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Subscribe to RSSAs part of the Dateline report Under the Desert Sky from Friday, January 4th, learn more about Mickie Costanzo as her family shares memories and pays tribute to her life and legacy.
To share your own thoughts about Mickie or to express support, please visit her family-created Facebook tribute page.
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I feel it was Toni's idea, she was jealous of Mickie and Cody's friendship! She was also jealous of Mickie's looks and that is why I feel she had so much blunt trauma to her face. he must have really thought he loved her to do it! But both are still guilty! So sad for Mickie's family.
I agree. I just watched tonight's episode and the way Toni is smiling to see her mother; but, also continues to glance at her mother on how to answer the questions of why...I am sickened by how Toni's parent's do not listen to her confession, believing their own version of what happened and then finally convince their daughter to not tell the truth....clearly the lessons of life the parent's have taught their daughter is to not get caught and say nothing when you do.
I am glad that not only was Toni's diary found; but, that Mickie's sister confirmed Toni insecurity and jealousy towards Mickie. Cody represents the average guy involved with crazy insecure girls whoa re unable to say "no."
I wish Mickie didn't die; but, I am also glad that no one else has to deal with the manipulative behavior of Toni and Cody. They represent many "odd couples" together out of guilt and fear of getting caught with the "dirt" they have on one another.
hello everyone let me start by saying to the parents of Mickie no word's or thought's could ever undo what had happend to your daughter.I watch the nbc date line show last night and it brought me to tear's .As a father myself feel your pain she is in a better place now know one can ever hurt her again .As for Toni i do believe in my heart she was the one who planed it all it was her selfishness and hatefull personality as i watch the show ( and you don't have to be a detective to see who the guilty one is toni ). TONI NEVER SHOWED EMOTION'S THE HOLE TIME !!! EVEN AT THE END OF THE SHOW WHERE SHE WAS ENTERVIEWED BY NBC.She had this smerck on her face like she got away with it she has a evil mind you see it in her body language she was smiling at her mom and stumbeling her word's in the enterview she doesnt care it's over and blaimed her boy friend who was so scared toke the blaime for what she done .If you look at the enterview he buckled from the start you look into his eye's and he is stuned he even done such a thing .as for Toni she will get punish time and time again in prison for what she done it's not a place for a decent looking woman to be she will be beatin time and time again .But know matter what they do to her in prison justafys for what she done to MICKIE it's over now so please everyone let the family live in peace along with MICKIE when Toni get's out she will never rest easy or have anything or anyone Like her dad said he may not be alive when she get's out to be there for her know one who does such a thing deserves to be in the head line's or on tv REST IN PEACE MICKIE I AM SO SORRY THIS HAPPEND TO YOUR DAUGHTER 2500HD4X4X/INDIANA HUG YOUR KID'S LIKE IT'S YOUR LAST TIME YOU WILL SEE THEM
Absolutely,TP, since she wasn't very pretty, it is obvious from the start that she is behind all this..jealous of mickie's cute,pretty looks..they said in the program that Toni was a beauty queen at some point???????come on....maybe,there was only ONE girl in that town...
LOL mic, EXACTLY what I thought too............had to have been the only girl in the contest!!
Pictures and clips of Toni looks like shes missing a few chromosomes
This episode just broke my heart. With two children of my own the same age, it's just too easy to put yourself in her parents shoes. I fully believe Toni was the aggressor, jealousy can bring out the absolute worst in people. I didn't buy her story at all, especially after her interview with Dateline. And the abuse story? That was a desperate mother trying to save her daughter. My heart breaks for all three families.
It was Toni's idea. Cody went along with it because Toni was mad and wanted her to stop being mad at him. Toni and Mickie...he ended up with Toni; but, Cody is too insecure to be with Mickie.
The scary part was Cody's behavior towards Mickie became violent when she cut him out of her life. How much of his bad behavior was Mickie dealing with before she stopped dealing with him altogether.
