Photo courtesy of Columbia Missourian
Elizabeth Bustamante danced around a trial by pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the death of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten in October 2009. For sure, no trial saved the state of Missouri a lot of money. She had been charged with first-degree murder but the January plea deal did more than just that. It avoided the possibility of life in prison with no chance of parole.
On Monday and Tuesday of this week, the prosecution and defense argued over her sentence. Tonight, Cole County Circuit Judge Pat Joyce rendered her decision. Just prior to sentencing, Bustamante stood, faced the victim’s family and said, “I really am extremely, very sorry for everything. I know words… [long pause]… can never be enough, and they can never adequately describe how horribly I feel for all of this.”
Later, she said, “If I could give my life to get her back I would. I’m sorry.”
How many times have we heard that?
During the sentencing hearing, prosecutors repeated, over and over again, what the disturbed teenager wrote in her journal on October 21, the night of the murder:
I strangled them and slit their throat and stabbed them now they’re dead. I don’t know how to feel atm [at the moment]. 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.
A short time later, she went to a youth dance at the Mormon church her family belongs to.
Tonight was no dance. The judge gave her the maximum sentence allowed for a second-degree murder conviction. — life with the possibility of parole and a consecutive 30-year term for armed criminal action, stemming from the knife she used to slit Olten’s throat and stab her body. To make sure she was dead, she strangled her.
According to the ColumbianMissourian website, under state guidelines, “Bustamante would have to serve 35 years and 5 months in prison before she is eligible for parole,” according to Missouri Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Cline. “It’s possible that the more than two years Bustamante spent in jail while awaiting her sentencing could be counted toward that time.
“After spending several weeks at a diagnostic prison, Bustamante could be placed in either one of Missouri’s two female prisons or sent out of state. Cline said department officials also would evaluate whether Bustamante should be kept separate from other adult female inmates.”
The now 18-year old was 15 when she committed the murder.