True Crime All The Time - Kodi Patten and Toni Fratto

Episode Date: January 13, 2025

Micaela “Mickey” Costanzo was a 16-year-old from West Wendover, Nevada, who was murdered by two teens, one of whom she briefly dated. One suspect was identified quickly, but the other surprised investigators by coming forward on her own weeks later. Join Mike and Gibby as they discuss Kodi Patten and Toni Fratto. Both teens were arrested and charged with the murder of Micaela Costanzo. But Patten and Fratto told several different stories, which clouded the investigation. Investigators had to sift through the evidence to determine precisely what happened to Mickey and who did what. But the motive for the murder remained even more elusive.You can help support the show at patreon.com/truecrimeallthetimeVisit the show's website at truecrimeallthetime.com for contact, merchandise, and donation informationAn Emash Digital productionSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to episode 417 of the True Crime All the Time podcast. I'm Mike Ferguson. And with me as always is my partner in True Crime, Mike Gibson. How are you? Hey, I'm doing good. How about yourself? I'm doing great. We just talked on Patreon about the massive amount of snow that we got this week.

We do. And I'm sure other parts did as well. But, you know, I'm pretty sore right now from cleaning up to snow. Well, you know, you and manual labor does not really go hand in hand. No, it's not my forte. I'm completely honest about that. No, you're a thinker. I'm a thinker.

Let's go ahead and give our Patreon shoutouts. We had Leanne Cossin. Hey, Leanne. Susanna jumped out at our highest level. Well, thank you, old Susanna. Kristen jumped out at our highest level. That's awesome. Thanks, Kristen.

McKenzie. What's going on, McKenzie? And France Tremay. Lawn france termage That's what I'm going with Allison Gibson Hey well you know Gotta love that Allison

Amanda Orenberg Hey Ornberg Cleaning Princess Pinky Man Princess Pinky Alana Pitt We're related to the Brad Pitt Michael Pitt

You know Hollywoodish pits Are Brad and Michael related? No Okay They're just Hollywood pits You know Okay

Just other pits Yes We had Zinia. Zinia. Sounds like a science, sci-fi kind of a show. Yeah,

maybe. Yeah. And last and not least, April C. Well, thanks, April C. And then if we go back into the vault,

this week, we selected Anna Harvey. Anna Harvey, you were awesome. Yeah, I appreciate the new Patreon support, the continued support.

We also had a great PayPal donation from Scott King. Hey, thanks, Scott. Yeah, thanks to everyone. So Gibbs right now, we have an episode out

on true crime all the time unsolved, where we're talking about Angela Green. And Angela Green was last seen in June 2019. You know, there's a lot of mystery here, twists and turns. Her husband told their daughter that she was committed to a psychiatric institution. Yeah. But then not long after came up with a different story and then told police a completely different story. Yeah.

So it would be dive into all of it. Should be very thought-provoking. Yeah, I agree. All right, buddy, are you ready to get into this episode of true crime all the time? Let's dive in. We're talking about Cody Patton and Tony Frato. But we start off talking about Michaela Mickey Costanza. She was a 16-year-old from West Windover, Nevada,

who was murdered by two teens, one of whom she briefly dated. Now, they identified one suspect pretty quickly. But the other surprised investigators by coming forward on her own weeks later. Michaela Costanzo was born on May 3rd, 1994 in Elko, Nevada. At the time of her death, she was a student at West Windover High School. Michaela was a popular student who was involved in basketball and track. She also worked on the school paper and wanted to be an author one day. Really?

Mm-hmm. I wanted to be an author. Did you ever work on your school paper? I've worked on the school yearbook. Yes, I did too. I don't even know if we had a school paper. I don't think we did either. But I do remember being on the yearbook, but it was only because this girl I was interested in said she was going to do it.

And I was like, okay, I'll do it too. And did she not do it, though? No, she did it. Oh. That's the, she's the one who inadvertently turned around and stabbed me in my buttocks with the exacto night. Maybe she did it on purpose. And ruined my guest genes and caused blood, you know. I guess you wanted to quit after that.

No, strangely, it made me like her more. You know, talking about Elko, Nevada. I actually have family in Elko, Nevada. Huh? Yeah. Okay. Interesting for me. Probably nobody else, but for me found it interesting.

Could they be possible suspects? Maybe. Most likely, no. Michaela's former classmates had many positive things to say about her. For example, her classmate Heidi Thompson told local outlet KSL. When things are bad, she always has something good to say to you. She always makes you feel good about everything. I love people like that.

Well, let's face it, those are the type of people with whom most people want to be around, right? Who wants to be around Debbie Downer all day? nobody I know. You want to be around the people who are positive. You know, they make you feel good about yourself. They brighten the room. Yeah, lift you up. Yes. Those are people that you want to hang out with. Michaela disappeared after track practice on March 3rd, 2011. She was captured on camera, leaving school at 5.15 p.m. You know, I wonder if we would have had cameras back when I was going to school, one, how much trouble we would all got in. You would have never graduated, first of all.

Yeah, it was a chore anyway. You know, even when my mensa smarts. But, and then you, you know, you wonder what issues could have been solved if they had cameras back then. Oh, a lot. Yeah. You think about the proliferation of video cameras, whether it's security cameras, you know, streets, businesses. but then also like the personal security cameras and ring doorbells and things like that. Yeah.

They've solved or helped to solve, you know, quite a few crimes. Michaela normally got a ride home with her sister, but she was out of town. Michaela lived a few blocks away in an apartment with her mother. So she planned to walk home. Michaela's mother became worried when she never showed up and wasn't answering any calls. or text. She was reported missing and the community came together to search for her. It was reported that 135 volunteers began searching on March 5th. Healthy number. Yeah. It's a pretty big number of people volunteering their time.

