Little Miss Wendover

Summary

---

Five Miles From Home – Episode 4: “Little Miss Wendover” (June 17, 2026)

Podcast: Five Miles From Home
Host: Keith Morrison (NBC News / Dateline)
Episode Theme:
A deep dive into the investigation, confessions, and aftermath of the murder of Micaela “Mickey” Costanzo, with a focus on Tony Fratto’s shocking involvement, her confession, and the legal and emotional fallout in the small casino town of West Wendover, Nevada.

---

Episode Overview

This episode explores the days and weeks following the murder of high school junior Mickey Costanzo. It centers on the unraveling of events that led to Tony Fratto, previously a peripheral figure and Cody Patton’s fiancée, confessing to her involvement. Through first-person recollections, lawyer insights, and parental anguish, the episode lays bare the layers of betrayal, legal maneuvering, and the profound effects of the crime on all those involved.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The PI, the Parents, and a Grave Secret

[01:19–03:47]

• Private investigator Bill Savage, hired by Cody’s defense attorney, seeks mitigating evidence for Cody’s case. He meets Cody’s parents, Kip and Donna Patton, who agree to take him to Mickey’s gravesite.
• At the grave, Kip Patton shares with Savage that Tony Fratto has confessed to him about sleepless nights and a need to unburden herself.

  “Tony Fratto had got in the car with him, and they drove around for a while.”
  – Bill Savage [03:47]

2. Tony’s Chilling Confession

[04:40–11:47]

• Tony Fratto makes a secret, recorded confession to Cody’s defense attorney, John Olson. She describes being texted by Cody, joining him and Mickey, and being present at the murder scene.
• Tony implicates herself directly:

  “It was both of us.”
  – Tony Fratto, confession tape [09:05]

• Olson sees the confession as a chance to reduce Cody’s exposure to the death penalty.

  “All of a sudden, it changed from one crazed killer to two people who committed a homicide.”
  – John Olson [09:22]

• Tony describes her motivations for coming forward:

  “I couldn’t live with myself knowing what I knew and what I had done. I take responsibility of my actions and face my consequences.”
  – Tony Fratto [10:32]

3. Reactions: From Legal Limbo to Parental Shock

[11:47–17:00]

• Despite her confession, Tony returns home with no legal consequences, reportedly exclaiming,

  “What does someone have to do to be arrested?”
  – Tony Fratto as told by Bill Savage [12:12]

• Tony’s parents, Cassie and Claude Fratto, are blindsided. They had no inkling of Tony’s involvement and suspect coercion.

  “My immediate thought was that she’s been coerced into saying this.”
  – Claude Fratto [16:07] “No one that knows Tony would have ever seen this coming. Just isn’t possible.”
  – Cassie Fratto [14:47]

• Her parents believe Tony only talked to Cody’s attorney to help lighten his sentence, not realizing the legal implications.

4. The Costanzo Family and A Town in Mourning

[17:38–20:44]

• While Tony lays low, Mickey’s mother, Celia, tries to commemorate her daughter’s birthday with friends at Mickey’s beloved high school track.

  “That was the hardest day, next to finding out she was murdered.”
  – Celia Costanzo [18:54]

• At the same time, Tony’s confession tape is turned over to the district attorney, changing the trajectory of the case.

5. Arrest and Community Reaction

[21:14–24:13]

• After cops hear the tape, Tony is finally arrested.

  “I determined that we had probable cause to arrest her. Just based on her own admission?” – Detective Burnham
  “Yes.”
  – Detective Donald Burnham [21:14–21:21]

• Neither Cody nor Tony appears capable of murder to outside observers:

  “She [Tony] didn’t strike me as someone capable of committing murder.”
  – Detective Burnham [21:32]

• Mickey’s family, however, is not surprised by Tony’s arrest:

  “From day one I did not think that Cody deserved to be the only one punished … I knew that she had been involved.”
  – Christina, Mickey’s sister [23:54]

6. The Unthinkable Details

[27:13–27:50]

• Celia Costanzo insists on seeing every autopsy photo, determined to know what happened to her daughter.

  “I saw it all. Because I did not want to go into a courtroom and see my daughter like that for the very first time.”
  – Celia Costanzo [27:13] "It was brutal. It was painful. It was long. It was torturous. She went through hell.”
  – Celia Costanzo [27:50]

7. Preliminary Hearings and Legal Fallout

[28:07–32:07]

• At Tony’s hearing, her taped confession is played to the room’s shock; her lawyers try unsuccessfully to have it suppressed.
• Cody’s hearing highlights his confession, his father’s urging, and an overwhelming pile of evidence (DNA, tire tracks, witness testimony).

