The Teen Who Buried a Girl: Alyssa Bustamante’s Dark Fantasy

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The following interrogation footage has never been seen
before. Grandma.
I'm not going to ask any questions
right now until we get. What would make a grandmother

(00:29):
emotionally breakdown like that?For Karen Brooke, it was the
murder her 15 year old granddaughter Alyssa Bustamante
just confessed to. If you had to describe Alyssa
Bustamante's childhood with a single word, it would
undoubtedly be tragic. According to case documents,
Alyssa confided in a mental health professional that she had

(00:50):
been subjected to severe mistreatment at a young age.
The resulting trauma led to Alyssa being diagnosed with post
traumatic stress Disorder, and the doctor stated she developed
an abhorrence for violence. She'd been the result of a
teenage pregnancy, as her mother, Michelle, was only 15
years old when she was born. Though her grandparents were

(01:10):
excited to have grandchildren, Alyssa's parents, Michelle and
Cesar, weren't prepared for parenthood.
It wasn't long before Alysssa was joined by three younger
siblings, twin brothers, and a sister named Emma.
The children grew up in a turbulent household.
Cesar Bustamante was eventually charged with three counts of
assault and was sentenced to serve 3 concurrent prison terms.

(01:35):
There was no stability for Alyssa, her brothers and sister,
and they were often evicted, forcing them to constantly pack
up and move. Michelle's parents, Karen and
Gary Brooke, stepped in to help take care of the children.
However, they soon found that many of their efforts, such as
sending food to the family and visiting, were all in vain.

(01:55):
Eventually, they realized that there was only one thing they
could do that would truly make adifference in the children's
lives. The grandparents decided to
campaign for full custody of Alyssa and her siblings when
they gained full custody of the children.
Alyssa was about 8 years old. Living with her grandparents
offered her stability for the first time in her life, but

(02:16):
Alyssa had already been exposed to far too much.
Seeking a new start, Alyssa's grandparents moved the family to
the small town of Saint Martin's, Missouri, where they
bought a nice home on a large piece of land right away.
The twin boys and Emma flourished in their new
location, but Alyssa seemed to have difficulty adjusting.

(02:36):
It was in this small town of just over 1000 people, where
everyone knows everyone, that Alyssa's gruesome crime would
devastate all who live there. It was Wednesday October 21st,
2009 when Alyssa's younger sister, Emma Bustamante, now six
years old, knocked on the Olton's front door.

(02:56):
She wanted 9 year old Elizabeth Olton to come out and play.
The Bustamantes and Olton's onlylived 4 houses down from each
other and the two young girls would often play at each other's
houses, but on this particular day, Elizabeth would never make
it home. Elizabeth Olton was a typical
girly girl. Before Emma showed up at
Elizabeth's house, she'd been excitedly practicing her lines

(03:20):
at the dining room table for an upcoming musical.
Noteworthy, Elizabeth's mother, Patty, said she couldn't go play
at 1st. Dinner would be ready soon, but
the girls begged her enough for her to finally give in.
Patty gave her daughter clear instructions to be home by 6:00
PM, when the sun would nearly beset in late October.
And Patty trusted that Elizabethwould come home since the 4th

(03:42):
grader was terrified of the dark.
Emma and Elizabeth played board games in hopscotch and the
Bustamante driveway. Eventually, Elizabeth told Emma
that she needed to go home. Emma stood on the big rock by
her driveway and watched her friend begin her walk home.
However, she didn't stay to see if Elizabeth made it all the way
home safely. Emma was later asked by

(04:04):
investigators if Elizabeth mighthave walked through the woods to
get home, but she was adamant that they never went.
In the woods. Emma continued playing outside,
though she didn't know for how long.
At some point, she lost a hair tie in the thorns by her
driveway, and when she tried to retrieve it, she scratched her
hand and her foot got stuck. Emma said she yelled until

(04:25):
Alyssa came to help her, claiming Alyssa had been in the
house and heard her through an open window.
As Alyssa helped her out of the thorns, Emma noticed a spot of
blood on the thigh of Alyssa's pants.
She asked her sister about it, who explained it away by saying
she had her period. Alyssa made her little sister
promise not to tell anyone aboutthe blood.

(04:48):
When 6:00 PM passed, Elizabeth hadn't returned home.
Worried, Patty called Elizabeth's cell phone over and
over, but there was no answer. Patty then called Emma's
grandmother, Karen, to ask if Elizabeth was still at their
house. Karen told her that Elizabeth
had never even been to the home and wasn't even aware that the
girls had been playing. She hung up and immediately

(05:10):
called the police. Authorities began their
investigation by interviewing the last known person Elizabeth
was with, Emma Bustamante. Emma described playing with
Elizabeth from approximately 5:00 to 6:00 PM before Elizabeth
left for home. Grandma Karen sat in the room
during this questioning, Emma continually glancing at her as

(05:30):
she answered the investigator's questions.
There was one detail Emma gave that struck investigators as
odd, the bloodstain she spotted on Alyssa's pants.
Karen seemed removed from the interview, but toward the end
she stated. We just want the truth to come
out, whatever it is. By 10:00 PM, word of the missing

(05:50):
9 year old spread through this small town and hundreds of
residents came out in support ofthe Olten family to search for
little Elizabeth. When they had searched the whole
neighborhood as well as the woods and turned up nothing, law
enforcement decided to ping Elizabeth's cell phone and found
that it LED back to the 60 acresof woods behind her home.
Volunteers then made a strange discovery, a hole in the woods

(06:14):
in the shape of a grave. As the forensics team began to
process the scene, the FBI beganinterviewing Alyssa for reasons
that are still unknown. They brought her to the hole
where Alyssa admitted something odd, She dug the hole.
When questioned why exactly she dug it, she said she just likes
digging holes and would bury dead animals when she found

(06:37):
them. Strangely, the hole ended up
being empty, but investigators knew something was very off with
Alyssa. They then conducted a search of
her room and discovered a shocking key piece of evidence,
one that they would wait to confront Alyssa with until her
videotaped interrogation. This led to the most dramatic
meltdown in any interrogation we've analyzed yet.

(06:59):
Oh dear. I.
Don't get changed. Huh.
Yeah, Rock. So if if you don't mind if I sit
here so I can write because I'm going to be taking a lot of
notes so. It's important to note that when
a person is brought in for interrogation, law enforcement
have likely developed a reasonable suspicion that the
person is involved in the crime.Karen accompanied Alyssa in the

(07:23):
interrogation room. Going in, she fully believed
Alyssa was innocent. She was in for the shock of her
life as the truth began to unfold right before her eyes
walk. Me through exactly what
happened. We didn't go to summary that
day, right? OK so I woke up and I'm ready

(07:43):
and I went out to go get the busbut I missed the bus because it
doesn't usually. Pick me up, OK?
So I went back to the house and my grandpa gave me ride to
school. So I went to school OK and I was
there all day and then I came home on the bus and I got home
around 3:00 no 433334. I get home around then and I

(08:11):
just hung out my room for a little while and then I went for
a walk around 5435, something like that.
She is feigning ignorance, commonly referred to as playing
dumb. I was just walking around in
forest for a while and I was supposed to take my little
sister with me but I ditched herbecause she's annoying, OK?

(08:34):
And I was just walking around inthe forest and then for about an
hour, I came back and 5:36-ish and I went up in my room and I
heard like yelling. So I went outside and I like she

(08:54):
was down in the like ditch area.She was stuck in thorn bushes.
So I went down there and I helped her out and she asked me
why I was waiting. Because you know.
Come out on my period. They're like, yeah, don't tell
me when that. And so we went out there and my

(09:15):
brother and aunt were asking about because they she was
supposed to be at home or something.
OK. And I didn't really.
Think much of. It so we just went back to the
house. Alyssa nonchalantly shrugged her
right shoulder. Shrugging only one shoulder is
considered a modified shrug or avariant of a natural shoulder

(09:37):
shrug. Abnormal movements like this
often suggest uncertainty in what the person is conveying.
She leans to her left, an additional non verbal display of
discomfort. The interrogator is in the
position of power, blocking the only exit.
Although she initially appeared comfortable, Bustamante is now
attempting to regain her power in a position of powerlessness.

(09:59):
And then started to get ready togo to church because we have
Wednesday night activities. OK.
And came and he's like, he sat on the door and he's like, do
you know where it is? Because he couldn't find her.
She begins to nod her head as she speaks.
This does not align with her baseline pattern of non verbal
behavior. Something is off.

(10:20):
Although we can only speculate, this may serve as a self
pacifying behavior. Bustamante is assuring herself
that what she says is believable.
Alternatively, Bustamante's headmovements could be a conscious
or subconscious manipulative nonverbal meant to spur agreement
and empathy in the interrogator.And that's when things started

(10:41):
to get, you know, people are like, oh, what's going on?
Like where is she? Continue to observe all the non
verbal indicators of discomfort that we mentioned previously,
but take note of contrasts. But we ended up going to church
and I don't know, a lot of stuffhappened while we were there
because it's from 7:00 to 8:15. Ish.

(11:01):
And when we came back there was 3 sheriff cars in our property
and there's people out searchingeverywhere and that's pretty
much it. I want to sleep after that.
OK. Bustamante says I'm here.
She does not use this consistently throughout the

(11:21):
interrogation. It is not one of her baseline
tendencies because she does not regularly say umm.
This moment is worth noting. It's also interesting to note
that Alyssa uses what is known as an exclusion qualifier when
she states. That's pretty much it.
According to the retired CIA interrogator Philip Houston, an

(11:42):
exclusion qualifier is defined as being a tactic that enables
people who want to withhold certain information to answer
your question truthfully withoutreleasing that information.
Examples of exclusion qualifiersinclude statements such as not
really, fundamentally, for the most part, probably, and so on.

(12:04):
By stating that's pretty much it, she's technically being
truthful, but only by leaving out key details and withholding
information. Specifically the murder of
Elizabeth Olton. When the CIA is interrogating an
individual, they conduct both body language and statement
analysis. They look for clusters of three
or more indicators that occur ineither quick succession or all

(12:27):
at once. This exact moment is the perfect
example of what ACIA officer looks for during an
interrogation to determine if someone is being deceitful.
That's pretty much it. I want to sleep back.
When Alyssa states that's prettymuch it, there are 4 indicators
that occur within just a few seconds.

(12:48):
The aforementioned umm, 1/2 shrug of the shoulder, shaking
of the head, and then nodding the head.
Note how she shakes her head no as she states that's pretty much
it. That's.
Pretty much. It this is known as incongruent
body language, though of course you always want to look for
clusters. This particular moment is

(13:10):
significant as it's paired with other indicators, including
statement analysis. Alyssa employs the exclusion
qualifier multiple times throughout the interrogation.
See if you can spot the other moments where she employs this
tactic and post the time stamps in the comments.

