- 2 days ago
- #marybell
- #killerkids
- #truecrime
In 1968, 11 year old Mary Bell murdered 2 toddlers in her neighborhood.
Do you think children who commit horrible crimes such as murder, can be rehabilitated?
#marybell #killerkids #truecrime
Do you think children who commit horrible crimes such as murder, can be rehabilitated?
#marybell #killerkids #truecrime
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LearningTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to the Dark Mystery Lounge.
00:03Today we are going to take a trip to England to discuss the Mary Bell case,
00:08a 10-year-old little girl who became the youngest female killer in England's history.
00:13Now as we go through this case, I want you to think about an answer to this question
00:17and put your answer down in the comments below.
00:21Do you think children who commit horrible crimes such as murder can be rehabilitated?
00:27Let's go ahead and get started.
00:30Mary Flora Bell was born May 26, 1957, in Corbridge, a village in Northumberland,
00:46to Elizabeth Betty Bell and William Billy Bell.
00:50Mary was the second child. Her mother was just 17 at the time.
00:55Billy married Betty when Mary was just a baby and no one really knows who Mary's biological father is.
01:02Betty was a well-known prostitute specializing as a dominatrix,
01:06and Billy was a violent alcoholic and criminal with a long rap sheet for things like armed robbery.
01:13Mary was unwanted from birth.
01:14When a nurse tried to hand a baby to her, she shouted,
01:18Take that thing away from me.
01:19Betty was very erratic.
01:21One minute she wants nothing to do with her child.
01:24The next minute, she refused for anyone to take her.
01:27Mary frequently suffered injuries and household accidents while alone with her mother,
01:33which led her family to believe that either her mother was deliberately negligent
01:37or intentionally attempting to harm or kill her daughter.
01:40For instance, in 1960, Betty dropped Mary from a first-floor window.
01:47On another occasion, she drugged her daughter with sleeping pills.
01:51She is also known to have sold Mary to a mentally unstable woman who was unable to have children of her own,
01:58resulting in her older sister, Catherine, having to travel alone across Newcastle to reclaim Mary
02:04from this individual and return the child to her mother's home on White House Road.
02:09Despite her negligence and abuse of her child, Betty refused repeated offers from her family
02:15to take custody of Mary.
02:18The Bell family lived in Scottswood on the west end of Newcastle.
02:23At the time in the 1960s, it was a slum area.
02:27They lived on White House Road, which was the roughest part of that area.
02:31Every other house had a prostitute living there.
02:34People only had bits and pieces of furniture.
02:36You couldn't hang your laundry out to dry because it would get taken.
02:40No one really complained.
02:42Residents could leave their doors unlocked because in most houses,
02:45there really wasn't anything of value to steal.
02:48During this time, old buildings were being demolished,
02:51so new high-rise apartments and houses could be built.
02:55Children often played in the streets and derelict buildings unsupervised, getting into mischief.
03:00This was still during a time when kids playing unsupervised was the norm.
03:05Usually when street lights came on, playtime was over.
03:09Due to the neglect and abuse, Mary herself exhibited numerous signs of disturbed and unpredictable behavior,
03:17including sudden mood swings and chronic bedwetting.
03:20While she was at school, she would go from normal playful mood to fighting other kids in her class.
03:26Mary stood out because of her dark hair and distinctive blue eyes.
03:31But if her eyes fixated on you and her head began to shake, you knew you were in trouble.
03:37She stamped out a cigarette on the cheek of one little girl and strangled both boys and girls alike.
03:42That seemed to be her primary method to hurt other kids was to strangle them.
03:46She showed no remorse for anything she did.
03:49Most of the kids at her school would try to avoid her at all costs.
03:53Mary hung around with a neighbor girl, 13-year-old Norma Joyce Bell.
03:58Even though they shared the same surname, they were not related.
04:02She was intellectually delayed and a lot more submissive.
04:06But the two of them got into all kinds of trouble together.