8. Conflicting Narratives: Who Did What?

[32:07–35:58]

• Cody claims he acted alone; Tony insists both participated. Parents and lawyers dispute the truth.
• The Frattos assert Tony was under Cody’s abusive control:

  “Striking her with the shovel was an order from Cody.”
  – Cassie Fratto [33:56] “Her participation … was strictly out of fear, controlling, manipulation and orders by the one that she had already been suffering abuse from for three years.”
  – Cassie Fratto [36:14]

• Cody’s lawyer disputes any evidence of abuse:

  “Baloney. There’s nothing in their relationship ever that would indicate that she was ever abused by Kody.”
  – John Olson [36:53]

9. What’s Next?

[37:05–38:08]

• Tony faces the possibility of a capital murder conviction. The episode ends on the cliffhanger of whether Tony will betray Cody or maintain their story.

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Tony Fratto (confession):

  “It was both of us.” [09:05]

• Celia Costanzo:

  “I bought a cake, balloons, took it down to the high school, invited her friends. That was the hardest day, next to finding out she was murdered.” [18:54]
  “It was brutal. It was painful. It was long. It was torturous. She went through hell.” [27:50]

• Cassie Fratto:

  “She has very strong convictions. And so we never worried. We always trusted Tony in her judgment.” [22:25]

• Christina (Mickey’s sister):

  “When she was arrested, it made me very happy because I was like, see, I told you. Now it makes sense.” [23:54]

• John Olson:

  “Baloney. There’s nothing in their relationship ever that would indicate that she was ever abused by Kody.” [36:53]

---

Segment Timestamps

• PI visits grave & parents’ revelation: [01:19–03:47]
• Tony’s confession (tape): [06:42–09:22]
• Tony’s interview (motivations): [10:19–11:47]
• Reaction from Tony’s family: [14:22–17:15]
• Mickey’s birthday & DA learns of confession: [17:38–20:44]
• Tony’s arrest / community reactions: [21:14–24:13]
• Mickey’s mother confronts the evidence: [27:13–27:50]
• Preliminary hearings: [28:07–32:07]
• Parental & lawyer conflict: [32:07–36:53]
• Next steps / setup for future episode: [37:05–38:08]

---

Tone, Style & Conclusion

The tone throughout is grave, emotionally charged, and at times, hauntingly intimate. Keith Morrison’s narration blends poetic description of the landscape with piercing questions about motive, responsibility, and the limits of trust. Those involved—parents, detectives, lawyers—speak in aching disbelief or hard-won cynicism. The complexity of teenage psychology, abuse, and small-town rumor all swirl beneath a narrative burdened by loss but determined to uncover the truth.

Episode ends with major questions unresolved: Who is telling the truth? Was Tony coerced—by Cody or by others, or is Tony’s confession genuine? As the episode closes, both suspects face the possibility of life, or death, in prison.

---

Transcript

[Pharmaceutical Advertiser]

For adults with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis symptoms. Every choice matters. Tremphya offers self injection or intravenous infusion from the start. Tremphya is administered as injections under the skin or infusions through a vein every four weeks, followed by injections under the skin every four or eight weeks. If your doctor decides that you can self inject Tremphya, proper training is required. Tremphya is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them and liver problems may occur before treatment. Get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu like symptoms or need a vaccine. Explore what's possible. Ask your doctor about tremphya today. Call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more or visit

[GM Genuine Parts Advertiser]

trempharadio.com you turn the wrench, you call the shots. When you want the right parts that are the right fit, there's only one choice. GM Genuine Parts and ACDelco Original Equipment. Visit gmparts.com to get the right parts for your GM vehicle today.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Private investigator Bill Savage had a knack for getting people to talk. Good thing, Crucial skill for any good PI to inspire trust. Get subjects to open up, reveal things. Private, hidden things. The skill that was about to become very useful. Savage, remember, had been hired by Cody Patton's defense attorney to scare up anything at all that might keep Cody off death row. It's all order given. The kid had already confessed that that he murdered his lifelong friend Mickey Costanzo confessed in rather horrifying detail. Still, Savage figured somebody must know something that could be mitigating in some way. Something about Cody nobody knew, maybe, or understood. Something maybe his parents would know. Though parents are often the last to know what their almost grown children get into. Cody's parents were Kip and Donna Patton. So six weeks or so after their son killed and buried Mickey in the desert, Savage called them with a request any parent would find difficult and asked

[Private Investigator Bill Savage]

them to take me out to the makeshift gravesite where Mickey Costanzo's body was located.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

They could have said no, of course they could. But maybe it was how he asked. They said they'd do it. So Savage got in his car and made the long trek across I80 from Reno to West Wendover, where he met the Pattons and they all headed out to the gravel pits. Then, as they looked down at the remnants of the actual grave from which Mickey had been exhumed. Bill Savage did what he could to make them feel, well, as comfortable as possible. Not that anyone could. Awful situation like that.

