Arizona man gets life in prison in murder of wife who "vigorously struggled" after being buried alive, prosecutors say
An Arizona man has been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the 2017 death of his wife, who was buried alive in a hand-dug grave near their home while their children slept, authorities said.
Seven years after the murder, David Pagniano decided to plead guilty before his trial was scheduled to start and allowed a judge to determine his sentence without a plea agreement.
Pagniano, 62, also was sentenced on May 9 to a 16 ½-year prison term for kidnapping, forgery and fraud, according to the Yavapai County Attorney's Office.
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"Sandra was kidnapped from her home while her children slept nearby, bound in packing tape, driven to a remote location and buried alive," McGrane said. "The evidence revealed she vigorously struggled while she was in the grave, and was likely conscious for up to five minutes after being buried."
I still don't support the death penalty, but people like this make it too damn hard some days. Fuck this guy.
I don't support the death penalty because the government shouldn't have that power and because mistakes happen.
I do not have sympathy for a lot of the people who get the death penalty. And I would not have mourned if this person got it.
Yeah. I think you can sum it up as "some crimes absolutely deserve death. No government can be trusted to dole it out".
Assuming he’s guilty
I'm anti-death penalty because I don't believe the government should have that power and because sometimes innocent people get murdered by it. But fucks like these do indeed make it hard. Torturing somebody like that.... He deserves anything he gets.