Arizona man sentenced after burying ex-wife alive

Terrible husband David Pagniano was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole – seven years after killing his ex-wife, Sandraburying the bound and gagged woman alive in a shallow grave 10 miles from their Arizona home, RadarOnline.com has learned.

David, 62, recently pleaded guilty to the disturbing crime shortly before his trial began and put himself at the mercy of the judge without a deal being reached.

Sandra, 39, was seeking a divorce when she disappeared in May 2017 and a friend filed a missing person's report. At the time, she was still living with David and their two young daughters – then aged eight and 12 – at the couple's residence near Prescott.

The couple's controversial split sparked a criminal investigation.

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Two notes credited to Sandra were filed in court by her husband after her disappearance, stating that she had entrusted him with their home, cars and custody of their children. A forensic examination of the notes determined that the letters were actually written by the killer himself.

A grand jury indicted David for first-degree murder.