Protti claimed to have found the kitchen knife by chance, and her older sister, Gina, testified in court that she used to have that knife in her car to cut vegetables. The Costas did not believe this story – they claimed that nobody would use an 18-inch-long (460 mm) knife to slice tomatoes and that Protti, casually dressed on that evening, never intended to take Kirsten to a party, but had planned to murder her. Protti was sentenced to a maximum of nine years but was released seven years later on parole.