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Judge upgrades release conditions for convicted Spokane wife killer, ex-deputy DiBartolo

Thomas A. DiBartolo, 65, a former Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy convicted of killing his wife in 1996 and blaming it on unknown assailants, walks into court in Spokane Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2019, to ask the court to rule on a motion in his case. A judge ruled Wednesday that DiBartolo must serve two years in community custody following his release from prison on Feb. 21, 2020. (Jesse Tinsley / The Spokesman-Review)
By Thomas Clouse tomc@spokesman.com(509) 459-5495

A Spokane judge on Wednesday clarified how much more time former Spokane County Sheriff’s deputy and convicted killer Thomas A. DiBartolo must serve in community custody once he’s released from prison next February.

DiBartolo, 65, argued through his publicly appointed attorney, Anna Nordtvedt, that he shouldn’t have to serve any community custody because that portion of his sentence was left blank by the judge who ordered him in 1997 to serve 26 years after a jury convicted him of killing his wife, 39-year-old Patty DiBartolo.

But Superior Court Judge Tony Hazel called the left out portion of community custody an “error by omission.” He said the statute, which was in place when Patty DiBartolo was shot in the back of the head on Nov. 2, 1996, called for at least two years of community custody following DiBartolo’s release from prison.

“There is no evidence of a waiver,” Hazel said. “What was left blank was the time and terms of community custody.”

Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor Dale Nagy said he agreed with Judge Hazel’s reading of the statute and said the motion will have no effect on DiBartolo’s expected release date of Feb. 21.

At that time, the former sheriff’s deputy who tried to blame his wife’s shooting death on two robbers, will be eligible to serve the two years out of prison but under a strict set of guidelines.

After serving much of his sentence on the East Coast, state prison officials transferred DiBartolo to a work-release facility in Yakima on Aug. 27. He was then moved to the Yakima County Jail last month in preparation for moving him to Spokane for hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Also on Wednesday, Nordtvedt indicated that DiBartolo intends to file more motions challenging the remaining time left on his sentence. However, Nordtvedt said she was not prepared to argue those motions before Judge Hazel this week.