[Private Investigator Bill Savage]

And then while we were standing there at the grave site, Kip Patton said to me, I think there's something you should know. And I said, of course. What is it?

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Savage had seen and heard a lot in all his years as a PI but nothing even remotely like what Kip Patton was about to reveal.

[Private Investigator Bill Savage]

And he proceeded to tell me that Tony Fratto had got in the car with him, and they drove around for a while.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

And, well, the Pattons said Kip talked with Tony a lot after Cody's arrest. She was, after all, their son's fiance, a member of the family, or about to be. And they often went on long drives together, especially to the jail, for their regular visits with Cody. But this particular drive with Tony, as Kip Patton told Bill Savage, was different. Very different. How so? Well, for one thing, they ended up Tony and Kip at the very spot where Bill and Kip and Donna were standing. And then Tony started talking, and Tony

[Private Investigator Bill Savage]

told him how she was having sleepless nights and was really bothering her, and she needed to tell somebody.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

I'm Keith Morrison, and this is Five Miles from Home, a podcast from Dateline. Episode 4 Little Miss Wendover. Springtime in the Great Basin. A special season in the high desert. The magic time between winter's frigid nights and the blistering heat of summer afternoons. Sagebrush is greener, Wildflowers bloom. Air feels lighter somehow. Full of possibilities. Though this particular springtime, well, we shall see. It was a bright morning in April 2011, a few weeks after Mickey was murdered. Tony Fratto climbed into a car with Kip and Donna Patton, and off they went across the high desert to Elko, Nevada. Toni hadn't told her parents what she was actually going to do. They were out of town, so she'd written a note, left it at the house. For whatever reason, Tony was still in her pajamas. Elko, you may remember, is the town where Cody was being held in the county jail. But Tony wasn't going to Elko to see Cody. No. Tony was headed to the other side of town, to a lawyer's office. Tony said she was ready to tell the lawyer a story. Once they all arrived, she alone was ushered into an empty conference room. A small microcassette machine waited on the table. What it recorded was barely discernible, but what a tale was told on that scratchy tape.

[Tony Fratto (Confession Voice)]

So, are you willing to Proceed. I think so, yeah. Okay.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

The other voice on that recording was Cody's attorney, John Olson, listening as this quiet, shy little teen began to tell a terrible, terrible story.

[John Olson (Defense Attorney)]

And we talked and we recorded the conversation with her permission, and it was dynamite.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

It began for her, Tony said, with a text message from Cody that he had her, meaning Mickey was with him in that SUV he had borrowed. He wanted Tony to join them. Cody picked her up, she said, and the three drove around and talked. What do they talk about? They wanted Mickey to know, said Tony, that Cody did not want a relationship with her. Olson had no way to know then that Mickey had already made it very clear to her family, her friends, and Cody, too, that she didn't want it either. Anyway, Tony continued, we didn't want to cause any problems. We wanted to work everything out. So she said. They drove around some more and ended up at the gravel pits, where Mickey, very upset, demanded that they let her out. So then Mickey and Cody got out of the car, said Tony, and Mickey kept yelling at him and pushing him.

[Tony Fratto (Confession Voice)]

I looked away just for like a split second, and then heard, like a no, that on the car or whatever, Michaela was on the ground and she wasn't really moving. At that point,

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

they didn't know what to do, said Tony. And then Cody got out a shovel and started digging a hole. But when he finished, she said they could see that Mickey was still alive. So they hit her with the shovel and beat her and punched her until

[Tony Fratto (Confession Voice)]

she was not moving, until we moved it to the grave.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Moved her to the grave, said Tony. And she helped Cody hold down her legs. And slit her throat with Cody's knife at her throat.

[Tony Fratto (Confession Voice)]

It was both of us.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Both of us. And just like that, John Olson thought, awful as that story was, it was also going to make his job as Cody's defense attorney a lot easier.

