ELIZABETH OLTEN - 9 yo - St. Martin's MO

The public can attend a Nov. 18 certification hearing for a
15-year-old charged with first-degree murder in last week's killing of
Elizabeth Olten, 9, near her home in St. Martins.

"The certification hearing currently set in the underlying juvenile cause
will be an open proceeding with public admission subject to the
availability of seating, after first seating officers of the court,
parties to the proceeding and representatives of the victims," Cole
County Circuit Judge Jon Beetem ruled Wednesday. But, the judge also
said, news media cameras and recorders will be barred from the hearing,
although a limited number of reporters will be able to attend. "The
right of the public not to be excluded from the hearing is not the same
as the right to unfettered media coverage," Beetem wrote.

The hearing was scheduled to determine whether the teen will be tried as an
adult on the murder charge or retained in the juvenile system.

The juvenile's attorney Wednesday also waived the right to a detention
hearing, to determine if the teen should remain in custody or be
released to the family until the Nov. 18 hearing.

Beetem ordered the juvenile to remain in secure detention.

Officials still have not released the teen's name or gender, and neither was used
during a Wednesday morning hearing that led to Beetem's late-afternoon
order.

"I think what is important for the court here to keep in mind is that it's
not mandatory ... that we bring the public in or we bring the press
in," argued Kurt Valentine, a former Cole County assistant prosecutor
now in private practice, who was appointed to represent the teen in the
juvenile hearings.

"There is nothing, at all, that would be in
this juvenile's best interest to have the public, or the press, at the
certification hearing."

Olten disappeared after leaving a friend's house about a quarter-mile from her home on LoMo Drive in St. Martins.

Her body was found last Friday afternoon, less than 48 hours after the search began.

Valentine noted the story "has become a nationwide case -- it's on the national
news, it's on at least 15 different Web sites and blogs, and there's
been a lot of speculation."

But opening up the hearing would
result "in giant headlines, my client's name -- there's no way in the
world that it could possibly be in the best interests of this
particular juvenile."

He added: "There is no way this juvenile
would get a fair trial in this city, county, state. ... I don't know
where my trial could get a fair trial, when the name is released."

But, countered Samantha Green, attorney for the Cole County Juvenile
Authority, Beetem was required to open the case by a 2005 state Supreme
Court ruling in a case where a newspaper and television station
challenged the St. Louis court's decision to close a hearing in a case
where a young teen had killed a child.

"The Missouri Supreme
Court found no compelling reason to close that case," she said, noting
that state law already limits "what information we shall release"
before and during the certification hearing.

"The difference between records and the hearing is substantial," Green added. "It is
appropriate for the court to balance those protections" of an open
hearing but closed records.

If Beetem determines the juvenile
will be tried as an adult, the teen's identity, gender and at least
some details of the crime will be released to the public when
Prosecutor Mark Richardson files charges in the adult court system.

If the judge decides the case should continue in the juvenile system, some
details of the crime and the juvenile court's handling of the case will
be reported after the process is finished.

Poster's Note: Some sources are claiming that Elizabeth's suspected killer is this person who has a profile on a Karaoke site called SingSnap. Here's a picture and her brief profile. I have not yet been able to conform this information through MSM sources.

Wolf_Heart's real name is Alyssa Bustamante. Alyssa is 15 years old, is
located in USA and has been a SingSnap member since October 22, 2007.
So far she has made a total of 8 recordings.

Middle pic is from her Twitter page. Bio from Twitter:

• Name Alyssa Bustamante
  
• Location somewhere i don't wana be.
  
• Bio music is my life, im nothing without my friends, and i haate authority, so talk to me:)
  

Third pic is from her private MySpace page.

Here's info from her You Tube channel:

Hobbies:
killing people, cutting

Poster's Note: There are reports that this teacher knew of AB's predilection toward murder and never reported it. He was allegedly distraught over Elizabeth's death.

A longtime Jefferson City public school teacher was found dead at his home early Monday morning.

Police were called to the home of Bill Currie on Windsor Drive around 6:50 a.m.

Details about his death were still being investigated Monday, but authorities were dispatched to the home as a suicide call.

A firearm reportedly was involved.

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the loss of Jefferson City High School
teacher Bill Currie,” Superintendent Dr. Brian Mitchell said in a
statement. “Mr. Currie has been part of our school family for 13 years.