04:08On Saturday, May 11, 1968, a three-year-old boy was found wandering, dazed, and bleeding in the vicinity of St. Margaret's Road.
04:26He told police later that he was playing with Mary and Norma Bell atop a disused air raid shelter
04:32when he had been pushed seven feet from the roof to the ground, inflicting a severe laceration to his head.
04:40He really couldn't recall which one of the girls pushed him.
04:43The same evening, the parents of three small girls contacted police to complain that both Mary and Norma
04:50had attempted to strangle their children as they played in the sand pit.
04:54One of the girls had sand shoved down her throat, but the girls never mentioned the sand to the police, just a strangulation.
05:01Both girls were interviewed about these instances, and they denied any culpability for the air raid shelter incident,
05:08claiming that they simply discovered the boy bleeding heavily from a head wound after he had fallen.
05:14When they were questioned about the three girls, they denied any knowledge of the incident.
05:18However, Norma admitted Mary tried to throttle each of the girls, stating,
05:24Mary went to one of the girls and said,
05:26Then Mary put both hands around the girl's throat and squeezed.
05:35The girl started to go purple.
05:37I told Mary to stop, but she wouldn't.
05:39Then she put her hands around Pauline's throat, and she started going purple as well.
05:43Another girl, Susan, came up, and Mary did the same thing to her.
05:49The police made note of Mary's violent nature, but due to their age, they were given warnings and no further action was taken.
05:57On May 25, 1968, a four-year-old boy named Martin Brown was found dead in an upstairs bedroom of a derelict house on St. Margaret's Road.
06:09Martin's body was discovered by three children at approximately 3.30 p.m.
06:15He was lying on his back with his arms stretched above his head.
06:18Aside from specks of blood and foam around his mouth, no signs of violence were visible upon his body.
06:25A local workman soon arrived on the scene.
06:28He attempted to perform CPR, but to no avail.
06:32While performing CPR, Mary and Norma were standing in the doorway of the bedroom.
06:37The workman shooed them off.
06:39They went to Martin's aunt's house and informed her,
06:43quote,
06:43One of your sister's kids has been in an accident.
06:47We think it's Martin, but we can't tell because there's blood all over him, unquote.
06:51The aunt went and got Martin's mother, June, and they ran down to the house.
06:56Workman came out with Martin in his arms, and he was gray.
07:00Martin was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival.
07:04The next day, an autopsy was performed and was unable to determine the cause of death,
07:10but ruled out possible poisoning because there were some tablets laying near Martin's body.
07:16On May 26, a nursery had been broken into and vandalized.
07:20There were notes left behind saying things like,
07:23I murder so that I may come back.
07:25Another read,
07:26We murdered Martin Brown.
07:28F off, you bastards.
07:29There are two other notes, but I'm not going to read them here.
07:32Due to the sloppy handwriting and misspilling of certain words,
07:37it was obvious that they were written by a child.
07:39Police dismissed the incidents as a tasteless and childish prank.
07:44The days leading up to Martin's funeral,
07:46June, Martin's mother, visited her sister's house.
07:50Mary and Norma often babysat her June's sister,
07:53so seeing them there was nothing out of the norm.
07:56They asked June,
07:57How do you feel?
07:59Are you missing him?
07:59June thought it was a nice gesture,
08:02thinking that they truly cared about how she felt.
08:05But on May 29, shortly before the funeral of Martin Brown,
08:09in a game of chicken,
08:11both girls went to June's house to ask if they could see Martin.
08:15She looked confused and said,
08:17You can't see Martin.
08:18Martin's dead.
08:20Mary said,
08:20I know he's dead.
08:21I want to see him in his coffin.
08:23June shut the door right in their faces
08:25and just broke down behind the door.
08:27There were protests in Scottswood
08:30about the hazardous conditions of the derelict houses
08:33and the demolition of them,
08:35and right at the front of the protest,
08:37holding a banner,
08:38was Mary.
