Rhonda Wisto

Background

Rhonda Maye Wisto was accused alongside her son, Frank Jacob York, in the September 2010 killing of 15-year-old Dystiny Myers. Prosecutors believed Myers was attacked by four men, including York, at Wisto’s home, where she was beaten, hogtied and stuffed into a duffel bag. Firefighters discovered Myers’ burned body off Parkhill Road, where the men dumped her body and lit it on fire.

Wisto ordered the murder, in part, because she believed Myers was disrespectful.

The offence

Dystiny Myers died from mechanical asphyxiation and blunt-force trauma. An autopsy report found toxic levels of methamphetamine in Myers’ system, which contributed to her death.

Myers was a runaway who showed up at Wisto’s home and had been staying there at the time of the attack.

During the attack, Myers was hogtied and had sweat pants tied around her throat. She was duct taped from head to toe, and a glove was stuffed down her throat during the drive. Her body was later dumped and partially burned at a rural location in Santa Margarita.

During the events described in testimony and opening statements, the group stopped at a Chevron gas station in Pismo Beach around 2 a.m. for refreshments, and later they stopped at Jack in the Box in San Luis Obispo for tacos.

Prosecutors described the alleged group as drug-ring participants, with testimony that the defendants had ties to white supremacist gangs. Prosecutors also stated that the defendants and Myers used methamphetamines around the time of the incident.

Investigation

Investigators described physical indicators of the assault, including forensic findings that included a glove shoved down Myers’ throat, sweatpants tied around her neck, skull fractures, gouging to one eye, and severe bruising throughout her body.

A baseball bat allegedly used in the beating had fingerprints of Frank Jacob York on it, and it also tested positive for the presence of blood. Forensic specialist Ken Jones testified that two of the three prints recovered from the bat matched York’s left middle finger and his right palm, and the bat also tested positive for blood.

A list of items needed to kill Myers was described in court, including testimony that Ty Michael Hill wrote out a list and Wisto provided the items on that list. Prosecutors described procurement of items including a tent bag, shovels, lime, rope, a baseball bat and brass knuckles, as well as a comforter. Prosecutors stated that the group acquired items needed to dispose of Myers’ body, including flammable materials used to douse her after she was put into a pit.

Arrest

Hill, Wisto, York and Greenwell were arrested later in the day. Miller was arrested the day after at a hospital where he had been taken for his injuries.

Trial

Charges and verdicts

After the pair’s March trial, jurors found Rhonda Wisto and Frank Jacob York guilty of first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, torture, kidnapping, and aiding-and-abetting.

The March trial verdicts were announced after roughly two weeks of testimony. The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes.

During closing arguments, Assistant District Attorney Tim Covello argued that York had sexually molested Myers before the murder, stating: “Jacob York is not just a murderer,” and “Rhonda Wisto has to protect him because he’s also a child molester.” York’s attorney, Gerald Carrasco, asked for a mistrial, saying it was “highly prejudicial,” and argued that “There has not been any evidence to suggest that my client is a child molester.”

Covello also argued: “She was kept. She was used. She was tortured. She was murdered. She was disposed of.”

Jurors declined to comment afterward.

Witness testimony and disputed matters

Jason Adam Greenwell testified under an agreement in which he would plead guilty to second-degree murder in exchange for testimony, and he provided an account of events leading to Myers’ death. Greenwell testified that Myers told someone: “She said to tell her mom she loved her.”

Greenwell said he overheard Wisto and Hill plan the crime, stating: “I heard Ty ask Rhonda to get something that burns real hot, real fast.” He testified that Myers exited the house saying: “I just wanted to say goodbye,” and “I’m leaving.” Greenwell testified that York told his mother, “I don’t want to do this,” and Wisto replied, “Sometimes things just have to happen.”

