City man gets 40 years for 'almost predictable' slaying

By GREG TUTTLE Of The Gazette Staff A 58-year-old Billings man who shot his wife to death and then was shot by a sheriff's deputy during a standoff was sentenced this morning to 50 years at Montana State Prison, with 10 years suspended. John Anthony Costanza was sentenced by District Judge Susan Watters for the Feb. 12, 2007, death of Mychel Costanza-Shearer. Costanza initially was charged with deliberate homicide, but he pleaded guilty in April to a reduced charge of mitigated deliberate homicide. Costanza spoke briefly before he was sentenced, apologizing for the crime as several of the victim's relatives listened from the courtroom gallery. Elvira James, Costanza-Shearer's mother, gave an emotional statement in which she described her only daughter as an animal lover who served as a page in the state Legislature and later... [read full story]