08:40On the afternoon of July 31,
08:42a three-year-old boy named Brian Howell
08:45was last seen by his parents
08:47in the street outside of his house
08:49playing with one of his siblings,
08:51the family dog,
08:52and Mary and Norma Bell.
08:53When he did not return home later that afternoon,
08:57concerned relatives and neighbors
08:58searched the streets without success.
09:01At 11.10 p.m.,
09:03a search party discovered Brian's body
09:05between two large concrete blocks
09:08in a patch of waste ground
09:09known as the Tin Lizzy.
09:11The first policeman to arrive at the scene
09:14observed that
09:15a deliberate but feeble attempt
09:17had been made to conceal the body,
09:19which was covered in clumps of grass and weeds.
09:21His lips were purple,
09:23and several bruises and scratches
09:25were evident upon his neck.
09:27A pair of broken scissors
09:28lay close to his feet.
09:30Coroner would conclude that
09:32Brian had died of strangulation,
09:34and that he had been deceased
09:36for up to seven and a half hours
09:38before the discovery of his body.
09:41The killer had evidently squeezed
09:42Brian's nostrils,
09:44closed with one hand,
09:45as he or she had gripped his throat
09:47with the other.
09:48Numerous puncture wounds
09:49had been inflicted to the child's legs
09:52before death.
09:53Sections of his hair
09:54had been cut from his head.
09:56His genitals had been partially mutilated.
09:58In a crude attempt
09:59had been made to carve the initials M
10:01into his stomach.
10:03The relatively small amount of force
10:05used to murder the child
10:06led to the coroner
10:08to conclude that the killer
10:09was another child.
10:11Numerous gray and maroon fibers
10:13were discovered
10:13upon Brian's clothing and shoes.
10:16These fibers did not source
10:18from any other clothing
10:19within the toddler's household
10:21and had been transferred
10:22to the child by his killers.
10:31The discovery of Brian Howell's body
10:33sparked a large-scale manhunt.
10:35Over 100 detectives
10:36from across Northumberland
10:38were assigned to the investigation,
10:40and more than 1,200 children
10:43had been questioned
10:44with regards to their whereabouts.
10:46On August 1st,
10:47Mary and Norma were questioned,
10:49since they were the last ones
10:50to be seen with Brian
10:52before his disappearance.
10:54They both admitted to playing with Brian
10:56on the day of his murder,
10:58but claimed they didn't see him
10:59after lunchtime.
11:01The following day,
11:02Mary was questioned further.
11:04She claimed she saw an eight-year-old boy
11:05was playing with Brian
11:07on the day of the murder,
11:09and said that he saw the boy hit Brian.
11:11Furthermore, she stated
11:13she also remembered
11:14that the boy had been covered
11:16in grass and weed,
11:17as if he had been rolling in a field,
11:19and that he had in his possession
11:21a small pair of scissors.
11:23Mary then said,
11:24quote,
11:25I saw him trying to cut
11:27a cat's tail off with those scissors,
11:29but there was something wrong
11:30with one of them.
11:31One leg was broken or bent.
11:33Unquote.
11:34This self-incriminating statement
11:35convinced the detectives
11:37that Mary is the actual killer.
11:39The only police knew
11:40about the broken scissors
11:42found at the crime scene.
11:43Plus, the eight-year-old boy
11:45was at Newcastle International Airport
11:47on July 31st,
11:49with numerous witnesses
11:51able to corroborate
11:52his parents' claims.
11:54On August 4th,
11:56Norma's parents contacted the police
11:57stating that their daughter
11:59wanted to confess.
12:00The same detective came out
12:02and cautioned Norma,
12:03then asked what she knew.
12:04Norma claimed that Mary
12:06took her out to a spot
12:07on the tin lizzie
12:08and showed her the body of Brian.
12:11Mary demonstrated
12:11how she murdered the boy.
12:13Norma told the detective
12:14that she had made marks
12:16on his stomach
12:17with a razor
12:17that was hidden
12:19and the pair of broken scissors.
