This crime hit not only the American judicial system, but also the inhabitants of the entire planet. Cruel killers, maniacs, psychopaths - such personalities have always scared normal people. But what if all these three concepts fit one fragile fifteen-year-old girl? Alice Bustamant and her chilling act in detail. How did a minor girl turn into a monster?
Alice Bustamant Biography
January 28, 1994 in the town of Cole County, a charming blue-eyed baby was born. The fact that the girl will have a hard time in this world has become clear from birth. Her parents were ordinary American teenagers who did not need this child at all. Father had no time to mess with his daughter, because almost immediately after her birth he was behind bars. The negligent mother sensibly judged that she could not raise a child alone, and fused her grandmother under legal guardianship. An elderly woman, too, was not eager to raise her granddaughter, so from an early age the girl was left to herself.
First bell
When the girl was 13 years old, she began to show symptoms of severe depression. Psychologists did not bother to make a diagnosis and conduct various examinations, but limited themselves to prescribing antidepressants. At that time in the USA, almost all mental and emotional disorders were treated in this popular way. Prolonged depression, light love feelings, fear of exams, depression after a divorce - magic sedative pills solved all problems. They only aggravated Alice’s condition, and at the age of 13 she makes an attempt to kill herself.
To cope with mental anguish, the girl begins to cut her body. Suicide attempts follow one after another, and she is prescribed outpatient treatment. "Prozac" does not help, and she is prescribed just a lethal dose of antidepressants. This fact will play a role in the fate of the juvenile delinquent.
Involuntary assistant
By that time, she was no longer alone. Unreasonable mother manages to give birth to another girl, two boys, and return to her family (she spent several years in prison: she received the term for possession of drugs). But with her first-born, she could not find a common language. Despite the fact that Alice was very sociable with her friends and subscribers on social networks, she did not have a good relationship with her family. The sister brought variety to her life - she could be tortured and not be afraid that she would tell her mother everything. On October 21, 2009, Alice forced her to call a neighbor girl on a visit. What happened next, the sister did not see, otherwise the first would have handed over the criminal to her parents.
Disappearance
The town, with no more than a thousand inhabitants, lived as one big family. There were practically no crimes committed. But father Elizabeth became very worried when his nine-year-old daughter did not come home after school. The police did not give time for the child to appear at home before night and urgently set off in search of it. Streets, cellars, and forest were combed. No traces of the girl were found. The next day, some witnesses said that they saw a teenager next to Elizabeth, but could not say for sure whether this was a guy or a girl. Alice was interrogated, and the policeman even thought she knew more than she said. But there was nothing to present to her, and for a while she was left alone.
Blogger
Like all teenagers, Alice Bustamant was fond of social networks. She had a YouTube account, where she periodically posted videos. In the column of hobbies and interests, she wrote: "Murder, violence." Her videos were horrifying: the fearless girl touched the livestock fence, which was under electric voltage. It hurt her, but her younger brothers could easily be killed. But this did not stop her, and she ordered them to touch the fence again and again. In the description of the video, she left a phrase that stated that she was fine when the brothers were in severe pain. If relatives knew about these records, then everything could end up in a psychiatric clinic. But frightened children could not talk about what happened to grandparents.
Track
Police, meanwhile, continued to scour the forest. They were able to track Elizabeth’s mobile phone signal and knew that she was in that place. But even the most attentive search engines could not find the girl. The investigation concluded that one of the neighbors abducted the child. Alice aroused interest again, not appearing at school. This time, the police did not have to interrogate the young girl for a long time - she quickly admitted to the murder. Confirmation was the entries in her diary. The schoolgirl wrote about exactly how she killed Elizabeth, and at the same time argued that it was nice.
Detection
Alice made contact with the investigation and showed where the girl’s body was. Even seasoned seasoned cops did not expect to see such a picture. They naively believed that the teenager simply did not calculate his strength and accidentally killed the girl during the game, and the diary is just a description of the feelings of an inadequate schoolgirl. Everything turned out to be much worse when they dug up the body and saw that the child had his throat cut.
Confession
Alice’s testimony became even worse. She calmly told investigators that she had long planned to kill someone. She dug up the grave in advance and looked for a suitable victim. Of course, it was supposed to be a child, because she could not cope with a person of her age. The only thing she did not admit was that she was planning to kill her brothers: there were two graves and they were ideally sized for the size of the boys. What stopped Alice's hand was never found out. But the neighboring girl fully complied with all the requirements of a young killer.
At first, Alice tried to strangle the child with her hands, but she did not succeed. Half-dead Elizabeth did not want to part with life. Then the girl took out a knife and calmly cut her throat and wrists, and then she stabbed her in the chest. It was not difficult for her to drag a small lifeless body to the pits and carefully mask the place. She did not feel any regret and remorse, which further shocked the detectives.
Court
Lawyers did their best to convince the judge and jury that Alice Bustamant’s aggression was caused by a large number of antidepressants taken at one time. The mother at the very first hearing stated that this was not her daughter, but an evil monster whom she hated. The girl did not respond to this statement, although, of course, it was painful for her to hear how the woman who gave birth to her requires the maximum term of punishment. A young killer broke down only when her grandparents left the courtroom. This happened after she confessed to the court in the murder and told all the bloody details and her feelings. When the only people dear to her turned away from her, she began to scream that she deeply regrets and is fully aware of her guilt. It happened only in 2012. Until that moment, she completely denied any involvement in the court and refused all these testimonies.
Sentence
Although Alice was a minor, she was tried as an adult. She was given the maximum term - life imprisonment with the right to parole after 30 years. The sentence of Alice Bustamant did not reassure the public. People said that they were very sorry that her suicide attempts were unsuccessful, and wished her to die in prison. However, if you look at the photo of Alice Bustamant now, it becomes clear that she looks good after several years in prison. Much is written about her life behind bars in social networks: people have not forgotten either her or her monstrous crime.
Killer Children: Bustamant is not the first
At one time, Mary Bell was considered one of the most brutal killers among juvenile delinquents. Together with his girlfriend, they brutally killed two boys - 4 and 3 years old. The bodies were not found immediately, but in the deed the girl confessed quickly. At the time of the crime she was only 11 years old. She spent 23 years behind bars, and now lives under a different name.
John Venable and Robert Thompson. Both boys received a life sentence for abducting and killing a two-year-old boy. The court did not take into account their age: both killers were only 10 years old.
George Stinnie And this fourteen-year-old teenager did not have to lie on the bunk. The trial was held in South Carolina, and he was sentenced to death. He became the youngest criminal to be executed in the United States. George killed two girls and hid their bodies in a ravine.
Kipland "Kip" Kinkel. I tried to buy a weapon from a classmate. Problems began with the law. To protect his parents from this, he simply shot them from his father's gun. Then he went to school and killed two students, 24 were injured. Sentenced to 111 years without the possibility of parole.
Eric Smith At 16, he killed a boy and mocked his body. The baby was only 4 years old.