“He has worked with many students during his time with us, both as a home-school coordinator and later as a classroom teacher.”

Since January 2002, Currie served as the faculty adviser to the “Red and
Black” student newspaper and the “Marcullus” yearbook, in addition to
teaching journalism classes.

Last summer, he briefly was removed from the adviser positions, then returned to those assignments when
Mitchell — then brand new to the superintendent’s job — determined the
announced reassignment was made before all the correct administrative
steps had been taken.

Here's a smattering of AB's Twitter posts. Notice how progressively 'dark' they get as time progresses.

"drinking generic dew and chillin at mah house:)" (Jul 27)

"ahh! we just got kittens! they're adorable

"holy shit, i almost died last night xD" (Aug 4)

"addiction takes over your whole life. it's not something easily overcome, therefor i embrace me addiction." (Aug 27)

"encompass'd with a thousand dangers; weary, faint, tremblinng with a
thousand terrors; i in a fleshly tomb, am buried above grounnd." (Sept 9)

"the world goes by my cage and never sees me." (Sep 13)

"bad decisions make great stories.." (Sep 17)

"this is all i want in life; a reason for all this pain." (Sep 28)

"drivin in a car bitches." (Sep 30)


.....She doesn't "tweet" again until the morning of Elizabeth's murder:



"sittin in classss. bored as f**k. i miss my cell phone :,["
(Oct 21, 6:45 am)

From the True Crime Report Blog:


Chris said:
I
am a friend of the girl who killed Elizabeth Olten. Before anything, I
would like to say that i don't agree with what happened. Of course,
what happened was absolutely horrible. No child should ever die, no
matter the case; especially murder. But, I must also say in knowing the
killer, that she was not as Nunyabidniss described, "trash". She was a
very kind girl, and dear to me. She never did me wrong, not any of her
friends. She was the girl everyone wanted to be around. She had a
brilliant sense of humor and a charming smile. I find it funny, all of
you who can so easily judge her. This girl, I believe, has suffered a
mental breakdown. Even as a friend, I find this hard to believe. She
was, none-the-less, different, but never psychotic. She was also NOT
MEXICAN. God, you people are pathetic. What is the REAL crime here? Is
it the death of Elizabeth Olten, or is how ugly, and ignorant the human
race is? And how we can so easily judge? Some people are born into the
wrong families. Those children suffer because of that. We should both
pray for the Olten family, and the killer, and her family. We should
pray that everyone finds peace. As Christians, we must forgive, NO
MATTER THE SIN. I truely belive, she is unstable; obviously very
mental. Like i said, some people are born with damanged brains. Yes,
they can contain themselves from violence, but do it despite their
awareness of it's awfulness. Death, for any misguided child is not the
answer. She needed help. I pray God sees her in this way and helps her
to find peace. She now, has to live with this for the rest of her life.
As she should. But, I hope in doing so, she will learn. But, I also
hope, alone, she finds the help that no one ever gave her. I love her
dearly. I do not love what happened. But, once again, we must be proper
Chrisitans. And i pray for all of you, as well, and your ignorant
remarks.
Posted 10/28/2009 at 11:38:00 PM

Poster's Note: This was found on the TOPIX Blog/Forum out of Orlando FL

Posted by Zig:

First, the killer is an honor student, with an "A" grade point average
in Math or Reading to receive an "excellence" award. She lives with her
maternal grandma who has custody of her since 2005 because both her
parents have had trouble with LE. Her father is serving 10 years for
assault and her mother is on probation for drugs. Looks like if she was
not abused physically it was an abusive environment emotionally at
least.

The killer listed her hobbies as cutting and killing. In
2007 there seems to be a change in her, which coincides with her
mothers problems. Elizabeth was visiting the killers half sister. From
what the site says her family moved to MO from California a few years
ago. There were a lot of changes going on in the killers life.

No
wonder she wears her bangs over her face to hide. With two criminals
for parents why wouldn't she be ashamed and hide from the world. She
needed therapy for all that crap happening in her life, grades or no
grades. Probably another way we aren't caring for kids. When parents
get arrested the kids should receive therapy to deal with it. It should
be mandatory and court supervised to make sure kids have a fighting
chance. Not sure how much of that Elizabeth's mom knew, but the poor
girl needed armed police escort to risk going into that kind of
environment.

