Advocate Exclusive: The Complete Testimony Of Fratto That Would Have Sent Patten To Death Row

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Toni Fratto’s claim to being a victim of abuse at the hands of Kody Patten is relatively new according to her statement to district Attorney Marc Torvinen taken just before she pled guilty to the second degree murder of 16 year old Micaela Costanzo.

While appearing on national tv Friday Fratto and her mother Cassie time and time again invoked the word ‘victim’ to explain her participation in the brutal slaughter of Mickie Costanzo.

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“I was kind of forced,” said convicted murderer Toni Fratto in a jail house interview with Anderson Cooper when asked to explain her part in last year’s brutal killing of 16 year old Micaela Costanzo.

And Cassie Fratto said that her daughter suffered two years of emotional and physical abuse at the hands of Patten.

However in her statement to the district Attorney Fratto makes little mention of any alleged abuse and state’s the murderous pairs relationship was more or less equal.

From page 149-150 of Fratto’s statement:

Torvinen: Other than grabbing your arms periodically or preventing you from leaving the room when you and he were maybe having an argument or something — and I’ve watched the videotape of the confrontation in the hallway at the school between you and he — did he ever strike you? 

Fratto: I remember a couple times him kind of pushing me down on the bed or against the wall, but I — after I have those asthma attacks, I don’t remember much of what happens. And I — I’ve never seen that video, so I don’t know. 

Torvinen:  Well, I guess I’m saying, did he ever actually, you know, with his hands strike you that you recall?  

Fratto: Not that I can recall. 

Torvinen: As between you and he and your relationship, who was the — who was the boss, for lack of a better term? 

Fratto: I don’t know. 

Torvinen: Okay.  Did you consider yourself an equal? 

Fratto: Kind of.  We both are kind of a jealous person.  And he would always get mad at me for talking to other people and I would kind of get upset if he was talking to other girls and everything.

While damaging to Fratto’s claim of being almost an innocent bystander to the murder it is is damning to Patten and explains why his defense team sought the plea bargain rather than go to trial.

Under Torvinen’s questioning Fratto lays out what would have been an open and shut death penalty conviction if the case had gone to trial.

First Torvinen establishes premeditation:

From pages 8 and 9

Torvinen: To the best that you can recall it, tell me what he said to you.  

Fratto: That things were building up and he was irritated with Micaela and he wanted to basically do something to her. 

Torvinen: Did he say what specifically? 

Fratto: Not at that point in time, no. 

Torvinen: Do you remember the words he used at all? 

Fratto: Not exactly, no. 

Torvinen: What was your interpretation of the words that he used to you? 

Fratto: That he was upset with her and he wanted to do something to her. 

Torvinen: Now, did you — did he say to you or did you 

ask him why he had this — this idea? 

Fratto: I had asked him what made her — what made him 

so mad at her, but all he would tell me was that things were building up and that he didn’t want to talk about it 

and he would not give me any more details than that. 

Torvinen: Now, this is about a week prior to the 3rd of March? 

Fratto: Yes. 

Then Fratto testifies to the fact that Mickie had been beaten and bound and held against her will.

from page 65

Torvinen: So did you see — now, when you got closer to 

her, could you — could you see any injuries? 

Fratto: I could tell that she had been beaten up.  I could tell that there was a cut on her lip, and it looked like she was starting to form bruises around her (indicating) — 

Torvinen: Mouth? 

Fratto: Mouth.

from page 142

Torvinen: Eventually, when you got around to the back, and he posted you to guard — to guard her — when did you become aware of the zip ties? 

Fratto: Not until after he was cutting her clothes off. 

Torvinen: Were they underneath her sweater? 

Fratto: I’m assuming, yes. 

Torvinen: Did it appear that they were close enough that 

she couldn’t move her hands apart? 

Fratto: Yeah. 

Torvinen: Where were they on her hands? 

Fratto: On the wrist, right here.  (indicating) 

Torvinen: Were her hands together, like this?  (indicating) That is, palm to palm?  Or were they crossed? 

Fratto: Palm to palm. 

Torvinen: Did you see — did she — did she have — did she ever — did you ever see anything in her hands? 

Fratto: When she was sitting in the cargo area, she had a kleenex in her hand, I do remember that. 

Finally Fratto relates the killing itself with the young girl begging for her life and Patten mocking her.

From pages 83 and 84

Torvinen: So when he, I guess, then leaned back up straight, this is when you saw the blood on her throat? 

Fratto: Correct. 

Torvinen: And how far away were you from him? 

Fratto: About maybe seven, eight feet back. 

Torvinen: And you could see the blood? 

Fratto: Yes. 

Torvinen: And you could see her hands around her throat? 

Fratto: Yes. 

Torvinen: Did she ever say anything? 

Fratto: Not at that point in time.  It was later — maybe a couple minutes, maybe — maybe five minutes later, she had looked up at Kody and asked, “Am I still here?  Am I still alive?  Can I” — and then she kept repeating, 

“Just take me home.  I won’t say anything.  Just take me 

home.”  

And that’s when Kody had told me to go pull the car around so the headlights were facing the grave.  

And then he told me to stay in the car and keep a watch 

out. 

Torvinen: So how close did you get when you did this?  

Well, first, before we leave it, you say that she is saying these things.  Have you ever made any other statements 

about what she was — what she said as this happened to her? 

Fratto: Not that I can recall. 

Torvinen: Have you ever said anything to anybody in the jail about what she said? 

Fratto: No. 

Torvinen: So she’s making this statement — these statements that you’ve described to me.  Is Kody saying anything? 

Fratto: The only thing I remember him saying is, “Yeah, we’ll take you home, you’ll be okay.”

from pages 85 and 86

Fratto: That’s when I had turned my head and looked 

over and she was kind of sitting up kind of in the grave, holding on to Kody, and Kody kind of pushed her down, looked up at me and said, “Look away.”  

And so I kept my head turned.  And I could hear, you know, struggling here and there.  Then all of a sudden I could hear, like, gurgling noises. 

And I kind of glanced over, but looked back away.  And I was scared, I didn’t know what he was doing over there or anything.  

And then he had got up and started walking over towards the driver’s side of the car, kind of like walking around, and had his hands, like, out and he had — I noticed he had the knife in his hand and he was just — he was swearing and freaking out and crying, and I didn’t 

know what had just happened.  And — 

Torvinen: You actually saw her sit up in the grave? 

Fratto: I had glanced over and she was — kind of sat up, like, grabbed on to Kody. 

Torvinen: Um-hmm.  

Fratto: And then — then the next time I had looked over, she was down in the grave. 

Click below for complete statement

Fratto – Proffer statement

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