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15 Yr Old Killed Elizabeth Olten Because She “wanted to know what it felt like.”
- 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante
COLE COUNTY - 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante is charged with first degree murder in the death of Elizabeth Olten.
The initial public hearing in juvenile court began at 8 a.m. this morning and finished around 10 a.m as Cole County Judge Jon Beetem announced Bustamante would be tried as an adult.
About 30 members of the community were in the court room for the emotional hearing. Prosecutor Samantha Green fought back tears, as did Olten’s family, as she pleaded for the judge to try Bustamante as an adult due both to the severity and viciousness of the crime.
Sgt. David Rice of the Missouri Highway Patrol was the chief investigator on the case, and testified that he interviewed Bustamante on October 23, two days after Olten was reported missing. Bustamante, a guardian, and a juvenile officer were all present. She also led authorities to the body.
He also testified that during the Oct. 23 interview, Bustamante said she dug two holes in the woods on October 16, and planned the murder of Olten.
Sgt. Rice said that when he asked Bustamante why she allegedly killed Olten, she replied that she “wanted to know what it felt like.”
Principal Jeff Dodson of Jefferson City High School was the first to testify Wednesday morning. He talked about Bustamante’s performance in school as good. She was in the top third of her class. He said he had casual interactions with Bustamante and found her to be an average student.
Dodson said Bustamante attended school on the day Olten was murdered, and the only unexcused absence she had from school was the day after Olten’s death.
Jefferson City Public Schools issued a statement Wednesday saying it had provided law enforcement and courts with documents and information that had been requested. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prohibits school officials from publicly discussing students records.
Green, the prosecutor, rested much of her case to try Bustamante as an adult on the lack of proper services in the juvenile system to treat Bustamante, which Judge Beetem upheld in his decision.
Judge Beetem said he was ”disappointed with the Division of Youth Services” because it lacks the “adequate facilities, programs, or services that [Bustamante] needs to treat her past her 21st birthday.”
Elizabeth Olten, 9, went missing October 21st when she was supposed to be coming home from a friend's house. Her body was found three days later.
Bill Haverly testified on the behalf of the Missouri Division of Youth Services, which provides services for juveniles in trouble with the law. He said that there are no juvenile secure care for females in the state, only for males.
He testified that if she were to go into juvenile care, she would likely be in a residential care program for eight months, followed by six months in an after-care program. He said the latest she would be released from juvenile care is her 21st birthday, which would put her back in the community in just more than five years.
Green said that with Bustamante’s past issues, five years was not enough time for treatment or punishment.
Juvenile officer David Cook testified that Bustamante has received mental health services since September 2007 after she attempted suicide. She had a ten-day stay in the Mid-Missouri Mental Health Center after the attempt, and has received mental health services from Pathways Community Behavioral Healthcare in Jefferson City since.
Cook said Bustamante takes Prozac for depression and also received services for mood swings and self-harm. Cook said Bustamante has a history of cutting herself, but said that there were no indications she was homicidal.
Bustamante had been in care of her grandmother, Karen Brooke, since 2001, and Cook said her life at home was normal and structured. She did chores and earned an allowance, and had no abnormal confrontations with her siblings.
Brett Valentine, Bustamante’s juvenile defender, argued that Bustamanate wouldn’t survive in the adult Department of Corrections. There are currently no girls in the Department of Corrections aged 13-15. SOURCE: KOMU News by Bonnie Thomoas, November 18, 2009
all i can say is WOW!! what is this world coming to????
J4C—All I can say is that I totally agree!!!! It’s a shame that this girl (deranged person) got to experience the “feeling” that she wanted. I would’ve surely felt that a person who “cuts theirself” would be considered a person that was not only a danger to themselves, but a potential danger to others. JMO
I wish she could find out what it is like to take a ride on Ol’ Sparky.
WOW! What would cause her to want to know what it was like? She is obviously troubled and dangerous! She should never be released! IMO
She formed a plan and carried it out……very very dangerous!
Wow! This is one sick, dangerous gal with a history of mental issues.
Some time ago, I saw a program and also read an article regarding the dangers of teens and Prozac. It was recommended that teens not be given Prozac. I don’t recall the program or what newspaper……it was a few years ago.
This is not the article I read a few years ago.
This article has some interesting information about Prozac and/or similar drugs. Near the bottom of the article is a list of a few of the homicides committed by teens on Prozac or a similar drug.
http://www.antidepressantsfacts.com/2005-03-22-Jeff-Weise-17-Prozac.htm
http://www.AntidepressantsFacts.com - Archive 3-22-05
“Prozac (fluoxetine) Homicide/Suicide School Shooting Massacre”
Alyssa, obviously had ISSUES! She was a self mutilator, she was on Prozac……….was she in counseling? Who was really watching over her? This is another case of an obviously disturbed individual not being closely monitored! Does this excuse her murdering Elizabeth……absolutely NOT……….she formed a plan and carried it out, she thought about how and what it would feel like to take another humans life, she knew enough to HIDE the body….this to me proves she KNEW her actions were WRONG!
Elizabeth tragically lost her innocent life and all that knew and loved her have suffered immensely and have been changed forever…..Alyssa needs to be held accountable……..she knew right from wrong!
“Sgt. Rice said that when he asked Bustamante why she allegedly killed Olten, she replied that she “wanted to know what it felt like.”” get otta here. i don’t know about florida, but there is definitely something in the water in missouri.
if you wanted to know what it felt like, why didn’t you go kill a cat like most brats do at your age. geeezzz.
not that i have anything against cat’s.
