ahein075
- Jul 11, 2023
- 13 min read

"Ding, ding!"....goes the Bell

Can someone be born evil? Is evil created? Will there ever be a complete answer to nature versus nurture? I don't think that will ever happen..it will probably remain an unknown for the rest of time. I personally feel that sometimes it may be a little bit of both is some people.

What happens when the "evil" person is just a child...10 years old. Let's talk about Mary Bell, born on May. 26, 1957, in Corbridge, Northumberland, England. Mary was born to Elizabeth McdCrickett and possibly William Bell. It was never known if William was the biological father, but that's who Mary knew as "dad". Elizabeth was a sex worker who traveled to Glasgow a lot for her work. Mary and her siblings were left home alone for the most part...William was there when he wanted to be. William was an abusive alcoholic and had a criminal record consisting of armed robbery.

I could not find information on exactly how many siblings Mary Bell had, but it sounds like there was possibly a brother and a couple of sisters. Mary may have been the second oldest. Again...I'm not 100% sure of any of that. Siblings or no siblings...it is said that when Mary was born, Elizabeth told the doctors to "take that thing away from me" when she first saw her newborn child. OMG! That's a horrible thing to say!!!

At one time in Mary's very, very younger years, Elizabeth's sister witnessed Elizabeth trying to give Mary away to someone. Mary was reported as "accident prone"...having almost falling out of a window and

"accidentally" taking a bunch of sleeping pills to purposely overdose.

When Mary was four, her mother's sex work started affecting her directly. Elizabeth and her clients were into dominatrix play and other BDSM stuff...which is fine between consenting adults. But...Elizabeth decided to let her clients cause horrible and violent sexual abuse to Mary.

By the age of 10, Mary was known to be withdrawn and manipulative. On May. 11, 1968, a 3-year-old boy had been injured in a fall from the top of an air-raid shelter. His parents thought it was an accident...but he had been playing with Mary Bell at the time of the fall.

A few mothers made statements to police that Mary had attempted to choke their young daughters. No charges were ever filed. Makes me wonder how different the story would've been if Mary's behavior had been taken serious at that time.

On May 25, 1968, the day before Mary turned 11, the body of 4-year-old Martin Brown was found in an abandoned house in Scotswood, England. There were specks of blood and foam around his mouth, but no other signs of violence were evident. Help was called in and a man was trying to do CPR on Martin when Mary and her friend, Norma Bell (no relation) showed up in the doorway. After being told to leave the scene, Mary and Norma when to Martins' aunt, Rita Finlay, and told her, "One of your sister's bairns has just had an accident. We think it's Martin, but we can't tell because there's blood all over him."

An autopsy was done and no conclusive cause of death could be determined. Investigators' theory was that Martin had died of poisoning by ingesting tablets.

Mary had told her fellow classmates that she had killed Martin Brown, but no one took her seriously as she had been known as a liar and a show-off.

On Mary's 11th birthday, May 26, she and Norma broke into and vandalized a nursery in Woodland Crescent. They tore up books, knocked over desks, and smeared paint and ink here and there throughout the place.

The next day, nursery staff discovered the break in and called police. The police discovered four notes that claimed responsibility for Martin's murder. One note said: "I murder SO That I may come back." Another note said: "WE did murder martin brown fuckof you bastard." The third note said: "Fuch off we murder. Watch out Fanny and Faggot." The last note stated: "You are mice Y Becurse we murdered Martain Go Brown you Bete Look out THERE are Murders about By Fanny and auld Faggot you Screws."

The police felt the break in and the notes were all just a childish prank. Ummmmmmmmm........... Martin Brown had been found dead and one of the notes mentions the boy....but it's just a childish prank? Okkkkaaayyyyy.......

A couple days later, on May 29, just before Martin's funeral, Mary and Norma went to his home. They asked his mother, June, if they could see Martin. June responded that they could not see him as he had died. Mary replied, "Oh, I know he's dead; I want to see him in his coffin." Yikes! Very odd behavior indeed!

