defense claims prozac may play part in mo teen slaying of child.

[justdavid]

Absolutely sickening diary entry...
http://m.yahoo.com/w/news_america/mo-teen-gets-life-possible-parole-killing-141938731.html?orig_host_hdr=news.yahoo.com&.intl=us&.lang=en-us

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri teenager who had described the slaying of a young neighbor girl as an "ahmazing" thrill made an emotional apology Wednesday to the girl's family and was sentenced to a potential lifetime in prison.

Moments before her sentence was imposed, 18-year-old Alyssa Bustamante rose from her chair — with shackles linking her ankles and holding her hands to her waist — and turned to face the family of 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten, whom she confessed to killing in October 2009.

"I really am extremely, very sorry for everything. I know words," she said, pausing to take a deep breath and struggling to compose herself, "can never be enough, and they can never adequately describe how horribly I feel for all of this."

She later added: "If I could give my life to get her back I would. I'm sorry."

Elizabeth's mother, Patty Preiss, who on the first day of Bustamante's sentencing hearing called her an "evil monster" and declared "I hate her," sat silently, staring forward as Bustamante's finished her apology.

Cole County Circuit Judge Pat Joyce then sentenced Bustamante to the maximum possible sentence for second-degree murder — life in prison with the possibility of parole. She ordered the teenager to serve a consecutive 30-year term for armed criminal action, a charge resulting from her use of a knife to slit the throat and stab Elizabeth after she had strangled her into unconsciousness.

Elizabeth's family declined to comment about the sentencing, as did Bustamante's family.

There were no immediate indications that Bustamante planned to appeal the sentence.

Bustamante originally had been charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty last month to the lesser charges to avoid a trial and the possibility of spending her life in an adult prison with no chance of release.

Bustamante was 15 years old at the time of Elizabeth's murder in the small town of St. Martins, just west of Jefferson City. Evidence presented during her hearing revealed that Bustamante had dug a shallow grave in the woods several days in advance, then used her younger sister to lure Elizabeth out of her home with an invitation to play. Bustamante, who had hidden a knife in a backpack, said she had a surprise for Elizabeth in the forest. The surprise turned out to be her demise.

During her two-day sentencing hearing, prosecutors referred repeatedly to an entry Bustamante wrote in her journal on Oct. 21, 2009 — the night of Elizabeth's death — in which she admitted to having just killed someone.

"I strangled them and slit their throat and stabbed them now they're dead," Bustamante wrote in her diary, which was read in court by a handwriting expert. "I don't know how to feel atm. 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."

Bustamante then left for a youth dance at a Mormon church her family attended while hundreds of volunteers began a two-day hunt for the dead girl. Although she initially lied to authorities about Elizabeth's whereabouts, Bustamante eventually confessed to police and led them to Elizabeth's leaf-covered shallow grave.

Defenses attorneys had argued for leniency after presenting evidence from family members and mental health experts about Bustamante's troubled childhood. Bustamante was born to teenage, drug-abusing parents; her father was imprisoned and her mother abandoned her, leaving her in the legal custody of her grandmother.

After a suicide attempt on Labor Day 2007 as she was starting eighth grade, Bustamante was prescribed the antidepressant Prozac. Her dosage had been increased just two weeks before Elizabeth's death. A defense psychiatrist testified that the medication could have made Bustamante moodier and more violent and contributed to the murder — a theory rejected by a different psychiatrist testifying for prosecutors.

Charlie Moreland, one of Bustamante's attorneys, described the sentence imposed Wednesday as "a harsh punishment."

"This was a child who had been spiraling out of control, but has treatable conditions," Moreland said.

Under Missouri guidelines, Bustamante would have to serve 35 years and 5 months in prison before she is eligible for parole, said Department of Corrections spokesman Chris Cline. It's also 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 woman inmates.

[duck]

Man these drugs are just crazy --in this particular case it's more likely to be a scapegoat correlation/causation Mix up --to but shit with all the lawsuits around Zoloft and Paxil causing birth defects and now this...I just have always hated this class of drug and it doesn't surprise me at all that serious problems are occurring.

Hopefully my similar suspicions of the bupe wont come to fruition.

[Fat Pie]

Hopefully my similar suspicions of the bupe wont come to fruition.

Well I have had the unexplainable urge to kill lately.

Poor kid (the victim, I mean).

