All language subtitles for [English] The Disturbing Case of the Diary Killer [DownSub.com]

- [Narrator] The following
interrogation footage

has never been seen before.

- Oh, you...

(video swishing)

- Grandma?

- (sobbing) Oh, my God!

- I wonder if she can get out.

(Karen sobbing)

- She would (indistinct) probably.

I'm not gonna ask any questions right now

until we get...

(Alyssa crying)

(door latch clicking)

- [Karen] (sobbing) It'll never be okay.

No!

- [Narrator] What would make a grandmother

emotionally break down 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 been subjected

to severe mistreatment at a young age.

The resulting drama 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
excited to have grandchildren,

Alyssa's parents, Michelle and Ceasar,

weren't prepared for parenthood.

It wasn't long before Alyssa was joined

by three younger siblings, twin brothers,

and a sister named Emma.

The children grew up in
a turbulent household.

Ceasar Bustamante was eventually charged

with three counts of
assault and was sentenced

to serve three concurrent prison terms.

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.

Eventually they realized

that there was only
one thing they could do

that would truly make a difference
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 eight years old.

Living with her grandparents
offered her stability

for the first time in her life.

But Alyssa had already been
exposed to far too much.

Seeking a new start,

Alyssa's grandparents moved the family

to the small town of
St. Martins, 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.

It was in this small town
of just over 1,000 people,

where everyone knows everyone,

that Alyssa's gruesome crime

would devastate all who lived there.

It was Wednesday, October 21st, 2009,

when Alyssa's younger
sister, Emma Bustamante,

now six years old, knocked
on the Olten's front door.

She wanted nine-year-old Elizabeth Olten

to come out and play.

The Bustamante's and Olten's

only lived four 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 Olten was a typical girly girl.

Before Emma showed up
at Elizabeth's house,

she'd been excitedly practicing her lines

at the dining room table

for an upcoming musical, "Noteworthy."

Elizabeth's mother, Patty,

said she couldn't go play at first,

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
be set in late October.

And Patty trusted that
Elizabeth would come home

since the fourth-grader
was terrified of the dark.

Emma and Elizabeth played board games

and hopscotch in 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 investigators

if Elizabeth might've 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
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 about the blood.

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
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 she answered the
investigator's questions.

There was one detail Emma gave

that struck investigators as odd,

the blood stain 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 nine-year-old

spread through this small town

and hundreds of residents came out

in support of the 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 acres of woods behind her home.

Volunteers then made a strange discovery,

a hole in the woods in
the shape of a grave.

As the forensics team
began to process the scene,

the FBI began interviewing 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 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.

- Oh, if you don't mind,
I'm gonna sit here.

- Huh?
- If it's okay.

Ooh, it rocks.

- Yeah, it rocks, so if-
- That's okay.

- If you don't mind, if I
can sit here so I can write.

- Yeah.
- 'Cause I'm gonna be

taking a lot of notes, so-
- Okay.

- [Narrator] 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 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.

- [David] Walk me through
exactly what happened.

- We didn't go to Sunday that day, right?

- No.
- Okay.

So I woke up and I got ready

and I went out to go get the bus,

but I missed the bus,

'cause it doesn't usually pick me up.

- Okay.
- So I went back the house

and my grandpa gave me a ride to school.

So I went to school.

- [David] Okay.

- And I was there all day.

And then I came home on the bus

on my own around 3:00.

No, 4:00.

- [Karen] 3:30.

- 3:30, 4:00.

I get on my own there

and I just hung out in my room

for a little while.

And then I went for a walk around 5:00?

4:30, 5:00, something like that.

- [Narrator] She is feigning ignorance,

commonly referred to as playing dumb.

- I was just walking around

in the forest for a while.

And I was supposed to take
my little sister with me,

but I ditched her 'cause she's annoying.

- [David] Okay.

- And I was just walking
around in the forest

and then, for about an hour.

I came back around 5:30, 6:00-ish,

and I went up in my room and
then I heard like yelling.

So I went outside and then like,

she 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 bleeding,

because I told her I was on my period.

I'm like, "Yeah, don't tell anyone that."

And so I went out there and my brother

and were asking about,

because they saw that she
was supposed to be at home

or something.

- [David] Okay.

- And I didn't really think much of it,

so we just went back to the house.

- [Narrator] Alyssa nonchalantly
shrugs her right shoulder.

Shrugging only one shoulder
is considered a modified shrug

or a variant of a natural shoulder 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.

- And we started to get
ready to go to church,

'cause we have Wednesday night activities.

- [David] Okay.

- And came and he was banging on the door

and he was like, "Do you know where is?"

'Cause he couldn't find her.

- [Narrator] She begins to
nod her head as she speaks.

This does not align with her baseline

pattern of non-verbal behavior.

Something is off.

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 head movements

could be a conscious or subconscious

manipulative non-verbal,
meant to spur agreement

and empathy in the interrogator.

- And that's when things started
to get, people were like,

"Oh, what's going on?"

Like, "Where is she?"

- [Narrator] 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 a lot of stuff happened
while we were there,

'cause it's from 7:00 to 8:15-ish.

And when we came back,

there was three sheriff
cars in our property

for those people who were
out searching everywhere.

- [David] (indistinct).

- And, um, that's pretty much it.

I went to sleep after that.

- [David] Okay.

- [Narrator] Bustamante says "um" here.

She does not use this consistently

throughout the interrogation.

It is not one of her baseline tendencies.

Because she does not regularly say um,

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 exclusion qualifier is
defined as being a tactic

that enables people who want
to withhold certain information

to answer your question truthfully,

without releasing that information.

Examples of exclusion
qualifiers include statements

such as, "Not really,"

"Fundamentally,"

"For the most part,"

"Probably," and so on.

- That's pretty much it.

I went to sleep after that.

- [Narrator] 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 Olten.

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 in either quick
succession or all at once.

This exact moment is the perfect example

of what a CIA officer looks
for during an interrogation

to determine if someone
is being deceitful.

- Um, that's pretty much it.

I went to sleep after that.

- [Narrator] When Alyssa
states, "That's pretty much it,"

there are four indicators that occur

within just a few seconds,

the aforementioned "um"-

- Um...

- [Narrator] a half 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."

- Um, that's pretty much it.

- [Narrator] This is known
as incongruent body language.

Though, of course, you always
want to look for clusters.

This particular moment is 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 timestamps in the comments.

- [David] Okay.

- [Narrator] 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 Olten

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 Elizabeth.

This confirms opportunity and the place

for the crime to take place.

But Alyssa's demeanor comes
across as calm and confident.

- [David] And you have a boyfriend.

- I do.
- Okay,

what's his name?

- His name's.

- [David] Dustin.

Okay.

Do you know, has anybody talked to him

about any of this

or not?
- I'm pretty sure

he's been interviewed.

- [David] Okay.

- [Narrator] 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 eye witness

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
previously as well.

And as the interview begins,

he had just taken a polygraph test

and was about to be
confronted with the results.

- [Interrogator] You're
not being truthful with me

about everything that's going on here.

And we need to come to...

We need to get the truth.

That's what we're here for.

- [Dustin] Mm-hmm.

- [Interrogator] We know a lot more stuff

than we're leading on to believe.

We've talked to several people.

- [Narrator] 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.

- [Interrogator] We've talked
to several of your friends,

we've talked to several of friends,

and they've told us some stuff.

They've told us some phone conversations

they've had, and everything.

So what do you know?

- [Dustin] I don't know anything.

- [Interrogator] What do you know?

- [Dustin] Nothing.

(video swishing)

All that I know is what the FBI told me.

(video squeaking)

- [Interrogator] Why is the
polygraph telling me different?

Why is your body telling me different?

Why is your heart telling me different?

- [Dustin] 'Cause I'm nervous.

- [Interrogator] Nervous
has nothing to do with it.

We've talked about that.

- [Narrator] The interrogator
is looking for a reason

why Dustin is nervous.

The polygraph test is all
about psychophysiological

detection of 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.

Examiners 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 with anxiety,

which is often present when one lies.

The interrogator knows
that Dustin is nervous.

However, the polygraph
can not show exactly

why he is nervous, when he is nervous.

An adrenaline spike to a question

could indicate lying

or some other form of emotional arousal

not directly related to
the topic of the question.

The interviewer isn't outright saying

if he failed the lie detector test.

Later case documents revealed
the polygraphs 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.

Yet, according to the case file,

it was determined that
he was being deceptive

in some way with his answers,
to all three questions.

- Nervousness has nothing to do with this.

Nothing at all.

Your heart rebels against a lie

when you know you tell a lie,

and there's nothing you
can do to control it.

You can try to control your
breathing all you want,

you can think of other
things all you want,

but your heart, that right
there, is gonna tell the truth.

- [Narrator] 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 a mixed 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 did a neighborhood
canvas out there,

and talked to all of the
neighbors that live out there?

Even the neighbors that
live in the subdivision

behind where lives

and then there's Elizabeth's subdivision

behind where lives.

We talked to all those neighbors.

We did a spot check out there with cars

and all the cars that came
off and came through there,

we stopped and talked to 'em.

- [Dustin] Oh.

