- [Narrator] A typical play date, a troubled young teen,
and one deadly secret. (ominous music) All of these elements are tied up together in a case that, to this
day, is often regarded as one of the most
disturbing and shocking. What is up, EWU Crew? Today, we are exploring the infamous case of Alyssa Bustamante. Let's get into it. From the moment Alyssa Bustamonte was born to her teenage parents in January of 1994, she was introduced to a world of endless trials and tribulations. Her mother, Michelle, who was only 15 when she had Alyssa, was reported to struggle
with raising her daughter and was described by news sources as a less than picture-perfect mom. Later court documents reported
that Michelle had a history of misdemeanor convictions for drunken driving and
marijuana possession. Alyssa's father, Ceaser, was also alleged to have addiction issues. And police records show that he was eventually
convicted of felony assault and was sentenced to serve three
concurrent terms in prison. While Alyssa was still very young, the family moved frequently
between California and Missouri. As a child, Alyssa,
with two teenage parents who didn't appear to be
ready to raise a child, had already begun developing
questionable behavior. However, this behavior would
only increasingly worsen after she and her younger
brothers were taken in by their grandparents when Alyssa was around eight years old. In fact, her grandparents
eventually achieved legal custody of the four children. The grandparents wanted
to raise the children with more stability and brought them to the small, quaint town
of St. Martins, Missouri, which had a population of
just over 1000 at the time. In the little town crammed
right next to Jefferson City, everyone knew just about everyone. Alyssa did not adjust right away though. In fact, it was difficult for Alyssa to get used to
living with her grandparents. And she allegedly
struggled with depression and was reported to
occasionally self-harm. As Alyssa grew into a teenager and attended Jefferson City High School, she began to develop a
more edgy personality. She often had strands of
hair in front of her eyes due to her side swept bangs, wore heavy eye makeup and
painted her nails black. This was in contrast to the other young girls
she interacted with. Especially at the church
she regularly attended where she was known to participate in several different youth activities. Although most people just saw
a girl with an edgy style. Alyssa was far from a typical teenager, as deep inside, she was stirring
with distress and turmoil. This dark, troubled side of the
young teen would show itself in disturbing and often
upsetting ways at home. Online sources cite that Alyssa's
mood would often fluctuate and she developed a habit of taking rather questionable
pictures of herself. This included selfies where
her lipstick was smeared to look like blood. And another where her fingers
imitated a gun to her head. This side of Alyssa only
seemed to grow as time went on. And things continually
worsened down the line. Eventually culminating to a peak on one fateful Labor Day weekend in 2007. Alyssa was rushed to the hospital after carving the word hate on her arm and attempting to take her own life by overdosing on Tylenol. After the scare, her
grandparents knew they had to find help for Alyssa
before things got even worse. Alyssa's grandparents tried
endlessly to find her aid, taking her to numerous
counselors and therapists. Soon after the incident, Alyssa was prescribed
Prozac, an antidepressant. Despite their best efforts, Alyssa continued down a dark path. One that would eventually
lead to a terrible incident. Meanwhile, Elizabeth Olten, Alyssa's nine-year-old neighbor, was seen as the complete opposite. She was described by her
mother as a sweet girly girl, loving kittens and everything pink. On October 21st, 2009, Elizabeth Olten was at home
practicing for a school play. Her mother Patricia Price,
otherwise known as Patty, was just preparing for dinner when there was a knock at the door. It was one of Elizabeth's friends, six-year-old Emma, who
lived across the woods. She had walked over to see if Elizabeth
could come play with her. Elizabeth, as any child
would, begged to go and play for just a few minutes. Reluctantly, Patty allowed her, but instructed that she
had to be back in an hour at six o'clock sharp. Because of Elizabeth's fear of the dark, Patty was quite confident that her daughter would be back shortly. Excitedly, the two
friends burst out the door and into the fresh air.
(ominous music) Little did Patty know an innocent
play date would soon turn into a nightmare.
