Mary Bell is a child killer. Scary stories and mystical stories
In the spring of 1968, serious accidents began to occur in one of the areas of Newcastle. On May 11, a 3-year-old boy fell from the roof where he was playing with Mary Bell. The boy survived, but was seriously injured.
Soon, the mothers of three six-year-old children contacted the police with a complaint that Mary Bell was strangling their children during children's games. The constable visited Mary Bell and gave her a lecture on the topic of relationships with other children.
A few days later, Mary Bell came to the Browns' house and asked if she could see Martin. The mother began to cry and said: “No, dear, Martin is dead.” Mary replied, “I know. I wanted to see him in the coffin."
On July 31, 1968, 3-year-old Brian Howe disappeared. Soon he was found. The boy was strangled, his stomach was ripped open, and his legs had numerous cuts. Experts, based on the nature of the injuries, determined that the killer was a physically weak person, possibly a child.
Mary Bell was soon caught and found guilty of the child murders and sent to Moore Court open prison to serve a life sentence.
At her trial, Mary Bell stated that she killed “only for the pleasure of killing”...
Mary Bell
This is the first documented child serial killer. She was found guilty of killing two other children.
Her upbringing certainly played a key role in the formation of cruelty and sadism in Mary Bell. Maria's mother was a prostitute who forced her daughter to take part in sex acts with her clients.
In May 1968, Mary strangled four-year-old Martin Brown in an empty house. In July of that year, she killed a second boy, Brian Howe, and cut a large "M" into his stomach with scissors.
"At Her Majesty's wishes", Mary was imprisoned without an official release date, but was subsequently released in 1980 and has since changed her name and started a family (Mary Bell today, see photo at right).
Two books written by Gitta Sereni are dedicated to Mary Bell - “The Case of Mary Bell” (1972) and “Unheard Cries: The Story of Mary Bell” (1998). The first book describes only the terrible crimes committed by Mary, the second contains her detailed biography, including conversations between the author and the heroine, stories of her relatives and people who knew her in prison. In the second book, the author tried to analyze the influence on the formation of Mary’s character of the lifestyle led by her mother, a prostitute who specialized in dominance.
The Blair government tried to prevent the second book from being published. The basis for the ban was the provision of the law, according to which criminals should not receive the proceeds of their crimes, and Mary Bell, according to the tabloid press, received a considerable fee for her participation in writing the book, according to some sources - 50,000 pounds. However, the book still saw the light of day.
Djuna Richardson, Martin Brown's mother, said the law must be changed to stop people making money from their crimes. “I'm absolutely devastated. I can’t understand why this creature is allowed to receive money for the blood of my unfortunate child and Brian Howe ... "
) - child killer. In December 1968, she was convicted of the murders of 4-year-old Martin Brown (killed on May 25) and 3-year-old Brian Howe (killed on July 31) (the second in complicity with her friend and namesake Norma Bell, 13). Both victims were strangled. From Brian Hay, Mary cut out the letter “M” on his stomach with a razor, and “N” on his right hand, cut off a clump of hair with scissors and scratched his genitals with them. Mary Bell was 11 years old at the time of the murders. Between the two crimes, Mary and Norma destroyed a children's institution at night, leaving signs like "I kill and will be back soon." Mary was found guilty of manslaughter with a mitigating factor. This circumstance was the diagnosis of doctors - a psychopathic deviation, the symptoms of which are the lack of remorse for the actions committed and the inability to plan their consequences. At the trial she stated that she killed “only for the pleasure received from killing.” She was released in 1980 and lives under a new name and surname. Has a daughter born in 1984.
Before the murders
Mary's mother Betty Bell was a prostitute and was often away from home working in Glasgow. She had four children and was not officially married. Mary was Betty's first child. She was born when her mother was only 17 (16) years old, shortly after an unsuccessful attempt to poison herself with pills. Four years later, the mother tried to poison her own daughter. Bethie had mental disabilities since childhood - for example, for many years she refused to eat with her family unless food was placed in a corner under her chair. May grew up in Scotwood, an economically depressed area of Newcastle. At school she attacked other children and committed acts of vandalism.
Literature
- Sereny, Gitta. Cries Unheard. Macmillan, London, 1998. Hardback ISBN 0-333-73524-2; paperback ISBN 0-333-75311-9
- Sereny, Gitta. The Case of Mary Bell (1972)
Links
- Interview with Gitta Sereny, 1998 - with LNL's Phillip Adams
| Mary Flora Bell | |
|---|---|
| Mary Flora Bell | |
| Bell during his arrest, 1968 Bell during his arrest, 1968 |
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| Birth name | Mary Flora Bell |
| Date of Birth | 26 of May(1957-05-26 ) (62 years old) |
| Place of Birth | Newcastle upon Tyne, England, UK |
| Citizenship | Great Britain |
| Occupation | murderer, a prisoner |
| Mother | Betty McCrickett |
| Children | daughter |
Betty had mental disabilities since childhood - for example, for many years she refused to eat with her family unless food was placed in a corner under her chair. Betty was involved in prostitution and was often away from home, working in Glasgow. Besides Mary, she had three more children. Before the birth of her eldest daughter, Betty made an unsuccessful attempt to poison herself with pills. Her relatives later testified that Betty tried to kill Mary several times during the first years of her life. Moreover, she tried to make it so that her death looked like an accident. So one relative admitted that he saw Betty giving her daughter sleeping pills under the guise of candy. Mary herself, during interrogations, said that she was repeatedly sexually abused because Betty forced her to participate in sexual acts with men from the age of four.
Murders
On May 25, 1968, the day before her 11th birthday, Mary Bell strangled 4-year-old Martin Brown in an abandoned house. It is believed that she committed this murder alone. Then Mary and her namesake friend, 13-year-old Norma Joyce Bell (1955–89), vandalized a children's facility in Scotswood one night, leaving signs like " I'm killing and I'll be back soon" The police did not pay attention to this incident, considering it an ordinary hooligan prank.
On July 31, 1968, Mary and Norma strangled 3-year-old Brian Howe in a vacant lot in the same Scotswood area. According to police reports, Mary later returned to his body, cut out the letter “M” on the child’s stomach with a razor, and an “N” on his right hand (the first letters of his and Norma’s names), scratched his genitals with scissors and cut off a clump of hair.
In August of that year, Mary and Norma were charged with two counts of manslaughter.
Trial and imprisonment
On 17 December 1968, at the Newcastle Assizes, Norma Bell was acquitted and Mary Bell was convicted of manslaughter with the mitigating factor of diminished responsibility. This circumstance was the diagnosis of court-appointed psychiatrists - a psychopathic deviation, the symptoms of which are a lack of remorse for the actions committed and the inability to plan their consequences. At her trial, Mary stated that she killed “only for the pleasure that comes from killing.”
As a result, Mary was sentenced to indefinite imprisonment. Initially, she was kept in the Red Bank special home for asocial children in St. Helens (25 years later, one of the killers of 3-year-old James Bulger, John Venebels, was imprisoned there), where she was the center of much attention in the British press and even in the German magazine Stern. Betty gave interviews about her daughter quite often and even showed reporters letters that, according to her, Mary wrote.
When Bell turned 18, she was sent to the Moore-Court minimum-supervised prison. In September 1977, she tried to escape from there, but was eventually caught and lost all privileges for 28 days.
Bell lived for a time at Cumberlow Lodge, a women's detention home in South Norwood.
(1957-05-26 ) (62 years old)Betty had mental disabilities since childhood - for example, for many years she refused to eat with her family unless food was placed in a corner under her chair. Betty was involved in prostitution and was often away from home, working in Glasgow. Besides Mary, she had three more children. Before the birth of her eldest daughter, Betty made an unsuccessful attempt to poison herself with pills. Her relatives later testified that Betty tried to kill Mary several times during the first years of her life. Moreover, she tried to make it so that her death looked like an accident. So one relative admitted that he saw Betty giving her daughter sleeping pills under the guise of candy. Mary herself, during interrogations, said that she was repeatedly sexually abused because Betty forced her to participate in sexual acts with men from the age of four.