[John Olson (Defense Attorney)]

All of a sudden, it changed from one crazed killer to two people who committed a homicide. It gave us something to point the case to, towards other than Cody's acts.

[Detective Donald Burnham]

Did you believe what she had to tell you?

[John Olson (Defense Attorney)]

Yes. It helped our case considerably. I was fired up, excited about it, because it gave us another actor, another person to participate in the case.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Maybe with some good lawyering, Cody could escape the death penalty after all, thanks to Tony Fratto's sudden admission.

[Detective Donald Burnham]

She didn't have to tell you these things.

[John Olson (Defense Attorney)]

Didn't have to tell me a thing.

[Detective Donald Burnham]

Why would she do such a thing?

[John Olson (Defense Attorney)]

You have to ask her.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

So we did. By which time, it was a good deal. After the events described, however, so perhaps she had done some self editing. Or maybe not. Here she is.

[Tony Fratto (Interviewee)]

I wanted to come forward and tell what really happened because I knew they were not going to get the real story from Kody.

[Detective Donald Burnham]

So tell me about the process of deciding to come forward.

[Tony Fratto (Interviewee)]

It had been eating at me and eating at me. I couldn't live with myself knowing what I knew and what I had done. I take responsibility of my actions and face my consequences.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

But was it guilt, a desire to face the consequences that motivated Tony? Or was she perhaps getting ahead of a story she now knew would leak? Knew because of something Cody's father, Kip Patton, told her before she decided to unburden herself, which was this During a visit to the jail, said Kip, his son held up a handwritten note to the glass separating them. The note said simply, she was there.

[Tony Fratto (Interviewee)]

His dad had came to me, said something like that. He knew I was there and he kind of guided me, asking me what I wanted to do and everything. And I told him I wanted to come forward. Thinking back to it now, I felt like he was guiding me to talk to his attorneys and not go to the police.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

But if you imagine that Tony Fratto went straight from the lawyer's office to the back of a police car and then off to the county jail to be charged with murder, you would be mistaken. Instead, she walked out of that law office a free woman, still in her pajamas and slippers, and Cody's parents dutifully drove her back across the I80 to West Wendover private investigator Bill Savage.

[Private Investigator Bill Savage]

According to Kip Patton, she exclaimed to him, what does someone have to do to be arrested?

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Good question.

[Roe Weight Loss Advertiser]

I'm Hannah. I've lost 75 pounds in 20 months with GLP1s diet and exercise on row. I've gone from struggling to run a mile to run farther every day. You can Access FDA approved GLP1s online. Get the support you need to reach your weight loss goals. Go to Roit to see if you qualify. I'm a paid RO partner. 20% average weight loss in one year in non diabetics with obesity or overweight with a weight related medical condition versus 3.1% in placebo arm RX only. To stay informed about serious side effects, go to RO Co Safety.

[Udemy Advertiser]

If you're looking for new ways to get ahead, then you're our kind of person. We're Udemy and we help learners like you upskill in AI, productivity, leadership and management and more. Learn at your own pace from real world experts. You can also prep for certifications that show employers what, you know, upskill for the career you [e-mail] now back to your regularly scheduled listening.

[Angie Hicks (Angie.com Co-founder)]

Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co founder of ANGIE From Roof Repair to Emergency Plumbing and more. When you use Angie for your home projects, you know all your jobs will be done well. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find a pro for your [e-mail]

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

she was home now. Her secret confession secure on tape. A ticking legal time bomb that could blow up the law's understanding of the Mickey Costanza murder case. But not quite yet. Instead, Tony Fratto laid low. No policeman came to her door and no one called. Not the detectives, not the district attorney. Instead, Tony just waited. Waited for her parents to come home.

[Tony Fratto (Interviewee)]

That was probably the hardest part, was telling my parents.

[Detective Donald Burnham]

How did they take it?

[Tony Fratto (Interviewee)]

Pretty hard. They were shocked.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Bit of an understatement. That shocked they certainly were. The Fratos had just returned from a trip to Las Vegas when they were greeted by their daughter and her incomprehensible news. This is Tony's mom, Cassie Fratto.

[Cassie Fratto (Tony's Mother)]

No one that knows Tony would have ever seen this coming. Just isn't possible.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

We. I don't know exactly what Tony told her parents. Was it the story she told Attorney Olson or the much different story she told me more about that later, or did she tell them a different story altogether? Tony's parents said they had never discussed the murder with Tony or at least never prodded her with questions because they just knew their daughter had nothing to do with Mickey's murder. They even heard that from the police, said Tony's dad, Claude Fratto.