Found on another blog~re-posted from another blog

“November 1st, 2009 7:04 pm ET I live in Jefferson City, and near where
Elizabeth was killed. It was all a horrible rememberence of 1982 when
my little 7 year old brother was bullied unto a pond of ice by a then
12 year old and killed by another boy and left to die. Our family knows
their grief. This crime maybe could have been prevented, if the State
of Missouri had done more to keep the 15 year old Alyssa Bustamante the
killer, better taken care of in facilities where they had in her in the
past. She had been treated at Fulton State Hospital for suicide and
homicidual thoughts in the past, the state had custudy of her and her
brothers, but they gave them back to her family. The State of Missouri
does not want everyone to know that. But I have a source who will
confirm that if anyone wants the person’s phone number. Also the
teacher Mr. Bill Currie, was related in this incident in his sucide, he
was the jurnolism teacher, who all of the students went to with their
writtings and most secrets, and he knew what Alyssa was up to, and the
guilt ate him up, that is why he killed himself, Office Greg White was
the last person he spoke to before he killed himself. These teens are
all spilling all of this all over town, and on their myspaces, and
twitters, and blogs, and all over the town. The sheriff and Valentine
does not want it to get out, but its a small town, it will happen. And
these parents need to read these pages, for the protection of their
other children, some of these teens are into some bad things.”

A judge was to consider Wednesday whether
the 15-year-old suspect in the slaying of a 9-year-old central Missouri
girl found in the woods two days after she went missing should be
prosecuted as an adult.The teenager, whose name and gender have
not been released by police, is accused of first-degree murder in the
death of Elizabeth Olten. Law officers say the teen led them to
Elizabeth's body in a wooded area in St. Martins, which is west of
Jefferson City.The teen has been held in juvenile custody since
last month. Cole County Judge Jon Beetem was scheduled to hear
arguments Wednesday on whether the teen should be prosecuted as an
adult. Under Missouri law, children as young as 12 can be charged as adults
with first-degree murder. Ten factors are considered in deciding how to
treat juveniles accused of crimes. All must be evaluated, but Beetem
does not need to weigh them equally.Among
the factors: the seriousness of the crime; whether viciousness, force
or violence was involved; whether people or property were affected; the
suspect's criminal record and background; and the individual's age,
sophistication and maturity.Court officials have planned extra
security measures for Wednesday's hearing, which is open to the public.
Cell phones, laptop computers, tape recorders and cameras all have been
banned from the courthouse and those who attend the hearing can't
re-enter the courtroom once it has started. Law officers at a security
checkpoint in the court basement also will be screening more items.Hundreds
of people searched for Elizabeth after she did not return on Oct. 21
from a neighbor's house about a quarter mile away. Searchers twice had
checked the area where her body was found two days later, but the Cole
County Sheriff's Department said Elizabeth had been well concealed.Authorities
have released few additional details, including how Elizabeth died.
Cole County Sheriff Greg White said the 15-year-old was contacted after
unspecified written evidence was obtained. Law officers have not said
how it is believed Elizabeth encountered the teen or where it is
believed that she was killed.White has said that Elizabeth and the 15-year-old were acquainted but not relatives.Elizabeth
was a fourth-grader who baked cookies, worked puzzles with her mother
and liked playing dress-up with her animals, according to her obituary.
Elizabeth also enjoyed music, and her favorite musicians were Taylor
Swift and the character Hannah Montana.

It's been almost a month since 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten went missing.Police found her body two days later, leaving many to wonder what happened.
Wednesday Oct. 21
The sun was starting to go down when Elizabeth was supposed to leave her
friend's house. It was a short, quarter-mile walk home. When she never
made it her parents called police.A command post was set up as investigators searched for Elizabeth late into the night.
Thursday Oct. 22
A new day brought new hope. Some 300 volunteers along with 100 officers
searched the area around Elizabeth's home twice. By late afternoon so
many volunteers showed up that many had to be turned away."People
aren't out here concerned about insurance or liability," said Gene
Bauer, who was turned away. "They're out here concerned for that little
girl." Rain made it difficult for
volunteers to search the area. As night came, police stopped cars for
several hours handing out flyers. Family members made a desperate plea
for Elizabeth's safe return."I want my niece home," said a tearful Vicki Olten. "I want her safe."Day two ended much like it began, with a lot of questions and no answers.
Friday Oct. 23
A helicopter was brought in to help continue the search. At 10 a.m.
Sheriff Greg White said he was hopeful Elizabeth would still be found
alive."What
we're endeavoring to do is find a young lady very much alive," said
White. "And reunite her with her family. We still have hope.The Olten family gathered around 2 p.m. as they made buttons.
Thirty minutes later, hope turned to heartbreak as investigators
announced they had found Elizabeth's body a few hundred yards behind
her home.Police said a juvenile suspect led them to the body.
Saturday Oct. 24
The next day the sheriff announced the suspect was a 15-year-old and that he was seeking first-degree murder charges.
Wednesday Oct. 28
A week after Elizabeth first went missing, she was laid to rest."My
heart breaks for them," said someone who attended the funeral. "I just
feel any kind of support shown to them is very important."As her family said goodbye, lawyers and a judge gathered in a courtroom to discuss the murder case against the 15-year-old."I
don't know where my client will get a fair trial once this name is
released," said Kurt Valentine, the juvenile's lawyer. "And [once] the
facts of the case are released."