(13:30):
Alyssa gives Officer David Rice the outline of her movements on
Wednesday the 21st, but two things become clear during this
retelling of events. Alyssa had come into contact
with Elizabeth Olton on the day she went missing, and Alyssa
unwittingly places herself in the woods where Elizabeth's cell
phone last pinged and where eventually they'll find

(13:51):
Elizabeth. This confirms opportunity and
the place for the crime to take place, but Alyssa's demeanor
comes across as calm and confident.
And you have a boyfriend. I do.
OK. What's his name?
Yes. OK.
Do you know, has anybody talked to him about any of this?
I'm pretty sure he's been interviewed.

(14:11):
OK. Alyssa's boyfriend had been
interviewed by law enforcement, and when the interview opens, we
see him biting his nails and looking nervous.
According to the case files, there had been an eyewitness who
claimed to see a teen allegedly resembling him near the location
of Elizabeth's disappearance. This interview took place after
Alyssa's own interrogation, though he was also interviewed

(14:34):
previously as well, and as the interview begins, he had just
taken a polygraph test and was about to be confronted with the
results. You're not, you're not being
truthful with me about everything that's going on here,
You know, and we need to get, weneed to come to the, we need to
get, come to the, we need to getthe truth.
That's what we're here for. You know, we know a lot more

(14:58):
stuff than we're leading on to, to believe.
We've talked to several people. The interrogator sits closely to
Bustamante's boyfriend Dustin and speaks with authority.
He states that they know Dustin has more information.
This is a direct confrontation approach to interrogation.
We've talked to several your friends, we've talked to
several. Friends.

(15:19):
And they've told us some stuff, they've told us some phone
conversations they've had and everything.
So what do you know? I don't know any.
What do you know? Nothing.
All I know is what? The FBI.

(15:39):
Told me why is the. Polygraph telling me different.
Why is your body telling me different?
Why is your heart telling me different?
I'm nervous. Nervous has nothing to do with
it. We've talked about that.
The interrogator is looking for a reason why Dustin is nervous.
The polygraph test is all about psychophysiological detection of

(16:00):
deception. PDD or the use of physiological
measures to detect lying. It measures certain autonomic
physiological markers such as heart rate, perspiration, and
blood pressure. Examiner's measure these markers
at suspects baselines before they're interrogated.
Then they measure how these markers change from question to
question. These markers are associated

(16:23):
with anxiety, which is often present when one lies.
The interrogator knows that Dustin is nervous, however, the
polygraph cannot show exactly why he is nervous when he is
nervous. An adrenaline spike to a
question could indicate lying orsome other form of emotional
arousal not directly related to the topic of the question.

(16:43):
The interviewer isn't outright saying if he failed the lie
detector test. Later case documents revealed
the polygraph's results. Alyssa's boyfriend was asked
three questions during this polygraph, all concerning
Elizabeth. Did you physically cause her
death? Did you physically take her
life? Did you do anything physical
that ended her life? He answered no to all three.

(17:07):
Yet, according to the case files, it was determined that he
was being deceptive in some way with his answers to all three
questions. Nervousness has nothing to do
with it, nothing at all. Your heart rebels against a lie
when you normally tell a lie, and there's nothing you can do
to control it. You can try to control your
breeding all you want, you can think of other things all you

(17:30):
want, but your heart, that rightthere is going to tell the
truth. The heart is the first autonomic
physiological baseline measurement collected.
Some studies suggest that both heart rate and respiration rate
show no significant increase or decrease depending on whether
the subject told the truth, but research has produced mixed

(17:51):
results. Regardless of these
inconsistencies, what is most telling is how suspects respond
when under the impression that they were caught in a lie.
Let us see how Dustin reacts when the interrogator implements
this technique, A technique we will explain in just a moment.
What if I told you that we we did a a neighborhood canvas?
Out there and. Talked to all the neighbors who

(18:15):
live out there, even the neighbors who live in in the
subdivision behind, behind wherelives and then they're living in
the subdivision, high level still lives.
Talked to all those neighbors. We did a car, We did a spot
check out there with cars. Now all the cars that came off
and came through there, we stopped and talked to them.
What if I told you somebody saw a kid about your size in a black

(18:36):
hoodie with a black T-shirt and blue jeans on, standing there on
the side of the road next to theguardrail?
From that point on we see the interview began to use what is
called the Reed technique. The read technique is an
interrogation type used in the accusatory process.
An interviewer tells the suspectthat the results of the

(18:57):
investigation clearly indicate they committed the crime in
question. It's a three phase process
beginning with fact analysis, then a behavioral analysis
interview. This phase is designed to be non
accusatory to develop investigative and behavioral
information. The third phase follows, when
appropriate, the nine steps of interrogation.

(19:23):
We did a photo lineup. What?
You can do. We did.
During the initial neighborhood police canvas, the eyewitness
said that they had seen a strange boy in a dark T-shirt
and baggy pants standing alone at a guardrail near where
Elizabeth went missing. The eyewitness had been shown a

(19:44):
copy of Alyssa's boyfriend's driver's license photo, and they
claimed that the picture resembled the person they had
seen. We know that eyewitness
testimony is notoriously inaccurate.
Though admissible in court, witnesses rely on
autobiographical memory, specifically episodic memory,
which is a type of recall involving events with contextual

(20:04):
details, such as where and when something occurred.
This type of memory is sensitiveto memory bias.
A witness might recall a suspectwearing a blue shirt a day after
the occurrence, but state that the shirt was red a week later.
So. Why is it I wasn't?
There, Alyssa's boyfriend comes across pretty confident,

(20:27):
borderline defiant when he looksthe interviewer directly in the
eyes. It's interesting to see him be
combative with the interviewer at the mention of law
enforcement having already done a photo lineup.
Contrary to popular belief, anger is a more common reaction.
An individual's accused of something that is not true.
If law enforcement had completeda photo lineup and it led to a

(20:49):
positive identification, he would have already been arrested
and charged. The constant accusation becomes
exhausting and suspects just want the process to end.
They assume that admitting something will end the
interrogation, and most suspectsthink that invoking the rights
of silence and counsel will label them as guilty.
Alyssa's boyfriend is strong willed throughout the entire

(21:11):
interrogation and didn't take any of the bait the interviewer
dangled in front of him. After he is questioned by the
interrogator in the video, he's then questioned by Sergeant
Rice. It was then that he confirmed
the investigator suspicions. All along, he had been hiding
something. Exactly what did she tell you?

(21:39):
Told you that she killed her. She told you that she strangled
her and what else cut her that she didn't get into detail with
that she just had strangled her and cut her.
On October 22nd, Alyssa had goneto his house and told him about

(22:00):
the crime she'd committed just the day before.
He denied having ever been involved in the crime and said
he wasn't present when it happened.
So why had he lied? He.
Hadn't said anything she's scared of what once she ever
found out that I gave away information that got her locked

(22:24):
up when it when she like I have a family and she comes she finds
out where I live because she's obsessed about it and kills
everybody. What if she gets out on bail and
she finds out a way how they gettaken off her ankle bracelet and

(22:47):
she comes and kills me in my sleep and my mom and then finds
out where my sister lives and kills me?
Scared of what? True.
If I'm going to have any more girlfriends like this, You poor

(23:13):
guy. Well, I guess that.
Got all crazy. I guess that's understandable.
Dustin was never implicated in the murder of Elizabeth Olton.
Back in Alyssa's interrogation, Sergeant David Rice pulls a map
of the surrounding woods and neighborhood.
There's like a tree line. Did you want to like draw this

(23:35):
for yours? I have a map.
Now the thing about this, this map, I don't think it has where
you're actually house is. So the way I understand the new
house would be right back here. Is that right?
OK, let's say the new house is ballpark here.
And then there's a trail that goes out here and it's like,

(23:56):
right? Drop for me if you want this.
I'm not exactly sure how far back it goes.
It's like past all the clearingsand then when it starts to get
to like a smaller trail and whatnot, there's a little side
thing. It's like a side trail I go off
on. There's something we always do
is walk, walk a person through their day and we make a timeline

(24:17):
just so we go through everything.
So what time did you go for yourwalk?
The interrogator is using the Ted technique or the Tell,
explain, describe technique. He is making it clear to
Bustamante that he wants her to recount the day of events as a
narrative. By recounting the day of events
as a narrative, Bustamante is more likely to reveal other

(24:37):
telling personal or contextual details.
I went for a walk around 4:30 orfive.
OK, so how long when you got home?
About 3:30. How long were you at home
messing around before you went on your walk, do you think?
I was home at least an hour. OK, so, so about 4:30 or five

(24:59):
you? Want right?
Well, there's there's AI believethat this little line here is
the trail or something. Did you go out all this way over
here? And then where'd you go from
here? I just kept following the.
Where does it go from here, Shelby?
The interrogator speaks more rapidly and presses Bustamante
for an answer. During this portion of the

(25:22):
interrogation, Bustamante has displayed many disruptions in
speech, frequently saying umm and like and altering her vocal
intonation. The.
Ballpark goes like it does sometimes.
What? Not like it's a pretty easy path
of all. It's like a road path.
Well, I mean show me what does it loop back around now?

(25:43):
No it. Doesn't loop it like goes this
way I think. OK.
And then what you do? And then there was a pastor I
just hung out at the Creek. And then then what you do?
I came back. Then you walk back, yes.
And then what you do? I went home.
She draws out the I and ends by saying home with an upward

(26:03):
inflection. I went home.
This is what linguists would say. 1 Upward inflections are
used when asking questions. Bustamante lacks confidence.
Two Drawing out words conveys a double meaning, but the
statement is not implicative or not meant to convey a double
meaning. Put together, her underlying

(26:25):
communication is I'm not confident in what I am saying,
and what I'm saying is in conflict with what I'm thinking.
As we move forward, listen for these subtle cues.
Sometimes it is not just one word, but a combination of words
that tell the true story. How long did that take you to
do? It takes about how.

(26:46):
Long were you on your walk? It's been amazing walk.
It's about 15 or 20 minutes, I believe, right?
It's the first cow pasture we went to when we took Princess
with us. It's been a long, I don't know.
How long were you gone that day after walk?
I was gone for about an hour. OK.

(27:06):
So you're gone about an hour. When you walked out there, the
cow pasture, what were you doingup there?
I was just, you know, enjoying nature, taking a.
Walk Alyssa happily draws the path she took on her walk for
Sergeant Rice, which confirms her knowledge of the surrounding
woods. She recounts her day again.
Suspects are typically asked to repeat their story several times

(27:28):
so that law enforcement can lookfor inconsistencies or for
information that only the perpetrator of a crime would
know. We.
Want to choose just at the activities till eight came back
and everything was crazy. So you got back at 8:00 and then
I mean, what? What did they tell you?
What? Well, they were like, yeah,

(27:50):
there's three shares there. People were out searching for
her. They can't find her.
They did just, yeah, they were like question me about the day.
They didn't actually question methat day though, because I went
up to go and take a shower and then I really just left or
something. They just told you was missing
my grandpa. Did, yes.