[Claude Fratto (Tony's Father)]

The police told us that they didn't believe at that time there was no evidence.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

You never confronted her with the question?

[Cassie Fratto (Tony's Mother)]

No, because there wasn't any reason for us to.

[Claude Fratto (Tony's Father)]

Right.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

She wasn't a suspect, wasn't even a person of interest. So you can just imagine how the Frodos must have felt when their sweet little 18 year old, God fearing daughter, who had never been in any kind of trouble, told them she had talked to Cody's attorney. That she might somehow be implicated in the murder. Something very underhanded going on is what Claude Fratto thought.

[Claude Fratto (Tony's Father)]

My immediate thought was that she's been coerced into saying this.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Somebody's made her do it.

[Claude Fratto (Tony's Father)]

Yes.

[Cassie Fratto (Tony's Mother)]

Yeah.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

What person popped into your head?

[Claude Fratto (Tony's Father)]

Cody's dad.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

That is Kit Patton, the man who drove Tony across the state in her pajamas to talk to Cody's lawyers? Well, they. Tony's parents were out of town, yet Patton insisted That it was Tony's idea. She wanted to meet Cody's attorneys. He just drove her there, he said, because Tony's parents weren't around.

[Detective Donald Burnham]

Do you think sometimes that she thought, I can't do this with my parents present. I have to wait till they're gone before I can confess to this terrible thing?

[Claude Fratto (Tony's Father)]

I don't know. Possibly so, but we've always been very, very open.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

But then again, said the Fratos, maybe she didn't really intend to confess at all. Maybe it was just an immature girl's way of trying to help her fiance. And without her parents, she had no idea what she was getting herself into.

[Cassie Fratto (Tony's Mother)]

She doesn't believe that she's confessing to the law enforcement. She's talking to Kody's attorneys, asking them if it's going to help, because she had thought that it would give Kody a lighter sentence if she confessed to more involvement,

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

in fact, at Tony's parents. She had always been loyal to Kody throughout their entire relationship. So maybe it wasn't so surprising that now, in his greatest time of need, she was there for him just like always. Still sending lengthy love letters, still calling the police, by the way. Remained quite unaware of Tony's apparent confession in the privacy of a lawyer's office, as was Mickey Costanzo's family. They only knew what they had been told, that the case against Cody, complete with his lurid confession, was plotting its deliberate way through the legal system. And rather than allow that depressive state of things to weigh her down, Mickey's mom, Celia, decided to somehow start a healing process and also come up with a positive way to keep her daughter's memory alive. So on a sunny, warm morning in early May, she returned to one of Mickey's favorite places, the track at the high school where she had won so many races. It was May 3, exactly two months after the murder, on what would have been Mickey's 17th birthday.

[Celia Costanzo (Mickey's Mother)]

I bought a cake, balloons, took it down to the high school, invited her friends. That was the hardest day, next to finding out she was murdered.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Coincidence, really, that on that very day, 100 miles away at the Elko County District Attorney's office, defense attorney John Olson was meeting with the D.A. they chatted briefly, and then Olson pulled out a little surprise. Maybe not so little. Remember, Cody was Olson's client. It wasn't Tony who was his client. It was Cody. So she could have no expectation of attorney client privilege. And right there, Olson produced an audio tape. Tony Fratto's secret confession, and the DA well, you can just imagine it changed

[John Olson (Defense Attorney)]

the whole feature and nature of the case. It gave us the opportunity to start talking about how we could separate out our client from Tony. So given that our focus at the time was the death penalty, it was a big deal.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

A very big deal. Tony Fratto, that day, went to school like any normal day, as if such a thing were possible anymore. And she sat down to write Cody yet another love letter. I can't wait to see you be in my arms. Yeah. So it can be a fresh start. I miss you, Lol. I don't want anyone taking you either. You are a baby. My baby. We are going to make it. I love you so much.

[John Olson (Defense Attorney, courtroom voice)]

Always.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Forever. Eternity. What she was actually thinking as she composed her little bubble of illusion and what she dreamt in her bed that night, we shall never know. But we can be pretty sure at around that time, Detective Donald Burnham was digesting what he had just heard on Tony's confession tape. Because the very next night, Detective Burnham paid her an official visit.

[Detective Donald Burnham]

I determined that we had probable cause to arrest her. Just based on her own admission?

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Yes. And they cuffed her and took her away in a squad car like a hardened criminal. Which seems strange even to experienced homicide detective Kevin McKinney.

