During elementary school, Dyleski moved with his mother to Lafayette, California, and began living in the home of another family, with whom they had long been friends.
He later asked to be removed from the case, because he defended the driver of a car that killed Dyleski's sister and another passenger in 2002.
Dyleski told Croen that he would "take care of it"[3] and, subsequently, he made one more attempt by calling the credit card company.
[5] They said he killed Vitale by striking her numerous times in the head, possibly with a rock, and then carved a symbol into her back.
[8][9] At the conclusion of the preliminary hearing, judge Mary Ann O'Malley ruled that prosecutors had enough evidence for trial.
His mother was accused of helping her son destroy evidence, but the charge was dropped under the condition that she testify truthfully.
Prosecutor Harold Jewett said Dyleski identified with gothic symbols and art that depicted violence and stabbed and beat Vitale.
Leonida described her client as a gentle kid whose friends know he is not a killer and instead valued human and animal rights.
The prosecutor called to the stand Dyleski's housemates, mother, girlfriend, friend, a forensic pathologist, a DNA expert and several criminalists.
He was held in juvenile hall until his 18th birthday on October 30, 2006 (about one month after sentencing) and was then transferred to San Quentin Prison.
He was kept out of the general population while his case was evaluated and was then transferred to Kern Valley State Prison several months later.
In 2009, the Court of Appeal justices upheld the conviction and noted, "The defendant in this case committed a truly heinous crime.
Putting on a dark mask and gloves, and arming himself with a rock and a knife, he invaded the home of a complete stranger to him.