12:21She led the detectives
12:22to the crime scene
12:23where the razor blade was found.
12:25A drawing Norma made
12:27of the wounds inflicted
12:28to the boy's abdomen
12:29precisely matched
12:31those described by the coroner.
12:33The next day,
12:34on August 5th,
12:35the detective went to talk
12:36to Mary again.
12:37But this time,
12:38Mary got defensive,
12:40saying,
12:40quote,
12:41you're trying to brainwash me.
12:43I will get a solicitor
12:44to get me out of this,
12:45unquote.
12:46Later that same day,
12:48Norma was questioned again.
12:49On this occasion,
12:51she made a full statement
12:52in which she admitted
12:53being present
12:54when Mary
12:54had actually strangled Brian.
12:57According to Norma,
12:58when the trio were alone
13:00on the tin lizzie,
13:01Mary seemed to go all funny,
13:03pushing the child
13:04into the grass
13:05and attempting
13:05to strangle him.
13:07Mary asked her
13:07to take over.
13:09Norma ran from the scene,
13:10leaving Mary alone
13:11with Brian.
13:13A forensic examination
13:14of the clothing
13:15owned by both girls
13:16revealed
13:17the gray fibers
13:19discovered upon
13:20Brian's body
13:21were a precise match
13:22to a woolen dress
13:23owned by Mary.
13:25The maroon fibers
13:26upon the child's shoes
13:28were a precise match
13:29to a skirt
13:30owned by Norma.
13:31Furthermore,
13:33the same gray fibers
13:34had also been found
13:35upon the body
13:36of Martin Brown,
13:38so his case
13:39was reopened as well.
13:41On August 7, 1968,
13:43Brian Howell
13:44was buried
13:45at a local cemetery
13:46attended by
13:47over 200 people.
13:49According to
13:49that same detective
13:50that questioned
13:52Mary and Norma,
13:53Mary was standing
13:54just outside
13:55of the Howell home
13:56as the child's coffin
13:58was brought
13:59from the home
13:59at the beginning
14:00of the funeral procession.
14:03He stated,
14:03quote,
14:04she stood there
14:05laughing,
14:06laughing and rubbing
14:07her hand.
14:08I thought,
14:08my God,
14:09I've got to bring her in.
14:10She'll do another one,
14:12unquote.
14:13That same day,
14:14in the evening,
14:15Mary Bell
14:16and Norma Bell
14:17were arrested
14:18for murder.
14:26After their arrest,
14:27both girls underwent
14:29a psychological evaluation.
14:31The results of these tests
14:32revealed Norma
14:33was intellectually delayed
14:35and a submissive character
14:37who easily displayed emotion,
14:39whereas Mary
14:40was a bright
14:41yet cunning character
14:43prone to sudden mood swings.
14:45Mary was diagnosed
14:46with psychopathic
14:48personality disorder.
14:50December 5, 1968,
14:52The trial of Mary Bell
14:54and Norma Bell
14:55for the murders
14:56of Martin Brown
14:57and Brian Howell
14:58began at Newcastle Assizes.
15:02They both pled
15:03not guilty.
15:04The prosecution
15:05painted these girls
15:06as killing both children
15:08solely for the pleasure
15:10and excitement
15:11of murder.
15:12Both girls well knew
15:13that what they did
15:14was wrong
15:15and what the results
15:16would be.
15:17There were also
15:18the notes
15:18that were left
15:19in the nursery.
15:20Mary's school news book
15:22that showed
15:23that Mary had knowledge
15:24that only the police
15:25and the killer knew.
15:27That there were tablets
15:28laying next to Martin's body.
15:31The knowledge
15:31about the broken scissors
15:32which once again
15:34only the police
15:35and the killer
15:36would know.
15:38Both Norma
15:38and Mary testified
15:39in their own defense
15:41blaming each other
15:42for the murders.