- What if I told you
that somebody saw a kid

about your size in a black hoodie

with a black T-shirt and blue jeans on,

standing there on the side of the road

next to the guardrail?

- [Narrator] From that point
on, we see the interview

began to use what is
called the Reid technique.

The Reid technique is
an interrogation type

used in the accusatory process.

An interviewer tells the suspect

that the results of the 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.

- And we did a photo line up.

- Well, you can do a photo line up.

- We did.

- [Narrator] 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 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 eye witness 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 details,

such as where and when something occurred.

This type of memory is
sensitive to memory bias.

A witness might recall a suspect

wearing a blue shirt a
day after the occurrence,

but state that the shirt
was red a week later.

- So why is that?

- [Dustin] I wasn't there.

- [Narrator] Alyssa's boyfriend

comes across pretty
confident, borderline defiant,

when he looks the 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 line up.

Contrary to popular belief,

anger is a more common
reaction in individuals

accused of something that is not true.

If law enforcement had
completed a photo line up

and it led to a 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 suspects think
that invoking the rights

of silence and counsel,
will label them as guilty.

Alyssa's boyfriend is strong-willed

throughout the entire 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's suspicions all along,

he had been hiding something.

- [David] Exactly what did she tell you?

- [Dustin] She told me
that she killed her.

- [David] Okay, she told you.

(video swishing)

Told you that she killed her.

She told you that she
strangled her, and what else?

- [Dustin] Cut her,

but she didn't get into detail with that,

she just said strangled her and cut her.

- [Narrator] On October 22nd,

Alyssa had gone to his house

and told him about 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?

- [David] You haven't said anything?

- [Dustin] She scares me.

- [David] You scared of what?

(video swishing)

- [Dustin] What if she ever found out

that I gave away information
that got her locked up?

What if she, like I have a family

and she comes, and 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 to take off her ankle bracelet

and she comes and kills
me in my sleep and my mom,

and then finds out where my
sister lives and kills her?

(video swishing)

- [David] Scared of what?

- [Dustin] (indistinct)
if I'm gonna have anymore

girlfriends like this.

- (laughing) You poor guy.

Well, I guess that's-
- We're not all crazy!

- [David] I guess that's understandable.

- [Narrator] Dustin was never implicated

in the murder of Elizabeth Olten.

Back in Alyssa's interrogation,

Sergeant David Rice pulls a map

of the surrounding woods and neighborhood.

- There's like a tree line.

Do you want to like draw this for you

or something?
- I have a map.

- Oh.
(David laughs)

- Why didn't you say anything.
- Now the thing

about this map,

I don't think it has where
your actual house is.

So the way I understand

is that your house-
- Round about here.

- [David] would be round about here?

- Yes.
- Is that right?

Okay, let's say the new
house's all park here.

(video swishing)

- And then there's a trail

that goes out here and it's like right-

- [David] Draw it for me if you will,

Alyssa.
- Okay.

Um, I'm not exactly sure
how far back it goes.

It's like past all the clearings

and then when it starts to
get to like a smaller trail

and whatnot, there's a little side thing.

It's like a side channel I go off on.

(video swishing)

- There's something we always do,

is we'll walk a person through their day

and we make a timeline

just so we can go through everything.

So what time did you go for your walk?

- [Narrator] 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 telling
personal or contextual details.

- I went for a walk around 4:30 or 5:00.

- [David] Okay, so 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,

hour and a half.

- So about 4:30 or 5:00

you were there?
- Right.

(video swishing)

Well, there's a, I believe
that this little line here

is the trail or something

where-
- Did you go out all this way

over here.
- Yes.

And then this-
- Where'd you go from here?

- I just kept following

the, um, path.
- Where did you go from here?

Show me.

- [Narrator] The interrogator
speaks more rapidly

and presses Bustamante for an answer.

During this portion of the interrogation,

Bustamante has displayed
many disruptions in speech

frequently saying um and like.

- Um, it was like,

but like, um-
- Did you-

- [Narrator] And altering
her vocal intonation.

- Um, then it goes like-
- That small path.

- It does some turns and whatnot,

but it's a pretty easy path to follow.

- Yeah.
- It's like a round path.

- Well, I mean, show me what, does it loop

back around then?
- No.

No, it doesn't loop,

it like goes this way, I think.

- [David] Okay, and then what'd you do?

- And then there was a pasture,

I just hung out by the creek.

- [David] And then what'd you do?

- I came back.

- [David] Then you walked back.

- Yes.

- [David] And then what'd you do?

- I went home?

- [Narrator] She draws out the I

and ends by saying home,
with an upward inflection.

- I went home?

- [Narrator] This is
what linguists would say.

One, 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 communication

is, "I am not confident
in what I am saying

and what I am saying

is in conflict with what I am 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.

- [David] How long did
that take you to do?

- Um, well, it takes about-

- [David] How long were you on your walk,

that's what I'm asking.
- Oh, well,

it's about 15 or 20 minutes, I believe?

Right, Grandma?

It's the first cow pasture we went to

when we took Princess with us.

- [Karen] It's been a long time,

since I've been-
- Yeah, I don't actually-

- [David] How long were you
gone for your pasture walk?

- I was gone for about an hour.

- [David] Okay, so you
were gone about an hour.

- Mm-hmm.
- When you walked out there,

to the cow pasture, what
were you doing out there?

- I was just enjoying
nature, taking a walk.

- [Narrator] 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

so that law enforcement

can look for inconsistencies
or for information

that only the perpetrator
of a crime would know.

- We went to church

and just did the activities 'til 8:00,

came back and everything was crazy.

(video swishing)

- [David] So you got back
at 8:00 and then, I mean,

what did they tell you?

What?

- Well, they were like, "Yeah,
there's three sheriffs here.

People went out searching
her, they can't find her."

(video swishing)

- Did they just say-
- And they were like-

- [David] she was missing?

- Yeah, they were like
questioning me about the day.

They didn't actually
question me that day though,

because I went up to like take a shower

and then, I don't know, they just left

or something (indistinct).

- [David] They just told you was missing?

- My grandpa did, yes.

- [David] How did that make you feel?

- I was just, I didn't
think it would like happen.

- [Narrator] 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 reasonably assumed

that Bustamante is emotionally stunted

and certain, but not always.

- Like, things like this
don't happen here, you know?

- [Narrator] Even though she says

that she didn't think something like this,

a little girl going missing,

could happen in St. Martins, Missouri,

she doesn't seem too concerned
or shocked or surprised.

The investigator then asks

what Alyssa knows about Elizabeth.

- [David] Tell me about.

- Um, well, she's nine.

- [David] Okay.

- I don't really know that
much about her either, um.

- [David] I mean, tell me
what you do know about her.

- Okay.

She'd come over and swim.

She's kind of girly,
like not like naturistic,

I guess you could say.
- Okay.

(video swishing)

She can be annoying.

- [David] (laughs) Okay.

Okay.

- Um.

- Well, you know, there's been, uh,

yeah, there were some folks out there,

out in the forest, I
guess, digging some holes

or looking at some holes.

- Mm-hmm.

- [David] Yeah, and I guess, they had said

that you like go out there and dig holes.

So I mean, I'm going to have to ask you

some stuff about yourself.

- Okay.

- [David] 'Cause you know,
obviously that plays into here,

if they were looking at holes

and you were out there in the forest

and that sort of thing.

So I guess just tell me a
little bit about yourself

so I understand where
all this is coming from.

- Um, I really like nature,
animals, being outside.

- [David] Okay.

- It's just, I'm naturistic like that.

And I get bored really easily

and I'm entertained really easily.

- Okay.
So, digging holes

is just something to do.

- [Narrator] Alyssa keeps
this explanation casual

and surface level.

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.

- [David] Okay.

You just like to dig holes?

- And I like to climb trees.

- [David] Okay.

- Oh, and I bury dead animals that I find

'cause I want to be respectful to them.

- [David] Okay.

Okay.

- [Narrator] 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.

He makes it seem like he's on
her side and doesn't believe

she has anything to do with
Elizabeth Olten going missing.

- [David] What kind of holes do you dig?

- Um.

- [David] Tell me about
these holes that you dig.

- Well-

- [David] You dig them
a certain way every time

or just dig holes?

Just dig a hole, pretty much.

- [David] Okay.

Just wherever they're at?

I mean, do you dig at
a certain spot or what?

- No.

- [Narrator] Whether digging holes

is a hobby of Alyssa's or not,

she makes it seem like
the most normal thing

in the world for a 15-year-old
to do in the woods.

(David chuckles)

- [Tobie] I'm such a
not dirt kind of girl.

- (laughs) Yeah.
- That's amazing to me.

I don't do worms and I don't do dirt.

Well, I do rugby.

- [Tobie] Oh.

- And so like we do a lot of contact,

physical in the mud and whatnot.

And yeah,

it's nice, it's cool.
- I've heard of several girls

playing rugby, that's kind of
the thing right now, isn't it?

- Yeah.
- The interrogation

turns into a friendly conversation

between the juvenile
counselor, Ms. Tobie Meyer.

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 get after it.

- Oh, I'm sure they do.
- Yes, they do.

