GUILTY MO - Elizabeth Olten, 9, St Martin's, 21 Oct 2009 #15

[AmandaReckonwith]

There's new bill likely to pass in Missouri that will allow juvenile offenders like Alyssa Bustamante
to have a parole hearing within a 15-year timeframe.

Crime victims group calls for veto of Missouri bill over parole hearing changes

Also a Change.dot.org Petition to try and stop it.

Sign the Petition

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

I have updated the Elizabeth Olten Case Archive.

Photobucket

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

Yikes, this seems like a bonanza for defense lawyers. Who can pick and choose which criminals to parole?
I get it, the guy who is sentenced to 241 years should maybe get leniency.
Then why not poor misunderstood little whacko Alyssa?
Some lawyer might get her loose. Then she will aspire to be a serial killer, no doubt in my mind. "It was fun"

State rep says proposed parole changes not meant for Cole County killer

 

[AmandaReckonwith]

Trying to roll back changes.

Lawmakers try to roll back some parole eligibility for people in prison for juvenile crimes prompting concerns about Cole County case - ABC17NEWS

A Cole County state senator said lawmakers may have pulled the rug from under a murder victim's family.

Sen. Mike Berskoetter (R-Jefferson City) has proposed a change to the state's new law on parole eligibility for people in prison for crimes committed as a juvenile. Bernskoetter's proposal would stop those convicted of second-degree murder from qualifying for a parole hearing after 15 years in prison. Lawmakers in 2021 passed the changes that only kept those convicted of first-degree murder from the earlier eligibility.

 

[Betty P]

Trying to roll back changes.

Lawmakers try to roll back some parole eligibility for people in prison for juvenile crimes prompting concerns about Cole County case - ABC17NEWS

A Cole County state senator said lawmakers may have pulled the rug from under a murder victim's family.

Sen. Mike Berskoetter (R-Jefferson City) has proposed a change to the state's new law on parole eligibility for people in prison for crimes committed as a juvenile. Bernskoetter's proposal would stop those convicted of second-degree murder from qualifying for a parole hearing after 15 years in prison. Lawmakers in 2021 passed the changes that only kept those convicted of first-degree murder from the earlier eligibility.

I hope they change this law for dangerous killers like Bustamante. The man interviewed in the linked video sounds like a good example for keeping some of the law in place. Mr. Bostic was jailed for a robbery he committed when he was a teen. He's since spent over 20 yrs in prison. Not sure why he received such a harsh sentence for robbery. Allowing him a chance at parole sounds fair.

OTOH, Bustamante, who committed pre-meditated murder, could be eligible for parole in 2024. That's a horrifying thought. Bustamante has some serious psychological problems. She admitted getting a "thrill" from killing Elizabeth Olten. Days before she killed Olten, Bustamante went out in the woods behind her home and dug a grave for the young girl.

Hopefully, the law can be revised adequately and fairly to protect the public while giving people a chance at parole who committed minor, non-violent crimes when they were juveniles.