But, you know, I go back to, you know, this is a 16 year old girl in high school. You know, how many people either had kids of a similar age or, or, you know, or younger or just had the thought in their head that, hey, if this was us, if we were in this position, we would hope that as many people would come out as possible. I truly think that's why a lot of people do it. Now, it's also the, you know, the right thing to do. It's out of the goodness of their heart. But I think a lot of it comes from, you know, putting themselves in the position of these other parents. Right. And thinking, you know, how helpless that would be. What if I was in that position?

I sure hope people would come out for me. That day, a volunteer driving down a desert road, five miles outside town, saw that the ground had been stirred. Michaela's body was found in a shallow grave. At this site, she had multiple injuries and her throat was cut. Michaela's body was publicly identified on March 6, 2011. The West Windover police chief said,

there was no suspect or person of interest at that time. And it's important to talk about the timeline here. I mean, you know, you think about a lot of the cases we do. They drag on when you have a missing person. Yeah. It's not the case here. You know, she disappears on the third. The volunteers began searching on the fifth and she's found on the sixth.

So this all happened very quickly. It doesn't surprise me that, you know, at that point, police don't have a suspect or person of interest or at the very least they're not ready to disclose that information. But our family at this point is going to be devastated. No, there's no doubt about it. I don't even know, you know, if most of us can comprehend the level of agony that that would be like. You would have to go through it. to really have a full understanding. But the community was also in shock.

Detectives focused on interviewing Mikhail's classmates. You said she was a kind person who would never hurt anyone. Which makes you wonder, well, then who would hurt her? Well, right. I mean, a lot of glowing things being said about her. Now, we've seen in some episodes where, you know, that's kind of the standard line. But behind the scenes, there are some things.

but people don't want to say that. They don't want to bring that stuff up, but I think by and large, a lot of the victims we talk about, they are really good people. And so it is a question of who would want to hurt them. But a review of Michaela's phone data led to the identification of a suspect.

18-year-old Cody Creepen, a senior at West Windover High, Cody and Michaela briefly dated in middle school, according to her friends. So middle school, it had been a while, right? Since they dated, you wouldn't think just on the surface that that would have anything to do with it. Right?

You think back to like middle school boyfriends and girlfriends. It's not like most people are holding some big grudge later on in high school that, you know, you got dumped when you were in the seventh or eighth grade. Or later in life, Diane. Diane dumped you. Cody's parents managed the apartment building where Michaela lived. They hung out with each other at least once a week, but they had been distant for over a year and had barely spoken to each other.

Michaela's mother, Cecilia Costanza, told the media that Cody and Michaela were good friends' children. The police learned that Cody was dating 19-year-old Tony Frata, who was also attending West Window. high. Cody Patton was arrested in charge with murder on March 7th, 2011. So again, the timeline goes missing on the third, found on the 6th. Cody is arrested on the 7th. This all is happening very, very quickly. Which is great for investigators. Yeah, I would agree. I mean, obviously, you would like to solve these cases as quickly

as possible. You want to solve them correctly, but yeah, quickly as possible. Tony Frato was questioned, but she wasn't considered a suspect in the weeks that followed the arrest. At a hearing on May 3, 2011, Cody's defense attorney

shocked the court by submitting an audio tape of Tony confessing to her involvement in Michaela's murder. I would think they would be really shocked. Yeah, I do believe this would be a very shocking kind of Perry Mason moment.

Right. We talk about a lot of pieces of evidence, DNA, kind of one in 38 trillion or some number that conclusively proves, right? This person was there. They did it. But it's a little different when you hear somebody in their own words confess to doing something. Yeah.

Now, unless that tape was doctored, altered, altered. If there's some type of AI involved, which kind of does scare me a little bit moving forward, I think that would be shocking to everyone. Not to mention, this is a 19-year-old girl who is talking about her involvement in murdering another high school girl. Cody's father drove Tony to the law office on April 22nd. She said she wanted to confess because she felt guilty. So we talked about how Cody was arrested very quickly.

It was almost two months later before it kind of came out that, you know, Tony had involvement. And then another month before she confessed. Well, that guilt can eat at you every day. Well, I think to some it can. To some people, it obviously doesn't bother them because some people never come forward. The majority of people don't come forward. Because they don't feel guilty, I don't think. No, I don't think a lot of people do.

According to a police report about the tape, Tony stated that she and Cody took Michaela five miles outside of town to a remote gravel pit near the Utah and Nevada border. They beat her unconscious and Tony cut Michaela's throat with a knife. They buried her in a shallow grave and drove past Windover, Utah to burn the knife in Michaela's position. possessions at another gravel pit. I mean, the one thing I'm taking from this is just the brutality of it from two fairly

young people. Yeah, to beat somebody. This 19-year-old girl says she cut Michaela's throat. Now, we know women are capable of all kinds of heinous things. But it, to me, still is shocking. When you think about, you know, these kids' ages and, I don't know, 19-year-olds kind of ganging up on a 16-year-old, it just seems pretty brutal. However, there were questions about Tony's timeline. Michaela left school at 5.15 p.m. Tony and her mother were present at a West Windover Recreation District meeting at 6 p.m.

Witnesses said they arrived a few minutes before the meeting began. This meant that the murder and disposal of evidence took less than an hour. The police conducted a run-through scenario and determined that 55 minutes was barely enough time. So if she leaves school at 515 and this meeting starts at 6, it's less than 45 minutes because they said they showed up a little early. Yeah. And if the police were saying that 55 minutes is pushing it, you're going to have. A 10-minute gap there, right? Well, I think that's why they're questioning.

