Where Is Bernadette Protti Now? The Girl Who Killed Her Classmate Whereabouts

Publish date: 2024-05-20

Where is Bernadette Protti now? To know everything about the girl who killed her classmate, keep reading. 

Bernadette Protti is an American-Italian who the world knows as the murderer of Kirsten Costas, a Miramonte High School student and member of the school's cheerleading squad.

After the incident, she faced a sentence of nine years. James Benning, an American filmmaker, covered the entire story in the 1987 documentary, Landscape Suicide. Likewise, the story made its way to a television movie named A Friend to Die For.

Besides these, this story became a topic for some other titles, Death of a Cheerleader, season 5 of Deadly Women, and many others. 

Where Is Bernadette Protti Now?

Bernadette Protti, who killed her classmate in June 1984, isn't in prison anymore.

She completed her maximum of a 9-year prison sentence and is now leading a private life. As for her exact whereabouts, it remains unknown at the moment.

On 23 June 1984, Bernadette invited her school friend, Kirsten Marina Costas, for the Bob-o-Links to befriend her. However, her friend got angry as she found out that she got pranked.

This situation made the two quarrel, and Costas fled to the home of Alex and Mary Jane Arnold, telling them that her friend was weird. Alex drove her home as she was unable to reach her parents. At her home, Protti attacked Costas, stabbing her five times with a butcher knife and fleeing the crime scene. The wounded got taken to a nearby hospital, where she died.

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Police, after almost six months, found the killer. She passed a lie detector test, but her alibi remained unverified. In an attempt to confirm it, police suspected her of lying. She then wrote her mother a letter with a full confession after an FBI agent told her that her arrest was imminent. 

Protti said she found the butcher knife her elder sister Virginia Varela kept in her car to cut vegetables by chance. 

The killer received a sentence of a maximum of nine years in prison but got released on parole in 1992. 

Following her prison sentence, almost everything about her is a mystery including, her whereabouts. However, reports online say that she now lives with a different name, Jeannette Tomanka.

Bernadette Protti Age And Bio

As for Bernadette Protti's age, she is 53 years old.

She was born on 20 September 1968. Her mother, Elaine Protti, was a homemaker, while her father was a retired public works officer. 

Bernadette faced a sentence of 9 years for second-degree murder charges. Besides her crime, there isn't much about her online. Her educational qualifications and professional background remain hidden.

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Bernadette Protti Family

Regarding Bernadette Protti's family, we know about a few members.

Her mother is Elaine Protti. As for her father, the identity remains unknown. She also has a sister named Virginia Protti. Besides them, reports online say that she is a married woman and has children. However, she never confirmed any of it, and everything is nothing but speculation.

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