[upstate_007]

Man these drugs are just crazy --in this particular case it's more likely to be a scapegoat correlation/causation Mix up --to but shit with all the lawsuits around Zoloft and Paxil causing birth defects and now this...I just have always hated this class of drug and it doesn't surprise me at all that serious problems are occurring.

Hopefully my similar suspicions of the bupe wont come to fruition.

Nearly all of those types of meds have tons of warnings for people under 18. Basically saying that they could make you go batshit when taking them.

Even for adults I don't trust them.

--- auto merge ---


Well I have had the unexplainable urge to kill lately.

Poor kid (the victim, I mean).

repped. sicko.

[duck]

I don't mean just the psychological effects but also weird shit like birth defects and alzheimers and what not. I've just always had a bad gut feeling about SSRI drugs.

[SeVeN]

Anti-Depressants are the most terrible drugs out there, as the barely help a few people and are so widely prescribed. The whole anti-depressant drug idea to me is a fucking scam.

That being said, the girl obviously was to blame anyways. I ead this yesterday as well, and her comments about how she felt when she killed were pretty fucking terrifying.

[ausativa]

ssri's make me feel like shit.


i hope the victims family gets justice.... whatever that is.

[justdavid]

I'm a hyomaniac(bipolar II), as well as mild borderline and antisocial personality disorder. Seldom do i, if ever, have depressive episodes but I find myself manic consistent with hypomania often, kind of sucks for sleep but overall not a too terribly bad condition.

After an accident and one of my only depressive episodes the Dr put me on anti depressants and they turned me fully manic, it was horrible. I wasn't really able to function. a week of that and i quit. When i was 10or so I was put on them too and my emotions were so incredibly unstable.

They have a use and need but not nearly as much as they are prescribed.

[Bricks & Stacks]

Crazy ass fuckin Mormons. The ohmygawd I can't do this part was kinda funny. Too bad her ass wasn't in PA they woulda gave her ass the needle.

[Fat Pie]

Too bad her ass wasn't in PA they woulda gave her ass the needle.

Death's too easy; it won't bring the victim back. Let her sit in jail for the rest of her life and consider what she's done, and how awful it is. Some murderers just straight up don't display any regrets, but she has, and it doesn't look put on to me (although it may well be). Let that be her punishment.

[Bricks & Stacks]

Most people would gladly sit in jail over lethal injection, myself included. Being locked up sucks but you still got your fam & friends, decent food if you got money on your books, and you usually meet a few friends in jail. And she didn't even get life she'll be paroled in 20 years still pretty young, here they give out 35 years for dope.

[SHELLEY]

bahahahahahahahahahaha
planned a murder over several days, but it wasn't her fault, it was her prozac?
lol

[Fat Pie]

Most people would gladly sit in jail over lethal injection, myself included. Being locked up sucks but you still got your fam & friends, decent food if you got money on your books, and you usually meet a few friends in jail. And she didn't even get life she'll be paroled in 20 years still pretty young, here they give out 35 years for dope.

Yeah, you're right, young offenders usually don't get proper life. But then think about the young girl she brutally murdered over what looks like fuckin' curiosity! She should do the whole bid. Remorse won't bring that young girl back, or assuage the grief of her parents.


bahahahahahahahahahaha
planned a murder over several days, but it wasn't her fault, it was her prozac?
lol

Lawyers get paid good money to come up with that kinda shit. I know Prozac has been known to have some side effects (Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the Columbine shooters, were on antidepressants, but that was likely a factor rather than a cause, like they were fucked up before they got on the medication; the parents just wanted some exterior justification as to why their boys would do such a horrendous thing beyond the obvious bullying, cliquism and neglect at school), but there's only so far you can take that excuse, and when it comes to premeditated murder, that shit just falls apart.

Twinkie defence, anyone?

[SHELLEY]

and if they convict you in fl for shit like this, they kill you back
i'd prefer just giving the mom 20 minutes in a locked room with this chick, but dead is dead

[Fat Pie]

and if they convict you in fl for shit like this, they kill you back
i'd prefer just giving the mom 20 minutes in a locked room with this chick, but dead is dead

How does that help anything?

[justdavid]

How does that help anything?

Street justice.

Nothing will truly help. Nothing can bring both of them back. In this crime their were essential two deaths.

Premeditated; if I ever did murder is try to plea for the death sentence if possible.

At B&S, article says she has to serve at least 35years before possible parole. It's unknown if her time served will bee counted.

