Alyssa Bustamante left troubling entries in her journal after strangling a 9-year-old neighbor.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) A Missouri teenager who had described the slaying of a young neighbor girl as an "ahmazing" thrill made an emotional apology Wednesday to the girl's family and was sentenced to a potential lifetime in prison. During her two-day sentencing hearing, prosecutors referred repeatedly to an entry Bustamante wrote in her journal on Oct. 21, 2009 the night of Elizabeth's death in which she admitted to having just killed someone.
"I strangled them and slit their throat and stabbed them now they're dead," Bustamante wrote in her diary, which was read in court by a handwriting expert. "I don't know how to feel atm. It was ahmazing. As soon as you get over the 'ohmygawd 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."
Moments before her sentence was imposed, 18-year-old Alyssa Bustamante rose from her chair with shackles linking her ankles and holding her hands to her waist and turned to face the family of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten, whom she confessed to killing in October 2009. "I really am extremely, very sorry for everything. I know words," she said, pausing to take a deep breath and struggling to compose herself, "can never be enough, and they can never adequately describe how horribly I feel for all of this." She later added: "If I could give my life to get her back I would. I'm sorry."
Elizabeth's mother, Patty Preiss, who on the first day of Bustamante's sentencing hearing called her an "evil monster" and declared "I hate her," sat silently, staring forward as Bustamante's finished her apology. Cole County Circuit Judge Pat Joyce then sentenced Bustamante to the maximum possible sentence for second-degree murder life in prison with the possibility of parole. She ordered the teenager to serve a consecutive 30-year term for armed criminal action, a charge resulting from her use of a knife to slit the throat and stab Elizabeth after she had strangled her into unconsciousness.
Elizabeth's family declined to comment about the sentencing, as did Bustamante's family. There were no immediate indications that Bustamante planned to appeal the sentence. Bustamante originally had been charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty last month to the lesser charges to avoid a trial and the possibility of spending her life in an adult prison with no chance of release.
Bustamante was 15 years old at the time of Elizabeth's murder in the small town of St. Martins, just west of Jefferson City. Evidence presented during her hearing revealed that Bustamante had dug a shallow grave in the woods several days in advance, then used her younger sister to lure Elizabeth out of her home with an invitation to play. Bustamante, who had hidden a knife in a backpack, said she had a surprise for Elizabeth in the forest. The surprise turned out to be her demise. ...
Under Missouri guidelines, Bustamante would have to serve 35 years and 5 months in prison before she is eligible for parole, said Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Cline. It's also possible that the more than two years Bustamante spent in jail while awaiting her sentencing could be counted toward that time.
http://news.yahoo.com/mo-teen-gets-life-po...
Posted By: Jen Fad
Thursday, February 9th 2012 at 5:39AM
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