Murder and Madness in Missouri: The Elizabeth Olten Killing

In St. Martin, Missouri, a small community known for being a haven from big city violence, a vivacious 9-year-old named Elizabeth Olten began to walk home after visiting a playmate who lived a mere quarter-mile away. It was yet light out, but Olten would not tarry; she feared the dark as much as she did the nearby stand of woods. Yet darkness is not the exclusive milieu of evil, which would befall her rapidly and without relent.

When she was late arriving home, her family made a quick search and notified the police no later than 7 PM. Over the next couple days fliers were made up, and volunteers searched the surrounding area along with police. Pings from Elizabeth’s cell phone confirmed it was in the immediate area, possibly in the woods she disliked, which were searched to no avail. Then the police got a lead in the form of one or two writings, possibly including a letter.

Investigation Takes Police in an Inconceivable Direction

Further details on this lead are not yet available, but it did give them a person of interest, one whom they otherwise would have had trouble believing to have been involved. It was not a middle-aged male with a history of sex crimes, but a 15-year-old girl, the older sister of the playmate Olten visited that fateful day. On Friday, October 23, 2009, the authorities arrived at the girl’s home and questioned her, possibly showing her the writing(s) that had led them there. Then according to Cole County Sheriff Greg White, the suspect led police to a wooded area near her home where they would find the body of Elizabeth Olten.

Elizabeth Olten, family photos

The woods the 9-year-old had feared had become her interim grave. The area had been searched before, but according to Sheriff White, she had been “very well concealed.”

The Suspect Wanted to Go Home

The 15-year-old appeared before Cole County Judge John Beteem on October 28 on a charge of 1st degree murder. There remained the issue of whether she should be tried as an adult, which issue the judge set for hearing on November 18. Yet before proceedings concluded the suspect, through counsel, requested that she be allowed to go home pending the November hearing. The gravity of her offense seemed to escape her; somebody should impress upon her that this isn’t a video game, that she can’t press a button taking her back to October 21 so she can choose a different strategy. Does she not understand that she can’t go home, that her own family members can’t call it home? Not anymore.