Emotionless father sentenced for killing 4-year-old son

By Kathryn Reed

A two-hour sentencing hearing may have seemed long for the more than 50 people in the courtroom, but for those who had to wait 24 years to hear a judge say Ulysses Roberson would spend 15 years to life in prison, it was time well spent Wednesday afternoon.

Roberson, who last month was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of his son, continued to express his innocence.

Ulysses Roberson

Dressed in an orange jumpsuit, he showed no remorse, nor exhibited any with his words as he denied killing 4-year-old Alexander Olive. The boy’s body has never been found.

“He showed his true colors today by not accepting any responsibility or exhibiting any emotion,” FBI agent Chris Campion said of Roberson. “You don’t meet too many sociopaths. He is one of them.”

When both sides had their say, El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Suzanne Kingsbury said all the adults in the boy’s life had failed him.

Roberson lived with several women in the Tahoe Keys neighborhood of South Lake Tahoe. The boy is believed to have been killed in December 1985 or January 1986.

Judy Olive, the boy’s mother, forgave Roberson at Wednesday’s sentencing, just like she had done on the witness stand. However, she chose not to be in the courtroom when Roberson spoke.

Roberson asked to be able to leave when Olive gave her PowerPoint presentation, but the judge denied that request.

Olive showed slides of her life, the family members her son never met, the few pictures she has from his short life.

A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 15 to determine how much credit for time served Roberson will have taken off his sentence. The state Department of Corrections will decide where he will be imprisoned.