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Husband will spend rest of his life in prison after burying wife alive near Prescott

Sandra Pagniano was reported missing in 2017 before her body was found in a hand-dug grave north of Prescott.

PRESCOTT, Ariz. — A Prescott man was given a life sentence in prison this month after he pleaded guilty to burying his wife alive in 2017.

David M. Pagniano, 62, will spend the rest of his life in prison without the chance of parole after he pleaded guilty shortly before the start of his criminal trial for the death of his wife, Sandra Pagniano. 

The 39-year-old woman was reported missing in May 2017 before her body was found bound and gagged in packing tape in a hand-dug grave north of Prescott. The medical examiner confirmed Sandra had been buried alive.

"The evidence revealed she vigorously struggled while she was in the grave, and was likely conscious for up to five minutes after being buried," Yavapai County Attorney Dennis McGrane said in a statement.

The defendant and victim were in the process of a contentious divorce at the time Sandra Pagniano disappeared. 

Cell phone data placed David Pagniano at the site of the grave on the night Sandra Pagniano went missing, officials said. 

Investigators also recovered two handwritten notes David Pagniano forged to sound like his wife wrote them, which stated the wife was leaving and granting custody of the kids to David Pagniano. 

*Editor's Note: The above video is from an earlier broadcast*

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