Other juvenile killers
- Nevada-chan
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Notes
Links
- - with LNL's Phillip Adams
Literature
- Sereni, Gitta. Cries Unheard. Macmillan, London, 1998. Hardback ISBN 0-333-73524-2; paperback ISBN 0-333-75311-9
- Sereni, Gitta. The Case of Mary Bell (1972)
Excerpt characterizing Bell, Mary
“The main news occupying all of Moscow is the death of old Count Bezukhy and his inheritance. Imagine, three princesses received some small amount, Prince Vasily received nothing, and Pierre is the heir to everything and, moreover, is recognized as the legitimate son and therefore Count Bezukhy and the owner of the largest fortune in Russia. They say that Prince Vasily played a very nasty role in this whole story, and that he left for St. Petersburg very embarrassed. I confess to you that I understand very poorly all these matters regarding spiritual wills; I only know that since the young man, whom we all knew under the name simply Pierre, became Count Bezukhy and the owner of one of the best fortunes in Russia, I am amused by observing the change in tone of the mothers who have brides’ daughters, and the young ladies themselves in attitude towards this gentleman, who (in parentheses it should be said) always seemed very insignificant to me. Since for two years now everyone has been amusing themselves with finding suitors for me, whom I mostly do not know, the marriage chronicle of Moscow makes me Countess Bezukhova. But you understand that I don’t want this at all. Speaking of marriages. Do you know that recently everyone’s aunt Anna Mikhailovna entrusted me, under the greatest secret, with the plan to arrange your marriage. This is nothing more or less than the son of Prince Vasily, Anatole, whom they want to settle down by marrying him to a rich and noble girl, and the parents’ choice fell on you. I don’t know how you look at this matter, but I considered it my duty to warn you. He is said to be very good and a big rake. That's all I could find out about him.But he will talk. I’m finishing my second piece of paper, and my mother has sent for me to go to dinner with the Apraksins.
Read the mystical book I am sending you; it has been a huge success with us. Although there are things in it that are difficult for the weak human mind to understand, it is an excellent book; reading it calms and elevates the soul. Farewell. My respect to your father and my greetings to m lle Bourrienne. I hug you from the bottom of my heart. Julia.
PS. Let me know about your brother and his lovely wife.]
The princess thought, smiling thoughtfully (at which her face, illuminated by her radiant eyes, was completely transformed), and suddenly got up, walking heavily, and moved to the table. She took out the paper, and her hand quickly began to walk over it. This is what she wrote in response:
“Chere et excellente ami.” Votre lettre du 13 m"a cause une grande joie. Vous m"aimez donc toujours, ma poetique Julie.
L"absence, dont vous dites tant de mal, n"a donc pas eu son influenza habituelle sur vous. Vous vous plaignez de l"absence - que devrai je dire moi, si j"osais me plaindre, privee de tous ceux qui me sont chers? Ah l si nous n"avions pas la religion pour nous consoler, la vie serait bien triste. Pourquoi me supposez vous un regard severe, quand vous me parlez de votre affection pour le jeune homme? Sous ce rapport je ne suis rigide que pour moi . Je comprends ces sentiments chez les autres et si je ne puis approuver ne les ayant jamais ressentis, je ne les condamiene pas. Me parait seulement que l "amour chretien, l "amour du prochain, l "amour pour ses ennemis est plus meritoire , plus doux et plus beau, que ne le sont les sentiments que peuvent inspire les beaux yeux d"un jeune homme a une jeune fille poetique et aimante comme vous.
