Missouri Teen Thrill Killer Sentenced to Life; Could Get Parole
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.) — A teenager who slit her young neighbor’s throat and called it “enjoyable” may have the opportunity to walk free one day.
Alyssa Bustamante, 18, was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole in a Missouri courtroom on Wednesday.
The teen expressed remorse for brutally killing her neighbor, Elizabeth Olten, in October 2009, in what prosecutors described as a thrill killing.
“I know words can never be enough and they can never adequately describe how horribly I feel for all of this,” Bustamante said to Olten’s mother and siblings, who sat silently. “If I could give my life to get her back I would. I’m sorry.” Her remorse was decidedly different than diary entries she made after the brutal act, when she called killing the child “ahmazing.”
Bustamante stabbed the 9-year-old girl in the chest, strangled her, sliced her throat and left her in a shallow grave covered with leaves so she could find out what it felt like to kill.
“I just f***ing killed someone. 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],” Bustamante wrote in her diary.
She later added: “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.”
Prosecutor Mark Richardson had argued for life in prison, plus 71 years, accounting for the years Elizabeth lost.
The defense cited Bustamante’s depression and a suicide attempt as a reason for a reduced sentence.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio