PRESCOTT, Ariz. — An Arizona man has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 2017 death of his wife, who was buried alive in a hand-dug grave near her home, authorities announced.
Seven years after the murder, David Paniano decided to plead guilty before his trial was scheduled to begin, allowing a judge to decide his sentence without a plea deal.
Paniano, 62, was also sentenced on May 9 to 16 and a half years in prison for kidnapping, forgery and fraud, according to the Yavapai County Attorney's Office.
“My office pursued the death penalty in this case because of the horrific circumstances surrounding the kidnapping and murder of a young mother,” County Attorney Dennis McGrane said in a statement.
Authorities said 39-year-old Sandra Paniano disappeared in May 2017 during divorce proceedings with her husband.
According to reports, she and David Paniano are separated but still live in the same house with their two young daughters.
Sandra Paniano's body was found bound with duct tape and gagged in a grave in a rural area north of Prescott, and the county coroner's office confirmed she was buried alive.
Sheriff's officials said there was evidence that Sandra Paniano was struggling violently in the grave and may have been conscious for up to five minutes.
Cellphone evidence showed David Paniano was near the cemetery in the days before his wife went missing and the night of her abduction.
Detectives recovered two notes purportedly written by Sandra Pagnano that were filed in her divorce case after her disappearance.
The note said she was breaking up with David Paniano and giving him custody of her car, house and children.
But authorities said a forensic examination of the notes revealed they were written by David Paniano.
A grand jury indicted him on first-degree murder charges after his wife's body was found in a remote area 16 miles northwest of the couple's home near Prescott in north-central Arizona.