15:43Norma's mother,
15:44Catherine,
15:45then testified
15:46that several months
15:47prior to the killing
15:48of Brian Howell
15:50she and her husband
15:52had discovered
15:52Mary attempting
15:53to strangle
15:54Norma's younger sister
15:55Susan
15:56and that she had
15:57only released her grip
15:59on their daughter's throat
16:00after her husband
16:02had punched Mary
16:03in the shoulder.
16:04A child psychiatrist
16:05named Ian Frazier
16:07then testified
16:08that Norma's mental age
16:10was eight years
16:11and ten months
16:12and that although
16:14her capacity
16:15of knowing right
16:16from wrong
16:16was limited
16:17she was capable
16:18of appreciating
16:20the criminality
16:20of the acts
16:21she was accused
16:23of committing.
16:25On December 17th
16:26after three hours
16:27and twenty-five minutes
16:28of deliberation
16:29the jury found
16:31Norma Bell
16:31not guilty.
16:33Mary was found guilty
16:34of both counts
16:35of manslaughter.
16:37Norma clapped her hands
16:38in excitement
16:38and Mary burst
16:40into tears
16:41as did her mother
16:42and grandmother.
16:44Because of her age
16:45she was eleven years old
16:46at the time
16:47of the murders
16:48and convicted
16:49of manslaughter
16:49that means she would
16:51be rehabilitated
16:52in hopes that one day
16:54she would be released.
16:56She was sentenced
16:57to be detained
16:58at her majesty's pleasure
16:59effectively
17:01an indefinite sentence
17:02of imprisonment.
17:03The problem was now
17:11where was she going
17:12to spend the first night
17:13of her sentence?
17:14She was taken
17:15to Red Bank Secure Unit
17:17a young offenders
17:18institution
17:19in Merseyside.
17:20She was the only female
17:22among approximately
17:23twenty-four inmates.
17:24Mary would later claim
17:25she was sexually abused
17:26by a member of staff
17:28and several inmates
17:29while incarcerated
17:30at this facility
17:31claiming that the abuse
17:33began when she was thirteen.
17:35In November 1973
17:37at the age of sixteen
17:39she was transferred
17:40to a secure wing
17:41of H.M. Prison Style
17:43in Cheshire.
17:45In June 1976
17:46Mary was transferred
17:48to Moore Court
17:49Open Prison
17:50where she undertook
17:52a secretarial course
17:53but in September 1977
17:55Mary and another inmate
17:58escaped.
17:58She was caught
17:59along with the other
18:00inmate.
18:01Mary even bleached
18:02her hair blonde
18:03to try and disguise herself.
18:05In June 1979
18:07the Home Office
18:08announced their decision
18:09to transfer Mary
18:10to H.M. Prison
18:12Ascom Grange
18:13an open category prison
18:15in the village
18:16of Ascom Richard
18:17in efforts to prepare her
18:19for her eventual release
18:20into society
18:21which was planned
18:23for the following year.
18:24Beginning in November 1979
18:26Mary worked first
18:28as a secretary
18:29then as a waitress
18:30at a cafe
18:31in York Minster
18:33under supervision
18:34guidelines
18:35in effort
18:36to prepare her
18:37for her eventual release.
18:39Mary Bell
18:39was released from prison
18:41in May 1980
18:42at the age of twenty-three
18:44having served
18:45almost eleven and a half years
18:47in custody.
18:48She was granted
18:49anonymity
18:50including a new name
18:51allowing her
18:52to start a new life
18:53elsewhere in the country
18:55under an assumed identity.
18:57Upon her release
18:58a spokesman
18:59is quoted as saying
19:00quote
19:01Mary wishes to be given
19:03a chance to live
19:04a normal life
19:05and to be left alone
19:06unquote.
19:11Mary lived her life
19:13pretty uneventful.
19:14She didn't cause
19:15any trouble
19:16and seemed to have
19:17truly been reformed.
19:18On May 25th 1984
19:20Mary gave birth
19:22to a daughter.
