Olten family: Bustamante confession gone

Elizabeth Olten's family "is devastated over the loss of the confession," spokeswoman Pam Cafourek said Wednesday, one day after Cole County Presiding Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce suppressed some evidence in the state's case against Alyssa Bustamante.

Bustamante is charged with first-degree murder in the October 2009 death of Olten, who was a 9-year-old neighbor girl.

Joyce identified Tobie Meyer as the juvenile officer present during Bustamante's questioning by a Highway Patrol investigator, then said near the end of her two-page order: "Ms. Meyer's participation in the interrogation of defendant went far beyond her statutory role as juvenile officer, which is limited to observation and protection of the juvenile's rights."

Joyce prohibited the prosecution from using "all statements made after Transcript of Video Statement page 71, line 14," a document that, so far, has not been released.

That's where the confession was recorded, Olten's family said.

Nevertheless, Cafourek stated, Olten's family feels "the prosecution still has a very strong case" to make in a trial against Bustamante, now scheduled to begin Sept. 13 with jury selection in Greene County.