(28:11):
How does that make you feel? Or I.
Was just. I didn't think it would like,
you know, happen. The interrogator asks how it
made Bustamante feel, and she responds cognitively, explaining
what she thought instead of how she felt.
It is easier to describe thoughts than emotions.
For individuals who struggle to identify emotions, it could be

(28:32):
reasonably assumed that Bustamante is emotionally
stunted and certain, but not always.
Like things like this don't happen to you, you know?
Even though she says that she didn't think something like
this, a little girl going missing, could happen in Saint
Martin's, Missouri, she doesn't seem too concerned or shocked or

(28:52):
surprised. The investigator then asks what
Alyssa knows about Elizabeth. Tell me about.
Well, she's 9. OK, I don't really know that
much about her either. I mean, tell me what you do know
about her. OK, she'd come over and swim.

(29:15):
She's kind of girly, like not not like naturistic I guess.
Gotta say she can be annoying. OK, OK.
Well, you know, there's been andthere were some folks out there
out in the forest, I guess, digging some holes or looking at

(29:36):
some holes. Yeah.
And I guess, you know, they had said that you like to go out
there and dig holes. So, you know, I'm going to have
to ask you some stuff about yourself because, you know,
obviously that plays in the earth.
They were looking holes in, you're out there in the forest
and that sort of thing. So I guess just tell tell me a
little bit about yourself so I understand where all this is

(29:56):
coming from. I really like nature, animals,
being outside. It's OK, it's.
Just, you know, I make sure I sleep like that and I get bored
really easily and I'm entertained really easily.
So, you know, digging holes. Just something to do.
Alyssa keeps this explanation casual and surface level.

(30:18):
It sounds like digging holes is genuinely a hobby for her, which
doesn't seem too odd given the fact she's a teenage girl in a
small town with probably not a lot to do.
But at the same time it's still interesting to note she mentions
that her brothers and her dig holes all the time, sometimes
near their home, sometimes out in the woods.
OK. Just like to dig holes.

(30:40):
And I like to climb dreams. OK.
Oh, I'm very dead animal satisfied, so I believe.
It's respectable to them. OK, OK.
It almost seems like Alyssa is beginning to understand where
the direction of questioning is starting to head, yet her
behavior remains calm. David Rice, as the main
interviewer is playing everything very casual.

(31:02):
He makes it seem like he's on her side and doesn't believe she
has anything to do with Elizabeth Olton going missing.
What kind of holes do you dig? Tell me about these holes you
dig. Well.
You dig them a certain way everytime, or just just dig a hole.
Just dig a hole very much. OK.

(31:26):
Just wherever they're at. I mean, do you dig a certain
spot or what? Whether digging holes is a hobby
of Alyssa's or not, she makes itseem like the most normal thing
in the world for a 15 year old to do in the woods.
I'm such a not dirt kind of girl.
That's amazing to me. I don't do worms and I don't do
Dirks. I'm in rugby and so like we do a

(31:48):
lot of contact physical in the mud and we're not and I've
several really explained rugby. That's kind of the thing right
now, isn't it? The interrogation turns into a
friendly conversation between the juvenile counselor, Miss
Toby Mayer. The woman sat next to Alyssa and
told the rest of the room about how girls rugby is a new sport
to the area. High school girl rugby and they

(32:08):
get after it. Oh, I'm sure they.
Do they do the school? And the smalls are because it's
too dangerous. But there's a team in Jeff.
I think there's at least two teams in Jeff City.
Yes. I'm, I'm not sure about the
other one, but I don't want one more.
And you love it. I do.
And you love the mud and you love dirt under your

(32:29):
fingernails. Do you mind worms?
Sergeant Rice gets right back tobusiness, steering the
conversation back to the holes. This.
Hole that you dug? When did you dig that hole?
I did. Sunday.
Sunday. Yes.
Why did you dig that hole? Because Sunday I was snoring.
You don't really do much on Sunday.
Can't watch TV, movie, games, you know.

(32:52):
So sad to go outside. There's something in her voice
that tells you she's not being entirely truthful.
She's also beginning to nod her head a lot, which could be her
way of trying to convince Sergeant Rice that her story is
true. When did you dig it?
I think my grandpa would have the exact time.

(33:13):
This statement is odd. It's unclear how or why Alyssa's
grandpa would know the exact time the hole was dug,
especially considering what is revealed later.
I. Don't really remember.
What were you doing Sunday? I mean, tell me about Sunday
then. Her non verbal indicators are
more obvious. Look for the self pacifying
behaviors mentioned earlier in addition to new behaviors like

(33:36):
lip licking and interlocking fingers.
We didn't go to church Sunday, right?
Because we were at mom's house. I believe I was at my mom's
house for the weekend. She lives at the lake.
And we came back around 5:00. And I know I dug it before dark,
so it was sometime in between. Wait, what time did we come

(33:56):
home? I didn't pick you up till 6:00.
Or well, it must have been in between like 637 I guess.
You picked her up where? Eugene.
You picked her up at 6:00 PM at Eugene, right?
And it's how long we drive half.Hour.
So you got back home 63645 ish probably you've.
Been right at six. 30. Six 3025 minutes.

(34:20):
Now let's get dark by then. Yeah.
So. So you got home at 6:30 and how
did you dig a hole? At what?
So what did you do Sunday? I'm not asking what your grandpa
would. You got home at 6:30 at Sunday.
What did you do then? Oh, I think I took a shower and

(34:45):
went to sleep, so I don't think I did it.
I think it was Saturday, actually.
No Someone here Saturday. Bustamante is digging herself
deeper and deeper into her own hole.
You weren't here Saturday on Sunday, Monday, I think it was.
Friday, then, because I was hereFriday.
It wouldn't seem possible, right?

(35:08):
Right. And you weren't here Saturday,
right? And you didn't do it during the
week because there's only Monday, Tuesday, right?
So then you're thinking it hadn't been Friday?
Yes. These weaknesses in her story
will later be exploited in the interrogation, but for now,
David is playing it close to hischest.
He's aware her story is changing, and it seems like

(35:29):
Alyssa is also realizing that her story is starting to fall
apart. OK, so tell me about Friday.
Do you remember Friday? Did you go to school on Friday?
We didn't. Have school Friday No.
School on. Friday, so I got up around like
noon. OK, so we're grandma and grandpa
home on Friday. Did you work on Friday?
You were half day so we you beenhome at noon?

(35:54):
OK, so was she asleep when you got home?
I. I just do not recall.
OK, so then Friday, what you do think back to Friday.
After getting up I hung out for a while at the house and it was
a nice day Friday. She is deflecting or attempting

(36:16):
to redirect focus elsewhere in certain contexts.
Hair stroking is a pacifying behavior.
Hair stroking is not one of Bustamante's baseline behaviors
and is occurring in a high pressure context.
This is likely a pacifying behavior.
Bustamante is uncomfortable. Relatively nice day, so I

(36:37):
decided to go outside, just do whatever and I dug a hole.
Alyssa's bouncing around more than she was at the beginning of
the interrogation. She's rocking back and forth,
nodding her head. It seems that as her story is
unraveling, so are her nerves ofsteel.
Why did you take that hole? Because I was bored and I felt

(37:02):
like doing something. Tell me about that hole though,
as a very specific hole. I mean, very.
It's a very unique hole, I should say.
Are all of your holes like that?No.
OK. But why?
You dug the hole, so you know you know what I'm talking about,
Yes. Rice is describing the hole in a
vague way to see if Alyssa mightadd anything that would explain

(37:24):
why she dug it. She doesn't really have an
answer or reason to give as to why she dug that particular
hole. That was a very, very unique
hole. I guess I was digging.
I mean, whatever shape comes to mind.
I was just entertaining myself. The reason I'm asking, I just it

(37:51):
just seems like A and you can understand why as if people were
out in the woods looking for if looking for a person, if they
were lost or God forbid looking for if they thought it was a you
know, God forbid a body, why they would be alarmed by that
hole because they're, you know, come along a a hole, freshly dug

(38:15):
hole. That was something, a perfect
rectangle about 3 feet by about four and a half, 5 foot
straight, shovel marks down about as you described when I
talk to you out there about thatdeep.
Interrogators probe for specificanswers after asking broad

(38:36):
open-ended questions. This is again part of the Ted
interrogative technique or the tell, explain, describe
technique. Imagine the flow of
interrogation as a funnel. Alyssa's interrogation has
become more focused, narrower. Rice is asking a very specific
probing question. Not only does he ask a very

(38:57):
specific probing question, but he illustrates with his hands
the exact size and shape of the hole.
Straight down the first few inches of dirt, you know, up
until you get to that real hard packed dirt, almost as if
somebody were digging down. Got to the point where you got
to those roots and that hard dirt and realize it's too hard

(39:17):
to dig. Do you see what I mean?
Yeah. Rice relays details and
speculation surrounding the crime scene, but does so from
Alyssa's perspective. Alyssa is likely to identify
with the story he tells. Liars tend to distance
themselves from their lies, but Rice has psychologically
repositioned her into a self identifying mindset.

(39:40):
Her non verbal indicators becomeincreasingly prominent.
Most people, if they were just kind of buried a Bunny or
something out there, you know, they dig.
I'm digging a hole by God just dig a hole.
But for a 15 year old girl to dig a perfectly rectangle 3 by
4-5 square rectangle hole, it just caught a lot of people as

(40:07):
very odd. Yeah, makes sense.
It does. The whole Alyssa Doug is the
perfect size and shape for a small grave.
It's a perfect three foot by 5 foot rectangle, shallow and is
alarming to come across during asearch for a missing child.
What do you think about? That when Sergeant Rice asks,
what do you think about that? To Alyssa, he's using the theory

(40:27):
of the crime development, where the investigator knows there was
a crime but doesn't understand all the steps involved and
doesn't fully comprehend the motive.
This is where interrogators willuse deceptively innocent
questions to get the suspect to fill in the gaps and create a
plausible working understanding of the events.
Well, I guess you know the timing for digging that hole was

(40:50):
definitely not good. Have you ever dug a hole like
that before? I have.
There's an entire discussion about other holes of similar
shape and size that she's dug before.
These holes are where she buriesanimals, but there's no clear
indication if Alyssa happened upon these animals bodies or
killed them herself. It doesn't matter if it's a year

(41:10):
old, they can, they have sonar, they can run right over it and
they can tell you the shape, thedepth, the whole thing.
I mean, these we're talking about guys that have the FBI,
they have instruments that can do just just about everything.
This is subtle intimidation meant to imply that Alyssa need
not lie. Have you dug a hole like this

(41:32):
before then or is this the firsttime?
It's not completely like this, but it's like kind of like that.
OK, so this is our fresh shoe box.
OK, But this is the first time of that size, Yes.
OK, well, what? About the big round ones that I
keep kept falling in, and I mean, they're deep.
Did you guys quit doing this because they're dangerous and we

(41:52):
just ride our horses up there and I could run away?
I mean, they're huge. OK.
There's like 3 or 4 of them. Yeah.
Now this is on our. Property digging pits for a
while. I don't know.
It was entertaining. OK.
And we like to make chaps just occasionally, you know, put some

(42:13):
sticks over it and some leaves. Yeah, well, if.
They have horses. That's not a good idea.
Well. We don't ride our horses right
there, as I'm saying, you know, if a horse like what happens?
I know, but we we didn't do that.
We do. We used to.
We used to, but we don't have horses.
Horses I do. They're not rectangle.