Moving forward to July 31, 1968, three-year-old Brian Howe was last seen by his parents outside of his house playing with one of his siblings, the family dog, Mary Bell, and Norma Bell. I don't know all the details, but Brian did not return to the house later in the day. Family and neighbors started searching for Brian - Mary and Norma also went with Brian's. sister to help in the search. I don't care if the perpetrator is 11 years old or 77 years old...when they join in on the search for someone they know they killed, that is severely creepy behavior, in my opinion.

Brian's body was found shortly after 11:00 p.m. between two large concrete blocks in an area called the "Tin Lizzie".

Brian's autopsy revealed that he died of strangulation and that he had been dead for at least 7.5 hours before being found. It's believed that the killer had squeezed the nostrils with one hand while strangling around the throat with the other hand. Many puncture wounds were found on Brian's legs - a broken pair of scissors had been found lying near his body. The killer had cut some clumps of hair from Brian's head. His genitals had been partially mutilated and an attempt had been made to carve an "M" into his stomach. Because of the small amount of force used to kill Brian, the coroner believed another child was responsible.

Grey and maroon fibers were found on Brian's clothing that did not match anything from Brian's household/family. It was believed that these fibers were transferred to Brian from his killer.

With the discovery of Brian's body, a massive investigation was started. The media dubbed the killer as "The Tyneside Strangler". Over 1200 children were questioned. Two children questioned on August 1 told detectives that Mary Bell and Norma Bell were seen playing with Brian shortly before his death. When detectives first talked to Norma and Mary, Norma had an excitable demeanor and Mary Bell was more observant and taciturn. Both girls were evasive and had contradicting stories, but did freely admit to having played with Brian earlier on the day he died. They both denied seeing Brian after lunchtime.

Mary was questioned the following day some more and said that she remembered seeing an 8-year-old local boy playing with Brian on the afternoon of July 31. Mary also said that she saw this boy hitting Brian. She also told detectives that the 8-year-old boy had been covered in grass and weeds and had a small pair of scissors in his possession. Mary stated: "I saw him trying to cut a cat's tail off with the scissors, but there was something wrong with them - one leg was broken or bent."

That comment made Detective Chief Inspector James Dobson believe that Mary was the actual killer because only the police knew about the broken scissors that were found at the crime scene. The 8-year-old boy Mary talked about was questioned by the police. The police found out that he had been at the Newcastle International Airport on the afternoon of July 31 - lots of witnesses were able to verify this story.

On August 4, Norma Bell's parents contacted the police and said that Norma wished to confess what she knew about Brian Howe's death. Detective Dobson went to Norma's home, went over the proper rights of the witness, and Norma started talking. She told Detective Dobson that Mary had taken her to a spot on "Tin Lizzie" and was shown Brian's body. Norma said that Mary told her that she had enjoyed strangling Brian and then described how she had made the marks on his stomach with a razor blade (which had been hidden at the crime scene) and the broken scissors. Norma then led police to the location of the crime scene where the razor blade had been hidden. Norma also did a drawing that had all the abdomen wounds in the exact locations as described by the coroner.

Detectives went to Mary Bell's home on August 5. Mary was very defensive when they talked to Mary about the differences in all of her stories. Mary said: "You're tying to brainwash me. I will get a solicitor to get me out of this."

Norma was questioned again later in the day on August 5. Norma ended up making a full confession where she admitted being there when Mary had strangled Brian. Norma stated that it was just her, Mary, and Brian on "Tin Lizzie" and Mary "seemed to go all funny". Mary pushed Brian into the grass and attempted to strangle him before telling Norma, "My hands are getting thick. Take over." Norma stated she then ran away from the scene, leaving Mary alone with Brian.

Clothes from both Mary and Norma were examined and a grey woolen dress owned by Mary was found to be a match to the grey fibers found on Brian's body. A maroon skirt owned by Norma was found to match the maroon fibers found on Brian's body. The grey woolen dress fibers were also found to be a match to grey fibers found on the body of Martin Brown.