You know, did it really happen this way? Confidential sources also claim that Cody called Tony and directed her to tell the police he was with her at the time of the murder. You think he did that from a prison phone? Yes. Probably. Right underneath the big sign that says all of these calls are recorded. Additionally, Cody hadn't implicated Tony. during any of his police interviews, she seemed calm and collected in the weeks after the murder,

never indicating that she had participated in this violent murder. So it makes you wonder, did she not? And this is all a effort to help Cody out? Yeah, I mean, it's a strange way to help somebody out by admitting your role in a murder. You're really putting yourself on the line, your freedom. or does it go back to kind of what you said, which was, you know, maybe the guilt just started to eat at her and eat at her until she finally couldn't take it. But because of all this, many believe Tony confessed to a crime she didn't commit and she did so at Cody's direction.

She had been visiting him in prison and talked to him on the phone often. Cody was said to be a controlling and abusive boyfriend. There were a. reports that they were engaged to be married. But he had recently moved into Tony's parents' home after his parents kicked him out. Always makes you wonder why a kid was kicked out of his own house. Yeah, I mean, I think most of the time something happened and it probably wasn't good. I mean, I know sometimes parents can be... Assholes? Yes. Yes. They can be. But most people don't kick their kids out of the house for no reason. Tony Frato was arrested on May 5th, 2011, in charge with murder. Although there were doubts about her confession, she provided details of the crime that were not

public knowledge. And these were things that would only have been known by someone who was involved. And you do hear that in many cases. It's often why we think police don't disclose certain things. right they need to be able to corroborate somebody's story if they do come in and confess to a murder it is pretty damning though I think when you have details that have never been made public well how'd you get those yeah if you weren't really there and you weren't really involved yeah so that means either you were there or someone fed you that information in late may 2011 forensic specialists collected samples from Tony's vehicle, home, and clothing to find trace evidence that could confirm her presence at the crime scene. Investigators also searched the crime scene in the gravel pit

where Michaela's belongings were found partially burned. Tony's preliminary hearing started on July 14th, 2011. So at this point Gibbs, Tony was facing new charges, felony kidnapping, or acting as a principle to kidnapping, conspiracy to commit felony murder, felony murder, or acting as principle to murder, and willfully destroying evidence or willful destruction of evidence. Well, that's a lot of potential time if found guilty. Yeah, those are serious charges. The prosecution admitted there were some conflict with the timeline of events, but they noted that Tony had confessed twice to the murder, once to Cody Patton's father and once to his legal team.

Tony's defense attorney, John Springgate, argued that those confessions came from non-credible sources, and there was no forensic evidence linking her to the crime. Springgate called the tape confession, wholly rubbish, and argued the tape was a violation of attorney-client privilege. So sounds like he feels like there's some shenanigans going on. Yeah. Yeah, I think so. I mean, but he also has a pretty tough job, right?

He has to get out from under this taped confession. Like I said, I think a jury would put a lot of stock into a taped confession. The defense noted that Tony was at a public meeting with her mom from six to seven on the night of the murder. but Tony said the murder was carried out by 6 p.m. Her taped confession was played at the beginning of the preliminary hearing. In the recording, Tony said Michaela had been texting Cody about getting back together, but he didn't want anything to do with her.

She said Michaela was in the vehicle. When he picked her up that evening, he said he picked Michaela up so that they could talk. They drove outside of town because Michaela didn't want. anyone to see us or anything. Michaela became agitated during the drug. Tony said, per the desert news, we didn't want to cause any problems or have any problems. We wanted to work everything out. Now, why is a statement like that so important?

Well, I think she's trying to say, we didn't plan it, kill her. Which is a big deal. Sure it is. Right? When you're talking about, you know, was this premeditated or not, Cody stopped the vehicle. And he and Michaela got out to talk. This quickly escalated into yelling and shoving. Tony said, I looked away and then heard a loud thud on the car.

She got out of the car and saw Michaela on the ground. Tony said, everything from there on out was kind of a blur to me. It went downhill from there. In the recording, she admitted to hitting Michaela on the back with a shovel and said both she and Cody participated in cutting her throat. wrote. They buried her and disposed of evidence. So Tony says, you know, she didn't see it, but she heard this loud thud on the car. Well, if true, what would that have been? Maybe, you know, Cody slamming Michaela up against the car. While not good, it's, it's not a deadly act. But from there, it turned deadly pretty quickly.

You sure did. Tony says, you know, I hit her with a shovel. and then we both cut her throat. Which means they could have stopped at any point. Yeah, I guess that's kind of where I was getting at. Okay, there's yelling, there's, you know, maybe some shoving or there's an altercation, but pretty tough for Cody probably to say he's in fear for his life. Right. And that, you know, he had to kill this 16 year old girl in self-defense.

It's pretty tough. Yeah, I don't think anybody's feeling bad for him. According to Tony, as they drove away, they asked themselves, what did we just do? What do we do? We didn't know what we had just done. And I have no idea what that feeling would be like. No. To know that you just ended someone's life.

But I think if that was something you did, you would have all kind of thoughts running through your head. adrenaline, fear, there's a lot of stuff going on inside your body. Tony's defense argued that her recorded statement wasn't credible. Parts of it were made up and elements of her story specifically about how Michaela was killed. We're not correct. The defense noted that witnesses and school surveillance footage could only place Cody Patton at West Windover High, not Tony. Well, that's not good for Cody.

