsibility for something i did not do. Frequently, as toni distanced herself from the crime, she looked through the glass to her mother especially when the question turned to why. I was too much in fear. I was scared, terrified. Only reason she was there, she insisted, she was an abused woman and she was afraid hed kill her, too. When youre going through a type of abusive relationship you dont always fight back with your abuser. To be honest, i after finding out everything that i know now, i believe i was next. Why would he kill you . Because i was a witness and i was there with micaela. So why is Mickey Costanzo dead . Youd have to ask kody said toni fratto. I dont know his motive. I dont know. If i knew id be more than willing to, you know, come out and say why so it would make sense. Was he just a lunatic or what . I mean i dont know. I dont have an answer for that. And when he says he doesnt know why, do you believe him . No. Hes got to know why. Theres a reason why he did this. Was this version of her story finally the truth . Perhaps, and in any event, mickeys family would have to be satisfied with what small consolations toni fratto offered. I know sorry is not enough and if i could go back and protect her and make sure this wouldnt happen and everything that she would still be here today. Do you see her face now in your minds eye . In some places, yeah. Youll probably be seeing her for a long time. For the rest of my life. Reporter and with that, our interview ended. Toni fratto never wavering from her story, the one she told when she cut that deal with the district attorney. The deal that could set her free by the year 2030. But, of course, toni couldnt know, leaving here, nor could we, that one more little surprise was waiting. Kody had said something very interesting just before toni took her deal. Something buried deep in the court file, but now about to be revealed. Im ginny and i quit smoking with chantix. I had tried to quit before, i had tried the patch. I tried to go cold turkey; it didnt work for me. I didnt think i could quit until i used chantix. Along with support, Chantix Varenicline is proven to help people quit smoking. Chantix reduced my urge to smoke. When you try to quit smoking, with or without chantix, you may have nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Some people had changes in behavior or thinking, aggression, hostility, agitation, depressed mood, or suicidal thoughts or actions with chantix. 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Bounty the quicker picker upper. So. You like it. Little bit. Nothing gets a reaction like a gift from kay jewelers. Where everything is 25 off. Save 25 off all rings, all necklaces, and all bracelets. Thats 25 off everything december 14th through 18th. At kay, the 1 Jewelry Store in america. Dad . Every kiss begins with kay they are in separate prisons now. Kody patten at one end of the state, toni fratto the other. Different stories about the murder, different sentences, too. Toni fratto is 25 now. Shell have a chance at parole in her late 30s. But kody patten will die in prison. So in a way, this is an academic question, but theres one more version of the story of the murder of Mickey Costanzo which we found buried in the court file, and it just might provide an answer. Remember that plea deal kody first accepted and decided to pass on . Heres the story behind that very dramatic moment. Kody had just started making a sworn statement to the d. A. , and was going to be a frank account of what really happened and why. Heres how it began, he said. There was an incident the afternoon of the murder just down there at the school. Toni confronted mickey in a school hallway. Toni saw mickey in the hallway, said kody, and called her a slut. Said look there, theres that slut. The girls argued, said kody and intervened and told toni, knock it off. Plausible . May be. Before anybody heard about kodys statement, mickeys sister d. J. Told us this. Toni really hated her. Shed walk by and toni would Say Something so rude under her breath. Were talking about a couple of years, though. The hatred in toni grew more and more and more, i dont know why, to tell you, but it just escalated. As kody told the d. A. , it escalated to a fever that day and so he suggested, why dont you guys just talk it out . And toni agreed and said, she just wanted to duke it out with micaela, so i relayed the message to mickey and said she wants to fight it out and mickey came to the resolution and said okay. So mickey did get into a car with him, voluntarily. They drove around for a while, said kody, and they picked up toni and they all headed to the gravel pits and what did kody tell the d. A. About what happened there . Well, it turned out, nothing because just then kodys attorney john olson arrived at the hearing and the two met, conferred briefly and kody stopped talking and changed his mind and rejected the plea deal and never told his story again and his statement was filed away, but olson who never disputed that kody was involved does have his own opinion about what probably happened at the gravel pits. My guess would be that there was an opportunity for toni to confront micaela. And they went out to the desert to have the confrontation away from prying eyes. I think something bad happened. A bad idea that became a screw up. A bad idea that became a horrible idea. A bad idea that went very, very bad. Was it an idea hatched on the spur of the moment . Who knows . At least not according to d. J. Who