The teenage girl who is accused of murdering her 9-year old neighbor, will be tried as an adult.
A judge in Cole County, Missouri made that decision this morning.

The suspect is Alyssa Bustamante, 15, of St. Martin's, Missouri. She now faces charges of first degree murder.

Investigators say Elizabeth Olten was visiting Bustamante's home the day she went missing.
Olten's family called officers when Elizabeth didn't return home from her friend's house.

That prompted a three-day search for the little girl.
Along with law enforcement, members of the community volunteered their time to look for Elizabeth.

The
search ended when investigators say Bustamante led them to Elizabeth's
body. Bustamante will be arraigned on those first degree murder charges
this afternoon.

A police officer testified Wednesday that a 15-year-old girl told
investigators she killed a 9-year-old neighbor because she wanted to
know what it felt like to kill someone, and a judge ruled the teen
should stand trial as an adult.Authorities have not publicly identified the suspect, but her attorney referred to her in court Wednesday as Alyssa.Police
testified that Elizabeth Olten did nothing to provoke the attack
against her, and that the teenage suspect led authorities to the girl's
body after they questioned her.Asked by juvenile justice
attorney Samantha Green whether Alyssa gave a reason for killing the
girl, highway patrol Sgt. David Rice replied "ultimately, she stated
she wanted to know what it felt like."Cole County Circuit Judge
Jon Beetem ruled that the slaying was vicious and that the state had no
adequate facilities or services to treat the suspect if she stayed in
the juvenile court system.The teen, who sat silently through the
proceedings in an orange prison jumpsuit and handcuffs, was arrested on
an adult charge of first-degree murder. She was scheduled to be
arraigned later Wednesday.Hundreds of people searched for
Elizabeth when she did not return home on Oct. 21 from a neighbor's
house in St. Martin's, west of Jefferson City. Authorities have not
released details about how Elizabeth was killed or why she was chosen,
and those details did not come out during the hearing.Juvenile
officers testified Wednesday that Alyssa previously considered
committing suicide and had been receiving treatment for depression for
a few years before Elizabeth's death.A Missouri State Highway
Patrol officer testified that Alyssa admitted to digging two holes on
Oct. 16 with the intention of burying Elizabeth — a sign that juvenile
officers said showed the girl's killing was premeditated.Throughout
the hearing, it was assumed that Alyssa committed the killing, which is
a legal requirement under state law for conducting adult certification
hearings. However, Alyssa's attorney objected repeatedly when attorneys
tried to introduce into evidence specific details about the killing.Juvenile
defense attorney Kurt Valentine argued that Alyssa would either kill
herself or be assaulted and killed by others if she were placed with
adults in a jail cell while awaiting trial or in a prison if convicted."We
are throwing away the child and we are signing a death sentence for
Alyssa," Valentine said. "She is not going to survive her time in the
Cole County jail."Alyssa appeared in court with straight,
shoulder-length brown hair, with bangs frequently covering her eyes.
Her mother and grandmother sat on one side of the courtroom. The
grandmother has been Alyssa's legal guardian for about half of her life.On
the other side of the courtroom sat Elizabeth's mother, other family
members and friends, some of whom wore pink shirts, which was
Elizabeth's favorite color.State juvenile officials said
Missouri has no secure facilities to house female juvenile offenders
and would have had to renovate a facility and create a specific
supervision plan had Alyssa been kept in juvenile custody.If convicted of first-degree murder, the teen could be sentenced to up to life in prison.

