JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMOX/AP) – A Missouri teen who confessed to murdering her young neighbor to see what it felt like to kill someone was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole Wednesday morning.
During this week’s sentencing hearing Alyssa Bustamante, 18, was described by prosecutors as a thrill killer who lacked remorse and by defense attorneys as a disturbed child who deserved the chance to one day get out of prison.
Prosecutors submitted a page from Alyssa Bustamante’s diary dated October 21, 2009 — the day 9-year-old Elizabeth Olton was stabbed, strangled and had her throat slit.
She wrote: “I just —-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]. It was ah-mazing. 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 [OK], I gotta go to church now … lol.”
Prosecutors urged the judge to impose the maximum for second-degree murder life in prison with the possibility of parole and an additional 71 years in prison for armed criminal action, which he said would have matched the remaining life expectancy of Elizabeth.
They also urged that the sentences be served consecutively, meaning Bustamante would be an elderly woman before she ever got a chance at parole. Bustamante’s attorney, Donald Catlett, countered that the sentences should run concurrently and that the judge should take into consideration a pre-sentencing report prepared by the state Division of Probation and Parole that apparently suggests something less than a life sentence.
The judge said the recommendation must remain confidential. the entire article at source
