Toni Fratto Murders Micaela Costanzo

Toni Fratto was a seventeen year old living in Nevada when she and her boyfriend Kody Patten would murder Micaela Costanzo

According to court documents Toni Fratto was upset with Micaela Costanzo who she believed was attempting to steal her boyfriend Kody Patten

Toni Fratto, Kody Patten and Micaela Costanzo would drive to a remote location. When they arrived Micaela Costanzo was struck in the head with a shovel and her throat was slit. Micaela would then be buried in a shallow grave

Toni Fratto and Kody Patten would be arrested and convicted of the murder

Toni Fratto would be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for eighteen years

Kody Patten would be sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole

Toni Fratto Current Information

Toni Fratto Case

A Wendover woman has been sentenced to life in prison for her role in the murder of a classmate last March.

Toni Fratto, 19, was sentenced in Elko District Court Monday morning to life in prison, with an additional 20-year enhancement for using a deadly weapon in the commission of the crime.

Fratto will be eligible for parole in 10 years. However, due to Nevada court statutes, even if parole were to be granted in 2022, Fratto would have to serve an additional eight years for the enhancement, bringing the total minimum possible time she could serve to 18 years in prison.

Fratto pled guilty in January to second-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon in the March 2011 killing of 16-year-old Micaela Costanzo. One of two defendants in the case, Fratto confessed her involvement in the crime last April in an effort to help her boyfriend, Kody Patten, now 19, who had been arrested and charged for the crime.

Costanzo was reported missing after she failed to come home after track practice that afternoon. Hundreds of community members searched for the missing girl, and her body was found two days later in a shallow grave about five miles west of West Wendover, Nev. Costanzo had been struck in the head with a shovel and her neck was cut. Based on evidence at the scene and security footage from West Wendover High School, police questioned Patten and arrested him for the murder after he allegedly confessed to the act.

Fratto told Patten’s attorneys that she had been involved in the crime. She had struck Costanzo in the head with a shovel after Costanzo had fallen to the ground and become unconscious from hitting her head on a rock, and participated in the disposal of evidence, including a knife and Costanzo’s book bag, in a part of the desert northeast of Wendover, Utah, in Tooele County.

Fratto’s prison sentence has now begun, while Patten is awaiting trial for the charges against him, which are for open murder with the use of a deadly weapon. If convicted, Patten could potentially face the death penalty.

Part of Fratto’s plea arrangement was for her to testify against Patten in exchange for a reduction of her murder charge and dismissal of other charges, including willfully destroying evidence of the commission of a felony and attempted willful destruction of evidence of the commission of a felony.

Patten’s trial is scheduled for late July.

http://tooeleonline.com/wendover-teen-gets-life-in-prison-for-murder/

Toni Fratto Video

Toni Fratto: The West Wendover Murder 

Toni Collette Fratto is a Nevada woman convicted of second-degree murder for the March 3, 2011 killing of 16-year-old classmate Micaela “Mickey” Costanzo in West Wendover. At 17, Fratto helped her boyfriend Kody Cree Patten lure Costanzo to the desert, hit her with a shovel, and held her down while Patten slit her throat.

She pleaded guilty in January 2012 to avoid the death penalty, was sentenced to life in prison plus 20 years, and became parole-eligible after 18 years. She was denied parole in 2021, had a hearing scheduled for May 2024, and as of 2026 remains incarcerated at Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center in Nevada.

Quick Facts: Toni Fratto Case File

The Victim: Who Was Micaela Costanzo?

Before the case became a true crime staple, Mickey Costanzo was the kind of teenager every small town claims as its best. She played varsity basketball, ran track, edited the West Wendover High School newspaper, and participated in the People to People leadership program. She wanted to be an author and wrote short stories and poetry at home. 

Her mother Celia described the aftermath in court: nightmares, inability to work full shifts, and the pain of reading books Mickey used to love to her grandchildren. “There’s a part of me that’s just been ripped away and I’m not whole,” she said. Her father Theodore testified, “I still think that I’m dreaming.” 

That innocence is why Judge Dan Papez later called it “as innocent a victim as anyone might envision.” 

The Love Triangle That Turned Deadly

West Wendover sits on the Nevada-Utah line – population under 5,000, where everyone knows everyone. In 2010, Toni Fratto, a well-liked Mormon teen described by family as “courageous, kind, compassionate,” began dating Kody Patten during sophomore year. 

Patten had a history with Mickey Costanzo – a brief dating relationship that ended, but texts continued. Prosecutors argued Fratto was jealous of that connection and “demanded her boyfriend help get rid of” Costanzo. 