Unfortunately, this 15 y/o will probably NOT get the punishment she deserves. I’m afraid a jury will say that she’s too young to be convicted and that she needs a “second chance” at life. I hate to wish DP or LWOP on such a young person, but she knew what she was doing, planned it out, and carried out the plan.
This person also dug 2 holes in the ground. One for Elizabeth and the other for who??? Was she going to kill 2 kids eventually??
I agree with an above poster that this person should have been more closely monitored……why did she get so much unmonitored time that was able to dig the holes (which probably took some time to do) and run around freely?
I do not understand what possesses teenagers (or anyone) to want to know what it feels like to kill someone. Seems like we’ve heard that before from killers. What on earth puts that in their minds? I may catch some trouble for saying this but I can’t help but think that some of the crazy music they listen to. A lot of lyrics speak of killing someone and doing horrid things to other people. That’s just my opinion. I do know that Satan is on the loose and he’s got a lot of people to easily influence.
Whoa! She had “no abnormal confrontations with her siblings”?!?!? Did these yo-yos NOT see the electric fence video? Missouri is really not prepared for dealing with the likes of this girl. She is a very rare bird, and seriously dangerous.
So she wanted to see what it felt like to kill someone? Now I wonder how she feels to be wearing orange duds…..complete with chains?
Just my opinion, PROZAC will play key in her defense.
This gal dug “2″ graves …..we know one was for Elizabeth but I wonder who the other one was for?
Premeditated and without conscience…….SOCIOPATH. Sociopaths are never cured…..never……they have 2 faces…..they are cunning and very clever and hide their EVIL SIDE.
Everyday another child is killed/murdered and abused. Each one more vicious than the last one.
These people committing these horrendous crimes are our future?
I don’t know if Missouri has DP in place but if it does, she will then feel what it’s like to sit in the chair and be zapped and fried.
A needle is too easy…….no pain at all…..one just slips into sleep.
Should she get LWOP…………it should be just that…..LWOP.
I can’t help but wonder why this girl didn’t step in front of a train to “see what it felt like” . . . Ugh. What is our society coming to? A 15 year old baby killer . . . ???
sanny-they do have dp.
http://websolutions.learfield.com/deathrow/gestalt/go.cfm?objectid=3A12D3FB-A0BD-4FEB-84E25902C29AC622
i’m for lilies idea. toss her in front of a train.
She is evil and evil must be dealt with. Eliminate this kind of scum. Doesn’t matter her age. The death penalty would be the right solution but not 8 or so years down the line, do it now.
The crime Alyssa committed is abhorent and horrifying and I cried for poor sweet innocent Elizabeth… But I was also shocked at people here wanting to fry Alyssa and throw her in front of a train and kill her “now”…aren’t they exactly the kind of thoughts Alyssa was having ?
Jerry’s idea about her killing a cat instead is apalling (especially given that Jerry thinks most brats do it !!! )…..how is that o.k for a nano second ? Killing animals for fun is a psychiatric diagnostic predictor for a person becoming a murderer later. Maybe Alyssa had been through that stage already.
The fact is this 15 year old was clearly, dangerously mentally ill and it was societies job to care for her properly so that other people were safe. She was seeing professionals and they failed to notice or give adequate care or didn’t have the funding to follow through with giving her the care she needed to keep other people safe…..some of the adults in her life need to take some responsibility too .
The medication she was taking may have made her do it. In my neighbour hood a 12 year old girl on the same medication pulled out her own finger-nails ,attacked her mum and threw herself in front of a car….prior to that she was completelly normal just depressed because her dad died ! Evidence that prozac and similiar drugs cause serious mental disturbance can’t be ignored because some people want revenge .I don’t know what happened here but wishing Alyssa harm isn’t mentally healthy .
Wow that killer Bustamante is such a homely looking girl. I hope she gets the death penalty.
NO EXCUSES! The bottom line is that this under age killer PLANNED and took an innocent life and for this she deserves Punishment,not a slap on the hand,,How many more of these disturbed children are there out there? We need to protect OUR children.
I just watched videos that she made on youtube. In some of them she would get her little brothers to try stunts and told them that if they got hurt people would like it better and it would be funnier. Her parents (I read) were in jail and on all the videos I did not see an adult around the kids at all. She is prettier with makeup on. She dug two holes. I wonder if she thought about killing her brothers and settled on the little girl? She needs to be put away for life….but she does have mental issues. Tragic!
Jenny longoria I’m in total agreement with you that” we need to protect OUR children” but to me that also means taking proper care of children with dangerous mental health issues so that they don’t harm other children or grow up into adults that do.
You begin your letter with the words “NO EXCUSES” but we can’t talk about excuses when it’s about examining the REASONS. .If taking medication was destroying Alyssas brain that the adults in charge of her needed to try another drug, if her family history was abusive then she needed another family or more help…..I’m not offering excuses ….what I’m saying is that some people need protecting from themselves or the terrible circumstances of their lives BEFORE something so terrible happens.
After all Alyssa was a child too and she fell through the system until she became more of a monster than a child and some adults should take responsibility for allowing that to happen……If Alyssa had received the care /help/assistance/medication/facilities she needed Elizabeth would be alive !
If we as a society abandon our mentally ill and fail families that need help then this is what happens. I’m not condoning what Alyssa did.I’m not making excuses.I’m saying it shouldn’t have happened and it’s better that it couldn’t happen. But it did happen and we as a society need to say “how?” and “Why ?”……frying children isn’t the answer and locking them up isn’t either.Its too late then. A beautiful child died. Elizabeth is dead .If giving more help to Alyssa had meant that Elizaneth was still alive that would have been the best outcome.