[Detective Donald Burnham]

Did you seem like the sort of person who could have done such a thing?

[GM Genuine Parts Advertiser]

I mean, anybody's capable of anything. But she didn't strike me as someone capable of committing murder.

[John Olson (Defense Attorney, courtroom voice)]

No.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Quiet, shy little Tony Fratto hardly seemed like a cold blooded killer. She'd been a beauty queen at 13. Little Miss Wendover, in fact. But now she lived a quiet, almost reclusive life. Anything but a party girl. She was devoutly religious, too, and extremely close to her parents, Cassie and Claude.

[Claude Fratto (Tony's Father)]

She always went to church with us. She never gave us a minute's grief as far as anything going on at school. She always had really good grades. Never any complaints from any teachers.

[Cassie Fratto (Tony's Mother)]

She had goals in her life. She knew exactly where she wanted to go.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

A truly responsible child.

[John Olson (Defense Attorney, courtroom voice)]

Yes.

[Cassie Fratto (Tony's Mother)]

Yes, absolutely. She has very strong convictions. And so we never worried. We always trusted Tony in her judgment.

[Detective Donald Burnham]

She was what?

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Wise beyond her years?

[Claude Fratto (Tony's Father)]

Almost Very much, yes.

[Cassie Fratto (Tony's Mother)]

Very wise.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Wise. Little Tony Fratto, just 18 years old, an adult in the eyes of the law, was deposited in the Elko County Jail, the very building in which Cody was being held. Though they might as well have been on different planets for all they saw each other. Not quite the reunion Tony imagined in all those love letters of hers. Instead, they booked her, snapped her mugshot, told her she beheld without bail. She was facing perhaps a capital murder charge, same as Cody. News of Tony's sudden arrest spirit spread fast, especially to Mickey's family, where it did not land with quite the explosive effect you might have imagined. In fact, Mickey's mother, Celia, was not particularly surprised.

[Celia Costanzo (Mickey's Mother)]

In my heart of hearts, New Tony had something to do with it. Because they were a couple. It was very hard for me to know. She was at school wearing his engagement ring, acting like nothing had happened and she knew nothing about it. When I knew she knew, Vicki's older

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

sister Christina told us that Tony's arrest was for her the ultimate I told you so moment.

[Christina (Mickey's Sister)]

Because from day one I did not think that Kody deserved to be the only one punished for what had happened because I knew that she had been involved. When she was arrested, it made me very happy because I was like, see, I told you. Now it makes sense.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Unless, of course, it didn't.

[Roe Weight Loss Advertiser (Serena Williams)]

I'm Serena Williams and I'm healthier on ROE. I've lost 34 pounds in a year. With GLP1's diet and exercise on row, you can access GLP1 options including the first FDA approved GLP1 pill for weight loss. Go to Rourney to see if you qualify. 14 to 20% average weight loss in one year in non diabetics with obesity or overweight with a weight related medical condition versus 2.2% to 3.1% in placebo arm Rx only. To stay informed about serious side effects, go to Rode Co Safety.

[Angie.com Customer]

Why have I asked my H Vac guy I found on angie.com to change my grandpa's trachea tube? I was so amazed at how we replaced our air ducts. I knew I could trust him to change Pop Pop's tube.

[GM Genuine Parts Advertiser]

I think we should call a doctor,

[Angie.com Advertiser]

Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home projects@angie.

[DSW Advertiser]

@dsw, we ask the important questions like what shoes are you going to wear? Whether you're prepping for wedding season, festival season or just planning the ultimate vacay, the right shoes can make or break an rsvp. So own the moment. You've got big plans and we've got just the shoes at the perfect price, of course. Get ready to get ready with designer shoe warehouse. Head to your DSW store or dsw.com today and let us surprise you.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

So the phone calls were over and the love letters stopped. There would be no white wedding dress. Tony Fratto's world now was a thin mattress on a rough bunk set among strangers. In a concrete room, dressed not in white, but in an ill fitting jailhouse jumpsuit, she was geographically very close to her fiance, Cody Patton. Both were held at the Elko County Jail, he in the men's wing, she and the women's. But the chance of an encounter, zero. And in that gloomy place, a few concrete walls apart, they bided their time, waiting for what came next, one long, dismal day after another. While still in the wide open world outside, not a single person could begin to comprehend their reason for committing the ugly act they were accused of. Least of all Mickey Costanzo's mother, Celia, who, before the legal proceedings began, braced herself for what was coming, of course, but also studied every single bit of evidence, every photo she could get her hands on.

