The Murder of Elizabeth Olten
Warning, this case talks about self harm, suicide and crimes against children.
This case is going to be a little shorter, but it’s one that I’ve been wanting to write about for awhile.
I watched the Deadly Women episode on this case, and I also did something other additional research.
Background
Elizabeth Olten
Elizabeth Olten was a 9 year old girl, that lived in Saint Martins, Missouri. She lived with her mom, Patty, and her two siblings, Anthony and Stephanie.
There is more information out there about the killer than the actual victim, and as sad as it is, I’m going to post all the information I can about Elizabeth and about the monster who killed her.
The Disappearance
On Wednesday, October 21, 2009, Elizabeth was at home rehearsing for her upcoming school play, while her mom was getting dinner ready.
Around 5pm, Elizabeth’s neighbor Emma knocked on the door. She asked if Elizabeth could play. At first Patty said no, but after Elizabeth and Emma begged her, she gave in. She told Elizabeth that she needed to be home by 6pm. This is the last time Elizabeth would be seen alive.
At 6pm, Patty knew something was wrong. Elizabeth was terrified of the dark, and always came home before it would get dark outside.
Patty decided to call over to Emma’s house. Emma lived with her grandma, Karen, and Karen answered the phone. Patty asked if Elizabeth was there, and Karen said that Elizabeth had never been there. Emma was home, but Elizabeth wasn’t with her. Patty decided to call the police to report her daughter missing, she had a sickening feeling in her stomach.
The Investigation
The police arrived almost right away. They also called in other police departments and the fire department. By 10pm, hundreds of people from the community also came out to help.
At this point, the police told Patty that they saw no signs of foul play. Patty knew her daughter wouldn’t just disappear, she knew something had happened.
Patty told the police that Elizabeth had a cell phone. She had tried calling it all night, but it kept going to voicemail.
Twenty four hours after Elizabeth went missing, the police contacted the cell phone provider and ordered an emergency ping. There were three pings that said Elizabeth’s phone was in the nearby woods behind Emma’s house. The wooded area was very large, and the police knew they needed to call in more help.
The police called in cadaver dogs, helicopters and dive teams search the ponds and rivers. Nothing was found.
Emma’s Story
The police knew that they needed to interview the last person to see Elizabeth, or who they thought was the last person to see her: 6 year old Emma.
Emma had multiple stories, her first story was that she had been with Elizabeth for an hour, and then Elizabeth walked home. I’m not sure why Emma changed her story, maybe the police knew she was lying or she had a conscious and changed it herself. Her second story was they were in the woods, and she got stuck in a thorn bush. She said it was super painful, so she called out to her older sister, Alyssa.
Alyssa Bustamante was Emma’s 15 year old half-sister. Emma and Alyssa also had two brothers. They all lived with their grandma, Karen Brook. The Bustamante children were similar in age to the Olten children, and they all got along.
The police realized that all the neighbor children were accounted for when Elizabeth disappeared, except for Alyssa.
Alyssa Bustamante and Elizabeth Olten
Strange Behavior
By now, the FBI was called in. An agent questioned Alyssa, and asked her where she was on October 21st. Alyssa told them that she had skipped school, but didn’t know where Elizabeth was.
They weren’t suspicious of her at first, but became suspicious after Alyssa walked with them into the woods. The agent noticed a shallow hole, and asked Alyssa about it. She told them that she dug the hole, and “liked digging holes,” and burying dead animals in them.
This answer surprised them, and must have gotten a strange feeling about her and her answers. They obtained a search warrant for Alyssa’s house, especially for her bedroom. What they found was described as “spine chilling.”
A Deeply Disturbed Girl
When the agent assigned to searching Alyssa’s room, several things jumped out at her.
There were a lot of drawings and writings on her wall. One of the writings said “it was written in blood, IT WAS WRITTEN IN BLOOD!” Alyssa also wrote a poem about cutting herself, it read “I cut to see blood, because I like it.”
The more the agent searched, the more she realized Alyssa had a fascination with hurting and killing people, and even hurting herself. On another wall, there was a drawing of someone with slash marks on the neck and arms. It also had a name next to it: Emma.
Alyssa struggled with her mental health. She had tried to commit suicide many times. In 2007, she was put in a psychiatric hospital for just 10 days, and was put on antidepressants.
Alyssa also had a fascination with hurting her family. The drawing of Emma proved that, and on her Youtube page, she filmed a video of her younger brothers. In the video, she is trying to encourage them to touch an electric fence. She wrote: “this is where it gets good, we get to see my brothers get hurt.”