(42:35):
They're I don't know what that matters.
But OK, did ever go on walks with you in the woods?
Nope. The questions asked here are
entrapment questions and if any inconsistencies are found, the
suspects statements would be treated as lies.

(42:57):
This type of questioning places additional pressure on the
suspect as the interrogation continues.
I. Know you said she was a girly
girl. I've never seen her in the.
Woods. OK.
I mean, did did you ever take her on walks in the woods or
anything like that? When I go on walks, I like to
over herself. OK, here we see a clear
inconsistency in what Alyssa is saying and what her body is

(43:18):
saying. When asked if she has ever gone
on walks with Elizabeth in the woods, Alyssa states Nope.
Her head movement transitions from side to side to up and
down. Alyssa's body tells a different
story. What do you know about all of
this so far? Obviously, unfortunately, your
poor family's been thrown in themiddle of this.

(43:39):
His additional comments such as your poor family has been thrown
into the middle of this relay that he feels sympathy for
Alyssa and her family, however false that sympathy might be.
What do you know about this whole investigation or mess?
She is still missing. They're out looking for her.
They don't want more volunteers because there's all volunteers.

(44:00):
So far it's this is really big. They've had helicopters
searching as well. And I don't know, that's pretty
much what I. Know as noted previously, she
responds cognitively rather thanfrom a place of feeling.
She doesn't have much to say about her family when Toby and
Sergeant Rice start empathizing with what Elizabeth's family

(44:20):
must be feeling, and interestingly, her face falls
into a neutral expression and she stays silent.
It's. Very sad for her.
I imagine it wasn't saying God it would be awful.
Yeah. And their mom.
And their family. I mean, that's why they're
making such a big deal about this.
How many can you like it Like she said, if it I mean you can
understand why. You're in down the stairs when I

(44:41):
was screaming outside. I mean, I just can't.
I know I've got kids, so I can't, can't even imagine.
What do you think happened to Elizabeth?
Sergeant Rice moves into opinionquestions.
Now many interrogation questionsare closed, meaning they warrant
a yes or no response or elicit asingle fact or piece of
information. Opinion questions are

(45:03):
open-ended. Interrogation studies have shown
that open-ended questions will get all suspects to talk longer
and to be more likely to divulgeincriminating evidence without
even realizing it. Huh.
I really don't think she would run away because she's 9 and the

(45:26):
way they've been searching for two days never got any sign of
her so I I think that maybe someone.
Kidnapped her or something. It's.
A terrible thing, but I don't know what else to assume.
Innocent individuals might be more likely to mention that they
don't know. Guilty individuals might feel

(45:48):
more compelled to provide an explanation that doesn't fit
with the crime they committed. We see this as Alyssa evades the
topic of murder. Would she have easily been lured
into a car? I mean, was she that kind of
girl? I don't, I, I don't want to
think about her. Would she?
I mean, would she have been likea with a kitten?
I mean, maybe you'd have to ask her.

(46:11):
All about that? Sure, sure.
Do you? I mean, do you think somebody
did something to her means that?That seems most likely because I
don't think she'd be the kind ofperson that would like hide or
stay out all night or anything like that.
OK. Is there anybody in that area
you can think of that would thatcomes to mind that you would

(46:35):
think that that would that woulddo that?
Is there anybody that knowing your neighbors that you would?
No. Rice, Bates, Alyssa to place
blame Guilty suspects commonly deflect and offer helpful
explanations, as Alyssa does here.
But. There is a lot of cars to drive
down the. Highway OK, OK, a couple just a

(46:58):
few opinion questions. I'm just asking your opinion
cause. What follows are loaded
questions. Here is the first one broken
down. What type of person do you think
would do this sort of thing to anine year old girl?
One, it's assumptive. It assumes that someone did
something to Elizabeth. 2 it's vague.

(47:19):
It assumes that someone did something, but doesn't specify
what that something is. 3 use ofthis versus that.
This is used as a definite article in grammar.
The function of a definite article is to imply, but not
state what is being referred to.In other words, this is used in
such a way that the speaker is assuming that the listener knows

(47:42):
what this is. Further, this implies that
something is closer to the listener, whereas that implies
that something is further away. For use of nine year old girl,
this is distancing language or language that creates
psychological distance from the main topic of discussion, IE use

(48:03):
of that versus my. Up until this point, they've
referred to Elizabeth by name. It also calls attention to
Elizabeth's vulnerability. 5. It's a mirror.
Guilty parties are forced to analyze themselves and
resultingly come face to face with who they are and why they
did what they did. This can produce observable

(48:25):
signs of cognitive dissonance, asubjective experience of
discomfort when two or more waysof thinking, feeling, or
otherwise experiencing clash. The dissonance may include
discordant ideas, beliefs, behavior, et cetera.
What type of person do you thinkwould do this sort of thing to a
nine year old girl? A sick person like someone that

(48:53):
I don't know can put down all their morals and just take a 9
year old girl. Alyssa pauses, stutters, and
struggles to get the words out. She's looking in the mirror.
She parrots Rice 9 year old girlusing a parallel tone and
inflection. Sociopaths and psychopaths hide

(49:16):
in plain sight by observing and mimicking the mannerisms and
behaviors of those around them. The word this served as a
placeholder. Whatever Alyssa said would
represent what she knew this to be.
But Alyssa evaded this trap. She could have filled that
placeholder with kill, but she filled it with take.
On the other hand, this could beseen as a slip up as Alyssa did

(49:40):
technically take Elizabeth into the woods.
Whenever we find out what happened to her, if somebody did
something to her, what do you think should happen to them?
I think they should give convicted.

(50:01):
Well, yeah, because all the trouble that they cause them so
far. OK, Alyssa's faced with her
fate. We can see and hear her
cognitive dissonance in her umm's pauses and non verbals
which all indicate discomfort. There are many areas in which
Alyssa could slip up and incriminate herself.

(50:22):
For instance, she could use possessive language, say I
instead of they. She may be aware of this
suggestive from her halting brakes and speech.
The next questions that follow are direct and straight to the
point, even though he prefaces that he asks everybody these
questions. I I'm going to ask you because I
ask everybody. Did you do anything to.

(50:46):
No. Did you cause her disappearance?
No. Did you kill her?
No. OK.
Do you know where she's at rightnow?
Nope. OK.
Alyssa's responses may seem convincing.
She says no with conviction, appearing to shake her head back
and forth in tandem. We covered that inconsistencies

(51:07):
between verbal and nonverbal behaviors imply lying.
So why do Alyssa's verbal and nonverbal behaviors appear
consistent with one another? A closer look reveals that
Alyssa ever so slightly nods herhead up and down after each no
response. Incongruent head movements are
more often subtle, as we see with Alyssa, then exaggerated

(51:29):
directly following the big question, Did you kill
Elizabeth? Alyssa says no and begins to
shake her head back and forth, but stops halfway.
She's not committed to what she's saying.
I. I may have, I may have, I'm new
to this like so was playing with.

(51:53):
That's my understanding. And when was that?
Oh, they were sometime after I had gone and divorced because I
guess I just decided to go over it.
Elizabeth, after you ran away, she went to find somebody new to
play with. Yeah, go ahead.
Do I need to stop? Yes, Yeah.

(52:14):
Do you need? Some water, OK.
After a break in the interrogations, Alyssa sits
quietly in the room alone. Rocking back and forth, as with
other repetitive body movements is a self pacifying, non verbal
behaviour. Toby takes advantage of downtime

(52:36):
to build rapport with Alyssa andit's.
Not through the school because it's too dangerous.
As soon as Detective Rice re enters the room, Alyssa begins
to immediately display the self pacifying behavior of hair
stroking, something she didn't do right until the moment Rice

(52:59):
reappeared. Hair reminds me that she's got a
niece. It's just like, all right, we.
I'm good. OK, everybody good, Pretty good
on drinks and everything. So Alyssa sits expressionless as
Rice and Toby exchange light hearted small talk.
You know, he's talked to my parents, you know, and they

(53:21):
said, you know, I grew up listening and we didn't have
ATV. We had a radio.
And I'm like, God, that's you didn't have a television.
You didn't have the Internet. Sergeant Rice asks about
Elizabeth Olton's cell phone andtells Alyssa that law
enforcement knows Elizabeth had her phone at the time of her
disappearance. She's told that with the
software available to law enforcement, they can find any
cell phone anywhere on the planet.

(53:43):
It's a simple scare tactic, but it's a way to say that any lies
will be found out. Is there any reason at all that
your fingerprints would be on this cell phone?
OK, so if that cell phone were processed, your fingerprints
would not be on it, right? Can you think of any reason why,
if you ever touched that cell phone, have you ever held that

(54:05):
cell phone? I mean, in the past, any time at
all Now, it's my understanding that did the FBI do a search or
something of, of the house whereyou guys lived?
Tell me about that. What?
What was that all about? They searched our house I guess
for any signs of and I'm stopping my room but not like

(54:32):
evidence like that. They have like marijuana seeds
and. And you understand, I don't care
about marijuana, seeds or any ofthat.
And if. My medication, Yeah.
Don't care about that. Yeah, That's not what we're here
about. Has ever been in the house.
I mean, she's coming. Over this?

(54:54):
Yes, yeah. I assume she's a neighbor girl.
She's probably been over there, so not a big deal there.
So you said they searched your room, other marijuana seeds and
that sort of stuff. Did they did they find anything?
OK. Did they take anything?
They took my sheet and got the pillowcase, I think.

(55:15):
Did they take anything else? I don't think so.
I haven't really. Surveyed anything.
OK, OK. I think they should close.
So they just compared reviews, OK in a diary.
I mean, they gave us the list. I it's not all coming to me what
was on the list, but there's a long list.