19:23Her daughter
19:23was granted
19:24anonymity
19:25until the age of eighteen
19:26but her mother
19:28won a high court battle
19:29to have her own
19:30anonymity
19:31and that of her daughter
19:32extended for life.
19:34Her daughter
19:35had no idea
19:36about her mother's past
19:37until 1998
19:39when reporters
19:40found out
19:41her new identity
19:42and location.
19:43Both of them
19:44were forced
19:44to move again
19:45to a safe house
19:46under protected custody.
19:48In 2009
19:49that lifelong anonymity
19:51would be extended
19:52to her granddaughter.
19:54There is little information
19:56about Norma Bell
19:57after she was acquitted.
19:58There were some rumors
19:59floating around online
20:00about how Norma
20:02couldn't keep a job
20:03because she kept
20:04talking about the case.
20:06There was really
20:06only one source
20:07that claimed
20:08that she died of cancer
20:09in 1989
20:10but I couldn't confirm
20:12that bit of information.
20:14Two books were written
20:15about Mary Bell
20:16by author
20:17Gita Serrini.
20:18Mary collaborated
20:19with that author.
20:21When it was found out
20:22that Mary was going
20:22to make money
20:23off of the retelling
20:25of her case
20:25to the tune
20:26of 50,000 pounds
20:28the victim's families
20:29were naturally
20:30highly upset
20:31protesting in the street
20:32about Mary making money
20:34off of their son's death
20:35and that money
20:36should go to charity.
20:38June Richardson
20:39the mother
20:39of Martin Brown
20:40and Eileen Corrigan
20:42mother of Brian Howell
20:43also have avoided
20:44the press
20:45as much as they could.
20:46June still visits
20:48her son's unmarked grave
20:49bringing flowers.
20:51She still has
20:51a framed picture
20:52of her blonde haired
20:53blue eyed child
20:54and Eileen still has
20:56a picture of Brian
20:57from a newspaper clipping
20:58which she keeps
20:59in her purse.
21:00Their pain is still there.
21:02They both remember
21:03everything about their sons.
21:04When the book came out
21:05in 1998
21:06it was like a new wave
21:07of pain came over them.
21:09When June heard
21:10about Mary becoming
21:11a grandmother
21:12in 2009
21:12she had this to say
21:15quote
21:15she took my blessing
21:17and left me with grief
21:18for the rest of my life.
21:19I hope when she looks
21:20at this child
21:21she remembers
21:22the two she murdered.
21:23I will never see
21:24a grandchild
21:25from my son.
21:26I hope every time
21:27she looks at this baby
21:28she realizes
21:29what my family
21:30are missing out on
21:32because of what
21:32she has done.
21:33Unquote.
21:34So after listening
21:41to this case
21:41do you think
21:42children who commit
21:43horrible crimes
21:44such as murder
21:45can be rehabilitated?
21:47To me
21:47it seems like
21:48a 50-50 chance
21:49that rehabilitation
21:50can work.
21:52I mean
21:5225 years after
21:53this event
21:54the same thing
21:55happened in England
21:56with the James Bolger case
21:58which I will be covering.
22:00It was kind of
22:01a 50-50 split
22:02with those young offenders.
22:04As for Mary
22:05honestly
22:06that girl
22:06had a horrible upbringing.
22:08If you don't give
22:09a child that loving
22:10care and attention
22:11and affection
22:12during their early years
22:13this is what
22:14you're gonna get.
22:15The fact that
22:15she straightened
22:16herself out
22:17and is living
22:18a pretty uneventful life
22:19might be proof
22:20that rehabilitation
22:21can work.
22:22I think it's
22:23a case-by-case basis.
22:25So what did you
22:25think about this case?
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22:43Dark Mystery Lounge.
22:44This is Phoenix
22:45signing out.
22:46Have a good evening
22:47and stay safe.
22:48I think we'll bearo
22:59to see you next time.
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