This article contains graphic details which some readers may find distressing.
A disturbing diary entry written by a 15-year-old just after she committed the murder of a young girl became crucial in her eventual confession to the horrifying act.
On October 21, 2009, nine-year-old Elizabeth Olten was heading home from a friend’s house in St. Martins, Missouri, when she encountered Alyssa Bustamante.
Elizabeth had assured her mother she would be home in time for dinner, but after meeting the teen, she never returned.
Bustamante led Elizabeth into the woods, where she strangled, stabbed, and slit her throat before burning her body and burying her in a shallow grave.
That same night, Elizabeth’s mother, Patty Preiss, organized a search party to find her, and police traced her phone to nearby woods between her house and the killer’s residence.
Authorities interviewed the Bustamante family after learning the youngest daughter had been with Elizabeth that evening.
During a search of the house, police discovered Bustamante’s diary, which contained a chilling confession.
It read: “I just f**king killed someone. I strangled them and slit their throat and stabbed them now they’re dead. 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 was later recorded confessing to the murder during a police interrogation after they confronted her with the diary entries.
It is known that Bustamante was on antidepressants and had spent 10 days in a mental health facility before committing the murder.
In 2012, Elizabeth’s mother, Preiss, filed a lawsuit against Pathways Behavioral Healthcare, claiming the clinic ignored ‘well-documented violent proof’ when they discharged Bustamante.
Bustamante pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and armed criminal action, receiving a life sentence. Just last month, her request for parole was denied.
She is currently imprisoned at the Chillicothe Correctional Center in Chillicothe, Missouri, US.