November 20, 2009 2:07 PM

Alyssa Bustamante, Alleged Elizabeth Olten Killer, Listed "Killing People" as Hobby Online

By
Sammy Rose Saltzman
Topics
Daily Blotter
(Personal Photo)
Photo: Alyssa Bustamante

NEW YORK (CBS/AP) "Killing people" and "cutting" -- two hobbies listed by Alyssa Bustamante, the Missouri 15-year-old alleged killer of Elizabeth Olten, 9, in an online profile.

PICTURES: Accused Teen Killer Alyssa Bustamante's Inner World

She wasn't exaggerating, police say.

Authorities say the teenager strangled, cut the throat, and stabbed Olten, her young next door neighbor, killing her.

On a YouTube profile viewed by The Associated Press, which has since been taken down, Bustamante listed her hobbies as "killing people" and "cutting." A year ago, Bustamante posted a video to the site in which she appears to intentionally shock herself on an electric fence near her home, then goads her two younger brothers into doing the same.

In court Wednesday Nov. 18, juvenile justice officials testified that Bustamante attempted to commit suicide in 2007 and had been receiving mental health treatment for depression and cutting herself. On Friday, a judge ordered Bustamante to Fulton State Hospital for up to 96 hours of psychological evaluation after her public defender, John King, said she was "demonstrating signs of severe depression and anxiety," was on suicide watch in jail and had tried to cut herself with her finger nails.

A police officer testified that Bustamante confessed to digging two holes to be used as a grave, then killing Olten five days later without provocation because she wanted to know what it felt like.

But repeated objections by Bustamante's juvenile justice attorney prevented the police officer from explaining why two holes were dug. Cole County prosecutor Mark Richardson also has declined to elaborate.

(Handout)
Photo: Elizabeth Olten.

PICTURES: Accused Teen Killer Alyssa Bustamante's Inner World

"I know that, but I cannot go into those details right now," Richardson said.

Even as new details emerge about the teenager charged with killing 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten, many facts about the crime continued to be kept secret Thursday - and may never be released by authorities unless Bustamante goes to trial for murder.

Bustamante, who had been in juvenile custody since leading police to Elizabeth's body Oct. 23, was certified Wednesday as an adult and indicted on charges of first-degree murder and armed criminal action. She is accused of strangling Elizabeth, cutting her throat and stabbing her.

Asked if he could say whether Elizabeth's body was found in only one of those holes, Richardson paused for several seconds and again replied: "No, I can't tell you that right now."

Richardson similarly declined to explain what the sheriff meant when he said last month that the investigation was aided by "some written evidence." The Cole County sheriff's office did not immediately return a call Thursday.

Those kinds of details might normally be included in a probable cause statement from sheriff's deputies or police as a basis for a prosecutor to file charges. But in Bustamante's case, there is no probable cause statement in the court file, because she was instead indicted by a grand jury.

Greater details of the crime also are included in Bustamante's juvenile court records, but those will remain closed under state law, said Cole County Juvenile Court Administrator Michael County.

PICTURES: Accused Teen Killer Alyssa Bustamante's Inner World

No further details are expected to emerge at a Dec. 7 status hearing in Bustamante's case. It could be months, maybe even a year, before a trial at which witnesses would be called to explain the details and circumstances of the crime. But no trial - or testimony - would occur if Bustamante were to plead guilty to a charge.

Although he did not rule it out, Richardson said he wasn't inclined to agree to a plea on a charge of anything less than first-degree murder, which carries a sentence of life in prison without parole.

"Because of the nature of the case, there is not a lot of room to enter into pleas," he said.

PICTURES: Accused Teen Killer Alyssa Bustamante's Inner World

MORE ON CRIMESIDER
November 20, 2009 - Alyssa Bustamante, Alleged Elizabeth Olten Killer, Listed "Killing People" as Hobby Online
November 20, 2009 - Elizabeth Olten Murder Suspect, Alyssa Bustamante, Sent to Mental Hospital
November 18, 2009 - Prosecutor: Alyssa Bustamante Killed Elizabeth Olten Because "She Wanted to Know What it Felt Like"
November 18, 2009 - Alyssa Bustamante to be Tried as Adult for Murder of 9-Year-Old Elizabeth Olten
October 26, 2009 - Elizabeth Olten Murder: Teen Arrested for Killing 9-Year-Old
October 23, 2009 - Elizabeth Olten's Body Found After Two Day Search for Missing Cole County, Missouri Girl
October 22, 2009 - Elizabeth Olten Missing; 9-Year-Old Disappears in Cole County, Missouri

