Court Case of the Killer Alyssa Bustamante - Research Paper Example

CASE STUDY/COURT CASE OF ALYSSA BUSTAMANTE Alyssa Bustamante is an 18 year old resident of Jefferson City who made confessions about killing a nine year old girl because she wanted to have experience of how it felt killing another person. On 30 May, 2012, she was sentenced to life imprisonment. In January, 2012, Alyssa Bustamante had pleaded guilty to armed criminal actions and to the commitment of third degree murder in October, 2009, whereby she killed Elizabeth Olten in St. Martins, which is a small rural town a little distance from Jefferson City. Alyssa Bustamante was 15 years old when she made the confession about killing Elizabeth by repeatedly wounding her in the chest and eventually slitting her throat. She took the police to the small grave where she had buried Elizabeth’s body in the forests close to her house. It is ironic that when Alyssa Bustamante was free from school on a Friday, she spent most of her time digging two small graves in which she planned to bury the dead Elizabeth. After that she continued with her routine as usual and waited for the right time to commit the murder, which came four days later on 21 October, 2009 when Elizabeth, her neighbor was walking back towards home after visiting her friend. Elizabeth’s last known where-about was at 6:15 in the evening when she left her friend’s house, which was just a little distance from her own home. Her family became worried when she did not return and started searching for her frantically. Her family members were aware she was extremely scared of darkness and would never wander away alone. They called the police at 7 pm because they knew that she could not stay out in the dark alone and needed to be found. However, they did not know that it was already too late because she had been killed by that time (Romano, 2011). When Alyssa Bustamante realized she had the opportunity to kill, she immediately took it. She took hold of Elizabeth, gave her a ruthless beating, strangulated her and eventually cut her throat after stabbing her repeatedly. She then complied with her plan of dumping the body into one of the two graves she had dug a few days back in the woods behind her neighborhood. The police searched cautiously for the girl but could not find her. They also checked the location of her mobile phone and although its signals emanated from the woods in which she was buried, they did not succeed in finding her. Eventually, a letter was found and the police traced Alyssa after which she confessed to the crime and led the police to the place where she had buried Elizabeth’s body. The reason for the crime appears to be simple but a lot of complexities were observed because it was difficult to believe Alyssa when she stated that she killed Elizabeth because she wanted to have experience of what it felt like to kill a person. The psychological implication of such a version implied that a mentally stable person would never go ahead and kill a person in cold blood, just as Alyssa had done. The main issue was what made the girl to take such a step in satisfying her curiosity. It is noteworthy that in the past Alyssa had demonstrated signs of having psychological problems because she had tried to commit suicide a number of times and was under treatment for depression (Newcomb, 2012). She was known to deal with her emotional difficulties by inflicting injuries on herself, such as through self mutilation. One of Alyssa’s close friends had testified that Alyssa had once confided in her that she was in awe about how it would feel to kill another person. Alyssa was active on the internet and on YouTube she had given her hobbies as cutting and killing people. The police also found that her YouTube account included some distressing movie clips made at home. In one of these she was found to be urging her brothers to touch a naked electric cable after she had herself touched it. Her messages on the site clearly indicated that she got immense pleasure in hurting people physically. Alyssa appeared to be a neglected child because she was being cared for by her grandparents. When she was born, her mother was a teenager with a criminal record. At the time of the murder, Alyssa’s father was serving a prison term of ten years for physically assaulting another person (Monacelli, 2012). After being arrested, Alyssa Bustamante was charged with first degree murder in causing the death of Elizabeth Olten. When Alyssa appeared in court on 17 November 2009, the judge gave his ruling that she can be tried as an adult. Despite making a confession, Alyssa was entered as a not guilty plea and was held without any bond. There were some issues because of which the trial was delayed for some time but final murder charges were framed against Alyssa in a trial that began on 30 June, 2012. However, she pleaded to the charges of violent criminal attack and second degree murder (Crimesider, 2012). Alyssa shocked the court with her confession of how she used a knife to slit Elizabeth’s throat and to then strangle her with her bare hands. Her defense lawyer tried to offer excuses for the horrible act, such as the medication she was undergoing for depression following her suicide attempts. He took the plea that her family had a history of mental disturbances, suicide attempts and drugs abuse and informed that her mother had deserted her and that she did not have guidance of a father as he was in prison. These were attempts to reveal Alyssa’s mental condition when she murdered Elizabeth. It was unfortunate that Elizabeth’s youthful life was ended by Alyssa Bustamante. Elizabeth’s family and friends were all praise for and described her as a nice and sweet girl who loved all girly things such as the color pink, dolls and cats. They informed she was a shy girl and was extremely scared of the dark. Psychologists summoned to testify about Alyssa described her as a psychologically and emotionally disturbed girl and held that she was suffering from major depression problems and displayed symptoms of borderline personality disorder. Such conditions are characterized with sensations of mood swings, mental instability and the demonstration of aggressiveness and impulsive behavior (Daily News, 2012). It cannot be denied that Alyssa was not mentally stable because in the past she had made suicide attempts and had inflicted physical harm on herself, which included inflicting herself with over three hundred cut and burn marks. The most distressing and the most concrete evidence against her was the journal entry, which she wrote after committing the murder. It was shocking to imagine how she could have actually carried out the murder, the details of which she herself provided in this journal entry. She had written with details on how she strangled her, stabbed her and cut her throat to eventually make her dead. She wrote it was an enjoyable and amazing experience and confessed that she later felt shaky and nervous about the whole thing. However, Alyssa was later repentant, which is evident from the fact that on 8 February 2012 she stated before the judge conducting her trial that she was willing to give her own life if it was possible to bring back Elizabeth. While Alyssa was addressing the court, Elizabeth’s family members were also present and she told them she was extremely sorry for what she did. However, Alyssa Bustamante was then given a sentence of life imprisonment. List of References Crimesider. (2012). Alyssa Bustamante called killing 9-year-old 'enjoyable,' then went to church, http://www.cbsnews.com, Accessed on 10 June, 2012. Daily News. (2012). Missouri teen, Alyssa Bustamante, pleads guilty, http://articles.nydailynews.com, Accessed on 10 June, 2012. Monacelli, Antonia. (2012). Murderous Children: 15 Year Old Alyssa Bustamante Brutally Murdered a 9 Year Old Girl, Hub Pages Newcomb, A. (2012). Teen Thrill Killer Alyssa Bustamante Could Get Paroled Some Day, ABC News Romano, Tricia. (2011). Alyssa Bustamante and the Murder of Elizabeth Olten, Crime Library Read More