“La nouvelle de la mort du comte Earless nous est parvenue avant votre lettre, et mon pere en a ete tres affecte. Il dit que c"etait avant derienier representant du grand siècle, et qu"a present c"est son tour; mais qu"il fera son possible pour que son tour vienne le plus tard possible. Que Dieu nous garde de ce terrible malheur! Je ne puis partager votre opinion sur Pierre que j"ai connu enfant. Il me paraissait toujours avoir un coeur excellent, et c"est la qualite que j"estime le plus dans les gens. Quant a son heritage et au role qu"y a joue le prince Basile, c"est bien triste pour tous les deux. Ah! chere amie, la parole de notre divin Sauveur qu"il est plus aise a un hameau de passer par le trou d"une aiguille, qu"il ne l "est a un riche d"entrer dans le royaume de Dieu, cette parole est terriblement vraie; je plains le prince Basile et je regrette encore davantage Pierre. Si jeune et accable de cette richesse, que de tentations n"aura t il pas a subir! Si on me demandait ce que je desirerais le plus au monde, ce serait d"etre plus pauvre que le plus pauvre des mendiants. Mille graces, chere amie, pour l "ouvrage que vous m" envoyez, et qui fait si grande fureur chez vous. Cependant, puisque vous me dites qu"au milieu de plusurs bonnes choses il y en a d"autres que la faible conception humaine ne peut atteindre, il me parait assez inutile de s"occuper d"une lecture intelligible, qui par la meme ne pourrait etre d"aucun fruit. Je n"ai jamais pu comprendre la passion qu"ont certaines personnes de s"embrouiller l"entendement, en s"attachant a des livres mystiques, qui n"elevent que des doutes dans leurs esprits, exaltant leur imagination et leur donnent un caractere d"exageration tout a fait contraire a la simplicite chretnne. Lisons les Apotres et l"Evangile. Ne cherchons pas a penetrer ce que ceux la renferment de mysterux, car, comment oserions nous, miserables pecheurs que nous sommes, pretendre a nous initier dans les secrets terribles et sacres de la Providence, tant que nous portons cette depouille charienelle, qui eleve entre nous et l"Eterienel un voile impenetrable? Borienons nous donc a etudr les principes sublimes que notre divin Sauveur nous a laisse pour notre conduite ici bas; cherchons a nous y conformer et a les suivre, persuadons nous que moins nous donnons d "essor a notre faible esprit humain et plus il est agreable a Dieu, Qui rejette toute science ne venant pas de Lui; que moins nous cherchons a approfondir ce qu "il Lui a plu de derober a notre connaissance,et plutot II nous en accordera la decouverte par Son divin esprit.
This "girl" with a flowery name was born on May 26, 1957 in the UK.
Mary's mother, Betty Bell, worked
prostitution and was often away from home working in Glasgow. She had four children, was not officially married, and Mary was the first child. She was born when her mother was 17 years old, shortly after an unsuccessful attempt to poison herself with pills. Four years later, the mother tried to poison her own daughter, but apparently it didn’t work...
At the time of the murders, Mary Flora Bell was 11 years old, but she already hated boys.
In December 1968, she was convicted of the murders of 4-year-old Martin Brown and 3-year-old Brian Howe (the second - in complicity with her friend and namesake Norma Bell, 13 years old).
Both victims were strangled. From Brian Hay, Mary cut out the letter “M” on his stomach with a razor, and “N” on his right hand, cut off a clump of hair with scissors and scratched his genitals with them. Between the two crimes, Mary and Norma destroyed a children's institution at night, leaving signs like "I kill and will be back soon."
Then, when the authorities were looking for the bodies of the boys, Mary Flora hovered around, participating in the search, then came to the grief-stricken parents, demanding to see the child in the coffin, and openly laughed at the funeral.
The feature that everyone noted, along with her wild imagination and cruelty, was her childish mind. Mary never allowed herself to be kissed or hugged; she tore into shreds the dresses and ribbons given by her aunts. Witnesses said that she had about five Bibles. And in one of the Bibles she pasted a list of all her deceased relatives, their addresses and dates of death.
Just before the trial, she asked: “What can they do to me? Will they hang me, or what?”
She repeatedly told psychiatrists that she was not afraid of anything and did not feel anything at all. And when asked what she thought about the death throes of the babies she killed, she answered: “Yes, okay. Whoever is dead is dead."
Despite the very skillful tactics of manipulating the judges and the audience, the complete denial of her guilt and attempts to blame everything on her narrow-minded friend, the developmentally delayed Norma, Mary Flora Bell was found guilty, but in manslaughterwith a mitigating circumstance. This circumstance was the diagnosis of doctors - a psychopathic deviation, the symptoms of which are the lack of remorse for the actions committed and the inability to plan their consequences. At the trial, she stated that she killed “only for the pleasure that comes from killing.”
The international press called her nothing less than a "tainted seed", "the devil's spawn" and a "monster child", whose existence the English press tried to forget as quickly as possible, expressing public opinion: "We don't want to know about it. This is too monstrous." After the high-profile trial, for a long time they could not find a suitable place for Mary Bell for adequate care and treatment of such a “monster” and she lived in a prison mental hospital.
She was released in 1980 and lives under a new name and surname. 4 years later she gave birth to a daughter.