- The school disbarred it
'cause it's too dangerous,

but there's a team

in Jeff City.
- I think

there's at least two teams in Jeff City.

- Yes.

I'm not sure about the
island, but on St. Martin.

- [Tobie] And you love it?

- I do.

- [Tobie] And you love the mud

and you love dirt under your fingernails?

Do you mind worms?

- [Narrator] Sergeant Rice
gets right back to business,

steering the conversation
back to the holes.

- [David] This hole that you dug,

when did you dig that hole?

- Sunday at the-

- Sunday?
- Yes.

- [David] Why did you dig that hole?

- Because Sunday I was bored.

You don't really do much on Sunday.

Can't watch TV, play
video games, you know?

So, I decided to go outside.

- [Narrator] 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.

- [David] When did you dig it?

- Ooh.

I think my grandpa would
have the exact time.

- [Narrator] 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.

- [David] What were you doing Sunday?

Tell me about Sunday then.

- [Narrator] Her non-verbal
indicators are more obvious.

Look for the self pacifying
behaviors mentioned earlier,

in addition to new behaviors,

like lip licking and interlocking fingers.

- We didn't go to church Sunday, right?

'Cause we were at Mom's house, I believe.

I was at my mom's house for the weekend.

- Okay.
- 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 would we come home?

- [Karen] I didn't pick you up till 6:00.

- Oh, well, it must've been
in between like 6:30, 7:00,

I guess.
- You picked her up where?

- [Karen] Eugene.

- You picked her up at 6:00 pm at Eugene?

- [Karen] Right.

- And it's a, how long of a drive?

- [Karen] Half hour.

- So you got back home
6:30, 6:45-ish probably?

- [Karen] I think might have been 6:30.

- 6:30
- About 20 to 5 minutes out.

- [David] It's getting dark by then.

- [Karen] Yeah.

- Yeah, well-

- [David] So you got home at 6:30.

- Yes.

- [David] And how did
you dig a hole at, what?

So what did you use to dig-
- Well, my grandpa-

- [David] I'm not asking
what your grandfather,

when you got home at 6:30, it's Sunday,

what did you do then?

- Oh, well, I think I took
a shower and went to sleep.

So I don't think I did it, I
think it was Saturday actually.

No, 'cause I wasn't here Saturday.

- [Narrator] Bustamante
is digging herself deeper

and deeper into her own hole.

- [David] You weren't here Saturday?

- Nope.

- On Sunday.
- Right.

- Monday-
- I think it was Friday then,

'cause I was here Friday.

(video swishing)

- [David] It would seem possible

for this.
- Right.

Right.

- [David] And you weren't here Saturday?

- Correct.

- [David] And you didn't
do it during the week,

'cause there was only Monday, Tuesday.

- Right.

- [David] So then you're thinking

it had to have been Friday?

- Yes.

- [Narrator] These weaknesses in her story

will later be exploited
in the interrogation,

but for now David is playing
it close to his chest.

He's aware her story is changing

and it seems like Alyssa is also realizing

that her story is starting to fall apart.

- Okay, so tell me about Friday.

Do you remember Friday?

Did you go to school
on Friday, you ditched?

- We didn't have school Friday.

- No school on Friday.

- So I got up around

like noon-ish.
- Okay.

So were Grandma and
Grandpa home on Friday,

or did you work on Friday?
- I worked half a day.

- You worked half a day.

So would you have been home

at noon-ish?
- No, 12:30 is when the sub

comes in, it's about quarter to.

- Okay, so was she
asleep when you got home?

- [Karen] I just do not recall.

- [David] Okay.

(video swishing)

So then Friday, what'd 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.

- [Narrator] She is deflecting

or attempting 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 decided to go
outside, just do whatever.

And I dug a hole.

- [Narrator] 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 of steel.

- [David] Why did you dig that hole?

- Um, because I was bored

and I felt like doing something.

- [David] Tell me about that hole though,

it's a very specific hole.

That's a very unique hole, I should say.

- Are all of your holes like that?

- No.
- Okay.

- [David] But why?

You dug the hole, so do you
know what I'm talking about?

- Yes.

- [Narrator] Rice is describing
the hole in a vague way

to see if Alyssa might add anything

that would explain why she dug it.

She doesn't really have an
answer or a reason to give

as to why she dug that particular hole.

- [David] That was a
very, very unique hole.

- Mm-hmm, I guess.

I was digging.

I mean, whatever shape comes to mind,

I was just educating myself.

- The reason I'm asking,
it just seems like a...

And you can understand why

if people were out in the woods

looking for a person, if they were lost

or God forbid looking for,

if they thought it was,
God forbid, a body,

why they would be alarmed by that hole,

because they come along a hole,

a freshly dug hole that was,

and so I think a perfect rectangle,

about three feet by about
four and a half, five foot,

straight shovel marks down
about, as you described,

when I talked to you out
there, about that deep.

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [Narrator] Interrogators
probe for specific answers

after asking broad 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
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,

up until you get to that
real hard packed dirt,

almost as if somebody were digging down,

got to a point where
you got to those roots

in that hard dirt and
realize it's too hard to dig.

Do you see what I mean?

- Yes.

- [Narrator] 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.

Her non-verbal indicators
become increasingly prominent.

- [David] Most people,

if they were just going to bury a bunny

or something out there, they dig.

If I'm digging a hole,
by God, just dig a hole.

But for a 15-year-old girl
to dig a perfectly rectangle,

three by four or five
square rectangle hole,

it just caught a lot
of people as very odd.

- That makes sense, it does.

- [Narrator] The hole Alyssa dug

is the perfect size and
shape for a small grave.

It's a perfect three foot
by five foot rectangle,

shallow and is alarming to come across

during a search for a missing child.

- [David] So what do you think about that?

- [Narrator] When Sergeant rice asks,

"What do you think about that?" to Alyssa,

he's using the theory 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

will use deceptively innocent questions

to get the suspect to fill in the gaps

and create a plausible working
understanding of the events.

- Well, I guess, the timing
for digging that hole

was definitely not good.

- [David] Have you ever dug
a hole like that before?

- I have.

- [Narrator] There's an entire discussion

about other holes of
similar shape and size

that she's dug before.

These holes are where she buries animals,

but there's no clear indication

of Alyssa happened upon
these animals bodies

or killed them herself.

- [David] It doesn't
matter if it's a year old,

they have sonar, they
can run right over it

and they can tell you the shape,

the depth, the whole thing.

We're talking about
guys that have, the FBI,

they have instruments that can do-

- [Tobie] Technology's great.

- just about everything.

- [Narrator] This is subtle intimidation

meant to imply that Alyssa need not lie.

- [David] Have you dug a
hole like this before then

or is this the first time?

- It's not completely like this,

but it's like kind of like that.

- Okay, so this-
- big enough for a shoe box.

- [David] Okay, but this is
the first time of that size.

- Yes. Yes.
- Okay.

Okay.
- What about the big

round ones that I kept falling in?

I mean, they're huge.
(David laughing)

I kept telling them, "Could
you guys quit doing this,

because they're dangerous."

And we used to ride our horses up there

and I could break a leg.
- Sure.

- [Karen] I mean, they are huge.

- Okay.

- [Karen] There's like
three or four of them.

- Yeah.

- [Karen] Now this is on our property.

- Digging pits for what? (laughs)

- Well-
- I don't know.

- It was entertaining.

- [David] Okay. (laughs)

- And we like to make
traps, just occasionally,

put some sticks over it and some leaves.

- [Karen] Yeah.

I've already fallen in, yeah.
- For you to break a leg in.

- Well, if they have horses,

that's not a good idea, Alyssa.

- Well, we don't ride
our horses back there.

- I was gonna say, you know

if a horse breaks its leg what happens?

- I know, but we didn't do that.

We didn't ride our horses up there.

- [Karen] No, we used to,

we haven't-
- We used to before.

- You have horses?

Do you like horses?

- I do.

- [Karen] They're not rectangle, they're-

- Big round ones.

- [Karen] Big round ones.

Well, I don't know if
that matters or anything.

- [David] Okay.

Did ever go on walks
with you in the woods?

- Nope.

- [Narrator] The questions asked here

are entrapment questions.

And if any inconsistencies are found,

the suspect's statements
would be treated as lies.

This type of questioning
places additional pressure

on the suspect as the
interrogation continues.

- I've never seen her-
- I know you said

she was a girly girl, but-

- Yeah, I've never seen her in the woods.

- [David] Okay.

I mean, did you ever take her on walks

in the woods-
- Nope.

- [David] or anything like that?

- When I'm on walks, I
like to walk with myself.

- [David] Okay.

- [Narrator] Here we see
a clear inconsistency

in what Alyssa is saying
and what her body is 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.

- [David] What do you know
about all of this so far?

Obviously, unfortunately, your poor family

has been thrown in the middle of this.

- [Narrator] His additional comment,

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.

- [David] What do you know

about this whole investigation on this?

- She's still missing.

They're out looking for her.

They don't want anymore volunteers

because there's a lot
of volunteers so far.

This is really big.

They've had helicopters-

- Yeah, they have.
- searching as well.