Regardless, given the evidence and that stupid diary what are the real chances of her ever being released?

[candyman20]

Most people would gladly sit in jail over lethal injection, myself included. Being locked up sucks but you still got your fam & friends, decent food if you got money on your books, and you usually meet a few friends in jail. And she didn't even get life she'll be paroled in 20 years still pretty young, here they give out 35 years for dope.

fuck that fam id take the needle over life with no parole, cause u gonna wind up doin at least 15-20 before they even kill your ass


edit: not gonna lie i thought it was funny when she said shes gotta go to church

[Fat Pie]

Street justice.

That's revenge, not justice.

[Bricks & Stacks]

They didn't even give her life it says 35 years and a few months.

Most people are remorseful when they get caught. The ohmygawd part don't seem very fuckin remorseful. If the bitch didn't get caught she wouldn't give a fuck.

Edit I didn't see jds post yeah I read it wrong. She wont make parole her first time but she won't die if old age in prison

[candyman20]

They didn't even give her life it says 35 years and a few months.

Most people are remorseful when they get caught. The ohmygawd part don't seem very fuckin remorseful. If the bitch didn't get caught she wouldn't give a fuck.
yeah i feel u im just sayin fuck sittin for natural life, i think the 30 years is a seperate sentence on top of her life wit parole so she probly aint never gettin out

and yeah everyones sorry when they starin at a judge but once u get to the house thats when u see if they real bout it or not

[struggler]

edit: not gonna lie i thought it was funny when she said shes gotta go to church

^^^^^^^^^^^ ditto

[reddragon3668]

I can't believe they actually let her cop to a lesser plea. Fuck, she dug the damn hole days earlier and "lured" her into the woods. I mean, if that isn't first degree with special circumstances, I don't know what is. I'm not pro-death myself (state sanctioned...if someone killed one of my children like that, I wouldn't hesitate to exact vengeance if I could get to them first), but she should never see the other side of a locked door. And to think that there are brothers in there that will spend more time for a little rock than she will for premeditated murder... no wonder people think our justice system is a joke. It is.

It always amazes me when someone "apologizes" for a crime like this. If you did it, it just seems like it would be better to simply keep your mouth shut... if someone killed one of my kids like that, and they got away from me first, I think an "apology" in open court from the maggot that did it would be more than I could stand. I know I'd go after them.. that would be a youtube moment for sure! There is a huge chasm between my political ideology regarding the death penalty as a whole, along with its a huge disparity in how it is implemented along racial/ethnic divides, and my feelings about what I would do if someone slit my daughter's throat and threw her in a hole like a piece of common shit. Given Shelley's solution, giving me 20 minutes in a locked room with the person would be a million times more humane.. as they'd have a chance to actually survive, unlike the victim who was lured to their death. This kind of stuff just gets under my skin... Sometimes, we can do the wrong thing for the right reasons.... a parent taking vengeance, might just qualify...

[Fat Pie]

This is obviously gonna have a different effect on those 'philes who are parents. That's just instinctual.

Reminds me of this case in the UK:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2019409/Joshua-Davies-16-dared-Facebook-friends-murder-Rebecca-Aylward.html

Teenage boy lures his ex-GF to the woods and murders her over their break up. Apparently he was dared to do it by his friends.

[Bricks & Stacks]

yeah i feel u im just sayin fuck sittin for natural life, i think the 30 years is a seperate sentence on top of her life wit parole so she probly aint never gettin out

and yeah everyones sorry when they starin at a judge but once u get to the house thats when u see if they real bout it or not


For a college boy ya ass sure can't read. Haha nah I'm fuckin with you fam. But it says she plead out to avoid life.

[taytoechip]

the diary entry made the hair on my neck stand up.if not caught fairly quick im sure she would have attempted to kill again.

[justdavid]

That's revenge, not justice.


All relative.

[OpiXPO]

I just want to point out she got a life (which is 35 years in most states if memory serves me) and then a consecutive 30 year term. That means she has to serve the sum of both before she would be eligiable for parole, which would be at the very least 60-65 years in prison, and she 18 now. She'll die before she gets paroled.

[Fat Pie]

All relative.

Justification.

[ausativa]

Justification.

thats pretty funny.

