Teen Gets Life For Lawyer's Wife Slay

(CBS/AP)  The teenager convicted of murdering Pamela Vitale - the wife of defense attorney and TV legal analyst Daniel Horowitz - has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Scott Dyleski was 16 when he bludgeoned and stabbed his Vitale, 45, in her Lafayette, California, home last October.

He avoided the death penalty because of his age, now 17, but his lawyer argued he should get 25 years to life because of his youth and troubled upbringing.

After his friends and lawyer begged for mercy in Contra Costa County Superior Court and Vitale's family called for justice, Dyleski sat emotionless as Judge Barbara Zuniga delivered the maximum sentence.

"The one time I saw you show any emotion was when the autopsy photos were up on the wall," the judge said. "I saw you lean forward and your mouth fell open. ... You were absolutely fascinated by your handiwork."

Prosecutors suggested Dyleski killed the woman for fear she was about to discover he was stealing neighbors' credit cards and ordering pot-growing equipment.

Prosecutors said he got into fight with Vitale after going to her home to pick up equipment that he believed had been shipped to her address.

Horowitz found his wife's battered and bloody body Oct. 15 in the doorway of the mobile home where they were living while building their dream home on the hilltop estate. A symbol resembling an H was carved in her back.

Horowitz, who has represented clients on death row and made a name for himself commenting during the Scott Peterson murder trial, glared at Dyleski.

"When he beat her again and again, he took pleasure in killing. He enjoyed it," Horowitz said.

Daughter Marisa Vitale begged Dyleski to explain himself, saying it would be the one good thing he could do.

"Tell us why," she asked. "Why did you shatter such a beautiful life?"

[hermit22]

Criminals are job security for lawyers.

Rich lawyers build hideaway houses and the criminals they get off usually come back to haunt the people who live in poor neighborhoods. Opps! this time it didn't happen that way.

[chicabear1]

BizzyBirdy I agree with you 100%. Too much time and money is spent on this scum of the earth. This scum has no regard for human life. To kill people who kill is not the American way as some here suggest. The overcrowding and expense of the prisons in America is testament to that. Sure, some criminals receive the death penalty, but it's hardly ever carried out. They ususally just sit on death row until they die of natural causes. I agree with musicgal 40 also. These criminals plead mercy but what about their victims. Was this victim shown any mercy before she was brutally beaten and murdered? NO! I say punish him harshly for the rest of his life if he can't be punished by death. Save the taxpayers' money and put it to better use.

[justme72]

Studio41....would you feel the same way if this was your loved one that was brutally murdered?

[CBSTV]

Yes, musicgal40 and others, let's slay another person and throw their body upon the pile. Kill people who kill. That's the American way.

[musicgal40]

I say we bring back public hangings. I am also sick of criminials using excuses like "I never had a parent around or I was abused as a child" There is no excuse for any of the *** they do. They know it is wrong. Buck up and deal with it. My parents were divorced, my parents did not care about us and I was abused as a child but I have not killed, robbed or hurt anyone. I lead a very productive live. I live my life to the fullest.

[linfinster]

Well Mac, if you want to bring God into this, you might want to note that He did have provisions in the bible (granted it was the old testament) where if a person had caused the death of another, even if by accident, he could "escape" to a designated, protected "city" where he would live out the remainder of his life, (or until the high government official died, in which case he would be set free, if I remember right) HOWEVER, if a family member were to catch up to him before he made it to this city, they could kill him and there would be no retribution for that killing. God is a God of balance and justice. Jesus' words in the new testament, asking for forgiveness for those who killed him should not be applied here as an example of how we treat criminals. Jesus' death was the price for the original sin, and had a purpose.

[mac2499-2009]

For a country that believes in God and the values He has mandated, the citizens of America love to kill. I know that the teen commited a horrible crime and that he should be made to paid but not with his life. This statement will make a lot of Americans angry and believe me if something like this happen in my family I would probably kill the guy but that would not make it better. If we are to deter murder and violence then there must be a way other than by just killing the criminals or jailing for life. By the way prisons have the the 2nd largest # employees next to GM's workforce. What about lobotomizing criminals? If throwing criminals in jail and the threat of death is not detering them how about surgically altering their minds?

[bizzybirdy]

Life? for such an atrocious crime. WHY do we continue to support the dregs of this country in prisons where they get free meals, temperate climate controls, and tv and recreation while our good homeless people die on the streets. I say kill the jerk! and all like him that commit such heinous crimes. Look at the money we will save for a better purpose.

[whatithink-2009]

To antoniorego,

If you are so torn up about it, why don't you volunteer to send him some care packages.

[saidso-2009]

"Can't he be sent to Iraq or Iran?"

Are you saying that we should train someone who murdered an innocent woman (because he wanted to grow weed) fighting and weapons skills plus give him a gun?
Are you saying that you don't think his youth or his 'killing skills' should go to waste in jail?
This 17 yr old needs to be punished. Sending someone to war shouldn't be viewed as punishment or else voluntary enlistment would continue to spiral down.