[Celia Costanzo (Mickey's Mother)]

Because I had to know exactly what happened to my daughter. Everything, no matter how bad, everything, Every autopsy photo that was taken of my daughter, I saw. I saw it all. Because I did not want to go into a courtroom and see my daughter like that. For the very first time, I needed to know. I saw the stab marks. I saw her jugular cut. I saw the zip ties on her hand. I saw it all.

[Detective Donald Burnham]

What did it say to you about the kind of death they gave her?

[Celia Costanzo (Mickey's Mother)]

It was brutal. It was painful. It was long. It was torturous. She went through hell. And those two could not ever get away with it. They could not walk away free.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

There were separate preliminary hearings for Tony and Cody to determine if there was enough evidence to take their cases to trial. Tony's began on a blazing hot summer day in July 20, 2011, four months after the murder. A somber crowd filed into the historic and stately courthouse in Elko, Nevada. Inside, it was packed with spectators and very tense. A side door opened and a bailiff guided a shackled Tony to her seat at the defense table. Her hair was tightly braided. Her face was pale and gaunt. She stared straight ahead as the DA read the case against her and presented a parade of witnesses, including Mickey's mother, Celia, who identified some of her daughter's charred belongings recovered from that burn pit after the murder. Celia cried as she held the panda bear charm Mickey always carried. But on day two of the hearing came the fireworks when the prosecutor pulled pushed play on a tape machine. Tony Fratto, her very own words on that scratchy audio tape recorded by Cody's defense attorney.

[Tony Fratto (Confession Voice)]

My Carol was on the ground and she wasn't really moving at that point.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

They played the entire thing, which until now, the public had never heard.

[Tony Fratto (Confession Voice)]

I remember, like, holding down the legs and heard Foot for drip.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

We had slit her throat, said Tony. How to defend against that? Tony's attorneys did what they could. They argued that her, quote, so called confession was wholly rubbish and shouldn't be admissible, was a clear violation of attorney client privilege. Adding that Tony had been misled by Cody's lawyers into thinking she was on the same team with him and his legal counsel, which of course, she was not. Tony's defender also pointed out there wasn't any forensic evidence that Tony was even there, where and when Cody killed Mickey. So when she went to see Cody's lawyer, wasn't she just spinning a story she thought would help her boyfriend? But in the end, the judge was not swayed and bound Tony over for trial, sent her back to jail with no bail. And just over two weeks later, it was Cody Patton's turn to be trooped into that historic old chamber. He looked thinner now, the spectators noticed. His ginger hair was longer and he was fidgety. Stole glances around the courtroom, doodled on a notepad as witnesses took their turns. One of them was his very own father, Kip Patton, who said, yes, he did urge his son to confess. That was true. And then prosecutors played the tape so the judge could hear exactly what Kip Patton told Cody.

[John Olson (Defense Attorney, courtroom voice)]

What you did is painless, Cody. You've got to just, you know, do what they need you to do. This is it, man. We have to fix this.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

And so Cody did what his father demanded he do. He confessed. But, said the older Patton, Cody also whispered something odd. Didn't make sense really, but Kip certainly remembered hearing it. What did Cody whisper? That he didn't actually kill her, said Kip. But we were both crying, and I didn't understand, Kip told the judge. And I said, what? And then he said, never mind. But the physical evidence couldn't lie, and there was an avalanche of that, including DNA swabbed for Mickey's clothes that matched only him. And then there was the video of him leaving the school just before Mickey and his tire tracks of the murder scene. And of course, the most prominent piece of evidence, his very own confession to the cops.

[John Olson (Defense Attorney, courtroom voice)]

I tried to, like, check her pose and stuff, and I couldn't get anything, and she was flopping.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

The prosecution played the whole awful thing, and virtually everyone in the courtroom, including Cody, cried as they heard him describe what he had done to Mickey, to his classmate, to his childhood friend.

[John Olson (Defense Attorney, courtroom voice)]

I kind of just tried to hit her on the. On her head, trying to just knock her out. And she. She started making this awful sound.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

A bailiff Handed Cody tissues to wipe away the tears. But the judge had no sympathy for him. And like his fiance, Tony Fratto, Cody Patton was bound over for trial. There would be six counts, all felonies, and one of them, murder, was punishable by death. But attentive observers in the courtroom couldn't help but notice that the two teenagers told very different stories. Remember, Cody said he was alone. Well, Tony insisted again to Cody's lawyer that she was with Cody and they murdered Mickey together. It just didn't add up who did what with whom, and why, in some weird way, were they trying to cover for each other. Tony's parents, Cassie and Claude Tratta, simply couldn't believe, though, despite her confession, that their sweet, diminutive daughter was capable of such a monstrous act. Can you imagine her doing those things?