(55:35):
This moment is incredibly significant.
Up until this point, Alyssa had no idea her diary was collected
as evidence I. Mean they gave us the list.
I it's not all coming to me whatwas on the list, but there's a
long list. It's a.
Good diary. OK, Did you ever gone through
the diary? I've I've looked at some of it,
yes. OK.
Did you know that? No.

(55:57):
Does it make you angry? Yeah.
It's kind of your private, private personal thoughts, isn't
it? Alyssa's bedroom was anything
but ordinary of what you would expect for a 15 year old girl.
The room was messy with clothes thrown on the floor, but it was
the bizarre writings all over her walls that caught
investigators attention and a drawn figure with slash marks to

(56:21):
their head and arms with the name Emma, Alyssa's younger
sister, written next to it. Some of these writings,
including dark poems, were written in pen and marker, but
others looked like they'd been written in blood.
Letters and cards were taped up onto the walls from her father,
who was still in prison at the time, and on Alyssa's bed,

(56:44):
hidden under a blanket, was her journal.
She wrote down her thoughts and feelings like any normal teenage
girl, but nothing could prepare the investigators for what else
they would find inside. The journal was filled with
disturbing thoughts, including Alyssa's desire to burn a house
down with a family inside. She wrote another entry which

(57:04):
stated if I don't talk about it,I bottle it up and when I
explode, someone is going to die.
Her last entry, dated Wednesday,October 21st, was the same day
Patty Olton reported Elizabeth'sdisappearance to the police.
Alyssa had scribbled the words out in blue ink, thinking no one
would ever figure out how to read them.

(57:25):
Despite her efforts to cover up the entry, investigators were
able to read the disturbing original writing.
I just fucking killed someone. I strangled them and slit their
throat and stabbed them. Now they're dead.
I don't know how to feel at the moment.
It was amazing. As soon as you get over the Oh
my God I can't do this feeling, it's pretty enjoyable.

(57:46):
I'm kind of nervous and shaky though right now.
OK I got to go to church now lol.
This entire time, Detective Ricewas well aware of the sickening
confession Alyssa had written inside and was waiting up until
this moment to confront her and take her completely off guard.
From this point onward, there will be a massive shift in
Alyssa's demeanor as she realizes the games are over.

(58:10):
Do you think they went through your diary?
If they collected it, they most likely.
He remains silent for 13 secondsand you can see how
uncomfortable Alyssa becomes. He will continue to use long
moments of silence to make Alyssa uncomfortable and
eventually draw out a confession.

(58:33):
What we're there, I think it's very sometimes a day.
The most important aspect of reading body language is
analyzing clusters rather than individual indicators.
In the following clip, you'll see a cluster of indicators that
Alyssa exhibits, suggesting she is experiencing high levels of
stress. She smacks her lips, swallows,

(59:02):
flips her hair. She'll then exhibit what is
known as the freeze response, which is a limbic system
response to danger. She gets so still she almost
appears to be a statue. We talked a little bit earlier
about technology. Even if you write something

(59:28):
down, yeah, it doesn't matter. Let's say you write it down in
pencil and then you take a pen and try real hard to scratch it
out. That doesn't make it go away.

(59:50):
It's still there. And forensically and actually
you don't even need a whole lot of friends.
It's. If you hold it up to a light,
you can see what was written, and then when that's processed

(01:00:10):
forensically, every word, every stroke is still there.
Do you hear me? What we want to do is find out

(01:00:34):
what happened to the little girl.
OK. Alyssa's face, though a bit
grainy in the footage, is almostfrowning.
She's struggling to keep it together, giving only short
answers to Rice's questions. Then Rice drops another
bombshell. I need to know what the truth
is. OK, we have your diary.

(01:00:57):
We've read your diary, includingthe last entry.

(01:01:37):
He goes silent for a full 70 seconds.
Just over a minute. It may not seem like a very long
time, but when you're in an interrogation and under
pressure, this silence must havefelt like the longest silence
Alyssa ever endured, and you cansee her face start to falter.
Maybe her eyes are watering up, but it's hard to tell.
Some argue that the first personwho breaks silence in an

(01:01:59):
interrogative setting loses the round.
Alyssa indulges the silence, which might be more telling than
if she objected to Rice's implication.
Alyssa could be brainstorming. She could be terrified.
It looks like there was a momentwhen Alyssa might break, but
then she seems to reset her emotions and remain quiet,
staring back at Sergeant Rice. We both know what we're talking

(01:02:22):
about here. Where's she at?
Hello, what? We deal with kids all the time.
We deal. With kids all the time, that's.
All I've done for. 12 years, just deal with kids.
You're not going to say anythingin this room that's going to

(01:02:42):
catch us off guard, OK? We need you to be honest.
Just be honest. If you know something, then say
it. OK, Toby is making a serious
error here by involving herself in the questioning.
She is a juvenile officer, and in taking this role she's
supposed to be acting as Alyssa's advocate, not as an
interrogator. She is limited to observing the

(01:03:02):
interrogation and protecting Alyssa's rights.
She is crossing the line here. And due to this mistake, the
confession was later ruled inadmissible in court, citing
deceptive tactics being used to draw a confession out of Alyssa.
Just say. It if you know something OK, go
ahead you. Need to tell us the truth?

(01:03:24):
You need to tell us what happened.
If this was an accident, that's fine, but we need the truth.
With Rice saying it's fine if itmeaning the death of Elizabeth
was an accident. This is the minimization part of
the Reed technique that's been used throughout this entire
interrogation. Minimization is an

(01:03:45):
interrogator's attempt to decrease a suspect's resistance
to confessing by downplaying theseriousness of the crime.
We can tell Alyssa is teetering on the precipice of confessing,
toying with the idea. Cornered by two questioners, she
tightly compresses her lips as she builds the courage to
confess. We have to know the truth.

(01:04:07):
That's all I'm asking for is whatever happened.
I have to know the truth. This is not going to go away.
All I'm asking for is the truth.I don't.
Know what's in the diary? I don't know the truth.

(01:04:28):
It's what I'm asking. Tell us what happened.
The lip pool is a micro expression that signals intense
displeasure, dislike or disagreement.
In sports, players will often exhibit the lip pool After a
loss, they are resistantly admitting defeat.

(01:04:50):
Alyssa exhibits the lip pool here.
This may speak to Alyssa's mindset.
Is this remorse or regret, or isit defeat?
The interrogator will now begin to reiterate the accident
theory, and at this point I think Alyssa's grandmother is
losing her mind in a very quiet and composed way.

(01:05:11):
If this isn't, if this was an accident, that's fine, we can
deal with that. But I have to know what
happened. I have to know what the truth
is. I have to know how this
happened. And the most important thing is
we have to know where she's at. We have to give this family some

(01:05:32):
closure. Just like if this is your little
sister, you wouldn't want closure.
This family needs closure, OK? Let's start at the beginning.

(01:06:00):
Is this something that was planned out or was this just an
accident? It was an accident.
OK, interrogators often offer a chance for suspects to admit
that the crime was an accident, even if all evidence suggests
otherwise. This is a method for
interrogators to get a foot in the dorm.

(01:06:22):
The suspect admits to the crime,thinking they will be perceived
as being less culpable, a form of minimization.
It's telling that there was a pause between the words it and
was it was. An accident.
She's quickly thinking about heroptions and whether she can lie
her way out of this situation. Well, that's this.
This is a starting point then. That's kind of what I thought.

(01:06:58):
Why don't we start with, why don't we start with what
happened? Did you get home from school at
3:30? You got home at 3:30 and then

(01:07:23):
what happened from there? I'm in the forest, like I said,
wasn't there. Yeah, there's one for her.

(01:07:46):
Were there? Was there in the forest?
Yes. Was she alone?
Yeah. We decided to go hang out

(01:08:08):
because it was a nice day. We're just less pressure.

(01:08:53):
She died. I.
Didn't know what to do so I.

(01:09:29):
Alyssa struggles to inhale. Her windpipe is constricting,
which indicates the presence of severe stress.
This biological marker of stresssuggests Alyssa is legitimately
affected. It could likewise be that Alyssa
is effectively intentionally activating a stress response for
the sake of believability. So I I burned your.

(01:10:00):
Body Alyssa goes from sobbing toattempting to pull herself
together. She abruptly and flatly states
the burnt Elizabeth's body. The time it took her to pull
herself together is probably howlong it took for her to come up
with that lie. In reality, she didn't burn
Elizabeth, as we'll soon find out what Alyssa actually did to
her. Who helped you?

(01:10:20):
Nobody. Rice asks another assumptive
question. When interrogators assume
answers, suspects with answers are more likely to share them.
We're at in the Forest I. Still did it by the Creek bed.
At the Creek bed, yes. How did you burn her?

(01:10:43):
That just got punch of wood. Started a fire.
Her body. The only reason it seems she
said she burned the body withoutknowing how difficult it is to
actually burn a body is because burning would presumably get rid
of evidence and the body of the missing girl everyone is looking

(01:11:06):
for. Why did you dig that hole?
Was that did? Was that for her?
When? When did you dig that hole?
You got to get ahead of time, didn't you?

(01:11:26):
I've dug that hole at Wednesday before.
You played with her, Yes. First she states she dug the
hole the day of the murder to continue pushing the narrative
that it was all just an accident.
Then she slips up without even realizing it, stating the truth.

(01:11:46):
The hole was dug on Friday, fivedays prior to the murder.
At this point, Alyssa can't evenfollow her own story.
Alyssa admitting to digging the hole before she and Elizabeth
hung out establishes premeditation.
It doesn't matter whether the body's burned or not.
They'll go through and do an autopsy, OK?

(01:12:08):
And then we'll discover every injury on her body and the cause
of death. And.
And I understand you said she fell and that's why she died.
However, they will know from theautopsy if she was shot, if she
was hit in the head, if her throat was cut, they will know

(01:12:31):
all of that from the autopsy. So we we need to know the truth
because at the end of the autopsy, they will know exactly
how she died. So we need to know now the full
truth, Full disclosure right now, so it doesn't come out
later that, well, wasn't tellingthe full truth again.
Then he calls her bluff. How did she kill her?

(01:12:57):
Why didn't she die? How did she die?
9 year old girls don't just die.We were missing her out, then
she fell back, hit her head. Was her throat cut?
Alyssa sharply exhales as she responds.

(01:13:30):
We see Alyssa's emotional appealto her grandmother.
Her emotional stuntedness appears to have limits.
Individuals with psychopathic and sociopathic personality
traits or tendencies, while removed from feeling in a
multitude of ways, may experience normal feelings of
love for family and others closest to them.
Grandma, I'm not going to ask any

(01:14:00):
questions right now until we get.

