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A second suspect — a 19-year-old woman — has been arrested in the March beating death of a 16-year-old West Wendover, Nev., girl.
Elko County Sheriff Jim Pitts said Toni Fratto, 19, was taken into custody Wednesday night in West Wendover and booked into jail on suspicion of murder with the use of a deadly weapon.
Fratto's arrest came after defense attorneys for 18-year-old Kody Patten, the first suspect arrested in the March 3 slaying of Micaela Costanzo, produced evidence pointing to Fratto's involvement.
During a Tuesday hearing for Patten in 4th Judicial District Court, Patten's attorneys turned over an audio recording in which Fratto allegedly told them she had been involved in the killing and Costanzo's subsequent burial in a shallow desert grave about five miles west of the Utah-Nevada border town.
Pitts said the recording purportedly has Fratto admitting "that she used a deadly weapon in the commission of the crime and was involved in the disposal and destruction of Micaela Costanzo's personal property as well as other potential evidence."
While declining to detail specifics about what sort of weapon was used in the slaying, Pitts did add that Fratto, allegedly Patten's girlfriend, provided "details of the crime that [are] not public knowledge and would only be known by a party to the crime or to law enforcement."
Both Fratto and Patten remained in Elko County jail Thursday pending further court proceedings.
Costanzo was last seen leaving West Wendover High School after track practice on March 3. More than 100 volunteers were involved in searching for her in the desert lands outside the eastern Nevada gambling town over the following two days. On March 6, authorities confirmed her remains had been found.
According to a criminal complaint later filed in the arrest of Patten, the teen first denied knowledge of what had happened to Costanzo. Later, after Costanzo's body was recovered, Patten allegedly waived his Miranda rights and claimed Costanzo and he had argued — police have not released details on what the disagreement was about — and that when he pushed her she fell and hit her head on a rock.
Prosecutors say that when Costanzo appeared to have a seizure, Patten allegedly panicked and struck her on the head with a shovel. He then buried her, the complaint states.
Pitts, noting the investigation is ongoing, did not discuss how that account stands up now that Fratto has also been arrested.
Both Patten and Fratto face charges of "open murder" in the case. That is the designation, under Nevada statutes, for a homicide case where a judge or jury must determine whether a killing was committed in the first or second degree.