[Detective Donald Burnham]

Striking her with a shovel, perhaps helping with the knife?

[Claude Fratto (Tony's Father)]

I don't believe that she had anything to do with the knife. There were no fingerprints, no DNA, anything to indicate that she had the.

[Cassie Fratto (Tony's Mother)]

Striking her with the shovel was an order from Cody.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

An order from Cody. That was the reason, insisted the Fratos. And behind it, a terrible secret. Cody and Tony lived together, remember? But in the Fratto house with Tony's parents. And they said they witnessed Cody issuing lots of orders. That he was extremely possessive, physically intimidating, more than a foot taller than tiny Tony, and that he was often angry and abusive.

[Cassie Fratto (Tony's Mother)]

He would yell at her, pushing her around. He would be restraining her, restraining her and throwing her down. She was also, at that point, looking for some way out of their relationship.

[Detective Donald Burnham]

Well, inviting him to live in your home wasn't some way out.

[Cassie Fratto (Tony's Mother)]

You have to understand, the victim of an abusive relationship. And we weren't aware of all that was taking place.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

In fact, just two months before Mickey was killed, the school surveillance camera caught an agitated Cody appearing to get rough with Tony at her locker. Here's private investigator Bill Savage.

[Private Investigator Bill Savage]

There was an instance that occurred in the hallway of Wendover High School that depicts Cody grabbing Tony around the neck and again realizing he's 6 foot 6, she's 5 foot 1.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

But Tony declined to file charges, said her father, Claude.

[Claude Fratto (Tony's Father)]

Her explanation was that if something like this happens, he will not be accepted into the Marines. And I don't want to stand in the way of that.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

But now, after the murder and Tony's confession, whether real or made up to save her boyfriend, the Frattos looked back on their daughter's relationship with Cody with new eyes. Tony, it seemed to them, was an abused woman.

[Cassie Fratto (Tony's Mother)]

She was living in fear of what she thought the repercussions would be if she brought it out.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

So, fearing Cody might kill her too, Tony must have felt she had no choice but to cooperate with him.

[Cassie Fratto (Tony's Mother)]

So her participation, as people say, in what happened that night was strictly out of fear, controlling, manipulation and orders by the one that she had already been suffering abuse from for three years.

[Detective Donald Burnham]

But she participated in the attack.

[Cassie Fratto (Tony's Mother)]

Participated. Participated. Under extreme orders. She was afraid that she would be the one lying next to McKayla if she did not follow his orders that evening.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

To which Cody's attorney, John Olson, responded.

[John Olson (Defense Attorney)]

Baloney.

[Detective Donald Burnham]

Why do you say that?

[John Olson (Defense Attorney)]

Baloney. There's nothing in their relationship ever that would indicate that she was ever abused by Kody.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

But now Tony Fratto, the former Little Miss Wendover, was facing the daunting prospect of losing her life. Not to Cody Patton, but a lethal injection. Unless she could tell a whole new story about her role in Mickey Costanza's murder. Could she betray the man she swore she loved? Could she win her freedom and make him pay the ultimate price. Next time?

[Detective Donald Burnham]

There was conversations and texts between Tony and Cody from the beginning of the morning until 7 o'. Clock.

[Tony Fratto (Interviewee)]

I had gotten a text saying that he had her.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

So if you had to look for a motive in this crime, the only one that seemed apparent was her animosity.

[John Olson (Defense Attorney)]

It was the only one on paper in her own handwriting.

[Narrator (Keith Morrison)]

Five Miles From Home is a production of Dateline and NBC News. Robert Dean is the producer. Brian Drew, Marshall Housefeld and Meredith Greenstein are audio editors. Molly DeRosa is associate producer. Adam Gorfin is co executive producer. Paul Ryan is executive producer. And Liz Cole is senior executive producer from NBC News. Audio sound mixing by Rich Cutler.

[Roe Weight Loss Advertiser]

Why have we asked our contractor we found on Angie.com to be our kids legal guardian? Because he took such good care when redoing our basement that we knew we could trust him to care for our kids.

[Angie.com Advertiser]

We only met a month ago. Angie, the one you trust to find the ones you trust. Find pros for all your home [e-mail].