(ominous music) When it finally reached six o'clock, Elizabeth still hadn't returned. And Patty had a terrible premonition. Immediately, Patty called her neighbor, (phone ringing) hoping to hear that Elizabeth
was still playing with Emma. Unfortunately, that was not the case. In fact, Patty was horrified to hear from her neighbors that
Elizabeth had never made it to the house at all. After calling the police,
(siren wails) Patty went over to the neighbor's house to be sure that Elizabeth wasn't
somewhere on the property. To her dismay, Elizabeth
was nowhere to be found. Police began a grid search and hundreds of people
in the community joined to try and find the missing Elizabeth. During the search, investigators pinged
Elizabeth's cell phone which said it was located
somewhere in the forest. And they directed their
search to that area. A few volunteers had come
across something a bit peculiar in the woods. What appeared to be an empty grave. But still there was no
sign of the young girl. The FBI quickly became involved and they soon questioned Emma. According to trial documents, she told investigators that
she had played for awhile and then Elizabeth had headed back home. However, Emma, shortly after
playing with Elizabeth, had fallen into a bush full of thorns and started crying before she called out, "Alyssa, come and help me." As it turned out, Alyssa Bustamonte was Emma's half sister and Alyssa was in the area when the two young girls were playing. Alyssa, who was only 15 at the time, was questioned to see if she
knew anything of importance about Elizabeth's disappearance. Alyssa lamented that she had no idea where the missing girl was. Police observed that Alyssa
was calm and cooperative and decided that, at the time, there was no reason to suspect her. However, this would soon
take a dramatic turn. (ominous music)
(birds chirping) Eventually investigators brought her over to the area of the empty grave. There, Sergeant Rice
and his forensics team were processing the area. And as Alyssa made her way over, Rice heard her say
something rather strange. (ominous music) Alyssa said that she
herself had dug the hole, but assured them that there
was nothing sinister behind it. Instead, when Rice asked her why, she responded that she
just liked to dig holes and that she would place dead
animals and them on occasion. Although Alyssa made it sound like the grave was nothing to worry about, Sergeant Rice found her
explanation suspicious. While FBI agents searched
the Bustamante home for any sign of clues, one agent in particular
investigated Alyssa's room. What was found by the officer
was more than disturbing. It was crucial evidence. Compared to the rest of the home, Alyssa's room was dark and
dreary with writing on the walls. Although some of the notes on
her walls were written in pen, others were described by police as appearing to have
been written in blood. Along with the strange writing and postcards sent from
her father from prison, investigators uncovered
an unnerving drawing. Upon further inspection, it turned out to be a drawing
of Alyssa's half sister, Emma, as titled on the paper. However, in a disturbing twist, Emma was drawn with slashes
on her head and arm. (ominous music) As police continued through
the room of horrors, they still hadn't found anything that could relate to
Elizabeth's disappearance. That is, until they found
a diary written by Alyssa. The diary, while not
innocent in the slightest, still had nothing of substance in relation to Elizabeth at first. Police flipped through the pages, discovering where Alyssa
had previously written about burning down a house
and killing its occupants. Police assumed that she was referring to her grandparents' house. The investigators turned to a page bearing the date
of October 21st, 2009. The day Elizabeth vanished. The entry was oddly
scribbled out in blue ink. And the only thing they
could properly make out at the time was the very last sentence, which read, "I gotta go to church, LOL." The agents took the diary
as potential evidence with the intent to try and make out the rest of the entry later. When they eventually used black lighting to read what was scribbled
under the blue ink, they had a glimpse of something
incredibly disturbing. The two words slit and throat. It was also soon discovered that the same day as
Elizabeth's disappearance, Alyssa had taken a day off from school. Her first unexcused absence, which further increased
the suspicion surrounding the 15 year old. Alyssa was brought in to speak with police about what they had uncovered. Sergeant Rice took her diary into the interrogation room
with Alyssa and her grandmother, but he did not yet reveal to
the 15 year old that he had it. A few questions later, Sergeant Rice informed her
that he was in possession of her diary and told her that
they had read the last entry. At first, Alyssa tried to
say that she had indeed gone into the forest with Elizabeth, but she had not killed her.
(ominous music) Instead, she claimed that Elizabeth hit her
head and died immediately. Up until this point, investigators
had been holding out hope that the young girl could
possibly be found alive. Rice didn't buy Alyssa's
story for a second. After clarifying that
the real cause of death would be revealed in the autopsy, he asked her firmly, "Was her throat cut?" To which Alyssa replied, "Yes." Alyssa's grandmother
immediately started to cry after this shocking revelation and soon left the interrogation room. Alyssa then admitted in
detail the horrific acts she committed on that tragic day. Alyssa had instructed her
young half sister Emma to go and fetch Elizabeth
and ask her to play. Of course, Alyssa's intent was far from simply letting the two
girls enjoy a play date. Her sinister plot unraveled from there as she told Emma to go home after she had brought Elizabeth to her. It was then that she
led her into the forest. In the police report, Rice quoted Alyssa as saying
to nine-year-old Elizabeth, "I've got something
really neat to show you. "It's just a little further up here." Then Alyssa lured Elizabeth to where she had already dug
a grave deep in the woods. When they arrived, Alyssa began to strangle Elizabeth. It didn't end there though.