And, I don't know, that's
pretty much what I know.

- [Narrator] As noted previously,
she responds cognitively

rather than from a place of feeling.

She doesn't have much
to say about her family

when Tobie and Sergeant
Rice start empathizing

with what Elizabeth's
family must be feeling.

And interestingly,

her face falls into a neutral expression

and she stays silent.

- It's very sad for her.

- Yeah.
- Just imagine if was missing.

God, it would be awful.

- Yeah, and their mom and family.

- [David] Yeah.

I mean, that's why they're

making such a big deal-
- Her mom in such a state.

about this in the
community, like you said,

I mean, you can understand-
- You could hear

going down the stairs-
- why all this is going on.

- when there was screaming outside.

I mean, I just can't...

- [David] I know, I've got
kids, so I can't even imagine.

(video swishing)

What do you think happened to Elizabeth?

- [Narrator] Sergeant Rice moves

into opinion questions now.

Many interrogation questions are closed,

meaning they warrant a yes or no response

or elicit a single fact
or piece of information.

Opinion questions are open-ended.

Interrogation studies have shown

that open-ended questions

will get all suspects to talk longer

and to be more likely to
divulge incriminating evidence

without even realizing it.

- Um, (sighs) I really don't think

she would run away because she's nine.

And the way that they've
been searching for two days,

never found any sign of her.

So I think that maybe someone
kidnapped her or something.

It's a terrible thing,

but I don't know what else to assume.

- [David] Okay.

- [Narrator] Innocent individuals

might be more likely to mention

that they don't know.

Guilty individuals might
feel 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 know anything about her,

I mean, would she have
been brought with a kitten?

I mean...

- Maybe, um, you'd have to ask her mom

about that.
- Sure. Sure.

- [David] I mean, do you think

somebody did something to her?

Is that...

- That seems most likely,

because I don't think
she'd be the kind of person

that would like hide or stay out all night

or anything like that.

- [David] Okay.

Is there anybody in that area

you can think of that would,
I mean that comes to mind,

that you would think that would do that?

Is there anybody that,
knowing your neighbors,

that you would-

- No.

- [Narrator] Rice baits
Alyssa to place blame.

Guilty suspects commonly deflect

and offer helpful explanations

as Alyssa does here.

- But there is a lot of cars

that drive down that highway.

- [David] Okay.

Okay, a couple, just a
few opinion questions,

I'm just asking your opinion, 'cause-

- [Narrator] What follows
are loaded questions.

Here is the first one broken down.

- [David] What type of person

do you think would do this sort of thing

to a nine-year-old girl?

- [Narrator] One, it's assumptive.

It assumes that someone
did something to Elizabeth.

Two, it's vague.

It assumes that someone did something,

but it doesn't specify
what that something is.

Three, use of this 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 what this is.

Further, this implies that something

is closer to the listener,

whereas that implies that
something is further away.

Four, use of nine-year-old girl.

This is distancing language

or language that creates
psychological distance

from the main topic of discussion,

i.e. use of that versus my.

Up until this point, they've
referred to Elizabeth by name.

It also calls attention to
Elizabeth's vulnerability.

Five, 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
signs of cognitive dissonance,

a subjective experience of discomfort

when two or more ways of thinking,

feeling, or otherwise experiencing clash.

The dissonance may
include discordant ideas,

beliefs, behavior, et cetera.

- [David] What type of person do you think

would do this sort of thing
to a nine-year-old girl?

- Um, a sick person,

like someone that, I don't know,

can put down all their morals

and just take a nine-year-old girl.

- [Narrator] Alyssa pauses, stutters,

and struggles to get the words out.

She's looking in the mirror.

She parrots Rice, nine-year-old girl,

using a parallel tone and inflection.

Sociopaths and psychopaths
hide 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
place holder with kill,

but she filled it with take.

On the other hand, this
could be seen as a slip up

as Alyssa did technically
take Elizabeth into the woods.

- [David] 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 get, uh, convicted.

Well, yeah, 'cause all the trouble

that they're causing so far.

- [David] Okay.

- [Narrator] Alyssa is
faced with her fate.

We can see and hear her
cognitive dissonance

in her ums, pauses and non-verbals,

which all indicate discomfort.

There are many areas

in which Alyssa could slip up

and incriminate herself.

For instance, she could
use possessive language,

say I, instead of they.

She may be aware of this,

suggestive from her
halting breaks in speech.

The next questions that follow are direct

and straight to the point,
even though he prefaces

that he asks everybody these questions.

- [David] I'm gonna ask
you, 'cause I ask everybody,

did you do anything to?

- No.

- [David] Did you cause her disappearance?

- No.

- [David] Did you kill her?

- No.

- [David] Okay, do you know
where she's at right now?

- Nope.

- [David] Okay.

- [Narrator] 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

between verbal and non-verbal
behaviors imply lying.

So why do Alyssa's verbal
and non-verbal behaviors

appear consistent with one another?

A closer look reveals that Alyssa

ever so slightly nods her head up and down

after each no response.

Incongruent head movements
are more often subtle,

as we see with Alyssa, than exaggerated.

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.

- [Tobie] I may have,
I'm new to this like.

So was playing with?

- That's my understanding.

- And when was that?

- I don't know, they were...

Sometime after I had gone in the forest,

because I guess just decided
to go to Elizabeth's.

- Oh, after you ran away.

- Yes.

- She went to find
somebody new to play with?

- Mm-hmm.

- Can I go to the bathroom?

Yeah, go ahead.

- Do I need to stop?

- Yes, please.
- You got it.

- [Karen] You okay?

- [Tobie] Do you need
to go to the bathroom?

- Nope.
- Do you need some water?

- Nope.
- Okay.

- [Karen] If you do, you
can have some of mine.

- Okay.

- [Narrator] After a break
in the interrogation,

Alyssa sits quietly in the room alone.

Rocking back and forth,

as with other repetitive body movements

is a self-pacifying non-verbal behavior.

Tobie takes advantage of downtime

to build rapport with Alyssa.

- Who's on your rugby team?

- Um-

- And it's not through the school,

because it's too dangerous?

Liability issues?
- Right, right.

- [Narrator] As soon as
detective Rice reenters the room,

Alyssa begins to immediately display

the self-pacifying
behavior of hair stroking,

something she didn't do

right until the moment Rice reappeared.

(door clicking)

- Yeah, it reminds me (indistinct).

All right, we?

- I'm good.

- Okay, everybody good?

I'm pretty good on drinks and everything.

- [Narrator] Alyssa sits expressionless

as Rice and Tobie exchange
lighthearted small talk.

- You know, I used to talk to my parents,

and they said I grew up
listening, we didn't have TV,

we had a radio, and like, God that's...

You didn't have a television.

You didn't have the internet.

- [Narrator] Sergeant Rice

asks about Elizabeth Olten's cell phone

and tells 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.

It's a simple scare tactic,

but it's a way to say that
any lies will be found out.

- [David] Is there any reason at all

that your fingerprints
would be on this cell phone?

- Nope.

- [David] Okay.

So if that cell phone were processed,

your fingerprints would not be on it?

- Right.

- [David] Can you think of any reason why,

have you ever touched that cell phone,

have you ever held that 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
the house where you guys live?

- Mm-hmm.

- [David] Tell me about that.

What was that all about?

- They searched our house,

I guess, for any signs of,

and they found stuff in my room.

But not like evidence like that.

They found like marijuana seeds and-

- [David] (laughs) And you understand,

I don't care about marijuana
seeds or any of that.

- And they found, uh-
- I couldn't care less.

- my medication.

- [David] 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 to visit-
- She has been in the house.

- Yeah, I assume she's a neighbor girl,

she's probably been in there.

So not a big deal there.

So, you said they searched your room.

- Yes.
- Other than marijuana seeds

and that sort of stuff,
did they find anything?

- Nope.

- [David] Okay, did they take anything?

- Um, they took my sheet and
dropped a pillowcase I like.

- [David] Did they take anything else?

- Um, I don't think so.

I haven't really surveyed anything.

- [David] Okay.

Okay.
- I think they took clothes.

- Oh, they took from Emma.
- Her clothes.

And her diary.

I mean, they gave us the list.

It's not all coming to
me what was on the list,

but there's a long list.

- [Narrator] This moment
is incredibly significant.

Up until this point, Alyssa had no idea

her diary was collected as evidence.

- [Karen] I mean they gave us the list.

It's not all coming to
me what was on the list,

but there's a long list.

- Your diary?

Okay.

You ever gone through the diary?

- [Karen] I've looked at some of it, yes.

- Okay.

Did you know that?

- No.

- [David] Does it make you angry?

- Oh yeah.

- Yeah.

It's kind of your private,
personal thoughts, isn't it?

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [Narrator] 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 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, 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 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 Olten

reported Elizabeth's
disappearance to the police.

Alyssa had scribbled the
words out in blue ink,

thinking no one would ever
figure out how to read them.

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 ahmazing.

As soon as you get over

the ohmygawd I can't do this feeling.,

it's pretty enjoyable.

I'm kind of nervous and
shaky though right now.

Kay, I gotta go to church now, lol."