Add a Comment See all 45 Comments
by gojobuddy December 30, 2009 12:09 PM EST
Why is the death penalty not on the line for such a premeditated heinous crime?I do not believe such a cold blooded person that list their hobbies on the internet as killing will ever be fully rehabilitated enough to ever walk free in our society! Would anyone of you want her living next door to you? Her little being insane and depressed routine just doesn't cut it.She should spend her whole natural life behind bars in prison or better yet the D.P. This kid certainly knew right from wrong and by digging 2 graves ahead of time it was premeditated. I had a child 1 month after turning 17. I certainly knew that killing someone at the age of 15 yrs old, just to get her rocks off in her depraved little brain. Why give her the opportunity to ever harm another human being as long as she lives?I wouldn't even have harmed any kind of animal at that age let alone a person.In my opinion Death is really to good for her.That poor little girl that she stole her life from will never have the opportunity to finish school,date boys,fall in love,get married nor have children of her own.The way I see it, this little murderer should not be given any of these chances either!
Reply to this comment
by mckracken41 December 11, 2009 10:10 AM EST
Giddyup you're an idiot. With an economy like this how do you plan to keep a lunatic murderer like this alive in jail. Are you going to pay for her expenses and the guards and the electricity and all the other bills the government has to pay for the jail? Why don't you think about it before you post such an idiotic comment. Oh and I have a good idea lets let her lie past any medical help she is getting, get back out in the world and kill another innocent 9 year old. That sounds brilliant! You sir clearly didn't think this one out. So YOU, only YOU are below her if you think that letting her get back into the killing of people is a good idea which you are clearly implying. Oh and in case you didn't already know I've worked and been with teens who have had mental illnesses but none have admitted to liking killing and tried to kill themselves claiming they wanted to know what their victim felt. Some people just aren't meant for what this life stores.
Reply to this comment
by GiddyUpGo99 November 23, 2009 11:26 PM EST
I don't understand what drives the people who comment on these cases any more than I understand what drives these people to commit murder. Hang her without trial? Shoot her? Send her to Afghanistan? What makes you think that these suggestions are any more civilized than the horrible thing that she did? Aren't we all above that? Isn't the reason that you're even commenting because you believe you are above that? Your words suggest otherwise.

We live in a civilized society. In civilized society, people who commit murder are prosecuted by the criminal justice system. Jumping up and down and screaming for a lynching doesn't make you morally superior to everyone else, if that's what you're going for. I really don't know what you are trying to prove.

If she pleads guilty or is found guilty in court then yes, she deserves whatever punishment is due to her by law. But remember that we don't hear all the details from the media. We don't even hear most of the details. I don't have a lot of sympathy for anyone who would kill a child, but I have to believe that something has gone very, very wrong in this girl's life to make her behave the way she did. Obviously nothing will excuse her, but I also don't think the failure is entirely hers. Somewhere along the line she has developed a fascination with death and an inability to consider consequences. Someone wasn't helping her work through these issues. Someone wasn't paying attention, and she will most likely pay for that by losing her freedom for the rest of her life. I think it's a tragedy for everyone.
Reply to this comment
by denise_1900 November 22, 2009 7:39 PM EST
Life in prison without the possibility of parole!

Well, maybe..the supreme court is hearing whether kids should be given life for crimes committed as children.

At best, this child should be institutionalized for a long, long, time.

I think continual exposure to violence is partly to blame, her craziness, and her parents.
Reply to this comment
by writer10 November 23, 2009 12:51 AM EST
sounds like Lisa from 'Girl, Interrupted'
by ritad7 November 22, 2009 6:41 PM EST
Maybe she is a Mafia princess and has seen her dad whack people before who knows. I'm just glad she is being tried as an adult. If she wanted to know what it felt like to kill a person she should have killed herself.
Reply to this comment
by bsmi021 November 22, 2009 9:04 AM EST
For what i have read here you folks all miss the boat BIG TIME, Yes she is nuts and yes she should not be given sympathy but there two very importasnt things missied!
1) Where were her PARENTS?
2) In this country we do not do most of things to ANYONE that you have said here and you would not want it any other way folks!
Reply to this comment
by mon_kie November 22, 2009 7:51 PM EST
"1) Where were her PARENTS? "
BOTH of her parenta are incarcerated.
by kathblack November 23, 2009 12:53 PM EST
BOTH of her parents are incarcerated? For what? Who is the legal guardian of this girl then if her parents are both in jail/prison? I read the part about electrocuting herself on a fence and pushing her younger brothers to do the same... I agree with a lot of the posts, at the very least she needs to be in mental care 24/7 for a long, long time.
by wxwizard1 November 22, 2009 1:04 AM EST
This is so twisted, one has to consider that she might have been possessed.
Reply to this comment
by formrusmcsgt November 22, 2009 5:56 AM EST
Morons might.....
by mojo1372 November 21, 2009 11:52 PM EST
myheart goes out to the 9 year olds family their hearts must be so broken .you can see from the photo this girl was out there .the doctors must have know she
was somewhat of a danger to herself and others . this is the problem with our system because someone is under 18 you cannot automatically assume that they will not do things an adult would .we have seen that far too often in all the terrible cases involving kids that do really bad stuff . . was this kid doing drugs or something that fried her brains . this girl is way to dangerous to release into the public again . hopefully they don't locker her up and then let her out when she is 18 .
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by ToolMangler1 November 21, 2009 9:05 PM EST
Mans inhumanity to man has short circuited Darwins 'Survival of the fittest' for every species including his own. Emotion has allowed those to live that are a cancer in the human socio-organism. I am not advocating the removal of emotion, merely learning when to set it aside for the betterment of Mankind in general.
Reply to this comment
by BobbyFunnDude November 21, 2009 8:27 PM EST
You would think it would be easy to round up all these phychos who are stupid/bold enough to post things about hurting others. At least investigate. Google should have all the tools needed.
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