No, I would say not, especially with, you know, the defense trying to argue that, you know, the timeline doesn't make sense. Her confession was bogus. The defense called on Cody's father, Kip Patton. According to Desireate News, the defense said Patton found out about Tony's involvement based on a conversation with Cody during a jail visit on April 13. Cody and his father passed handwritten notes to each other to avoid being overheard. So you don't know enough not to, you know, spill everything on the phone, but you're going to pass

handwritten notes during the jail visit so nobody overhears you. But if you have nothing to hide, why even do that? Why are you worried about being overheard? Yeah. Yeah, I would say it doesn't prove anything, but it certainly doesn't look good. on April 16th, Tony confessed her involvement to Kit Patton and allegedly showed him the areas associated with the crime. As reported by the Salt Lake Tribune,

Tony told him Cody began digging a hole while she and Michaela stayed in the car. When the girls got out, Tony hit Michaela in the back of the head with a shovel, she and Cody both kicked and punched Michaela and dragged her to the hole and stabbed her. And again, the more we talk about it, just, it's just such a brutal crime. But it sounds weird that you're going to sit in a car while someone digs a grave.

Yeah, I mean, if Michaela knew that's what he was doing, then that would be pretty strange. Tony admitted that after the murder, she and Cody went to a swimming pool to clean up. They picked up Cody's cousin and his girlfriend in Wendover and went to McDonald's. because that's where you go after you've killed a 16-year-old girl. Get yourself a happy meal? Yeah. Or a Big Mac or some McNuggets or something. Kip drove her to Cody's attorney's office on April 22nd to confess because she said she wanted to come forward with it.

She didn't want Cody to pay for something they both participated in. So, you know, to me, if what Kip is saying is true, then it does kind of go back to, you know, maybe a guilty conscience, and that's why she decided to come forward. It's interesting, though, Kip wasted no time getting her up there to tell for her to confess. Yeah, now is he doing that for her or is he doing that for himself and his son? Would be a little self-serving there. Yeah, it could be viewed that way. Tony's parents were out of town on this day.

Kip knew they didn't want her speaking to an attorney without the. them present. But he didn't care, did he? And no, and maybe he planned it for that day because of that very fact. Kip also testified that Tony and Michaela Kastanza didn't get along and said Tony and Cody were talking about getting married. Cody was baptized into the LDS church in January 2011 so that the two could get married in the temple. Michaela's autopsy photos were presented the preliminary hearing, she suffered bruises to her back, stab and slash wounds to the face and neck,

and one wound that cut her jugular vein. The chief medical examiner of Washoe County testified that she bled to death and her wounds could have been inflicted by a burned knife or a shovel found under Tony Frato's trailer in West Windover. So they have a potential murder weapon. Yeah, it doesn't sound to me as though they were able to, you know, pinpoint it specifically.

17-year-old Tiffany Rasmussen, Michaela's best friend, testified that Michaela and Cody dated in middle school. But she grew to dislike him. They had barely spoken to each other in more than a year. And, you know, to me, it seems so very strange that if they hadn't spoken in more than a year, now all of a sudden they're getting together. The three of them are going in the car together. And she's telling them that she wants them to drive out of town so no one sees us talking. Yeah.

Doesn't make sense. So weird. Michaela received unusual texts from Cody Patton on the day she went missing. Tiffany testified that Cody texted Michaela. He was wanting to do a project, but didn't explain what kind of project. he said he would pick her up from school. Michaela was just as confused as I was. And I could see why she would be confused.

And this is a guy she hadn't talked to in over a year. And all of a sudden, she's getting text from him. Hey, I'll pick you up. Let's do this project. What are you talking about? The Salt Lake Tribune reported that Michaela's track coach saw Cody pull up shortly before 5 p.m. Tony was ordered to stand trial. on July 16, 2011.

Cody Patton's preliminary hearing started on August 2nd. Kip Patton testified about Cody's confession on the night of his arrest. When they were alone, Cody whispered that he didn't actually kill Michaela. Kip asked what? And Cody said, never mind. Again, a lot of this is coming from Cody's dad, Kip. Obviously, as a dad, he doesn't want to see his son. son go away for, you know, a long time, potentially the rest of his life. Does that mean necessarily

he's lying? No. No, it could be the truth. It could be. But you'd also have to say he has a vested interest. And if you really wanted to sell the whole Tony was involved story, this is a good place to kind of layer that in. And it sounds like he's trying to paint a picture that not only was Tony involved, she was the main killer. It wasn't my son Cody. Kip said he didn't realize what his son was implied because of the emotional stress of the situation they were in. Kip asked Cody several times why the murder occurred, but Cody failed to give an explanation.

The prosecution played Cody's interview with the police on the night of March 6, 2011, And according to KSL, investigators gave Cody time to talk to his father. Kip told Cody to tell detectives what they needed to know, saying, you got to go all the way. You need to put this to bed as quickly as you can. Get it done. The family needs their answers. And that's, you know, kind of an amazing statement by a father who I'm sure he is worried about, you know, what's going to happen to his son. If that's what he really said, and that's what was reported, he was basically saying, you've got to tell the truth.

And you got to lay it all out there. Cody eventually said that Michaela seemed interested in getting back together, but he wasn't willing to leave Tony. Which conflicts with what McKell's friend had said. Well, you think about, you know, any trial, any hearing. Really, what, what is it? It's a series of conflicting statements made by. two different sides. Right?

That's essentially what a trial is. Yeah. You're just trying to sell yours a little bit better than the other side. Right. And you're usually saying the opposite or something different than what the other side is saying.