said she witnessed the hostility escalate for months. She heard toni badmouth mickey time and again and she saw toni play one nasty prank after another, including one that seemed like more than just a prank. He had a little box cutter blade and he swiped it across her arm, and at first she said i didnt even know and i looked down and im bleeding and i look at him and hes laughing. Is that kind of the straw that broke the camels back with her . That was. She said hes not worth it. And that i really dont want a person like that in my life at all. And from then on mickey avoided kody, never spoke to him, cut him out of her life. He grew really angry at her after that. Would do things to try to make her mad, just so shed talk to him. It was a real shock to him to all of a sudden have her there through thick and thin and then never have her. An angry and abandoned kody, a jealous toni . Maybe thats why mickey had been so worried, said d. J. , about what those two might be up to. She said he keeps trying to get me to go with him. He was constantly trying to get her to get her to go out with him and toni. And she was fully aware that she was public enemy number one as far as toni was concerned. She just said i dont i dont get it. Its not right. Somethings just wrong. Costanzo family said mickey would never have gone with kody and toni voluntarily and there is evidence of that. The zip tie found around mickeys arm. Something else, mickeys family is convinced that toni and kody knew that the few days around the time of the murder were the only days theyd find mickey alone after school. The timing was too perfect. It was the one time, the one time that d. J. Was at college. Christina and donald were at nascar. I was at work. Its the one time in all of this time that micaela would have actually had to walk home. Which when we heard that made us wonder in our interview did toni slip and reveal a hidden truth . Remember, she claimed she was an abused woman and unwilling accomplice there only out of fear, but listen to this. Does it indicate the very planning revealed in kodys statement to the d. A. , planning that included picking a place for the showdown . When we finally got out to the designated area and everything what do you mean the designated area. Where everything went down. That area was designated . Well, just the area where we ended up. No plan to go there, insisted toni. So designated area, maybe, maybe not, but also a festering jealousy, scores of text messages, a zip tie and one more explosive ingredient, an affair. Police revealed that kody had been seeing an older woman, the very wm from whom he borrowed the suv used the night of the murder. Toni knows that now, of course, that the other woman wasnt mickey, but did she know it then the night they killed her . A woman knows whether youre that age or my age, you know somethings maybe not right. Who that person might be, i dont think she would have ever in a million years thought it was an adult so that the next person in her mind would think, would be my daughter even though its completely wrong. Does that sound like toni was an abused woman obeying an angry boyfriend or a scorned woman determined to rid herself of the perceived rival . An unanswered question which is probably the best well get, said attorney olson. Outside of the participants who are alive, nobody knows. Nobody knows, and nobodys going to know. Theyre never going to reveal it. No. But then would any answer ever be good enough. I want the truth, will i ever get it, no. Theyll never tell me and theres nothing they can say or do that will make it better. They cannot fix this. Three families broken in West Wendover. Kody patten will never come home. Toni fratto might some day, but too late for them. I dont think i will still be alive when she gets out. I dont think that there will be a time that well be together like that again. West Wendover High School has retired Mickey Costanzos basketball jersey. It hangs now in a place of honor. Outside the students got together to paint and sign a huge rock, a memorial in her favorite color. Up in the high desert mountains, outside wendover is a ranch with the small family cemetery. Its a peaceful, sacred place where Micaela Costanzo, where mickey now rests. The ranch is home. Shes exactly where she would want to have been. Shes laying right next to my father, and she is in the most beautiful spot in the world to me. Shes, like, sitting on top of the world. We all knew that my mom, myself, wed all eventually be there, just not in the order that it seems to have happened. And here, on a little strip on i80, wendover will still waves his grinning welcome, but he points to a place a little older now and sadder as if the neon lights turned up among the desert casinos had picked up a layer of grief. Thats all for now. Im lester holt. Thanks for joining us. Right now at 11. Let the clean up begin. Shovels and scrapers were out to want after an afternoon of snow. Most people theyre just happy to be out of the their cars tonight. We saw pop across the region stuck in traffic as sne brought the evening rush to a standstill. Good evening, everyone. Im jim rosenfield. The snow has stopped but the threat for slippery conditions isnt over. Lets check in with tammie souza. Streets and sidewalks could refreeze over night. Temperatures are 22,000 and continue to drop. They continue to drop. They never unfroze. We have been freezing all day long. The high was 29. Lets look outside. Skies are clear. It is icy outhe