This entire time,

Detective Rice was 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.

- [David] Do you think they
went through your diary?

- If they collected it, then most likely.

- [Narrator] He remained
silent for 13 seconds

and 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.

- What?

The only thing I can think of
is some embarrassing things

that they find in there about me.

- [Narrator] 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.

- So...

- [Narrator] She smacks her lips-

- So.
- Swallows,

flips her hair.

She will 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.

- [David] We talked a little bit earlier

about technology.

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] Even if you
write something down-

- Yeah.

- [David] 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.

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] That doesn't make it go away.

- Okay.

- It's still there.

And forensically, and actually

you don't even need a
whole a lot of forensics,

if you hold it up to a light

you can see what was written.

And then when that's
processed, forensically,

every word, every stroke is still there.

Do you hear me?

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] What we want to do

is find out what happened
to the little girl.

- Okay.

- [Narrator] Alyssa's face,

though a bit grainy in the
footage, is almost frowning.

She's struggling to keep it together,

giving only short answers
to Rice's questions.

Then, Rice drops another bomb shell.

- [David] I need to
know what the truth is.

- Okay.

- [David] We have your diary.

We've read your diary.

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] Including the last entry.

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [Narrator] 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've felt
like the longest silence

Alyssa ever endured.

And you can see her face start to falter.

Maybe her eyes are watering up,

but it's hard to tell.

Some argue that the first
person who breaks silence

in an 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
moment when Alyssa might break,

but then she seems to reset
her emotions and remain quiet,

staring back at Sergeant Rice.

- [David] We both know what
we're talking about here.

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] Where's she at?

- I don't know.

(Tobie whispering)

What?

- We deal with kids all the time.

- Mm-hmm
- We deal with kids

all the time, that's all
I've done for 12 years,

is deal with kids.
- Mm-hmm.

- You're not going to
say anything in this room

that's going to catch us off guard, okay?

We need you to be honest.

Just be honest.

If you know something then say it, okay?

- [Narrator] Tobie is
making a serious error here

by involving herself in the questioning.

She is a juvenile officer,
and in taking this role,

she supposed to be acting
as Alyssa's advocate,

not as an interrogator.

She is limited to
observing the 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.

- Please continue.

- Just say if you know something.

- Okay.
- Just go ahead.

- [David] You need to tell us the truth.

You need to tell us what happened.

If this was an accident, that's fine,

but we need the truth.

- [Narrator] With Rice saying, it's fine

if it, meaning the death of
Elizabeth, was an accident.

This is the minimization
part of the Reid technique

that's been used throughout
this entire interrogation.

Minimization is an interrogator's attempt

to decrease a suspect's
resistance to confessing

by downplaying the
seriousness 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.

- [David] We have to know the truth.

That's all I'm asking for,
is for whatever happened.

I have to know the truth.

This is not gonna go away.

All I'm asking for is the truth.

- [Karen] I don't know
what's in the diary.

I don't know the truth.

- [David] That's what I'm asking.

Tell us what happened.

- [Narrator] The lip pull
is a micro-expression

that signals intense displeasure,

dislike or disagreement.

In sports, players will often

exhibit the lip pull after a loss.

They are resistantly admitting defeat.

Alyssa exhibits the lip pull here.

This may speak to Alyssa's mindset.

Is this remorse, or
regret, or is it 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.

- [David] 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 closure.

Just like if this is your little sister,

you would want closure.

This family needs closure.

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] Okay?

Let's start at the beginning.

Is this something that was planned out

or was this just an accident?

- It was an accident.

- [David] Okay.

- [Narrator] 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 door.

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.

- [Narrator] She's quickly
thinking about her options

and whether she can lie her
way out of this situation.

- [David] Well, this is
a starting point then.

That's kind of what I thought.

Why don't we start with...

(Alyssa crying)

Why don't we start with what happened?

Did you get home from school at 3:30?

- Do you want to stay here?
- I did.

- [David] Shh, shh.

You got home at 3:30?

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] And then what
happened from there?

- I went to the forest,
like I said. (exhaling)

And was there.

- Do you have an extra
one for her, please?

Was there in the forest?

- Yes.

- Was she alone?

- Yeah.

(Alyssa sniffles)

We decided to go hang out,

'cause it was a nice day. (sniffing)

(Alyssa exhaling)

(video swishing)

We were just (exhaling)
messing... (sniffing)

- [David] Take your time.

(Alyssa inhaling)
(Alyssa sniffing)

(video swishing)

- We were just messing around. (sobs)

And she, (exhaling) she fell.

(Alyssa crying)

She died. (crying)

And I didn't know what to do. (crying)

So I, (sniffing) oh.

(video swooshing)

(Alyssa sniffling)

- [Narrator] Alyssa struggles to inhale.

Her windpipe is constricting,

which indicates the
presence of severe stress.

This biological marker of stress

suggests Alyssa is legitimately affected.

It could likewise be that
Alyssa is effectively

intentionally activating a stress response

for the sake of believability.

(Alyssa exhaling)

(Alyssa sniffing)

- So I burned her body

- [Narrator] Alyssa goes from sobbing

to attempting 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 how long 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.

- [David] Okay, who helped you?

- Nobody.

- [Narrator] Rice asks
another assumptive question.

When interrogators assume answers,

suspects with answers are
more likely to share them.

- [David] Where at in the forest?

(Alyssa sniffs)

- I still did it by the creek bed.

- [David] By the creek bed?

- Yes.

- [David] How did you burn her?

- I just got a bunch of wood

and (sniffs) I started a fire,

then burned her body.

- [Narrator] The only reason

it seems she said she burned the body,

without knowing 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 for.

- [David] Why did you dig that hole?

Was that for her?

(Alyssa sniffs)

When did you dig that hole?

You dug it ahead of time, didn't you?

- I dug that hole on Wednesday. (sniffs)

- [David] Before you played with her?

- Yes.

- [Narrator] 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.

The hole was dug on Friday,

five days prior to the murder.

At this point, Alyssa can't
even follow her own story.

Alyssa admitting to digging the hole

before she and Elizabeth hung out,

establishes premeditation.

- [David] It doesn't matter

whether the body's burned or not.

They'll go through and do an autopsy.

- Okay.
- And they will discover

every injury on her body
and the cause of death.

And I understand you said she
fell and that's why she died.

However, they will know on the autopsy,

if she was shot, if she
was hit in the head,

if her throat was cut.

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] They will know all
of that from the autopsy.

So 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,

the full disclosure, right now

so it doesn't come out later that, well,

wasn't telling the full truth again.

- [Narrator] Then, he calls her bluff.

- [David] How did you kill her?

- I didn't, she died.

- [David] How did she die?

Nine-year-old girls don't just die.

- We were messing around,

then she fell back and
hit her head. (sniffs)

- [David] Was her throat cut?

- [Narrator] Alyssa sharply
exhales as she responds.

- Yeah.

- Oh, you... (crying)

- You can leave. (inhales)

- [Narrator] We see
Alyssa's emotional appeal

to 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?

- [Karen] (sobbing) Oh, my God!

- I wonder if she can get out.
(Karen sobbing)

- She would (indistinct) to leave,

I'm not gonna ask any questions right now

until we get...

(knocking on door)

(Karen sobbing)

(door clicking)

(Karen sobbing)

Take your time.

Take your time.

(Karen sobbing)

Do you want a drink of water?

Take your time.

(Alyssa crying)

- [Karen] I'm going to pass out.

- [Woman] We're her, we're here.

(Karen crying)

- [Narrator] Alyssa finally admits

to cutting Elizabeth Olten'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?

(Alyssa sniffling)

- [David] I think you dug
the hole ahead of time,

because you knew you
were going to kill her.

I think you tried to dig
the hole, like I said,

and you realized it was too
hard to dig down that far.

- [Karen] It'll never be okay!

No!

(Alyssa crying)

- [David] And I think you got out there.

You knew you were going to kill her.

And then you cut her throat.

(Alyssa sniffling)

Is that what happened?

- [Alyssa] Yes. (exhaling)

- [Narrator] We hear
Alyssa exhale heavily,

possibly a sign of relief.

As she runs through her actions,

she does this multiple times.

- [David] What did you use
to cut her throat with?

- The knife. (exhaling)

- [David] A pocket knife, a kitchen knife?

- Kitchen knife.

- [David] Okay, where's
that kitchen knife now?

- (sniffing) Home in the sink.

- [David] In the sink of your house?

- I believe so.

- [David] Okay.

(video swishing)

Did you stab her?

- Afterwards.

- [David] Stab her body or where?

- Yes.
- Okay.

How many times did you stab her?

- Two, I think.
- Two?

(Alyssa sniffling)

- [Narrator] 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.

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

adaptive mechanism or a learned regularity

in human social behavior,

to mimic the normal flow
of human conversation.

- [David] Did you hit
her with anything first?

- No.

- [David] Or did she just
cut her neck or what?

You tell me what happened.

(Alyssa sniffling)

(Alyssa crying)

- [Karen] No. (crying)

(Alyssa sniffling)

- (exhaling) I, yeah, I
cut her throat and she died

and like I just (inhaling) stabbed her.