Cody explained that he and Michaela argued while he was driving her. He stopped the vehicle. And they got out to continue arguing. Things got physical because Michaela kept pushing him. He eventually pushed her back and said, she just fell back and hit her head on the back bumper of the car.

She didn't get up. And again, in some of these stories, obviously it's hard to say 100%, who's telling the truth and who's not. What I will say is that, you know, this is starting out as a very convenient story for Cody. It is. And it's almost painting him as a victim.

Right? She's pushing me. She's getting physical with me. And eventually, you know, I had to defend myself. He said when Michaela regained consciousness, they got into a struggle. And Cody shoved her again. Michaela fell backwards and hit her head on a rock, which caused a seizure. Cody claimed he tried to pick Michaela up and put her in the car, but she continued struggling.

He thought knocking her unconscious would help. So he hit her in the head with a shovel. Cody said, she made a really horrible sound that I can't get out of my head. So the question that I would put to you, Gibbs, is, you know, you're on a jury and you're hearing this story. Where does it rank on your believability scale? Yeah, it's pretty low. Mine too. Yeah.

You know, he pushes her, she hits her head on the car. He pushes her again. She hits her head on a rock. And then by his way of thinking, it would just be better if she was unconscious. So I'm going to pick up this shovel and I'm going to hit her in the head with it. After she's already had two substantial blows to the head. First of all, why do you have the shovel with you in the first place? Exactly.

Is it because you were digging a hole that you were later going to place Michaela's body in? I mean, I know you carry a lot of stuff in your truck. I do. I do not routinely carry around a shovel. I mean, you know, you have duct tape, zip ties, shovels. Again, all kinds of things. That's just for a fun Saturday night. Yeah.

You never know what's going to happen. But, you know, in all seriousness, I get it. you're trying to kind of warm your way out of the known facts and what's been said already. But please explain this shovel to me. When somebody already said that you were outside the car digging the shallow grave where she was ultimately found. Cody said he panicked. He was afraid. He removed Michaela's clothing because he thought it would make her decompose faster.

He considered taking her body to the dump, but couldn't bring himself to do it. He was asked about the plastic zip ties found on Michaela's wrist and said it was all part of the plan to dump her body. Are you a zip tire to dump her body? So now, again, you've got a shovel with you. You have zip ties. Either these things are just a part of your everyday repertoire of things you're carrying around in your car. or you took a kit with you because you knew what was going to happen. Yeah.

Which makes it more premeditated, right? Yes, absolutely. Now, could you make the argument that it might be easier to carry somebody's body if their hands and feet were zip tied? Yeah, you could make that argument. But to me, you have to explain why you already had these items with you. Right. before an argument that you had no idea was going to break out did.

You just happen to have some zip ties and shovel and all that in your car because it's normal for you. He claimed he burned Michaela's clothes and put her body in a shallow grave. He sat there for about two hours and cried before he picked up Tony Frada. So, I mean, the one thing is clear, Gibbs. in this confession, Cody never said Tony was with him at all during the murder. He never even puts her in the car, doesn't have her hitting, Michaela, nothing. At the end of the interview, Cody said, can I just say on the record that I'm sorry? I hate being me, being in the wrong place at the wrong time, that it had to happen to someone

who didn't deserve it. Okay. yes she did not deserve it but the part I don't understand is how were you in the wrong place at the wrong time that part I don't get again you see this with a lot of people they'll say a little bit of truth then they'll say a bunch of stuff that that is trying to soften or diminish their role in the crime outside court Cody's defense attorney noted that no physical or forensic evidence had been presented against him. And he believed Tony was the main culprit.

Well, he's got to pin it on somebody else, right, to get his client off. Of course. If he doesn't, they're going to continue to go after his client. But doesn't it make it tougher? You know, that Cody did this entire interview and never once said that Tony was with them, Tony did anything, that Tony was even there. The defense noted that there was no concrete evidence presented of when exactly the crime occurred in the video of Cody and Michaela leaving the school.

Four minutes apart did not constitute a kidnapping. And I could see where maybe that argument does have a little bit of merits. On the second day of the preliminary hearing, the court heard that the sleeves of Michaela's sweater were tied in a knot, allegedly used to bind her. Testing found Michaela's DNA and two other profiles on the sweater. The other profiles had low levels of DNA, but one of them matched Cody. The other profile was so low, it couldn't be conclusively matched to Tony Frato.

There was no blood found on the shovel used to hit Michaela. After Cody's hearing, Cassie Fratto told the media that her daughter was with her from 5 to 7 p.m. the night of the murder. When speaking about the confession tape, she said, Tony loved Cody. And at the time, would have done anything to protect him. And let's face it, Gibbs, you and I have talked about young love a lot, many, many times.

Yeah. Now, I get it. You know, they're 19 or what. They're a little older, but still, you know, this is still what you would consider to be, you know, young love. Yeah. And everything is magnified at that point in your line. You think this person's the one.

You think you're, you're gonna buy a house and have the white picket fence and two and a half cars and two and a half babies and two and a half men. I don't know, but you know what I'm saying. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

You believe hold heartily, this is the one. Yeah. You believe every relationship is the one. I think a lot of people do at that age. Now, is it out of the realm of possibility that Tony would have done anything from Cody? It's possible. It is possible.

In January 2012, Tony Frato signed a plea deal agreeing to plead guilty to second-degree murder with a sentencing enhancement for using a deadly weapon, which would spare her from the death penalty or life without parole. She also agreed to testify against Cody Patton. So obviously by this time, she's not thinking that she's going to end up with Cody. No. For the rest of her life, she's about how do I not get put to death and how do I not spend the rest of my life in prison? And it sounds to me like they probably didn't offer Cody this deal, right?

