Teen Gets Life For Lawyer's Wife Slay

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?"