(Alyssa sniffling)

- [Narrator] Premeditation
has been established

because she dug a grave
prior to Elizabeth's murder.

And Alyssa finally tells Rice
what the murder weapon was,

a black handled kitchen 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 later revealed

that Elizabeth was stabbed eight times.

When she was finished,

she just put the knife in the sink

and washed it as if nothing had happened.

- [David] When you got home
from school about 3:30.

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] What happened from there?

Walk me through step-by-step.

- Um,

I got home, I went in my room,

I still went out to the
forest around 5:30-ish.

When I walked over, was outside.

- [David] When did you dig the hole?

- Um, I dug that hole

when I was trying to find
a place to hide her body.

- [David] So did you dig
that after you killed her?

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] Yes?

Okay.

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."

- [David] You knew you
were gonna do it then?

Okay, so you went over there
about 5:30 and got her.

Was with you?

- She was for part of the way.

Like I said, I ditched her.

- [David] You ditched her?

- [Alyssa] Yeah.

- [David] Did you have
the knife hidden on you,

or where was it at?

- Yeah, it was, I had it.

- In your hand?
- No.

- [David] Okay.

So did you walk all the
way over to her house?

- (exhaling) Yeah.

- [David] Okay, show
me what route you went.

- I went out through here.

- [David] Went and got her?

(video swishing)

What did you tell you were going to do?

- We were just hanging out.

I don't know, I just... (sniffling)

(Alyssa exhaling)

- [David] You had the knife with you,

had you made up your decision

you were going to kill
her there at the park?

At what point did you make the decision

that you were going to kill her?

(Alyssa inhaling)

- (exhaling) When we
had been at the creek.

- [David] Okay.

Why?
(Alyssa sniffling)

- I don't know. (exhaling)

- [Narrator] 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've uniquely appealed to Alyssa.

Either way, Alyssa could not 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?

- [David] You just decided?

Okay.

Was she facing you?

Was she turned around?

What happened?

- Um, she was turned around.

- [David] You just came up
behind her and cut her throat?

And then stabbed her twice?

- [Alyssa] Hmm.

- [David] Okay.

And is it true, you said
then you burned her body?

Okay, is that part true?

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] So is her body,
should still be there?

- I burned it and then I like scattered it

in the moat or the creek.

- [David] Into the creek?

- Yes.

- [David] Is the creek full of water?

- Yes. (sniffs)

- [David] Okay.

'Cause generally, it's pretty hard

to burn a body all the way.

So it wasn't burnt up all the way, was it?

- No.

- [David] No, 'cause
it's hard to burn a body.

- Right.

- [David] So you kind
of pushed what was left

of the body into the water?

- Mm-hmm.
- Was the water

moving pretty fast?

- Kind of.

- [David] Okay.

Clothed still?

You could still see her clothes?

Or were they burned off on the fire?

Okay.

And you took the knife back home?

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] Okay, and then
what did you do from there?

You had the knife and then show
me what happened from there.

- I just walked back and came inside.

- [David] Did you walk back
this path that you showed me?

- Ah, yes.

- [Narrator] The conversation
turns back to the hole.

- [David] What about the hole though?

- Um, it was just there.

- [David] No, it wasn't just there.

- I dug it, yeah, it was there.

- [David] When did you dig it?

- Um, after I...

I was looking for something to do

with her body, so I dug it.

- [David] When?

- (exhaling) It was before I came home.

- [David] Before you came home from where?

- From the forest.

(Alyssa sniffles)

- [David] Who helped you?

- No one.

- [David] Grandpa helped you, didn't he?

- No.

- [Narrator] Rice asks her if
her grandfather helped her,

since he was home at the
time the murder took place.

- [David] You didn't
have a shovel with you.

- I had a knife.

- [David] You didn't dig
that hole with a knife.

You did not dig, I was
out there for five hours.

You didn't dig that hole with a knife.

Your grandpa loves you
very much, doesn't he?

Grandpa would do anything for you.

I know you don't want to tell me.

I know you want to protect him,

but we have got to get
to the truth in this.

You came back, you told
him what had happened

and he wanted to help you.

He wanted to try to make this right.

- I didn't tell my grandpa anything.

- [David] Who helped you?

- No one.

- [David] We're gonna put
them all on a polygraph.

- Okay.

- [David] Who helped you?

- No one.

- [David] When did you dig the hole?

- Wednesday.

- [David] When?

- After I killed her.

- [David] When after you killed her?

- [Narrator] This is a very
common tactic in 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.

The hole becomes the topic
of discussion, yet again.

- [David] You've got to tell the truth.

You're not telling the
truth at this point.

(video swishing)

- Why does it even matter now?

- [David] It does matter

because we have got to find out the truth.

- Well, you already know it.

- [David] We have got
to know the whole truth.

(Alyssa sniffling)

Tell us the truth.

(Alyssa inhaling)

- [Alyssa] I dug it in my way back.

- [David] No, you didn't.

You didn't have a shovel.

(video swishing)

- It was the Friday one. (sniffs)

(clearing throat) Yeah.

- [David] You're telling the truth

about how you killed her, I believe that,

'cause that matches your diary.

- You've done the hard part.

- Yeah.
- Just tell the truth.

The reality is we can deal with the truth.

We can deal with the truth.

(Alyssa exhales)

- [Narrator] Tobie assumes a critical role

in facilitating Alyssa's confession.

(Alyssa crying)

- I dug it Friday.

It was the day, was it.

No one helped me.

- [David] Was it your grandpa?

- No one helped me.

I did it by myself. (sniffling)

- [Narrator] It's interesting to see

how Alyssa goes from trying to lie

and pretend she had nothing to do

with the missing little girl,

to finally admitting she
dug a grave and killed her.

But Sergeant Rice and Tobie 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
a way to continue her lie,

but she's probably the most truthful

when they try to
implicate her grandfather,

probably out of love for him.

Because if there were ill
feelings between them,

there's no doubt she would attempt

to throw him under the bus.

- [David] Did you do
anything else to her body?

- [Alyssa] No.

(Alyssa sniffling)

- [David] Did anyone help you?

- No.

- [David] Who have you told about this?

- No one.
- No one?

- No one.
- Did you tell?

- No.
- Did you tell your grandpa?

- No
- Did you tell your friend?

- No.
- Did you tell anyone?

- No. (sniffling)

- [David] Okay.

- [Narrator] 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.

- [David] How do you
think she did this alone?

- [Dustin] She couldn't have.

- [David] I don't think she did either.

- [Dustin] I mean she
could barely lift me.

- [David] I know.

(video swishing)

Who would be the person
that would help her?

- [Dustin] The only good
friend that I know of

that she always came out with in the back

was a girl named.

- (indistinct)

- [Dustin] That's about it.

- [David] She's right, Tobie's right.

You've done the hard part on this.

One thing I can assure you,
Alyssa I can assure you,

from working in a lot of
homicides for the last 13 years,

I do have a crummy job, the
truth is going to come out.

Every one of these that I work,

where you're sitting here right now,

is going through the agonizing part

of not wanting to come this last portion

and tell on someone else.

(Alyssa sniffling)

- No one else was there.
- The truth is gonna...

The full truth on whatever happened here

is going to come out.

- Okay, they didn't do it.

- [David] Then tell me the
full truth of all this.

Why aren't you telling everything?

- I did.

I switched up the clothing

'cause I wanted to make
it look like an accident.

But then I wasn't, it really was on Friday

that I dug the hole. (sniffles)

- Well, we know it wasn't an accident.

I mean, I've already talked (indistinct).

I know you planned this.

I know you had this in your mind.

I know you thought about this,

and I know you intended on doing this.

I know that.

Okay, I know this wasn't an accident,

that it just spur of the moment.

I know that from the hole.

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] I know you
intended on killing her,

brought her out there for that purpose,

but the problem is your deception

is causing this other issues here, okay?

So I'm past the point of thinking,

is this an accident, did she hit her head?

Did you just change your
mind at the last second

for some reason and decide to kill her.

I know you brought her
out there to kill her.

Okay, why I do, well,
that's not the issue,

but I know that happened.

But we're still having a problem here

with this hole and the rest of it

because you've been lying to us on that.

You see, I mean, none of
your times make any sense.

You didn't dig it with a knife.

We know that didn't happen.

(Alyssa sniffling)

- It was Friday with the shovel.

- [David] When on Friday?

- I'm not sure exactly.

- [Narrator] This is
where we see the shift

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 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 a B average.

Her teacher said she was a smart kid

and never had any
behavioral issues in school.

Her social media presence

showed an entirely different Alyssa.

Her YouTube bio listed her hobbies

as cutting and killing people.

Her Twitter page gave an insight

into 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."

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 said to them,

"I wonder what it would
feel like to kill someone."

According to her friend,

Alyssa would even talk
about what would happen

if she did kill someone,

speculating about whether
or not she would get caught

and how exactly she would kill someone.

The friend thought she was joking.

She'd even said something
similar to her boyfriend.

- [Dustin] She said it
herself, I remember she asked,

"Do you know what it feels
like to kill somebody?"

- [Interrogator] She asked you that?

What'd you say?