(01:14:21):
Do you want to drink a water? Alyssa finally admits to cutting

(01:14:47):
Elizabeth Olton's throat. Alyssa's grandmother cries out
in utter anguish and disbelief. Her entire world was just
destroyed. Her granddaughter, the one she
rescued from a horrible living situation, just admitted to
killing a nine year old girl. But why did Alyssa kill her?
I. Think I think you dumped the

(01:15:11):
hole ahead of time because you knew you were going to kill her.
I think you tried to dig the hole.
Like I said, you realized it wastoo hard to dig down that far

(01:15:31):
and I think you got out there. They knew you were going to kill
her and then you cut her throat.Is that what happened?

(01:15:54):
Yes. We hear Alyssa exhale heavily,
possibly a sign of relief as sheruns through her actions.
She does this multiple times. What did you use to cut her
throat with a pocket knife? A kitchen knife.

(01:16:20):
Kitchen knife? Where's that kitchen knife now?
The sink. The sink of your house?
I believe so. OK.
Did you stab her afterwards? Stab her body or where?

(01:16:44):
Yes. How many times did you stab her?
22. Alyssa leans on words such as I
believe and I think. These phrases often function as
hedges. In some instances, hedges serve
to soften statements or make them seem more cautious.

(01:17:05):
Imagine how Alyssa would sound when responding to questions
without these hedge phrases. Her response may seem overly
cold and blunt, suggesting emotional detachment and even
premeditation. Given Alyssa has displayed socio
and or psychopathic tendencies thus far, it would be reasonable
to conclude that she is consciously employing a social

(01:17:26):
adaptive mechanism or a learned regularity in human social
behavior to mimic the normal flow of human conversation.
Did you hit her with anything first or did you just cut her
neck or what? You tell me what happened.

(01:18:07):
Yeah, cut throat. She died.
Premeditation has been established because she dug a
grave prior to Elizabeth's murder, and Alyssa finally tells
Bryce what the murder weapon was, a black handled kitchen

(01:18:29):
knife that she took from her house and hid on her person.
It's confirmed that Alyssa slit Elizabeth's throat and then
stabbed her. Alyssa only recalled stabbing
her twice, but the autopsy laterrevealed that Elizabeth was
stabbed 8 times. When she was finished, she just
put the knife in the sink and washed it as if nothing had

(01:18:50):
happened. When you got home from school
about 3:30, what happened from them?
Walk me through step by step. I don't know.
I went in my. Room.
I still went out of the forest room.

(01:19:11):
Like 3. Ish.
Then I walked over and was outside.
Did you When did you dig the hole?
I thought that when I was tryingto run a place to hide her body.
So did you dig that after you killed her?
Yes. OK.

(01:19:34):
So at about 5:30 you went out. Did you go to her house to get
her? I went over there and she was
outside, so I was like. Yeah, and you're going to do it
then? OK.
So you went over there about 5:30 and got her was with you?

(01:19:55):
She was part of the way. When I said I.
Missed her? Ditched her?
Yeah. Did you have the knife hidden on
you or where was it at? Yeah, I was.
I had it. In your hand.
No. OK, so you went.
Did you walk all the way over toher house?

(01:20:18):
Yeah. OK.
Show me what route you went. Went.
Got her. What did you tell you were going
to do? We're just hanging up.
At first I Oh no I didn't. You had a knife with you, did

(01:20:46):
you? Had you made-up your decision
you were going to kill her, thenat what point did you make the
decision that you were going to kill her?
Well, we have been at the Creek.Why?

(01:21:14):
Serial killers. Murder victims who are readily
available, easily accessible, vulnerable, isolated or weak and
desirable, Uniquely appealing. Elizabeth was a neighbor, easily
accessible. She was a nine year old girl,
vulnerable. One can only speculate how
Elizabeth might have uniquely appealed to Alyssa.

(01:21:36):
Either way, Alyssa cannot identify why she did what she
did, just as she seems to struggle to identify her
emotions. Was 15 year old Alyssa a
premature fledgling serial killer?
You. Just decided, OK, where's she

(01:21:59):
facing you? Was she turned around?
What? What happened?
She was turned around, just cameup behind her and cut her throat
and then stabbed her twice. OK.
And is it true you said then youburn her body?

(01:22:23):
OK? Is that part true?
So is her body should still be there?
I burned it when I like scattered.
It and went through the Creek into the Creek, yes, it's a
Creek full of water. Yes, OK is generally it's pretty

(01:22:43):
hard to burn a body all the way.So it wasn't burned up all the
way. It wasn't no, because it's hard
to burn a body right. So you kind of pushed what was
left of the body into the water.Was the water moving pretty
fast? OK, Closed still.

(01:23:06):
You can still see her clothes orthey burned off of her right
hand. OK.
And you took the knife back home.
OK. And then what did you do from
there? You had the knife.
And then show me what happened from there.
I just walked back from Kevin's.Side did you walk back this path

(01:23:27):
that you showed me? Yes.
The conversation turns back to the hole.
What about the hole though? It was just there.
No, it wasn't just there. I dug it.
When did you dig it? Oh.
I'm sure I I was looking for something to do.

(01:23:53):
With your body so I don't get itwhen.
It was before I came home. Before you came home.
From where? From the forest.
Who helped you? No grandpa helped.

(01:24:14):
You did me. No.
Rice asks her if her grandfatherhelped her since he was home at
the time the murder took place. You didn't have a shovel with
you. I had a knife.
You couldn't. You didn't dig that hole with a
knife. You did not.
I was out there for five hours. You didn't dig that hole with a

(01:24:37):
knife. Your grandpa loves you very
much, doesn't he? Grandpa, do anything for you.
I know you don't want to tell me.
I know you want to protect him. Know what?
You've got to get to the truth in this.
You came back, you told him whathad happened, and he wanted to

(01:25:04):
help you. He wanted to try to make this
right. I.
Didn't look like I got anything.Who helped you?
No one. We're going to put them all on a
polygraph. OK, Who helped you?
Someone. When did you take the home?
When was that? When?

(01:25:28):
After I killed her. When after you killed?
Her This is a very common tacticin interrogations.
Once the suspect is open about events, they'll try to get more
and more information out of them.
The investigators will treat this crime as if it involves
accomplices until other parties can be eliminated.

(01:25:49):
The whole becomes the topic of discussion yet again.
You've got. To tell the truth, you're not
telling the truth on this part. Why does it even matter?
Now it does matter, because we have got to find out the truth.
Oh, you already know it. We have got to know the full

(01:26:13):
truth. Tell us the truth.
I don't. Know my way back.
No, you didn't. You didn't have a show.
It was the Friday 1. Jeff.

(01:26:40):
You're telling the truth about how you killed her and believe
that because that matches your diary.
You've done the hard part. Just just tell the truth.
The reality is we can deal with the truth.
We can deal with the truth. Toby assumes a critical role in
facilitating Alyssa's confession.

(01:27:04):
I don't get Friday. It was a day that wasn't.
Nobody helped me. Was it?
Was it your grandpa? No one helped me.
I did it by myself. It's interesting to see how
Alyssa goes from trying to lie and pretend she had nothing to
do with the missing little girl,defiantly admitting she dug a

(01:27:26):
grave and killed her. But Sergeant Rice and Toby can't
believe that she committed the crime herself or dug the hole.
They think her grandfather had something to do with it too.
They are almost giving Alyssa away to continue her lie, but
she's probably the most truthfulwhen they try to implicate her
grandfather. Probably out of love for him.
Because if there were I'll feelings between them, there's

(01:27:48):
no doubt she would attempt to throw him under the bus.
Did. You do anything else to her
body? No.
Did anyone help you? No.
Who have you told about this? No one.
No one she tell no. She tell you bread off no.

(01:28:09):
She tell your friend no. She tell anyone no.
There's a good reason that the investigators think Alyssa
didn't act alone. Even her boyfriend said that he
doesn't think she could have carried out the crime by
herself. Quite literally, how?
She did this alone. She could have.

(01:28:32):
I don't think she did anything. I think she could barely, barely
lift me. I know who would be the person
that would help. The only good friend that I know
of that she always came out within the back was a girl named.

(01:28:56):
That's about it. She's right.
Toby's right. You've done the hard part on
this one thing. I can assure you for this.
I can assure you from working ina lot of homicides for the last
13 years. I do the you have a crummy job.

(01:29:20):
The truth is going to come out. Every one of these that I work
where you're sitting here right now going through the agonizing
part of not wanting to come thislast portion until on someone
else. The truth, the truth, the truth
is going to the full truth on whatever happened here is going

(01:29:42):
to come out. Over.
They didn't do it. Then tell me the full truth of
all this. Why aren't you?
Why aren't you telling everything?
I did. I switched off the coal thing
'cause I'm reading with it accident, but then I wasn't.
It really wasn't Friday. Then I did the whole.

(01:30:05):
I know it wasn't an accident. I mean, I've already talked with
you. I know you planned this.
I know you. I know you had this in your
mind. I know you thought about this
and I know you intended on doingthis.
I I know that. OK, this I know this wasn't an
accident that it just spurred the moment.

(01:30:28):
I know that from the whole I know you intended on killing
her, brought her out there for that purpose, but the problem is
your deception is causing us other issues here.
OK, so I'm I'm past the point ofthinking, is this an accident?
Did did she hit her head? Did did you just change your

(01:30:52):
mind for the last second for some reason decide to kill her?
I know you brought her out thereeach other.
OK, why I did this was well, that's not the issue.
But I know that happened. But we're still having a problem
here with this hole and the restof it because you've been lying
to us on that. You see, I mean, none of your

(01:31:15):
times make any sense on you didn't dig it with a knife.
We know that didn't happen. It was Friday with the shovel.
Went on Friday I'm. Not sure.
Exactly. This is where we see the shift

(01:31:38):
from the lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter, a
crime of passion, to that of a premeditated murder.
It's clear Alyssa planned her crime from beginning to end.
She planned to lure Elizabeth into the woods to play and to
dig a grave a few days before she killed her.
There were signs leading up to the murder that either people
didn't pay attention to, wrote off as someone just seeking

(01:32:01):
attention, or it was entirely possible that they didn't think
anything was wrong. Alyssa seemed to live a double
life at school. She had friends and pulled good
grades, never letting them fall below AB average.
Her teacher said she was a smartkid and never had any behavioral
issues in school. Her social media presence showed

(01:32:21):
an entirely different Alyssa. Her YouTube bio listed her
hobbies as cutting and killing people.
Her Twitter page gave an insightinto some of Alyssa's more
concerning thoughts, as she often wrote about depression,
addiction, and terror. In particular, One tweet read.
All I want in life is a reason for all this pain.

