Arizona Man Whose Wife Died After Being Buried Alive In 'Hand-Dug Grave' Sentenced for Murder

Last week, the Yavapai County Attorney's Office announced David Pagniano, 62, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murder of wife Sandra Pagniano, 39 -- a case for which they pursued the death penalty "because of the horrific circumstances surrounding the abduction and murder of a young mother."

County Attorney Dennis McGrane also detailed the woman's death in a statement, saying, "Sandra was kidnapped from her home while her children slept nearby, bound in packing tape, driven to a remote location and 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."

He also said he hoped the life sentence "brings some closure to the victim’s family."

According to a press release, the Sheriff's Office began investigating after Sandra "disappeared under suspicious circumstances" during what they called "a contentious divorce" between her and her husband, David. Per ABC News, the two were separated but still living together with their two young daughters.

Following a "massive" manhunt and investigation, her body "was found bound and gagged in packing tape in a hand-dug grave in a remote area north of Prescott, Arizona," before the medical examiner determined she was buried alive.

As the investigation continued, detectives had a pair of notes purportedly written by Sandra saying she "was leaving and giving Pagniano her vehicles, house, and custody of their children" filed in their divorce proceedings analyzed after her disappearance; the analysis concluded David wrote the notes, not Sandra. Cell phone data also allegedly showed him in the area of the grave "in the days before victim's death as well as the night she went missing."

He was later charged with first-degree murder.

The night before going to trial, the Attorney's Office says, Pagniano "decided to plead guilty and let the judge decide his sentence, without any plea agreement from the County Attorney’s Office." In the end, he was given life in prison for murder and was also sentenced to serve "an additional 16.5 years in prison for the crimes of Kidnapping, Forgery, and Fraud Schemes."