(ominous music) Alyssa then stabbed her in
the chest multiple times and slit her throat. She proceeded to bury her
in one of the two graves she had dug and went back home as if nothing had ever happened. Alyssa, who was but a child herself, had violently ended another child's life in the most brutal way possible. After Alyssa's horrific confession, she then led investigators to Elizabeth's body,
tucked away in the woods. Elizabeth, covered in mud and leaves, was found partially buried
mere inches under the ground. A sad and gruesome sight. (ominous music) After the autopsy, it was
revealed that Elizabeth was killed in the exact way that Alyssa
had described to Rice, with eight stab wounds to the chest. Eventually, investigators were able to use the blue light to uncover the rest of
Alyssa's sick entry. It read. "I just (beep) killed someone. "I strangled them and slit their throat "and now they're dead. "I don't know how to feel at the moment. "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 right now though. "Okay, I gotta go to church now, LOL." While the entry itself
is disturbing enough, as the investigation continued, more unbelievable details were uncovered. Police found evidence that
Alyssa had told a friend that she wondered what it would be like to kill someone. On Alyssa's YouTube, she
had listed her hobbies including killing people. As well, a diary entry
written a week prior to Elizabeth's death read. "If I don't talk about it, I bottle it up. "And when I explode, someone's gonna die." When police asked why
she had killed Elizabeth, Alyssa chillingly explained that she just wanted to
know what it felt like to kill someone. Some theories speculate that Elizabeth had not
been her original target. Instead, it's widely believed that she initially wanted
to kill her two brothers, which would explain why
she had dug the two graves. Hauntingly, following digging the graves she had gone to school and
lived her life as usual. Though she appeared to be
making plans to kill someone. A disturbing video Alyssa uploaded onto her YouTube page is often pointed to as evidence for the speculated theory that she had initially
targeted her brothers. In the video, she convinces her brothers to touch an electric cattle fence. Before it shows her
brothers touching the fence, a text title appears saying,
"This is where it gets good. "We get to see my brothers get hurt." On January 30th, 2012,
Alyssa's trial began. She was tried as an adult and pled guilty to second-degree murder
and armed criminal action. However, Alyssa's confession
was then suppressed. And her defense team
was offered a plea deal, which they accepted.
(ominous music) Alyssa was ultimately convicted
of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison
with the chance of parole. She also had had an
additional 30 years added, because of the armed
criminal action charge. This meant that Alyssa
would serve a little over 35 years in prison before
being eligible for parole. Needless to say, this
upset Elizabeth's family as well as much of the public. Elizabeth's father, who was in prison on a state drug conviction
at the time of the murder, had pleaded in a letter sent to court for Alyssa to receive the maximum sentence before she had been convicted. To Elizabeth's father,
it didn't seem fair that, while Elizabeth had no
chance to live her life, Alyssa could possibly have
the chance to live hers after serving time in prison. Alyssa made a statement
during her sentencing, while the Olten family
sat stony-faced nearby. She said, "I cannot even understand "what you guys are going through. "I am sorry for that. "If I could give my life
to bring her back, I would. "And I'm sorry." Understandably. The Olten family was not even close to accepting the teenage murderess's apology. Since the trial Elizabeth's mother, Patty, has settled a wrongful
death lawsuit against Alyssa which requires her to pay
her more than $5 million. In 2021, Alyssa Bustamante has quite a few persistent
supporters, mostly online. On chat forums, some people have commented that they love her. While others say that they would love
to be friends with her. Many of the supporters
believe that Alyssa, who is now around the age of 27, still might have a chance
to turn her life around. And some even think she should
be released from prison. There is an interesting and popular theory surrounding Alyssa and her use of antidepressants as a potential factor in her crime. In fact, this theory
came up during her trial. At the time of Elizabeth's
death, Alyssa was taking Prozac and her dosage had increased
a considerable amount only a few weeks before
she committed the crime. Antidepressants are known to
have some awful side effects, but Prozac is supposedly on
a completely different level. According to www.livescience.com, Prozac is most commonly
linked to aggression and known to increase violent
behavior by 10.9 times. This fact has led some to speculate that the antidepressant could
possibly have played a role in Alyssa's behavior. According to the Guardian, "Young people taking
antidepressants such as Prozac "or Seroxat are significantly more likely "to commit violent crimes
when on the medication." Which supports this theory. However, it continues, "But taking higher doses
of the drugs appear "to reduce that risk, scientists say." This additional information appears to discredit the theory, since her dosage had, in fact, increased. And yet the Guardian also cites that in a study looking at
correlations between crime rates and people who are prescribed drugs like Prozac and Seroxat, it found that people in younger
age groups ages 15 to 24 have a much higher chance
of committing violent crimes while on the medication. A hefty 43%. Despite these statistics,
Dr. Anthony Rothschild, the main prosecution
witness in Alyssa's trial on the second day of
the sentencing hearing denies this theory adamantly by saying, "There is no reliable evidence "in the medical and scientific literature "that Prozac causes
people to commit murder." Although these theories are
interesting to consider, the fact still stands that, either way, Elizabeth Olten's murder was committed by Alyssa Bustamante. No matter the opinions over alleged reasons behind the murder, Elizabeth's family must
still bear the burden of knowing that they will never see the happy little girl again because of Alyssa's dark choices. Sweet Elizabeth, who only wanted to go and play outside before dinner, didn't even have the chance
to make it back home. Patty has commented that she hates Alyssa and has also tearfully stated, "So much has been lost at
the hands of that monster. "Elizabeth was given a death sentence "and we were given a life sentence." (ominous music)
