The episode titled ‘Under the Desert Sky’ of NBC’s ‘Dateline’ focuses on the heartbreaking March 2011 murder of 16-year-old student, Micaela Rae Costanzo, lovingly known as Mickie, in West Wendover, Nevada. Surveillance footage and a shocking confession soon revealed that her friend, Kody Cree Patten, was responsible for her death. Shortly after, his fiancée, Toni Collette Fratto, confessed that she was also involved in the homicide. The episode delves deeper into the circumstances surrounding the murder through detailed interviews with detectives who worked on the case, Micaela’s loved ones, Toni, and her parents.
Kody Patten Was Connected to the Murder Through CCTV Footage and Phone Records
Kody Cree Patten was born to Kip and Donna Patten sometime around 1993. By 2011, he was an 18-year-old senior at West Wendover High School in West Wendover, Nevada, and played on the school’s football team. He had reportedly received Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training. Reports state that he was accepted for enlistment in the US Marine Corps and received a deployment date before March 2011. Around that time, he was engaged to a girl from the same high school, Toni Collette Fratto, and lived with her family. Kody came under the scrutiny of detectives when his childhood friend, 16-year-old West Wendover High School student Micaela Rae Costanzo, disappeared after her track practice on March 3, 2011.
According to reports, Micaela’s phone records showed that her last calls and texts were to Kody. Official records indicate that when he was questioned, he claimed he last saw her around 5:30 pm, after school ended. In his statements, he claimed that he saw her with someone, likely her boyfriend, Javier, but he wasn’t sure, per reports. Kody reportedly insisted that he had seen her exiting through the school’s front door. After authorities questioned Javier, he was eliminated as a suspect. On March 5, Micaela’s remains were found in a shallow grave five miles away from her hometown. Forensic experts reportedly discovered that she sustained multiple sharp force injuries to her head and neck.
Authorities reportedly also discovered a zip tie around her wrist, indicating kidnapping. According to court records, detectives reviewing the school’s CCTV footage saw Kody exit the back door moments before Micaela left through the same door. Suspicions arose because the footage contradicted Kody’s initial statements, indicating they might have met outside the back door, according to official reports. Police records state that Kip then brought the 18-year-old to the station, where the latter denied any involvement in the crime. According to one of the detectives on the show, during the interview, Kody spoke alone with his father momentarily, following which the school senior confessed to killing Micaela.
Toni Fratto Was Arrested After She Admitted to Being Involved in the Crime With Kody
As per court records, Kody claimed that he picked Micaela up after school and was driving when she asked him to leave Toni and date her. In his statements, he alleged that she began hitting him before he stopped the car and exited the vehicle, per reports. Further records suggest that he claimed that during the struggle, he pushed her, and she hit her head, resulting in seizures. He went on to say that he allegedly then hit her with a shovel before cutting her throat and burying her. On March 7, 2011, Kody was arrested and charged with the open murder of Micaela. According to reports, in April 2011, Toni contacted Kody’s attorney and confessed that she was present at the scene when the 16-year-old was killed.
In her statements, Toni claimed that after picking up Micaela, Kody texted Toni, “I have her,” following which he picked up his fiancée, per records. She went on to say that they drove to the desert, where he allegedly began pushing the 16-year-old until she was on the ground. Toni claimed that she and Kody then attacked Micaela and hit her with a shovel. As per his fiancée’s statements, she insisted that the pair cut Micaela’s throat together before Kody buried her. After his attorney turned over the recording to law enforcement, she was arrested on May 4, 2011, and charged with open murder. Court records specify that when authorities spoke with Micaela’s sisters, they claimed that Toni’s hostility toward the 16-year-old had been escalating for months leading up to the murder, as per records.
Police records state that Toni’s parents, Cassie and Claude Fratto, alleged that Kody was abusive towards their daughter and had ordered her to commit the crime. In early 2012, the prosecution offered him a plea agreement. According to the deal, he had to plead guilty to first-degree murder for a sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole in exchange for his testimony against Toni. Although Kody initially planned to accept the deal, he reportedly chose to move forward with the trial. Investigative reports suggest that, in the meantime, a private investigator hired by Kody’s attorney discovered Toni’s diary, in which she stated that he would leave her for someone else and wrote, “They (Kody and Micaela) are perfect for each other.” According to the attorney, the statements indicated Toni’s animosity toward Micaela.
Kody and Toni Are Incarcerated at Separate Nevada Prison Facilities Today
Prosecutors eventually expanded Toni’s charges to open murder (including first-degree murder), using a weapon to commit open murder, and acting as a principal to open murder, attempted willful destruction of evidence in a felony crime, and willfully destroying evidence of a felony crime. On January 27, 2012, she entered a plea deal and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with the use of a deadly weapon enhancement in exchange for testifying against Kody. On April 16, 2012, she was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years for murder. Toni also received a consecutive term of 8 to 20 years for the deadly weapon enhancement.
Court records state that, following the agreement, Toni changed her initial statements and claimed that when she was picked up by Kody on that fateful day, she saw a scared Micaela in the backseat. In her statements, Toni told officials that he allegedly told her that they needed to kill the teenager, as per reports. Further official records specify that she insisted she was an unwilling participant in the crime and alleged that Kody was the one who cut Micaela’s throat. On the other hand, Kody faced the charges of open murder and use of a deadly weapon. Prosecutors later reportedly pursued a capital murder case against him. On May 9, 2012, around a week before his jury trial, Kody avoided the possibility of a death penalty by pleading guilty to first-degree murder with a deadly weapon.
Kody was sentenced to life in prison without parole for murder on August 24, 2012. He was also sentenced to an additional 8 to 20 years in prison for the deadly weapon charge, to be served consecutively. Furthermore, the court ordered him to pay $5,000 in restitution. Although Kody later pursued post-conviction relief, the court declined to overturn his sentence. Toni’s parole has reportedly been denied twice on February 24, 2021, and February 15, 2024. She is currently serving her sentence at the Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. As of writing, Kody is incarcerated at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center in Carson City, Nevada.
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