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Elko, Nev. • Photographs of 16-year-old Micaela Costanzo's badly battered body tell the story of her slaying, allegedly at the hands of two schoolmates.
Ellen Clark, the chief medical examiner for Washoe County, Nev., on Thursday pointed to autopsy photos of bruises on the girl's back, and stab and slash wounds to her face and neck, including one that cut her jugular vein.
Micaela bled to death from the wounds, which Clark said could have been inflicted by a knife found burned, along with some of Micaela's possessions, or a shovel found under the West Wendover trailer where Toni Fratto lived.
The evidence was part of a two-day preliminary hearing for Fratto, 19, who — along with her boyfriend, 18-year-old Kody Cree Patten — is charged with killing Micaela in March.
The hearing ended Thursday with Justice of the Peace Al Kacin ordering Fratto to stand trial on charges of open murder, kidnapping, destroying evidence and other counts.
Patten had been the sole suspect in the slaying until Fratto implicated herself by giving a surprise confession to her boyfriend's defense attorneys. Patten's father testified that Fratto also confessed her role in the March 3 murder to him.
In the taped confession, Fratto claimed Micaela wanted to talk to her and Patten.
"She wanted to date him and get to know him, but he didn't want anything to do with her," Fratto told the defense attorneys.
She said the three of them drove to the desert outside of West Wendover, where they got out and Fratto heard a thud. She said Patten told her he had pushed Micaela away from him and she hit her head on the vehicle's bumper.
"Everything from there is just kind of a blur," she said in the recording.
Fratto said she and Patten began beating Micaela. Then they allegedly slashed her throat.
"We were kind of standing there, deciding what are we going to do," she told the lawyers. "We didn't know what we had done."
Patten's father, Kip Patten, testified Fratto confessed to him during an afternoon in April where she directed him to drive to where Micaela had been buried, then to a gravel pit in Utah where Micaela's possessions had been burned.
According to the elder Patten, Fratto claimed Kody Patten began digging a hole while she and Micaela remained in the car.
When Fratto and Micaela got out of the car, Fratto hit her in the back with a shovel, according to testimony. Kody Patten and Fratto then kicked and punched the girl before dragging to the shallow hole and stabbing her, the elder Patten said.
"Why was Micaela killed?" asked Elko County District Attorney Mark Torvinen.
"I remember asking," Kip Patten replied, "and I believe Toni said she didn't know."
Kip Patten wiped away tears as he talked of his son's involvement in Micaela's death. The shovel that prosecutors believe was used in the attack had been a Christmas gift to Kody Patten from his father.
Fratto, too, seemed emotional at times during Kip Patten's testimony. Patten said Fratto and his son had talked about marriage, and Kody Patten was baptized into the LDS Church in January so they could wed.
Defense attorney John Springgate argued that Fratto's purported confessions were the only evidence linking her to Micaela's death.
"That tape would be a problem if it were credible," he told the judge. Instead, Springgate called his client's confession "wholly rubbish."
He said Fratto was with her mother at a public meeting until 7 p.m. the night of the slaying. But Patten told police the murder had been carried out by 6 p.m. According to other testimony, Patten and Fratto returned the vehicle they had borrowed by about 8:45 on the night of March 3.
While there is no forensic evidence linking Fratto to the murder, investigators said her confession was filled with details that had never been made public.
According to other testimony, Patten's parents managed the apartment building where Micaela lived with her mother, and Patten and Micaela hung out with each other at least weekly until a couple years ago. One of Micaela's friends said the girl had dated Patten in middle school but then grew to dislike him.
Micaela was last seen leaving West Wendover High School after track practice on March 3.
That afternoon, Micaela told a friend that Patten had been sending her text messages about a school project and that he would pick her up from school. Shortly before 5 p.m., the track coach saw Patten pull up.
After Micaela disappeared, more than 100 volunteers searched for her in the desert lands outside the eastern Nevada gambling town. Her remains were found March 5 when a Wendover man noticed what appeared to be disturbed ground. The spot was covered with loose sagebrush that, when removed, revealed a raised patch of bloody dirt.
Days later, Patten was arrested and charged with the homicide.
According to charges, Patten initially denied knowledge of what had happened to Micaela. But after her body was found, Patten allegedly waived his Miranda rights and claimed Micaela and he had argued — police have not released details on what the disagreement was about — and said he pushed her and she fell and hit her head on a rock.
When Micaela appeared to have a seizure, Patten said he panicked and struck her on the head with a shovel, charges state. He then buried her, the complaint states.
Patten's preliminary hearing is set for Aug. 2 and 3.