Brian Howe's funeral was held on August 7, 1968. Detective Dobson later said that Mary Bell stood outside the home of the Howe family as Brian's. coffin was being taken out of the home and Mary stood there laughing. According to Detective Dobson: "She stood there, laughing. Laughing and rubbing her hands. I thought, 'My God, I've got to bring her in. She'll do another one.'"

Both Mary and Norma were formally charged with the death of Brian Howe on the evening of August 7. Mary's response to the charge: "That's all right by me." Norma cried heavily, stating: "I never. I'll pay you back for this."

Mary prepared a written statement in which she admitted to being present when Brian was killed, but that Norma had done it. Mary also admitted that she and Norma broke into the Woodland Crescent nursery the day after Martin Brown was killed. She admitted that they did the damage to the property and wrote the four notes that were found.

After the arrests, the girls underwent psychological evaluations. Testing showed that Norma was intellectually delayed and had a submissive personality; easily displayed emotions. Mary Bell, on the other hand, was bright yet cunning, prone to sudden mood swings. At times Mary would be willing to talk, but then quickly would shut down and become defensive.

Four psychiatrists examined Mary. They concluded that Mary did not suffer from a mental disorder, but did suffer from a psychopathic personality disorder. Dr. David Westbury stated in his official report: "[Mary's] social techniques are primitive and take the form of automatic denial, ingratiation, manipulation, complaining, bullying, flight or violence."

Mary and Norma's trial started on December 5, 1968. Both girls plead not guilty. Justice Ralph Cusack waived the defendants' right to anonymity on account of their age. Due to that, the media was allowed to publicize their names, ages, and photos of both girls throughout the trial.

The prosecution set the stage in their opening statements by telling the jury that even though Mary was the dominant of the two, Mary and Norma were both equally guilty of the murders of Martin Brown and Brian Howe.

On day five of the trial, Norma testified in her own defense. She denied participating in the actual killing of Martin and Brian, but admitted that she knew Mary's violent side and her history of attacking children. Norma said that her and Mary had previous talked about attacking and killing young kids, boys and girls. Norma admitted in her testimony that at the time of Mary strangling Brian, she did not flag down a group of boys she saw playing close by to get help as she was scared and didn't know what was going to happen as Mary had stopped strangling Brian at one point. Norma testified that she "never touched" Brian.

On December 12, it was Mary's turn to testify in her own defense. Her testimony lasted four hours. At one time, it was briefly paused as Mary began crying into a policewoman's arms. She denied what Norma has testified to, stating that she had only observed the body of Martin Brown - testified that she had never harmed him. Mary testified that she and Norma later went to Martin's home and asked to view his body as they were "daring each other and one of us did not want to be a chicken". Mary made a statement that she told others that her knowledge of Martin's death could "get Norma put straight away".

When questioned about Brian Howe's death, Mary said that Norma had been the one to strangle Brian and Mary "was just standing and looking. I couldn't move. It was as if some glue was pulling us down." Mary then testified that Norma told Brian: "You've got to lie down for the lady to come with the sweets." According to Mary, Norma then started to strangle Brian and Mary was unsuccessful in stopping the attack. Mary said that she could tell the force Norma used when killing Brian because "her fingertips and nails were going white". Mary said again that she didn't inform anyone about the killing out of fear and loyalty.

Norma's mom then testified that several months prior to the killing of Brian, Norma's parents had caught Mary attempting to strangle Norma's younger sister, Susan. Mary only stopped strangling Susan when Norma's dad had punched Mary in the shoulder.

Ian Frazer, a child psychiatrist, testified that Norma's mental age was eight years and ten months. He also testified that Norma's capacity of knowing right from wrong was limited, but she was capable of appreciating the criminality of the acts she was accused of committing.

Closing arguments started on December 13. Norma's counsel talked about no real evidence being presented against Norma.

Mary's counsel discussed her horrible family background and her personality disorder. There had been clinical testimony stating that Mary had a "retarded development of (her) mind" and this was caused by both genetic and environmental factors.