This deal is for Tony because they don't have as much against Tony as they do Cody. Yeah, I'm thinking they feel like Cody's the main culprit here. Or at least they feel that's what they can prove. But at the same time, they don't want Tony to get away Scott free. So if they can strike a plea deal, maybe it's good for both sides. So she's going to testify against him. But this time, the story had changed. Tony admitted to being present during the murder and admitted to hitting McKee.

Kayla with the shovel, but she said, she sat on Michaela's legs while Cody Patton cut her throat. Because you remember before, you know, it was Tony cut her throat. Right. And then it was they both cut her throat. Now it says Cody cut her throat. Yeah. So now this is like the third version at least. On January 27th, Tony officially pleaded guilty to second degree murder. And on April 16th, 2012, Tony was sentenced to life in prison. with the possibility of parole and a 20-year enhancement for use of a deadly weapon. She was eligible for parole for the murder charge after 10 years. But even if granted parole, she would still have to serve eight years of her enhancement penalty,

meaning at the very least she would have to serve a minimum of 18 years. And 18 years is a far cry from the death penalty. It's a far cry from life with no parole. Sure is. But 18 years is still nothing to sneeze at. Well, that's a good chunk of your adult life. It really is. Now, the family may not believe that.

They may not think that that's anywhere near good enough. According to the Salt Lake Tribune, Judge Daniel Papenz described Michaela's wounds to the court and said, she suffered during the attack. It took a long time for her to die. Horrible suffering. That's what he said. The judge added, while there are many facts explaining what happened, I don't have any information about why this happened. That's the big question that remains. And I'm, you know, I was thinking about

this plea deal for Tony. And I just wonder how much of it is the prosecution fearing that they're just not rock solid in their case. And there's a chance that she could get all completely. And that would be the worst thing of all. Of course. Yeah, I think it's plausible. The judge noted that Tony had no prior criminal record, was active in church, was well liked in school. The judge told her per desert news, that's what makes this even more puzzling, that a person like you could participate in such a terrible crime. I hope that someday, Ms. Frado, that you'll be able to get your life back in order.

You have to live with this forever. And that is a very true statement. Again, I think for some people, it's not that hard to do. They don't sit around and think about what they've done. It doesn't nag at them. But this is not a hardened serial killer. No. And as the years go on, it probably is going to be something that, you know, she thinks about every day.

Hopefully she, you know, deeply regret. her role, defense attorney John Springgate argued that Tony never would have been arrested if she didn't come forward because she felt guilty since there was no forensic evidence linking her to the crime. That's a good point. And it's, yeah, it's potentially very true. But why did she feel guilty? Was it because she really did, you know, have a role in this?

You know, she hit Michaela. Maybe she cut her throat. maybe she held her down either way she participated or you know at one point she said she only came forward because she didn't think Cody should have to be in this thing alone you know that didn't make any sense to me maybe she also had some pressure by uh Cody's dad Cody's dad yeah I had that thought as well Tony's attorney noted that she scored below average on her psychological evaluation and was mentally and physically abused by Cody Patt. In January 2011, Cody was captured on camera at West Windover High, pushing Tony

against the wall and lifting her legs off the ground while he choked her. And apparently this wasn't the first time. He physically abused her. Springgate explained that Tony was a sheep and not a black widow. He said she had the mental and emotional maturity of a 15-year-old and was controlled by a boyfriend who was jealous and possessive and isolating. And again, all of that could be true. If she had been controlled by Cody to, you know, this really terrible degree, is it out of the realm of possibility that, you know, through some of these calls, these visits, he said, hey, I need you to do this for me.

I need you to come in and admit your part, take some healer. off of me that even though he was behind bars, she was still scared of it. She easily could have been. And thought, well, there's still a chance he gets out and what's he going to do to me then? I don't think you can dismiss some of that. I'm not saying that's exactly what happened. I'm saying, I think you have to at least entertain the option or the possibility. Yeah.

And at that point, maybe Cody's dad had something to play in it as well. Yeah, because it does sound like maybe he exerted a little bit of pressure, how much we don't know. He had a vested interest in doing so. You know, he knew that Tony's parents didn't want her talking to anybody, but yet he drove Tony up to the police station. Tony spoke to the Costanzo family in court saying, I know what I did was wrong. And therefore, I'm taking responsibility for my actions. I'm sorry for what I did. And I'm sorry for what I did not do.

And that is protect Michaela. And again, that's kind of what you would like to hear, right, from people. Now, it may ring hollow to the family. And she may not mean a word of it. but you hope she's sincere because what she's saying is what you would think most criminals would feel or should feel. Yeah. But that's not always the case. Letters to the judge describe Tony as a kind and gentle person and a good student.

Her mother, Cassie, said she changed in the year before the murder. The family allowed Cody to move into their home about six weeks before the murder because they feared Tony would leave if they didn't. And again, is that because she was so in love with Cody? She would have done anything to be with him? Or was that because she was being controlled so much by Cody? I'm thinking it was probably more of the controlling factor. Yeah, I think it could have been either one or maybe a little bit of both. I don't know.

Cassie noted that since being incarcerated and away from Cody, Tony returned to the person she used to be. And there's no doubt that people can change. Once they enter a relationship with someone, depending on what type of person it is that they're entering into a relationship with. Yeah. Her father, Claude, also wrote an email to the Salt Lake Tribune and said, we thought Cody was really trying to put his life in order. He's always had a lot of problems.

