Judge to sentence confessed teen killer today

In this courtroom sketch by News Tribune artist Jim Dyke, Alyssa Bustamante sits with her attorneys, Donald Catlett, right, and Charles Moreland. Photo by Jim Dyke.

By Jeff Haldiman

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

“I think Alyssa should get out of jail the same day Elizabeth gets out of the grave!”

That emotional shout from Sandy Corn, Elizabeth Olten’s grandmother, as she sat in her wheelchair, ended the second and final day of testimony in the sentencing hearing for Elizabeth’s confessed killer, Alyssa Bustamante.

Bustamante, now 18, pleaded guilty Jan. 10 to second-degree murder and armed criminal action for the Oct. 21, 2009, killing.

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Because of the amount of evidence presented during the proceedings, Cole County Circuit Judge Patricia Joyce said she would announce her decision on a sentence at 8 a.m. today.