Cody and Toni both wanted Mickie to just sit back and abuse her. They had been watching her for a while and when they saw the opportunity they took complete advantage of it.
I am also saddened about how Toni's family has, inadvertently, encouraged her to not tell the truth; but, not lie either. She was smiling at her mom; but, quickly tried to wipe the smile from her face while on camera. It was a weird moment of looking into the eyes of a killer, lier, manipulator...sad person.
Only her father was visibly shaking, crying, that he may not still be alive to see his daughter when she is no longer bound by prison. What I am saying is that Toni's parents and Toni's relationship with Cody, mirror one another and that is freaky.
Toni's mother is deluding herself
It appears that there is an element of premeditation that investigators missed: The text message that Toni received which was confirmed twice during the report read "I got her" which obviously demonstrates that Toni knew beforehand the identity of "her". This is further corroborated during the prison interview at the end of the report where Toni refers to the murder scene as "the designated place".
This was premeditated murder most likely instigated by Toni.
Arturo J. Guzman
San Juan, Pr
I definitely believe that both Kody and Toni share major responsibility in the execution of this horrific, senseless murder. I believe that Toni's jealousy was the driving catalyst of the crime, due to the brutal nature of the murder, in particular the injuries to Mickie's face. I'm sorry, but the likelihood of a young good-looking teenage male destroying the face of a beautiful teenage girl (no matter how angry he is) is not very likely, even in a fit of rage. He'd have no particular motive to damage her face. That is something that is more likely done by a jealous female, intent on destroying the girl who she saw as a threat. This is of course, not to excuse Kody's role in the murder, in that I believe that his ego was majorly bruised by Mickie's rejection, once she decided to have nothing to do with him. That, paired with Toni's obsessive jealousy, seems to be the ultimate motive for the despicable and heinous murder of Mickie Costanzo.
Am I the only one who found a problem with how Mickie's family seemed to almost defend Kody, saying that they didn't think it was possible that he could've done this gruesome murder alone? I mean yes, Toni was definitely involved, but for them to have even an OUNCE of mercy on this coldblooded killer is beyond me, whether he'd been a family friend of not. It's almost as if they have a level of sympathy for him, just because they'd known him as a friend of the family. I'm sorry, but Toni and Kody are both coldblooded, heartless killers. The utter lack of emotion in Toni's voice as she described the killing in her first confession says it all. No remorse or regret; only self-pity and a desperate plea to try to see freedom again someday. That's the only emotion I get from her at all. I believe Kody was ready to reveal the complete truth, before his lawyer stepped in and stopped him. It's almost clear as glass that this was a final showdown between a jealous teenage girl, an egocentric violent teenage male, and an innocent victim who fell prey to their senseless rage.
I agree. They didn't see that he was also a very sick puppy. They saw him as a puppy and that means they will have a lot to sort though for many years before they come to the truth of it.
The two of them must have spent a lot of time talking about Mickie before the very well executed plan was worked out. They are both guilty of murder.
can someone fill me in on the very end of they story? right after toni's interview they said there was something else they found and then they went to a commercial and i missed it when they came back on.
Heather, the car he used belonged to an older woman he was seeing on the side. You'll NEVER convince me this was anyone's idea but the jealous and homely girlfriend.
Was the shovel used for the digging a shovel that just happened to belong to the car that Coby borrowed or was it a shovel that belonged to Coby or Toni? The answer to that question might show premeditation.
This was a very sad episode. I agree that it was the jealous girlfriend, and it was plain to see from the very beginning. As soon as I heard about the stabs to the girl's face,I knew it was an act of jealous rage. But,I really want to mention Toni's parents. The thought kept going through my mind was,"How could they allow their underage daughter to be controlled and abused by her boyfriend?" I kept thinking,"I be daggone if I let my daughter bring her boyfriend to live under my roof and he sure as heck wouldn't be abusing her!"