The prosecution pointed out in their closing arguments that the case was "macabre and grotesque" and Mary was clearly the more domineering of the two. Rudolph Lyons also pointed out the numerous lies Mary told and described her lack of remorse.

On December 17, the jury started their deliberations. They deliberated for 3 hours and 25 minutes. Mary Bell was cleared of murder, but convicted of manslaughter of both Martin Brown and Brian Howe on grounds of diminished responsibility. Norma Bell was acquitted of all charges. Norma clapped her hands in excitement and Mary burst into tears.

When Judge Cusack was giving the sentencing for Mary Bell, he described Mary as a "dangerous" individual and also stated that she posed a "very grave risk to other children". He said that steps needed to be taken to keep the public safe. Mary was sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure - which was basically an indefinite sentence of imprisonment.

At the time of Mary's convictions, she was 11 years and 6 months old, making her Britain's youngest female killer. Mary Bell still 'holds that title' to this day.

Mary was originally held in a Durham remand home before getting transferred to a different remand home in South Norwood. She was later transferred to Red Bank secure unit in Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside in early 1969. She was the only female among 20+ inmates. Sounds like a stupid move to me to send an 11-year-old girl to a place with only male inmates....but what do I know?

Mary later claimed that she was sexually abused by a member of the staff and several inmates while at Red Bank. She stated the abuse started when she was 13. At age 16, in November 1973, Mary was transferred to a secure wing of HM Prison Styal in Cheshire. It's said that Mary hated it there and was denied parole while being there.

Mary Bell was transferred to Moor Court open prison in June 1976. She took a secretarial course. In September 1977, Mary and another inmate, Annette Priest broke out of the prison. They spent several days with two young men in Blackpool. Mary was arrested in Derbyshire on September 13. She had died her hair blonde in an attempt to disguise herself. Bell was returned back to prison and lost prison privileges for 28 days.

In June 1979, Mary Bell was moved to HM Prison Askham Grange in an effort to prepare her for an eventual release. In November 1979, Mary worked as a secretary and then as a waitress at a cafe under supervision guidelines.

Mary Bell was released from HM Prison Askham Grange in May 1980 at the age of 23. She had served almost 11.5 years. Mary was granted anonymity and a new name and started a new life elsewhere.

It was discovered that Mary Bell had a daughter on May 25, 1984 (the anniversary date of Martin Brown's death and a day before Mary's birthday). Mary's daughter didn't know anything about her mother's past until 1998 when reporters discovered Mary's location at that time. Mary and her daughter were moved to a safe house.

Mary's daughter was given anonymity until she was 18, but in 2003, Mary won a High Court battle that ended with her and her daughter being allowed anonymity for life. This was later updated to included Mary's granddaughter who was born in 2009.

June Richardson, the mother of Martin Brown, told the media, “It’s all about her and how she has to be protected. As victims we are not given the same rights as killers.”

In 1998, Mary Bell collaborated with author Gritta Sereny. Gritta wrote a book entitled Cries Unheard: The Story of Mary Bell. Mary Bell was paid to tell her story. In the book, Bell talks about the childhood abuse she suffered from her mother and her mother's clients. Gritta also included interviews done with relatives, friends, and professionals who knew Mary before, during, and after her imprisonment.

It is unknown where Mary Bell is today and her identity is still protected by the 2003 High Court order. According to Gritta Sereny, Mary Bell did not claim that she was wrongly convicted and freely admitted the abuse she suffered as a child did not excuse her crimes.

Do I condone murder of any kind? No. But do I understand why Mary Bell did what she did? Again...no. Was it due to genetically being evil? Maybe. Was it due to the horrible childhood she had and probably never stood a chance? Perhaps. I will say that I believe with Mary Bell, it may have been a bit more "born with it" with a dash of environment. I have not found anything about her siblings doing anything horrible during their childhood or adult lives, and they went through the same childhood neglect and abuse. Obviously, this will remain a question for the test of times...but, yes, I believe some people are born evil...perhaps that includes Mary Bell. What do you think?

-- Audre