(01:32:43):
These types of comments weren't at all unusual for Alyssa.
Case documents show that one of Alyssa's friends was interviewed
by police. They said that over the last
couple of years, Alyssa had saidto them, I wonder what it would
feel like to kill someone. According to her friend, Alyssa
would even talk about what wouldhappen if she did kill someone,
speculating about whether or notshe would get caught and how

(01:33:06):
exactly she would kill someone. The friend thought she was
joking. She'd even said something
similar to her boyfriend to. Herself.
I never do. You know it.
Feels like to kill. Someone.
She asked you that. What'd you say?
No. What else did you say?

(01:33:30):
That was it. That was it.
We just started watching that movie.
I didn't even think anything about it.
That wasn't on my life did anything to think about when
somebody asks you do you know what it feels like to kill
somebody? You don't think it's that's just

(01:33:52):
something you have normal conversation with somebody that
that gets brought up in this normal conversation that's
happened to you a lot She's. She's emo and emo think about
that kind of she's what? She's emo.
So the emo think about that kindof stuff.
What's the emo? People like to cut themselves
and stuff like that so didn't think dark things.

(01:34:17):
OK. I didn't know actually actually
came to you. But then, on either Wednesday,
October 21st or Thursday, October 22nd, Alyssa called her
friend. Depending on which day it
actually was. It was either the day she killed

(01:34:38):
Elizabeth or the following day. Alyssa told the friend that she
had done something really bad. The friend asked her if she knew
about the little girl that was missing and Alyssa told her yes,
but asked why she was asking. Alyssa repeated over and over to
the friend that it was always supposed to be a game.
There were videos on her YouTubechannel that involved doing

(01:35:01):
dangerous things like touching alive electric fence around her
grandparents horse paddock. She forced her twin brothers to
touch it and edited the video tosay right before the boys
touched the fence. This is where it gets good,
where my brothers get hurt. Experts say that all of this,
along with her other behaviors, indicate that Alyssa had a
sadistic need to hurt others andgot a lot of pleasure from it,

(01:35:24):
even experiencing a release of all the painful emotions she
held deep inside her. Alyssa didn't just try to hurt
others, as she often directed the need to inflict pain on
herself. At a young age, Alyssa had
started hurting herself to take her own life.
She fully recovered and spent time in a mental health facility
where she was prescribed the antidepressant Prozac.

(01:35:47):
She began to see several counselors during her time at
the facility, and once she was released, she underwent
intensive outpatient treatment. So while she ended up getting
help, it didn't really help her.Back in the interrogation room,
Sergeant Rice is trying to get Alyssa to empathize, or at the
very least sympathize with the Olton family about how they need

(01:36:08):
help recovering Elizabeth's bodyso they can have closure.
While that may be the first priority for the victim's
family, it's law enforcement priority to recover the body so
a forensic autopsy can be performed to corroborate the
suspect statements and generate additional evidence for the
prosecution. Toby begins to explain to Alyssa
that the judicial system treats people who tell the truth

(01:36:30):
differently than those that lie.This is when Alyssa finally
drops the story about burning the body and tells them what she
really did to Elizabeth Olton. We're going to have to talk some
more about this, obviously, but for, right.
Now I need to get a larger map. Can you tell me?

(01:36:52):
The truth perhaps the time to just tell the truth that's
there's thoughts of your story. They don't make sense.
They don't. Make sense?
They don't make sense. Even to me.
Because I am your attitude and Iam here to protect you.
I I'm not. Going to ask them questions, but
there's statements that you're making that don't make sense.
It's everything that you're lying and and we treat people

(01:37:13):
who can't be honest completely different than we treat people
who can be honest. You can be honest if you can
tell us what happened. Even if you aren't protecting
people, you feel obligated. To protect.
We at least know we can help you.
OK, so he's going to walk out and like he said, he can't come.
Back and talk, but don't. You want to have told him the

(01:37:33):
truth right from the beginning. If this is your opportunity,
it's your opportunity. Go ahead.
Put a split her throat at strangled her.
Strangled her. You strangled her with your
hands? Yes.

(01:37:54):
OK. Did you have an eyeball on you?
Yes. Did you cut her throat at any
time? Yes.
Cut her throat afterwards. OK, so you strangled her first
until she was unconscious, dead,and then you slit her throat.
And did you actually? Did you stab her then?

(01:38:18):
Did you do anything else to her?OK.
And then what happened after that?
There with him? Hang your body.
The barrier. Yes.

(01:38:38):
Your body's still out there. I think so.
It's unclear why Alyssa seems sounsure that Elizabeth's body.
Will be in the same location. The implication by Detective
Rice is that Alyssa may have hadhelp, and it's interesting to
note how uncertain she is that Elizabeth will still be there.

(01:39:03):
Still out there for the same spot.
Do you ever leave, son? Finally, the truth she
strangled. Her stabbed her, slit her throat
and then buried the body in the hole she dug on Friday.
Interestingly, the specific holethat has been in question the
entire interrogation was never used as the grave site of

(01:39:24):
Elizabeth Olton Dick. The hole that I saw that you
pointed out, what? Was that about there?
It was Early a bitch. He didn't do it.
He. Didn't do it.
Why? What was?
I couldn't beat that. OK.

(01:39:47):
How deep did you? Dig the grave that she's in.
It's not that deep. OK.
Will you be able to point out ona map or take us to where she's
at? You didn't burn her, did you?
To bring the shovel with you. How did you dig the hole?

(01:40:07):
That was if I had any done it. OK.
When did you dig that hole? That one was all set.
So you dug the hole on Friday and had it all ready?
Did you leave the shuttle out there?
So the hole was already dug on aFriday, and then you brought her
out there Wednesday, killed her there on Wednesday, strangled

(01:40:31):
her, then cut her throat, stabbed her twice, put her in
the hole, and then how'd she fill the dirt in with my hands?
With your hands. There's still something.
There's still something. Toby takes this opportunity.
To push for any last pieces of information.

(01:40:52):
That Alyssa could be concealing.There's still something you're
not telling. I can tell.
Oh. That's it.
Sure. Yes, yes.
Alyssa had dug two holes that Friday, the 1st hole that had

(01:41:14):
been. Discussed at length in the
interrogation ended up being theone law enforcement found early
on, but Alyssa says that she couldn't dig too deep in that
area, so she moved to another area where she could, and that's
where they would find a nine year old Elizabeth Olton's body.
As the interviewer has noted, the two holes are interesting,
but not everyone buys Alyssa's explanation.

(01:41:37):
There is a theory that Alyssa may have dug two holes because
she had originally planned to kill her two younger brothers.
However, this theory hasn't beencorroborated and so we may never
know exactly why Alyssa chose todig two holes.
Now that the story is clearly laid out, they've established
how the murder was done and where the body is.

(01:41:58):
Sergeant Rice moves on to the motive, the reason Alyssa did
it. Why did you pick her?
Is there something about her? Did you just want?

(01:42:18):
Did you just want to know what it was like to kill someone?
Yeah, I guess you wanted to go. Alyssa appears to cry, but her
response? Carries a tone of.
Indifference, thrill, killing. It is the act of killing someone
for sheer excitement. Alyssa killed Elizabeth because
she wanted to know what it wouldfeel like to kill someone.

(01:42:42):
Thrill killing stems from a place of powerlessness.
These killers are empowered by their murders.
She just. Someone nearby or was he dead?

(01:43:08):
She straddles the fence between emotional upset and removedness.
She lowers her head, holding herface in her hands.
Psychopaths and sociopaths are not incapable of experiencing
guilt and remorse, particularly if they have comorbid conditions
like borderline personality disorder or bipolar disorder.
She could regret killing Elizabeth out of remorse, but

(01:43:31):
she could also regret killing her for a more selfish reason.
She knows the repercussions. Take a break.
Do you need anything she breaks down.

(01:44:01):
Once rice leaves to retrieve a larger map.
Toby attempts to reassure Alyssa, again we see her
emotional instability. She struggles to self regulate.
OK, now. On every five to six weeks she

(01:44:21):
smells OK. Do you have the?
Counselor, yes. Prozac is a selective serotonin
reuptake inhibitor. SSRI, an antidepressant

(01:44:42):
medication primarily used to treat major depressive disorder.
If Alyssa has an underlying mooddisorder like bipolar disorder,
she might experience increased psychotic symptoms, as disorders
like these are sensitive to imbalance levels of serotonin.
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in modulating
mood, sleep, and cognition. Specifically, antidepressants

(01:45:05):
prevent the breakdown of serotonin, which may lead to an
overabundance in individual systems.
Psychosis looks different from individual to individual, but it
can involve increased aggression, hallucinations,
delusions, mania, and other psychotic symptoms.
Psychosis characterized by paranoid hallucinations,

(01:45:26):
delusions, and aggression may lead to violent behavior.
Serious. What happened?
There I was. Doing depression?
Yeah, yeah. Matter.
Yes, because I. Tried to kill myself.
That's why I went to my mom. What was that when I was 17, two
years ago? But I thought of that.

(01:45:48):
A lot since then. Three grandparents, about 883
with. Your mom and yes should.
Take care of it. Not really.

(01:46:12):
Childhood. Maltreatment and or neglect is
a. Strong predictor.
Of suicidal ideation, pathological aggression and
criminality, all of which are present in Alyssa.

(01:46:34):
Association is the. Separation of oneself from one's
identity. Memories, thoughts, and or
feelings. It's associated with childhood
trauma, particularly that of an emotionally abusive or
neglectful nature. Dissociation is linked to post
traumatic stress disorder, dissociative disorder, mood
disorders, borderline personality disorder, and more.

(01:46:54):
How are your brothers literally?Goes to them like you or your
sister. Yeah.
Yeah. You like her sister?

(01:47:26):
Toby is walking Alyssa through the process of grounding.
Grounding is a technique often used in therapy in crisis
situations that pulls individuals away from flashbacks
or disturbing emotions into the present.
She encourages Alyssa to use herbreath as an anchor, a sensory
tool to call attention to physical rather than emotional

(01:47:46):
sensations. Killing yourself right now, OK?
Welcome to Leoni here. Don't have any sharp objects in
your shoes or anything like that.
OK. What we're going to do right now

(01:48:08):
is kind of get some things linedup to to go out there and have
you point out that side where she's at.
Would you be able to do that? Once alone, Alyssa almost

(01:48:51):
immediately regulates. Her breathing, her head hangs
low. The reality is that your
grandmother. Loves you and.
Love doesn't stop, OK? I don't want you to think
nobody, nobody loves you. Your grandparents love you.
Love is unconditional. Absolutely.