Oxygen’s detective analysis later pointed to Fratto’s diary entries revealing deep insecurities about Micaela, framing the motive not as a calculated plot but as teenage possessiveness amplified by a toxic relationship. 

The relationship was also violent. School surveillance a month before the murder caught Patten pushing Fratto against a wall, lifting her off the ground as he choked her. It wasn’t isolated, the defense later argued. Patten had been kicked out of his house, and the Frattos let him move in for six weeks because they feared Toni would leave with him if they didn’t. 

March 3, 2011: What Happened in the Desert

According to court documents and Fratto’s own admissions, Patten picked up Mickey after school and drove her around for about 90 minutes. He then collected Fratto. The three drove to a remote area about 5 miles from the Utah border.

Fratto admitted she hit Mickey in the back of the head with a camping shovel. Then, as prosecutors detailed, she “straddled” or sat on Costanzo’s legs while Patten slit her throat. The body was buried in a shallow grave. 

Judge Papez, reviewing the medical examiner’s report, said: “She suffered during the attack. It took a long time for her to die. Horrible suffering.” He called it “as violent a murder as I’ve seen in 20 years on the bench.” 

The Investigation: A Confession No One Expected

Patten was identified quickly. Fratto was not a suspect initially. Weeks later, she walked into Patten’s attorneys’ office and confessed. Without forensic evidence tying her to the scene, it was her own words that led to her arrest. 

Both teens told “several different stories, which clouded the investigation,” as the True Crime All The Time podcast later summarized. Investigators had to sift through conflicting accounts to determine who did what. 

The Plea Deal and the “Sheep vs Wolf” Trial

District Attorney Mark Torvinen initially sought the death penalty for both. On January 27, 2012, Fratto changed her plea to guilty to second-degree murder. In exchange, she agreed to testify against Patten, and the death penalty was removed. 

At sentencing on April 16, 2012, the courtroom split into two narratives:

The State: Torvinen asked for the maximum, describing a “brutal, vicious, violent” attack on an innocent victim that inflicted agony “which probably surpasses understanding.” 

The Defense: Attorney John Springgate didn’t argue innocence – Fratto had confessed. He argued context: “Is she a sheep or is she a wolf?” Psychological testing showed Fratto had the mental and emotional maturity of a 15-year-old, low-average intelligence, and a personality highly susceptible to peer pressure and an abusive, controlling boyfriend. 

Fratto herself sobbed an apology: “I would like to apologize to Micaela’s family… I’m sorry for what I did to Micaela, and I’m sorry for what I did not do, and that was protect her. I know saying I’m sorry does not do justice.” 

Celia Costanzo was unmoved, asking for the maximum. Kristina Lininger, Mickey’s sister, said: “Show her no mercy. She doesn’t deserve a chance.” 

Papez imposed the maximum: life in prison for second-degree murder, plus a consecutive 20-year deadly weapon enhancement. Under Nevada law, she would serve a minimum of 18 years before parole eligibility, with the weapon sentence to follow. 

Where Is Toni Fratto Now? 2026 Update

As of May 2026, Toni Fratto remains incarcerated at Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center in North Las Vegas. 

Parole Timeline:

• First eligible: 2021 (after serving minimum on initial structure)
• 2021 Hearing: Denied by Nevada Board of Parole Commissioners via video conference. The DA’s office confirmed she would not have been released anyway because the consecutive weapon sentence would begin. 
• Next hearing: Scheduled for May 2024 according to 2021 reports. No widely published public decision has emerged since, which is common in Nevada where parole results are not always posted online unless appealed. 

True crime forums in 2024-2025 speculated about a possible release, but official Nevada Department of Corrections records still list her as serving a life sentence. Unless a sealed decision occurred, she remains in custody.

What Happened to Kody Patten?

Kody Cree Patten did not take a deal. He was convicted of first-degree murder in 2013 and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, plus additional time for the weapon enhancement. He is serving his sentence in a Nevada maximum-security facility. The contrast – Fratto eligible after 18 years, Patten never – fuels ongoing debate about culpability and coercion.

Final Thought

The Toni Fratto case endures not because it’s the bloodiest true crime story, but because it forces an uncomfortable question: At what point does a victim of abuse become a perpetrator? The court answered with life plus 20 years. The internet, 15 years later, is still arguing.

For Mickey Costanzo’s family, the answer is simpler. As Celia said in 2012, “There’s not a day, not a moment, not a second that I don’t think about her.” That grief – not the parole dates or podcast downloads – is the true, lasting cost of March 3, 2011.