[candyman20]

For a college boy ya ass sure can't read. Haha nah I'm fuckin with you fam. But it says she plead out to avoid life.

haha yeah i feel u but im not sayin she got natural life, she plead to second degree got life wit parole but consecutive 30 years for usin a weapon now homey u know consecutive mean after u do life u start the 30 yamean. all she avoided was the life no parole she still probly gonna spend 40-50 years up in that bitch

[Bricks & Stacks]

Yeah I got to.admit I guess I can't read I only seen the 35 years part.

[candyman20]

and to think they give out twice that shit for drug trafficking

[justdavid]

Justification.


Masterbation... It rhymes.

[Fat Pie]

Masterbation... It rhymes.

Intimidation.

[Bricks & Stacks]

and to think they give out twice that shit for drug trafficking

Yeah in PA anyways, I was reading about SE OH they was giving mufuckers 6 months for distribution of heroin. Here its mandatory minimum 2-4 for fuckin intent, you'll get 10 years for distribution and that's if it ain't that.much.

[candyman20]

Yeah in PA anyways, I was reading about SE OH they was giving mufuckers 6 months for distribution of heroin. Here its mandatory minimum 2-4 for fuckin intent, you'll get 10 years for distribution and that's if it ain't that.much.

yessir ur right thats what they threatened me wit mandatory 2 for sellin it another 2 for the weight so i plead to get 11 1/2-23 months, on a first adult offense i couldnt beleive it who goes to jail for there first offense they take that shit seriously

--- auto merge ---


I just want to point out she got a life (which is 35 years in most states if memory serves me) and then a consecutive 30 year term. That means she has to serve the sum of both before she would be eligiable for parole, which would be at the very least 60-65 years in prison, and she 18 now. She'll die before she gets paroled.

i think life is actually 25 years

[justdavid]

Intimidation.

Urination

[OpiXPO]

I looked it up for that state, your right Candyman. 25 years plus the 30, so 55 years wich means she'll be 73 before she is eligable.


Urination

What???

[candy]

I can't believe they actually let her cop to a lesser plea. Fuck, she dug the damn hole days earlier and "lured" her into the woods. I mean, if that isn't first degree with special circumstances, I don't know what is. I'm not pro-death myself (state sanctioned...if someone killed one of my children like that, I wouldn't hesitate to exact vengeance if I could get to them first), but she should never see the other side of a locked door. And to think that there are brothers in there that will spend more time for a little rock than she will for premeditated murder... no wonder people think our justice system is a joke. It is.

It always amazes me when someone "apologizes" for a crime like this. If you did it, it just seems like it would be better to simply keep your mouth shut... if someone killed one of my kids like that, and they got away from me first, I think an "apology" in open court from the maggot that did it would be more than I could stand. I know I'd go after them.. that would be a youtube moment for sure! There is a huge chasm between my political ideology regarding the death penalty as a whole, along with its a huge disparity in how it is implemented along racial/ethnic divides, and my feelings about what I would do if someone slit my daughter's throat and threw her in a hole like a piece of common shit. Given Shelley's solution, giving me 20 minutes in a locked room with the person would be a million times more humane.. as they'd have a chance to actually survive, unlike the victim who was lured to their death. This kind of stuff just gets under my skin... Sometimes, we can do the wrong thing for the right reasons.... a parent taking vengeance, might just qualify...

I feel the same exact way. Anyone ever did that to one of my kids, I would need to be locked up so I wouldn't kill the evil piece of shit that took my child's life. I wouldn't say that I am exactly pro-death, but I wouldn't want the fucker who killed my child to ever breath again or sit in some jail being fed and housed for life. I would want that person to suffer...Maybe that sounds cruel, but anyone who lures a child into the woods, has dug a grave days earlier, and then writes how fun it was does not deserve to live in my opinion. Prozac or not....It was premeditated and saying she is sorry to the family. How can you apologize for that kind of act of utter violence. I only hope that poor little girl did not suffer long. Just the thought of how scared she must have been while being strangled into unconsciousness makes me so sick I could puke. My heart goes out to the family of that child. I cannot imagine that loss, especially in the way she died.

Fuck, what do we need to do as parents...Keep our children locked in the house to prevent such terrible acts of violence that are acted on upon children. I have always kept a record of my children's fingerprints on file with our local PD and kept them updated with a recent picture. Every parent should look into this and see if there is a local PD that does fingerprinting for children/keeping their recent photo on file.

Wow, just such a awful thing to happen.

I don't know if I could sit there and listen to my child's killer apologize to me. It would take everything I have to not grab that fucking evil bitch by the throat and tear out her fucking heart.