- [Dustin] No.

- [Interrogator] What else you say?

- [Dustin] That was it.

- [Interrogator] That was it?

We just started watching that movie.

I didn't even think anything about it,

'cause that wasn't on my mind.

- [Interrogator] So you didn't even think

about when somebody asks you, "Do you know

what it feels like to kill somebody?"

You don't think it's off?

- No.
- That's just something

you have normal conversation
with somebody about,

that it gets brought up in
just normal conversation?

That's happened to you

a lot?
- Well, she's emo

and emos think about that kind of stuff.

- [Interrogator] She's what,

- She's emo, so emos think
about that kind of stuff.

- [Interrogator] What's emo?

- [Dustin] People who
like to cut themselves

and stuff like that and so on.

And think dark things.

- [Interrogator] Okay.

- [Dustin] But I didn't know

that she was actually capable of that.

- [Narrator] 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 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 all supposed to be a game."

There were videos on her YouTube channel

that involved doing dangerous things

like touching a live electric fence

around her grandparents horse paddock.

She forced her twin brothers to touch it

and edited the video

to say 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

and got a lot of pleasure from it,

even experiencing a release

of all the painful emotion
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.

All of this came to a head when at 13,

she attempted to take her own life.

She fully recovered and spent time

in a mental health facility,

where she was prescribed
the antidepressant Prozac.

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 Olten family

about how they need help
recovering Elizabeth's body

so they can have closure.

While that may be the first priority

for the victim's family,

it's law enforcement's
priority to recover the body

so a forensic autopsy can be performed

to corroborate the suspects statements

and generate additional
evidence for the prosecution.

Tobie begins to explain to Alyssa

that the judicial system treats
people who tell the truth

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 Olten.

- [David] We're going to have to talk

some more about this, obviously,

but for right now, I
need to get a larger map.

(Alyssa sobbing)

- Now is the time...

Now is the time to just tell the truth.

That's all you have to
do is tell the truth.

There's parts of your story
that don't make sense.

They don't make sense.

They don't make sense even to me.

Because I am your advocate

and I'm here to protect you.

I'm not going to ask any questions,

but there's statements that you're making

that don't make sense

and it's evident that you're lying.

And we treat people 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, okay?

So he's gonna walk out.

And like he said, he
can't come back and talk,

but don't you have want
to have told him the truth

right from the beginning?

This is your opportunity.

It's your opportunity.

- Okay, I slit her throat
and I strangled her.

- [David] Strangled her?

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] Okay.

You strangled her with your hands?

- [Alyssa] Yes.

- [David] Okay.

Did you have a knife on you?

- Yes.

- [David] Did you cut
her throat at any time?

- Yes.

- [David] You cut her throat afterwards?

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] Okay, so you
strangled her first?

Until she was unconscious, dead,

and then you slit her throat?

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] And did you actually,
did you stab her then?

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] Did you do anything else to her?

- No.

- [David] Okay.

(Alyssa sniffles)

And then what happened after that?

- I went up (sniffling)

and buried her body.

- [David] You buried her?

- Yes.

- [David] Is the body still out there?

- I think so.

- [Narrator] It's unclear
why Alyssa seemed so unsure

that Elizabeth's body will
be in the same location.

The implication by Detective Rice

is that Alyssa may have had help,

and it's interesting to
note how uncertain she is

that Elizabeth will still be there.

- [David] You didn't burn her, did you?

- No.

- [David] Again, I knew you didn't.

She's still out there in the same spot?

- I believe so.

- [David] Okay.

- [Narrator] 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 hole

that has been in question
the entire interrogation

was never used as the grave
site of Elizabeth Olten.

- [David] The hole that I
saw that you pointed out,

what was that about?

- That was gonna be a grave,

but then I didn't do it.

- [David] You didn't do it, why?

What was...?

- I couldn't dig that far.

- [David] Okay, how deep
did you dig the grave

that's she's in?

- It's not that deep. (sniffs)

- [David] Okay.

Will you be able to point out on the map

and take us to where she's at?

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] You didn't burn her, did you?

- No.

- [David] Did you bring
the shovel with you?

- Um, no.

- [David] How did you dig the hole?

- That was, I had already dug it.

- [David] Okay, when
did you dig that hole?

- That one was also on Friday.

- [David] So you dug the hole on Friday?

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] And had it all ready.

Did you leave the shovel out there?

- No.

- [David] Okay.

So the hole was already dug on Friday

and you brought her out there Wednesday?

Killed her there on
Wednesday, strangled her,

then cut her throat,

stabbed her twice,

put her in the hole.

And then how'd you fill the dirt in?

- [Alyssa] With my hands.

- [David] With your hands?

(video swishing)

- There's still something,
there's still something.

- [Narrator] Tobie takes this opportunity

to push for any last pieces of information

that Alyssa could be concealing.

- There's still something
you're not telling.

I can tell.

- [David] Oh.

(Alyssa sniffling)

- Um, no, that's it.

- You're sure?

- Yes.

(Alyssa sniffles)

- [Narrator] Alyssa had
dug two holes that Friday,

the first hole that had been discussed

at length in the interrogation

ended up being the one 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

the nine-year-old Elizabeth Olten's body.

As the interviewer has noted,
the two holes are interesting,

but not everyone buys
Alyssa's explanation.

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 been corroborated

and so we may never know exactly why

Alyssa chose to dig two holes.

Now that the story is clearly laid out,

they've established
how the murder was done

and where the body is.

Sergeant Rice moves on to the motive,

the reason Alyssa did it.

- [David] Why did you pick her?

- I don't know.

'Cause I just did.

- [David] Is there something about her?

Did you just want to know

what it was like to kill someone?

- Yeah, I just wanted to know.

- [Narrator] 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 would feel like to kill someone.

Thrill killing stems from
a place of powerlessness.

These killers are
empowered by their murders.

- [David] Was she just
someone nearby or was-

- Yeah.

(video swishing)

(Alyssa crying)

- [Narrator] She straddles the fence

between emotional upset and removedness.

She lowers her head, holding
her face 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 she could also regret killing her

for a more selfish reason.

She knows the repercussions.

- [David] We'll take a break,
I'm just gonna (indistinct).

(Alyssa sobbing)

Be right back, I'm gonna get a map.

- Do you need some water?

Do you need anything?

- [Alyssa] No. (sobbing)

(David knocking on door)

(Alyssa sniffling)

- Okay.

(door creaking)

- Oh, God.

- I want you to look at me.

I want you to look at me.

- [Narrator] She breaks
down once Rice leaves

to retrieve a larger map.

Tobie attempts to reassure Alyssa.

Again, we see her emotional instability.

She struggles to self-regulate.

- Did you use (indistinct) medicine?

- (indistinct) sometimes.

- Okay, how often?

- Every five to six weeks,
she's my psychiatrist.

- Do you have a counselor?

- Yes.

- Who's that?

- (indistinct).

- Okay.

What medication are you on?

- Prozac.

- Prozac?

- Yeah.
- Okay.

- [Narrator] Prozac is
a selective serotonin

reuptake inhibitor, SSRI,
an antidepressant medication

primarily used to treat
major depressive disorder.

If Alyssa has an underlying mood disorder

like bipolar disorder,

she might experience
increased psychotic symptoms,

as disorders like these are sensitive

to imbalanced levels of serotonin.

Serotonin is a neurotransmitter

that plays a role in modulating
mood, sleep and cognition.

Specifically, antidepressants

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,

delusions and aggression,
may lead to violent behavior.

- Let me see your wrists.

What happened there?

- (sniffling) I was getting depression.

- You're a cutter?

- Yes, and I tried to kill myself.

That's why I went to (indistinct).

- When was that?

- When I was 13, two years ago.

But I've thought about
it a lot since then.

(video swishing)

- How long have you lived
with your grandparents?

(indistinct).

- (sniffling) I've lived with them

since I was about eight.

- Eight?

Were you with your mom until then?

- Yes. (sniffles)

- Did she take care of you?

- Not really.

- [Narrator] Childhood
maltreatment and/or neglect

is a strong predictor
of suicidal ideation,

pathological aggression and criminality,

all of which are present in Alyssa.

- Did she let people hurt you?

- I don't remember.

- You don't remember?

- Or anything (indistinct).

- You don't remember anything
before the age of eight?

- No.

- [Narrator] Dissociation
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.

- How old are your brothers?

- They're 11. (sniffling)

- Are you close to them
like you are your sister?

- Yes.

- Yeah.

- Would you (indistinct) sister?

(Alyssa sniffling)

I have a little sister too.

(Alyssa sniffles)

(indistinct).

- [Narrator] Tobie is walking Alyssa

through the process of grounding.

Grounding is a technique

often used in therapy
and crisis situations

that pulls individuals
away from flashbacks

or disturbing emotions, into the present.

She encourages Alyssa to
use her breath as an anchor,

a sensory tool to call
attention to physical

rather than emotional sensations.

- [David] Do you feel like
killing yourself right now?

(Alyssa sniffles)

(Alyssa sobbing)

- Okay, we're gonna get out of here.

And you don't have any sharp objects

in your shoes or anything like that?

Okay.