I was outraged by the thoughts of that. I soon saw that Toni most likely ruled her parents. And, I soon saw that she was the instigator in the whole thing. The abuse story was made up. I doubt the truth will ever be told, and that is very sad. My heart goes out to the victim's family. I found them to be more forgiving than Kody ever deserved.
That was what I thought about the parents as well.
i think that Toni's confession is a lie i think she is just trying to get into prison with kody
I am shocked that Kody would kill his Mickie his childhood friend to go with ugly Toni. She helped kill her cause she was jealous. Kody should have gotten the death penalty and so should have Toni. What did see in her ugly face. She lied to cut a deal. My heart goes out to Mickie's family. RIP Mickie.
My heart goes out to Mickie's family....I can't begin to imagine such a loss. My question that haunts me is: What causes a child to go to these lengths? How did we get to the point where a child even comes to this conclusion as an option? And, what can we do, as a society, to make changes so no other family EVER has to suffer such horror?
It is clear to see that Toni is still keeping a secret and that she got a deal from with holding information that it was a premeditated murder for them both. I would lay money down that the premeditated conversation went something like....Toni saying, If you are willing to kill her with me that will prove you really do love me. Toni was clearly the one who smashed Mickie with the shovel first that left her semi convulsive and then come to but it was the boyfriend who finished the throat cut that finally did her in. It is not hard to understand a mormon who thinks in terms of good-evil, and a mormon will justify any lie they tell. You can see the change in Toni's mother from the true statement and then the trained lie statement after being groomed from their lawyer.
Sad story...but it wouldn't have to be a 2 hour episode. They drag out these shows: what should be 45 minutes MAXIMUM, with 15 minutes on commercials, ends up with a 20 minute 'show' at best, and 25 minutes of repeat stuff, and 75 minutes of commercials.
If NBC wants to make a documentary, they should follow CBC in Canada, like the Fifth Estate, or almost any Canadian documentary: real drama, less 'fill'. Keith Morrison USED to work up this way...you can have him!
OK I POSTED EARLYER know one truely know's the truth the both did the horable thing kody is just as guilty the reason why the family is saying they couldnt believe kody would do such a thing but the realise he did it so that say's the bottom line is Toni and Kodi did what they did it's over let's support the grieving family of Mickie the two dont deserve the spot light as far as Toni goes she can rot in prison she deserves to die in there and she just might
How could Cody date a homely insecure girl like Toni and Kill Mickie his childhood friend? Toni helped him. They should gotten the death penalty. Toni lied to cut a deal that she didn't deserve. My heart goes out to Mickie's family. She was such a lovely girl who didn't deserve to die.
I am actually quite disappointed at the quality of reporting, it's scripted more like a cliff hanger movie rather than a piece of investigative journalism. It was particularly obvious the way they staged and cut the interview scene. We are clearly meant to draw the conclusion that Toni's mom must have been coaching Toni how to spin the "abused girl friend" angle. And come on using Micaela's sister as the confirmed source of Toni's jealousy and later guilty behavior, I mean, your honour, the witness is clearly biased, she is the victim's sister afterall !! Either Dateline is too lazy to go interview people beyond the immediate circle or they just couldn't find anybody to collaborate on that angle, either way it fails to truly convince and only serve to show the heavy and biased hand the production team chose to use. Sad because this is not doing justice to Micaela !
I first heard this story on Anderson and watching the interview on his show from Toni's "jailhouse confession". I was cringing at what she said in her interview. I cringed at the mother and the brother of Toni because they both seemed all too odd...To sit there and make excuses for her, or not saying anything at all?.
My heart was hurting when I saw Mickey's mother and sister speaking of thier deceased daughter, as they were trying to speak of the heartbreak they felt.
Now I have watched this interview on dateline, as they investigated the real story behind it, as it revealed more..(the inside story) My thoughts are still the same. Toni is a very cunning individual. She seemed like a very jealous teen, who would stop at nothing to get what she wanted.