The site of Cody, which we knew is completely different from, the Cody we know now. Well, I hope so because I would hope you wouldn't let him be with your daughter. If you knew this. If you knew the side of him back then that you know now. Cassie told the media, there were elements of the case that weren't public. As quoted by Desirate News, she said,

there's things that lead up to that night that no one is aware of yet. She said that when Cody picked Tony up that night, he had already been driving around with McAle in his truck for 90 minutes. Tony had no idea what was going to happen and believed her life was in danger. She didn't believe that she would ever see her family again. She knew her life was in danger. She knew Cody very well. We all knew Cody very well.

She knew Cody and she knew the frame of mind he was in that night. And she knew as soon as she got in the car. She told me, Mom, I knew I wasn't coming home. So there's one thing that jumps out at me there. And it's that her mom saying, we all knew Cody very well, pretty much insinuating that they knew that this was not a good guy, that he was doing things that weren't good, either with her daughter, to her daughter. But yet, you allow him to live in your house.

Why? She said it was because they feared Tony would run away. Yeah. And maybe that's true. At least you can control the situation or at least you think you can control the situation by having them there. Yeah, obviously they couldn't because look how it turned out. But I get what you're saying.

You think you can if they're living under your roof. When asked why Tony went along with the murder and didn't try to help, defense attorney John Springgate said he didn't have an answer. He said, we're pretty clear that adolescents do unbelievably stupid things. and her psychological profile shows that while she's 19 years old, now mentally and emotionally, she is much younger. And typically adolescents don't think things out. I'm not going to try Mr. Patton's case.

But according to the statements, and according to everything we know, it was Mr. Patton, who was getting all the materials together. It was Mr. Patton, who said she had to die. So you can draw your own conclusion. Who was the organizer? But the goal I was representing did not seem like an organizer to me. And again, you know, each defense attorney is going to run down the other person. Of course they will.

So what they have to do. But, you know, let's kind of think about it logically a little bit. You know, was it Tony who brought along the shovel and the zip ties? Or was it Cody? I mean, I think the answer to that question tells you who the organizer was. Yes. was and who had it in their mind that Michaela was going to be heard if not killed that night. On May 9th, 2012, Cody Patton agreed to a plea deal for first-degree murder with a deadly weapon

enhancement in order to avoid the death penalty. So he must have felt pretty sure that if he went to trial, there was no way he was winning that thing. And he was taking his chances with getting the death. death film. Yeah, sure was. Cody's attorney, John Olson, said he denied cutting Michaela's throat and had a different account of events. Shocking, that two different people involved would have two different accounts of events. Olson also said that Tony's journals were full of venom towards Michaela. As reported by KSL, Cody's involvement was initially bridging the girls together for

a fight, but things went bad really fast and people panicked. There's plenty of blame to go around in this case between the two of them. And to be honest with you Gibbs, I think I believe that part. I don't think Cody is blameless at all. No. If anything, more likely than not, he's the master mind. Yeah, he led this. But it also seems to me that Tony had a pretty strong level of involvement. you know did she hit macaela did she participate in cutting her throat but even if she just held her down so that cody could cut her throat guilty that is a very high level of involvement you still participated in the murder of a young girl on august 24th 2012 cody was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in court macaela's father

demanded to know why Cody killed his daughter when it was Cody's turn to speak. He said he went over the events of that day in his mind, but he didn't have a reason. The Desert News quoted him as saying, I've set and tried to go over it and over it. There's no reason. There's no why, no justification for it. Sorry's not enough. I apologize for everything. I'm sorry. I can't describe what happens. Can't even begin to. to describe it. Sorry isn't enough. I wish I could ask for forgiveness, but I don't feel I deserve it. So do you believe somebody when they say things like that? I do think there are sometimes when people do things and they're not quite sure why they did it. You know, it's so impulsive. But I'm not getting

the feeling of that here. And part of that for me is the shovel, the zip ties. What seems to be be some level of premeditation. Yeah. Well, to have a level of premeditation, don't you kind of have to know not only what you're planning to do, but why you're doing it? Yeah. Why would you start down the path if you have no idea why you're doing it? According to Tony at one point, he was digging a hole.

Why Michaela was in the backseat with Tony. Hence the shovel. Yeah. But I like the part where he says, I wish I could ask for forgiveness, but I don't feel I deserve it. I don't think anyone feels you deserve it. So don't ask. Outside of your immediate family, and maybe they don't even at this point. Cody said, Michaela was good to him, and she didn't deserve what happened to her.

He recited part of a poem. Michaela wrote the disgust a glimmer of beauty beneath all the ugly in the world. Cody wrote a letter to the judge before sentencing and said he did not intend for Tony to cut Michaela's throat. However, the judge said at sentencing, the evidence doesn't support your statement. I don't believe you. You were the primary perpetrator of the murder. Yeah, even at this point, it sounds like he's trying to still influence how things were done.

Yes. I didn't intend for Tony to cut Michaela's through. I didn't intend to cut Michaela's He said I didn't intend for Tony To cut Michaela's throat This is way of saying yeah I didn't cut her throat judge And I didn't I didn't mean for her to But she did it anyway

And the judge is saying you know what You're full of it I don't believe a word you're saying Cody's family also spoke in court His mother Donna said the crime was unlike him And Michaela was Cody's best friend She mentioned that Cody had EMT training and was accepted into the Marines. He was even given a deployment date before the murder.