Greenwell testified about the attack and subsequent transport, including:

• “Ty told me to hold Dystiny down while Jacob hit her legs with a baseball bat,”
• “Ty told everybody to get dark clothes on and to put on rubber gloves,”
• “Rhonda was in there telling him — instructing him — how to get dressed,” and
• “Jacob also said to his mom, ‘I don’t want to do this.’ And she said, ‘Sometimes things just have to happen.’”

Greenwell said that Myers was drugged in York’s bedroom and that she was “clearly out of it.”

Greenwell described Wisto instructing the participants prior to transport: “She told Ty, Jacob and I to make sure we had nothing in our pockets, and she gave Ty a walkie talkie.”

Greenwell stated about Myers after the drive began to Santa Margarita: “She looked dead, basically.”

Wisto’s attorney, Michael Cummins, argued in closing that Greenwell’s testimony was crucial and said: “If you believe Jason Greenwell told the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, then you should convict my client.” Cummins also argued that Greenwell was a “serial liar,” motivated to get a better deal allowing a chance at parole in the future.

Greenwell’s account included that Hill made a list of things needed to dispose of Myers’ body and that Wisto began gathering the items on the list. Greenwell also testified that Wisto placed a 55-gallon drum and a bag of flammable fluids near Wisto’s truck.

York’s attorney, Gerald Carrasco, argued that intoxication could be a defense to some elements of crimes, especially intent, deliberation and premeditation for first-degree murder. Carrasco said: “This may be one where you say, ‘I don’t really like the law,’” and “We are a nation of laws … even for him.” Carrasco also asked: “But the real issue here is, if he’s guilty of murder, then in what capacity?”

Events during sentencing hearing

During sentencing, York’s attorney Gerald Carrasco read a letter York wrote to Myers’ family, which stated: “I know my words carry no weight,” and “I am sorry for the loss and heartache that has happened in your everyday lives. There’s an angel looking over you now.”

During the sentencing hearing, Kathy Clark, Myers’ grandmother, told Wisto and York that she forgave them, saying: “The last 33 months have been the longest days of my life,” and that she would never see her grandchildren: “I’ll never get to see my grandchildren. I’ll never get to see my granddaughter get married or graduate from high school.”

Clark also said: “Today is a new beginning for our family,” and “It’s a new beginning for Dystiny.”

Afterward, Clark stated she did not believe York’s apology was sincere and described Wisto’s role, saying: “That lady took four young men and got them to do something that they paid a tragic price for,” and “She was very, very selfish. That’s what bothers me the most.”

Aileen Myers, Myers’ mother, told Wisto and her son she did not forgive them and said she hoped they “rotted in their prison cells.” She said: “Myers loved small children and enjoyed singing and dancing.”

Sentencing

Rhonda Wisto and Frank Jacob York were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Formal sentencing was set for May 8, 2013, and Wisto’s sentence was life without parole on May 8, 2013.

The jury’s verdict led to mandatory sentences of life without parole because the verdict included a kidnapping conviction during the commission of a murder.

Appeals

Wisto and York had 60 days to appeal the court’s ruling.

Outcome

Three other defendants avoided trials by pleading guilty to the teen’s murder:

• Ty Michael Hill, sentenced to life without parole.
• Cody Lane Miller, sentenced to life without parole.
• Jason Adam Greenwell, who took a plea bargain in exchange for his testimony during the trial and was to be sentenced later, taking a sentence of 15 years to life with the possibility of parole.

Other details

Rhonda Maye Wisto was listed as 49 years old at the time referenced with the March 22, 2013 reporting. Frank Jacob York was listed as 22 years old.

Assistant District Attorney Tim Covello said Myers was killed because she knew about the group’s illegal activities and because she had disrespected Wisto. During opening statements, Covello quoted Wisto’s son, saying: “Dystiny had a mouth on her. She was popping off.”

A detective testified that York told sheriff’s detective Robert Burgeson that Myers was “being disrespectful” and that Wisto ordered the beating and killing of Myers.

York closed his eyes before and after his verdicts were announced, and he was described as stoic during sentencing.