(01:49:14):
She loves you unconditional. Now she's not going to
understand why this happened. And there are going to be some
you guys have, you know, I have a sugar coat that you guys have
some rough time saying that she's not going to stop blooming
you. And when you came back home,

(01:49:36):
what did you do with that nun? Did you clean it?
Describe the knife to medium. Please does.
Kitchen knife might. Have the black handle black
handle OK? Does it have?

(01:49:58):
Is it just straight edge? Does it have those serrations in
it? Do you know what I'm talking
about? Straight edge?
I'm going to get in trouble now because Alyssa's a juvenile,
Sergeant Rice explains. What's going to happen next?
In the investigation, how they must speak to everyone that

(01:50:20):
could be involved to get to the truth, especially since Alyssa
lied at the beginning of the interrogation.
Alyssa's then prepped to go out with Sergeant Rice.
They're going back to the woods so that she can recount the
crime and show them where she buried Elizabeth.
Here's the audio from that excursion.
It is dates October 23rd, 2. 1009 two o'clock Sergeant David

(01:50:43):
Rice, Missouri State Highway Patrol and it is Michael Kuti
with a Cole County juvenile office.
And we're here in Cole County atthe site where you say this
occurred. Where you can you walk me
through? I want you to walk me through

(01:51:03):
step by step, when you got up here, what actually occurred.
What here? Before everything just happened?
I'm going to drag her into the hole, OK?

(01:51:24):
What happened here? I.
Strangled her and then cut her throat inside her.
OK, when you strangled her, was she?
Was she facing you? Yeah.
OK, so she was facing you, looking towards you.

(01:51:46):
You strangled her. One hand. 22 hands.
OK. And what happened?
Did she stand up? Fall to the ground?
What happened? Falling to the ground.
OK. Was she moving at that?
Point no. OK, so she was lying on the

(01:52:09):
ground. Was she face down on her back?
She on her back. OK.
And where was? You said you earlier.
You had a knife. Where was your knife at that
point? I put.
It back in my pocket and like, not pocket, but like and held it
here. Alyssa doesn't even remember

(01:52:31):
where she placed her knife during the attack.
It's unclear if she's even telling the truth still at this
point, since every detail seems so muddled.
Which pocket was it in front? It was like in a waist.
A waist, yeah. Like, OK, OK.
And that was the knife that you told?
Me about with the black handle that you told me earlier.

(01:52:55):
OK. And what did you do with the
knife? I put it in the sink.
No, no. When you were here once.
She. Said she was on.
The ground not moving, you said after that point, what did you
do? Cut her throat and then stabbed
her. You cut her throat and stabbed
her. Where did you stab her?
In her. Chest area in her chest area in

(01:53:18):
the front. Or in the back front in.
The front, OK. How many?
Times twice I believe. Alyssa's story still doesn't add
up. Although continually claiming.
She stabbed Elizabeth twice. The autopsy report revealed she
was stabbed a total of eight times in the chest twice.

(01:53:40):
OK. And then what?
Happened after that, who draggedher into the hole?
Dragged her into this hole. Over here, OK.
And when did you dig that hole? Friday.
OK. How did you cover?
Her up. Did you have a shovel or
something? Here?
I just used my hands. Used your hands.

(01:54:03):
OK. And this is the hole over here.
She's in her. How deep is that hole?
It's not very deep, OK. All right.
OK. And I think we've talked about
everything else back at the office.
I just wanted to go over. Is there anything else?
This all happened right about here, please.
Pretty sure of that. OK.

(01:54:28):
Did you leave anything out here that you can think of?
I think you dropped a piece of gum somewhere.
You did. She did.
She dropped a piece of gum. Where do you think that was at?
I'm sure it's probably under some loops now, but.

(01:54:49):
What happened to her phone? There's yours in her pocket the
entire time. In her pocket.
Yes. So do you think her phone is in
her pocket in that hole? Yes.
OK, Did you ever hear it go off?No.
Alyssa claims she never heard Elizabeth's phone ring.
Contradicting Elizabeth's mother, who claims she called
her phone over and over again. OK.

(01:55:17):
OK. I'm going to go ahead and shut
the tape off, then go ahead. She used her hands to cover
Elizabeth's body with leaves, dirt, and.
Twigs Once the body was recovered and autopsied,
Elizabeth Olton was laid to reston Wednesday, October 28th,
2009. She was buried in a pink coffin
and carried to the cemetery by ahorse drawn carriage.

(01:55:37):
Mourners wore pink and release balloons.
Elizabeth's Ant described her asthe morning sun that pops out
over the mountain. She was sunshine and you
couldn't help but love her. In the end, it seems some
details just don't add up, and it's clear that investigators
believed Alyssa had some sort ofhelp.
And along with all the inconsistencies, Dustin's

(01:55:59):
explanation behind how he discovered Alyssa killed
Elizabeth was strange to say theleast.
On Thursday, October 22nd, the day after Elizabeth's murder,
Dustin stayed home sick and claimed Alyssa skipped school to
spend the day with him at his residence.
His mother unexpectedly arrived home at approximately 12:30 or

(01:56:19):
1:00 PM. He ushered Alyssa into a closet
to hide, giving her clothes to change into for unknown reasons,
and continued to check on her repeatedly while she was hiding.
While Dustin's mother was getting into the shower, he
claimed Alyssa suddenly confessed that she strangled,
cut, and killed the girl. He then claimed he told her she

(01:56:40):
had to leave, guiding her to go out the front door while his
mother was in the shower. This was his last alleged
communication with Alyssa. And the day after this happened.
You skip school and you're smoking.
Pot with right if you tell him about this, yeah, why not?
And you guys are that you're close.

(01:57:03):
Don't you feel like you need to tell somebody?
No, it's not really the kind of thing that you tell people.
Investigators also picked up on what they believed was a slip.
Up at the beginning of his interrogation, all I know is
what the FBI told me, what they could.
They told me that. She buried.

(01:57:23):
Him and then slurred throat and stabbed her.
She already had a a hooked up and then buried her.
She wasn't big enough, so then they buried her.
Be there at her again, I mean. Yeah.

(01:57:48):
Who's they? I mean, who's they?
You're. Not in trouble here, OK, You're
not in a. Lot of trouble.
Here. I didn't mean that you're not in

(01:58:08):
a lot of trouble here, but it's just what I've been saying.
For the. Past couple of days.
Because I just couldn't see. They're doing that fire so.
But obviously you just told me that there was another person
involved that I couldn't believethat.
No, you told me that Alyssa was charged.

(01:58:28):
With first degree murder. Yet, even though she had
confessed and even LED law enforcement to the very site
where she killed and buried Elizabeth, she entered a not
guilty plea. She was certified as an adult on
November 18th, 2009. Due to the adult nature of her
crime, the Cole County Circuit Judge assigned to the trial
ruled that her crime was viciousand that the Missouri State

(01:58:52):
juvenile facilities were unequipped to deal with someone
who could commit such a crime. For over a year, Alyssa stuck to
her plea of not guilty. The day before her trial,
January 9th, 2012, she withdrew her not guilty plea and agreed
to plead guilty to the lesser charge of second degree murder.
Since she took the plea deal that had been presented to her,

(01:59:13):
she waived her right to a jury trial, but as a condition of the
deal, she needed to get up in front of the courtroom and tell
the events of that fateful day. The courtroom was filled with
both her family and Elizabeth's family, along with most of the
Saint Martin's community. Alyssa told the court what she'd
done, speaking in a clear, emotionless voice.

(01:59:34):
She'd strangled Elizabeth with her hands and used the kitchen
knife for the rest of the attack.
Nearly everyone in the courtroomalready knew the details of the
murder since it was well publicized in the media.
However, this was the first timehearing it straight from the
murderer herself. Elizabeth's mother, Patty,
sobbed while Alyssa retold her daughter's murder.

(01:59:55):
There were several reasons that the courts probably reduced the
charges. At the time, it was a Gray area
whether it was legal to sentencea teenager to life without
parole. the United States Supreme Court was getting ready
to hear another case about two teenage murderers and they
needed to decide if life withoutparole was cruel and unusual
punishment for people so young. The defense said that Alyssa was

(02:00:18):
diagnosed with major depression,anxiety disorder, post traumatic
stress disorder from her difficult upbringing.
Borderline personality disorder and showed early signs of
bipolar disorder and more importantly that all of these
diagnosis were the reasons behind her killing of Elizabeth
Olton. Case documents reveal a police

(02:00:39):
interview with a mental health professional who had worked with
Alyssa for two years. They shared that during an
annual assessment of Alyssa, only one month before the
interview and Elizabeth's disappearance, the mental health
professional had become concerned that her depression
was spiraling and her delinquentbehavior was increasing.
Alyssa had actually called this mental health professional soon

(02:01:01):
after Elizabeth went missing. During the call, Alyssa said she
was distressed about the police being in her house and searching
for clues about what happened toElizabeth.
One of the most interesting pieces from the case document is
that the mental health professional initially said they
had no concern about Alyssa being involved in the little
girl's disappearance because, intheir experience, Alyssa never

(02:01:24):
expressed a desire to harm anyone else but herself.
Another doctor even agreed with this same belief.
However, they also conceded thatthey could be wrong.
This interview took place two days after Alyssa killed
Elizabeth. Alyssa's defense tried to prove
she didn't know that murdering someone was wrong.
In contrast to this, the mental health professional was asked

(02:01:47):
during the police interview about whether or not Alyssa
understood the difference between right and wrong, to
which they replied absolutely. Her defense also pointed out
that Alyssa's dose of Prozac wasincreased only a short time
before she killed Elizabeth. They claim that this increase
may have played a role in makingher behavior unpredictable and

(02:02:09):
even could have made her more prone to violence.
One question that everyone comesback to is why Alyssa had done
it. Her grandfather said that the
night Alyssa killed Elizabeth, she seemed to be in an unusually
good mood. Her mood, along with her journal
entry, show that Alyssa was likely a thrill killer.
Thrill killers receive a rush ofeuphoric adrenaline from the act

(02:02:33):
of killing their victims, which would explain why Alyssa was so
happy after the gruesome murder.On February 8th, 2012, Alyssa
addressed the court and apologized, saying I really am
extremely sorry for everything. I know words can never be enough
to describe how horribly I feel for all of this.
If I could give my life to get her back, I would.

(02:02:56):
I'm sorry Alyssa was sentenced to life in prison, but this
story doesn't end there. Due to the publicized nature of
the crime and the lead up to thetrial, Alyssa became something
of an underground celebrity. There's an online fan club and
Facebook groups in support of Alyssa, some displaying artwork
of her and even profiles using her picture pretending to be

(02:03:20):
her. Alyssa would have been eligible
for parole for the first time in2044, but since the Senate Bill
26 passed, someone convicted as a minor can ask for parole after
15 years. This means there is a chance
Alyssa could be up for parole asearly as 2027.

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