So he did have plans, right? He had things that were coming up. What I didn't understand was his mom saying, Michaela was Cody's best friend. We just heard earlier they hadn't talked in over a year. Yeah. What kind of best friend is that? Tony's diaries were never presented in court. Cody's attorney, John Olson. discuss these diaries with Dateline in 2013 saying it was pretty clear. This was a young woman who did not like Mickey Costanzo. It was clear that she was jealous of Mickey and worried her boyfriend would find

Mickey a better companion. She was a very insecure young woman. She was overflowing in self-doubt. Well, you know what? A lot of 16, 17, 18, 19-year-old kids are. Sure they are. They're insecure. They have a lot of self-doubt.

Doesn't always mean they're the ones that kill somebody or initiate. Yeah. As we wrap this one up, though, isn't that kind of the main mystery here to this story? You know, we know who lost their life. And that was Michaela. We know who was convicted. That was Cody and Tony. What we don't know for sure, because they've told a bunch of them.

of different conflicting stories is, were they both involved equally? Was Tony not involved at all? Was Tony even there? I believe she was. But I also believe what the judge said. And that's that Cody was kind of the main perpetrator. He was the driving force. If I had to put money on it, I would say, you know, it was Cody who had the shovel. It was Cody who brought the zip types. Now, did Tony go along with him because she loved him or because she was afraid of him or because she hated Michaela? I don't know. Yeah, it could be a combination of those. It could be, yeah, it could be a combination of all of it. But it is one of the strange things in this case is that you know, Cody said a lot, but hasn't said why Michaela died. Nobody said that. What do he say?

I don't know. I don't know. I think tough enough that you lost a loved one. But to hear the perpetrator said, I don't even know why I did it. I think that would be tough as well. Tony Frato lost her first bid for parole in April 2021. According to an online document published by the Nevada Department of Corrections, Tony was denied parole in February 2024 and will be eligible for consideration in May

2008. Three years plus away, right? Yeah, it sounds like she comes up maybe every three or four years, something like that. But again, you know, the motive behind the murder of Michaela Costanzo is still so unclear. Authorities seem to agree that Cody Patton was the main perpetrator. I still think there are questions about whether Tony participated, you know, was it because she was controlled by Cody? Or was it because she wanted to? You know, her and Cody were angry with Michaela because she allegedly wanted to get back together with Cody. Cody didn't want to and Tony would have been upset because, hey, you're trying to, you know, still my boyfriend. At the end of the day, you have these high school students making a really bad decision that they decided that either Cody or Cody and Tony decided that Michaela,

Needed to die. And for what? Because they thought that they loved each other and they didn't like the other one. I mean, it's so pathetic. Well, you know, most of the murders that we talk about are senseless. I mean, essentially, they're all senseless, right? But I think to some degree, some are even more so. And this is one of them.

It wasn't like there was even robbery involved or, you know, anything like. that and I don't even know that Michaela wanted anything to do with Cody exactly so I mean it just is strange all the way around but again if you're going to try to get into the mind of a high school student you're going to struggle to try to figure that out oh for sure it's not an easy place to navigate but that's it for our episode on Cody Patton and Tony Frato we got some voicemails Gibbs, you want to check those out? Let's hear them. And I can give you this year.

So I have officially installed starting that because I have not been on any of it. Got up on both the bees to go and start at the beach. I just wanted to say things to the details that you're able to get anywhere else.

You are literally to have you guys. So wonderful news. All right. Awesome. Thank you so much for the email. A lot of kind words. Appreciate all of those. Appreciate the voicemail.

Yeah. What I say? email. Oh, I'm glad you caught that. Well, you know, that's what I do. She really piqued my interest, though, when she started talking about video games. You're a gamer. I know. I got to know what type of video game she's playing while she's listening to the true crime all the time.

I just like she got the message of, you cannot listen to anybody else but our podcast. That is not true. You can listen to whatever you want. But also, also please listen to us. Hello, my name is Hannah. And I'm from Michigan, so not too far away from you guys. But I just thought I would leave a message because I have been listening to you guys since I was a teenager. And now I'm an adult and I'm married.

And I just think it's crazy that you guys have been part of my life since I was about 17. And I just turned 26. So it's crazy that I've been listening to you for all the time. I'm sure you're here. This life has changed a lot, but I always listen to you while it's at work, while I'm driving, and I've been taking up with the podcast the whole time. I am pretty sure I've listened to every single episode, but I just want to let you guys know that I think you're hilarious and entertaining, but also I love the dignity.

You give the victims of the crimes and the back stories that you get on the criminals. So I really enjoy the podcast that has been for a very long time. But yeah, keep your own time ticket. Wow. I mean, I think that really puts it into perspective. It really does. It was, yeah, wow. I mean, if you think about it, my youngest was like 10 or 11.

And that is mind-blowing because, you know, she's in a year or two going to finish up her, uh, bachelors in nursing. Yeah, that's true. That's unbelievable how things, now things for me, they haven't changed at all hardly. No. Now, except for the fact that I was working with you the first couple of years that we were doing the podcast and then I got laid off. But ever since that time, there's not much that has changed. Well, same coffee maker, you know, same desk. But the people around you in your life, there's been a lot of it?

There has been a lot of change. I mean, just, I mean, like me, I was about her age when we started the podcast, you know? And here we are. You're 26. Yeah, I'm 26 year old. And now you're. I look older than I am. You're 34 or 35.

And have been for the last 20 years. Sure. Some people might say, hey, you look more like you're 58. I'm like, no, I'm not 58. But we appreciate the voicemails. We do. We had no mail bag. So that's it, buddy, for another episode of,

crime all the time. So for Mike and Gibby, stay safe and keep your own time ticking.