As if all these things weren’t disturbing enough, the police were about to find a piece of evidence that proved Alyssa was much more disturbed than they thought.
The Journal
In Alyssa’s room, they found her journal. It didn’t say where they found it, but maybe Alyssa wanted them to find it.
In her entries, she talked about burning down a house with a family inside. She also wrote “if I don’t talk about it, I bottle it up. And when I explode, someone’s gonna die.” This was written a week before Elizabeth disappeared.
Alyssa’s last entry was dated October 21, 2009, the day Elizabeth disappeared. Alyssa scribbled blue ink all over the entry, and the only writing visible said “K, I gotta go to church now. LOL.”
Alyssa was brought into the police station, with her grandma accompanying her. Before she was interviewed, Detective David Rice, tried to salvage the last journal entry. They used a blacklight, and what they saw confirmed their worries. The two words that they could make out were “slit” “throat.”
Alyssa’s Confession
Detective David Rice asked Alyssa what happened to Elizabeth. Alyssa’s demeanor had now changed, she was shaking and quivering. However, she still didn’t tell the truth right away.
In her first story, Alyssa said she and Elizabeth had walked through the woods together, and Elizabeth tripped, fell and died instantly. The police knew that was bullshit. They showed Alyssa her journal entry, and asked her if Elizabeth’s throat had been cut. She said yes.
Karen, Alyssa’s grandma, burst into tears and walked out. Alyssa told the police that she’d tell them what really happened. She said she told her sister to go over and ask Elizabeth to play. Once Elizabeth was lured out of her house, Alyssa told Emma to go home. Alyssa told Elizabeth that she had something to show her, but it would be about a 15 minute walk into the woods.
What Elizabeth didn’t know is that Alyssa was concealing a kitchen knife. She had also dug another shallow grave. You see, Alyssa had actually dug the grave five days before, and had been planning this for quite some time.
Alyssa began strangling Elizabeth, and then grabbed the knife and stabbed her a total of seven times in the chest. Alyssa finished by cutting Elizabeth’s throat. She then buried Elizabeth and covered her with leaves.
The police knew that to be able to find Elizabeth’s body, they would need Alyssa to guide them to her. Of course, she knew exactly where Elizabeth was. Elizabeth’s body wasn’t actually buried that deep, and some of her body parts were sticking out from the leaves.
The autopsy also proved what Alyssa had told them.
Arrest, Trial and Conviction
The police wanted to know what Alyssa had written in her last journal entry, so this time they used a blue light. In her final entry, she wrote:
“I just f****** killed someone. I strangled them and slit their throat and stabbed them now they’re dead. I don’t know how to feel atm. It was amazing. As soon as you get over the “oh my god, I can’t do this” feeling, it’s pretty enjoyable. I’m kinda nervous and shaky though right now. Kay, I gotta go to church now. LOL.”
A photo of Alyssa’s last journal entry
Alyssa Bustamante was arrested and charged with first degree murder. She was to stand trial as an adult for murder and armed criminal action, for carrying a knife.
Her trial began in 2012, and Alyssa was now 18. She plead not guilty.
Alyssa’s defense said Alyssa should get a lighter sentence because at the time, she she suffered from severe mental health and that her medication resulted in her acting on her impulses.
The prosecution said Alyssa planned to kill Elizabeth, at least five days before she actually did it, maybe more. They said she killed because she wanted to know what it felt like to kill.
Alyssa also saw many mental health professionals, and they diagnosed her with a major depressive disorder and borderline personality disorder.
Alyssa was sentenced to life in prison plus 30 years for armed criminal action. She was given the possibility of parole after 35 years plus 5 months.
Her appeal was denied in 2014.
Alyssa in a more recent photo
FINAL THOUGHTS
It’s scary just thinking about that this monster could possibly get out of prison someday. I 100% believe she would kill again, and I’m surprised she didn’t try to harm her younger siblings too. She showed no emotion, and I still don’t believe she cares that she murdered a 9 year old.
I actually feel really sorry for her grandma, from everything I’ve read this woman raised this children because Alyssa’s parents were either in prison or addicted to drugs. Her grandma was aware of her mental health, but maybe not of her journal and everything she wrote about in her room.
Elizabeth Olten didn’t deserve to die. Not one bit. She thought she was going to play with her friend, but really she was lured out by Alyssa. I feel so sorry for Elizabeth’s family, and I hope they will be at every one of Alyssa’s parole hearings. SHE SHOULD NEVER BE ABLE TO WALK OUT OF PRISON.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Elizabeth_Olten
https://mycrimelibrary.com/alyssa-bustamante/
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/elizabeth-olten-dead-body_n_332180