A judge has entered a not-guilty plea on behalf of a
15-year-old-girl charged as an adult in the strangulation and stabbing
death of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten.
Alyssa Bustamante appeared briefly before a Cole County judge today,
just hours after she had been certified to stand trial as an adult in
the Oct. 21 slaying.
Bustamante is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal
action and could face life in prison without parole if convicted.
She sat shackled with her hands at her waist, expressionless except for a hard swallow as the judge read the charges to her.
Earlier Wednesday, a police officer testified that Bustamante had
confessed to killing Elizabeth because she wanted to know what it felt
like to kill someone.

Blessed with a Friday off school, 15-year-old Alyssa Bustamante dug
two holes in the ground to be used as a grave, authorities said. For
the next week, she attended classes, all the while plotting the right
time for a murder, they said. That time arrived the evening of Oct. 21, when Bustamante strangled
9-year-old neighbor Elizabeth Olten without provocation, cut the girl's
throat and stabbed her, prosecutors said. Why?
"Ultimately, she stated she wanted to know what it felt like,"
Missouri State Highway Patrol Sgt. David Rice testified Wednesday
during a court hearing over the slaying.
Rice, who interviewed Bustamante in the days after Elizabeth's
disappearance, said she confessed to investigators and led them to the
fourth grader's well-concealed body in a wooded area near their
neighborhood in St. Martins, a small town west of Jefferson City.
A Cole County judge ruled Wednesday that Bustamante, who has been
held in Missouri's juvenile justice system, should be tried as an
adult. Hours later, the teen was indicted on adult charges of
first-degree murder and armed criminal action for allegedly using a
knife to kill Elizabeth. A judge later entered a not guilty plea on
Bustamante's behalf and referred her to the public defender's office.
The court proceedings marked the first time that the suspect in
Elizabeth's death had been publicly identified since a two-day search
for the girl by hundreds of volunteers. When they found Elizabeth's
body Oct. 23, authorities only said that a 15-year-old had led them to
it and wasin custody for the slaying.
Bustamante remained largely expressionless as she sat with her hands
shackled around her waist in court Wednesday. She occasionally looked
down beneath the brown bangs that covered her eyes and swallowed hard
as a judge read the charges against her.
On one side of the courtroom sat her mother and grandmother, who has
been Bustamante's legal guardian for about half of her life. On the
other side sat Elizabeth's mother, relatives and friends, several of
whom wore pink — Elizabeth's favorite color.
Bustamante was ordered held without bond pending her trial. If
convicted of first-degree murder, she would be sentenced to life in
prison without parole.
Witnesses at Bustamante's adult certification hearing described a
girl who was bright yet depressed and clever in a sometimes sneaky sort
of way. She ranked in roughly the top third of her class at Jefferson
City High School, the principal said, and had been in no trouble at
school or with the law.
Yet Bustamante had tried to commit suicide at age 13 and had been
receiving mental health treatment for depression and cutting herself,
said David Cook, the chief juvenile officer in Cole County. Once, she
led her family to believe she was attending a local church event when
she instead sneaked off to a concert in St. Louis, about two hours
away, Cook said. On one or two other occasions, Bustamante spent the
night in the woods without permission, he said.
After her arrest, Bustamante tried to cut herself with her own
fingernails while being held in juvenile custody, said her appointed
juvenile defense attorney Kurt Valentine.
He argued Bustamante should remain in the juvenile system, where she
could potentially be rehabilitated before being set free by age 21.
Valentine warned that Bustamante would either kill herself or be
assaulted and killed by others if she were placed in an adult jail cell
or prison.
"We are throwing away the child and we are signing a death sentence
for Alyssa," Valentine said. "She is not going to survive her time in
the Cole County jail."
Cole County Sheriff Greg White said later that Bustamante would be held at a different, undisclosed location.
Cook recommended Bustamante be tied as an adult. Cole County Circuit
Judge Jon Beetem agreed, saying the killing was vicious and that the
state had no adequate facilities or services to treat Bustamante if she
remained in the juvenile system.
Bill Heberle, with the Missouri Division of Youth Services,
testified that the state has no secure facilities with fences for
female juveniles. Youths in Missouri's juvenile system generally are
housed in group settings and are not typically watched by staff 24
hours a day, he said.