Very sad indeed.....

[Fat Pie]

I can totally understand a parent reacting that way candy, it's almost an instinctual thing. I can't imagine what the parents must be going through. As well as blaming the bitch who killed her for kicks, they must also be blaming themselves, or feel guilty for 'letting it happen' (not that they have anything to be sorry for, they didn't kill their child; 'blame the victim' mentality in rape trials and such sickens me and removes the burden of guilt from the perpetrator, but I can imagine it's something they've thought about nonetheless: 'Oh God, why did we let her out of our sight? Why didn't we know?' They'll probably need counselling for a long time to get over the grief).

Even if she'd been sentenced to death, the appeals process takes so long that she could've been there for 30+ years, and it would've actually ended up costing more in legal fees than straight life. That's one of the drawbacks to a fair and impartial justice system, there's a big queue and everyone has to wait their turn. Ted Bundy was executed around 10 years after his original death sentence, and that was considered quick for the time:

"Contrary to popular belief, the courts moved Bundy as fast as they could... Even the prosecutors acknowledged that Bundy's lawyers never employed delaying tactics. Though people everywhere seethed at the apparent delay in executing the archdemon, Ted Bundy was actually on the fast track."

'Among the Lowest of the Dead: The Culture of Capital Punishment'

David von Drehle, 1995.

[SHELLEY]

How does that help anything?

when nothing can help, at least you can destroy the bastard who killed your kid with your bare fucking hands

[tui]

"I strangled them and slit their throat and stabbed them now they're dead," Bustamante wrote in her diary, which was read in court by a handwriting expert. "I don't know how to feel atm. 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."

^
I don't understand why she wrote "them" in her diary instead of "her".

Imagine spending all of your adult years in jail and being released when you're 72. All you'd know about the outside world would be what you'd seen on TV, or what other inmates had told you.

[justdavid]

^
I don't understand why she wrote "them" in her diary instead of "her".

Imagine spending all of your adult years in jail and being released when you're 72. All you'd know about the outside world would be what you'd seen on TV, or what other inmates had told you.

The plural part confused me too. I haven't googled anymore articles so I'm not sure but it is really Wierd.

That shit would suck.

[More Feen]

Honestly,

Missourians don't need no excuse to commit homicide.

Lil' murdering bitch should've known that.

M F

[Fat Pie]

when nothing can help, at least you can destroy the bastard who killed your kid with your bare fucking hands

I feel unqualified to speak as someone who has not yet had the privilege of children. I'm sure I would feel the same way you do if I did.

However, I can't help but feel that the relief would be short-term and the regret long-term; after all, you would be lowering yourself to the murderer's level by committing the same crime they did out of wrath. I'm sure it would play on the conscience of any moral human being, regardless of the circumstances under which it was done.

I don't think revenge is nearly as satisfying as it's made out to be. Some rape victims, for instance, say they feel much better after confronting their rapist with what they did, in order to gain an understanding of why they did it and what motivated them, as well as to see some genuine remorse and to offer forgiveness, so they can move on from the incident and stop blaming themselves.

I know that losing a child is a different case altogether (our children are often what's most precious to us; to lose them is unthinkable/unbearable), but one of the biggest things a victim or a victim's close relative usually wants to know is why: 'Why was I raped?', 'Why did you pick me?', 'Why did you kill my son/daughter?' It may not be possible to open up and confront their child's killer at such an early stage, but I'm sure the victim's parents will at least want some firsthand insight into why their daughter was so brutally murder for no reason whatsoever, in order to help them sleep at night.

"Elizabeth's mother, Patty Preiss, who on the first day of Bustamante's sentencing hearing called her an "evil monster" and declared "I hate her," sat silently, staring forward as Bustamante's finished her apology."

Notice how she didn't react to the apology. She didn't shout or cry, she just sat there and listened.

[duck]

@More Feen: what's that supposed to mean re Missourians?

[Fat Pie]

I don't understand why she wrote "them" in her diary instead of "her".


The plural part confused me too. I haven't googled anymore articles so I'm not sure but it is really Wierd.

I think that's just bad grammar; she probably meant 'them' as a singular:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singular_they

"If some guy beat me up, I'd leave them."

[More Feen]

@More Feen: what's that supposed to mean re Missourians?

You can start with Jesse James and work forward from there.

Don't omit that nuking haberdasher either.

M F