What we're gonna do right now

is kind of get some things
line up to go out there

and have you point out that
site where she's at that.

- Okay.
- Will you be able to do that?

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

(video swishing)

(Alyssa sobbing)

(door thudding)

(Alyssa weeping)

(Alyssa sniffles)

- [Narrator] Once alone,
Alyssa almost immediately

regulates her breathing,
her head hangs low.

(Alyssa exhaling)

- The reality is that your
grandmother loves you,

and love doesn't stop, okay?

I don't want you to
think nobody loves you.

Your grandparents love you.

- [David] Love is unconditional.

- Absolutely.

(Alyssa sniffles)

- [David] She loves you unconditionally.

And she's not going to
understand why this happened

and there are going to be
some (indistinct), you know?

I'm not gonna sugarcoat this,

you guys have some rough
times ahead of you,

but she's not gonna stop loving you.

(video swishing)

And when you came back home,

what did you do with that knife?

- I put it in the sink.

- [David] Did you clean it?

- Yes.

- [David] Describe the
knife to me again, please.

- It's a kitchen knife,

like that long with a black handle.

- [David] Black handle?

- [Alyssa] Mm-hmm.

- [David] Okay.

Is it just straight edged,

does it have those serrations in it?

Do you know

what I'm talking about?
- It's a straight edge.

- Straight edge?
- Yeah.

- [David] Okay.

- Will I get in trouble now? (sniffles)

- [Narrator] Because Alyssa is a juvenile,

Sergeant Rice explains

what's going to happen
next in the investigation,

how they must speak to everyone

that could be involved,
to get to the truth,

especially since Alyssa lied

at the beginning of the interrogation.

Alyssa is 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.

- [David] It is, date's
October 23rd, 2009, 2:00.

Sergeant David Rice and
Missouri State Highway Patrol.

And it is-

- [Michael] Michael Kuti.

- [David] with the Cole
County Juvenile Office.

And we're here in Cole County

at the site where you say this occurred,

where you-
- Mm-hmm.

- [David] Can you walk me through?

I want you to walk me
through step by step,

when you got up here,
what actually occurred.

- [Alyssa] We walked.

(leaves scrunching)

(video swishing)

Um,

right around here is where
everything just happened

and then I dragged her into the hole area.

- [David] Okay.

What happened here?

- [Alyssa] (sniffling) I strangled her.

- Okay.
- And then cut her throat

and stabbed her.

- [David] Okay.

When you strangled her,
was she facing you?

- [Alyssa] Yeah.

- Okay, so she was facing
you, looking towards you?

- Mm-hmm.
- And you strangled her,

one hand?

- [Alyssa] Two.

- [David] Two hands.

Okay, and what happened?

Did she stand up, fall to
the ground, what happened?

- [Alyssa] She had fallen to the ground.

- [David] Okay.

Was she moving at that point?

- [Alyssa] No.

- [David] Okay.

So she was lying on the ground.

- Mm-hmm.
- Was she face down,

on her back?
- No,

she was on her back.

- [David] Okay.

And where was, you said
earlier, you had a knife.

Where was your knife at that point?

- [Alyssa] Um, (sniffs) I
put it back in my pocket,

like not pocket, but like, held it.

- [Narrator] Here Alyssa
doesn't even remember

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.

- [David] Which pocket was it in?

Front? Back?
- It was like in my waist,

in my waistband.
- In your waist?

- [Alyssa] Yeah, like-

- Okay.
- right there.

Okay.

And that was the knife
that you told me about

with the black handle you told me earlier?

Okay, and what did you do with the knife?

- [Alyssa] I put it in the sink.

- [David] No, no, when you were here,

once you said she was on the ground,

not moving you said, after
that point, what did you do?

- [Alyssa] I cut her
throat and I stabbed her.

- [David] You cut her
throat and stabbed her.

Where did you stab her?

- [Alyssa] In her chest area.

- [David] In her chest area?

- Yeah.
- In the front or in the back?

- Front.
- In the front?

Okay.

How many times?

- [Alyssa] Twice, I believe.

- [Narrator] 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.

- [David] Twice, okay.

And then what happened after that?

- [Alyssa] Dragged her into the hole.

- [David] Dragged her
into this hole over here?

- [Alyssa] And buried her.

- [David] Okay, and when
did you dig that hole?

- [Alyssa] Friday.

- [David] Okay.

How did you cover her up?

Did you have a shovel

or something here?
- No, I just used my hands?

- [David] Used your hands?

Okay, and this is the hole over here?

She's in here.

How deep is that hole?

- [Alyssa] It's not very deep.

- [David] Okay.

All right.

Okay, and I think we've
talked about everything else

back at the office, I
just wanted to go over it.

Is there anything else?

This all happened right about here?

- Mm-hmm.
- Are you pretty sure of that.

- [Alyssa] Yeah.

- [David] Okay.

Did you leave anything out
here that you can think of?

- [Alyssa] I think she dropped
a piece of gum somewhere.

- [David] You did?

- [Alyssa] She did.

- [David] She dropped a piece of gum?

Where do you think that was at?

- [Alyssa] I'm not sure, it's probably

under some leaves now, but...

- [David] What happened to her phone?

- [Alyssa] I'm pretty sure

it was in her pocket the entire time

- [David] In her pocket?

- [Alyssa] Yes.

- [David] So do you think her phone

is in her pocket in that hole?

- [Alyssa] Yes.

- [David] Okay.

Did you ever hear it go off?

- [Alyssa] No.

- [Narrator] Alyssa claimed

she never heard Elizabeth's phone ring,

contradicting Elizabeth's mother,

who claimed she called her
phone over and over again.

- [David] Okay.

Okay, I'm gonna go ahead
and shut the tape off then.

- [Alyssa] Go ahead.

- [Narrator] She used her
hands to cover Elizabeth's body

with leaves, dirt and twigs.

Once the body was recovered and autopsied,

Elizabeth Olten was laid to rest

on Wednesday, October 28th, 2009.

She was buried in a pink coffin

and carried to the cemetery
by a horse drawn carriage.

Mourners wore pink and released balloons.

Elizabeth's aunt described
her as "the 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 of help.

And along with all the inconsistencies,

Dustin's explanation
behind how he discovered

Alyssa killed Elizabeth was
strange, to say the least.

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 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 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.

- [David] And the day after this happened,

you skipped school and
you're smoking pot with?

- Mm-hmm.
- Right?

Did you tell him about this?

- No.

- [David] Why not?

I mean you guys are close.

Didn't you feel like you
needed to tell somebody?

- No, that's not right
really the kind of thing

that you tell people.

- [Narrator] Investigators also picked up

on what they believed was a slip-up

at the beginning of his interrogation.

- [Dustin] All that I know
is what the FBI told me.

- [Interrogator] What'd they tell you?

- [Dustin] They told
me that she buried 'em

and then slit her throat and stabbed her.

She already had some hole dug for her,

and then buried her.

She wasn't big enough,

so then they buried her again.

- [Interrogator] They buried her again?

- [Dustin] I mean,

yeah.

- [Interrogator] Who's they?

- [Dustin] I mean.

- [Interrogator] Who's they?

- I didn't mean they.
- Dustin,

you're not in trouble here, okay?.

You're not in a lot of trouble here.

- [Dustin] I didn't mean they.

- [Interrogator] You're not
in a lot of trouble here, bud.

- [Dustin] It's just what I've been saying

for the past couple of days,

'cause I just couldn't
see doing that by herself.

But obviously, you just told me

that there was another person involved

and I can believe that.

- [Interrogator] No, you told me that.

- [Narrator] Alyssa was charged
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 vicious

and that the Missouri
state 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 was 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,

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
St. Martin's community.

Alyssa told the court what she'd done,

speaking in a clear emotionless voice.

She'd strangled Elizabeth with her hands

and used the kitchen knife
for the rest of the attack.

Nearly everyone in the courtroom

already knew the details of the murder

since it was well publicized in the media.

However, this was the first time

hearing it straight from
the murderer herself.

Elizabeth's mother, Patty, sobbed

while Alyssa retold her daughter's murder.

There were several reasons

that the courts probably
reduced the charges.

At the time, it was a gray area,

whether it was legal

to sentence a 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 a life without parole

was cruel and unusual
punishment for people so young.

The defense said that Alyssa was 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 diagnoses

were the reasons behind her
killing of Elizabeth Olten.

Case documents reveal a police 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 delinquent
behavior was increasing.

Alyssa had actually called
this mental health professional

soon 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 to Elizabeth.

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 in their experience,

Alyssa never expressed a desire

to harm anyone else, but herself.

Another doctor even agreed
with this same belief.

However, they also conceded
that they 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 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

was increased only a short time
before she killed Elizabeth.

They claim that this increase
may have played a role

in making her behavior unpredictable

and even could have made
her more prone to violence.

One question that everyone comes back 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 of euphoric adrenaline

from the act 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.

I'm sorry."

Alyssa was sentenced to life in prison,

but the story doesn't end there.

Due to the publicized nature of the crime

and the lead up to the trial,

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 her.

Alyssa would have been eligible for parole

for the first time in 2044

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 as early as 2027.