The Misery Machine - Mary Bell: The 11 Year Old Serial Killer

Episode Date: April 4, 2022

This week, Drewby and Yergy step back in time and discuss the case of Mary Bell, an English girl, who at the age of 11 years old started her reign of terror in Scotswood, an inner suburb of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1968. Check out Hollie's masks here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/HollsNDolls Support Our Patreon For More Unreleased Content: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachine PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachine Join Our Facebook Group to Request a Topic: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1 Instagram: miserymachinepodcast Twitter: misery_podcast Discord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM #themiserymachine #podcast #truecrime Source Material: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Bell https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bairn https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_prison https://www.crimeandinvestigation.co.uk/crime-files/mary-bell https://murderpedia.org/female.B/b/bell-mary-flora.htm https://www.thefreelibrary.com/Mary+Bell+tells+her+daughter%3A+I+killed+two+kids%3B+TRUTH+AT+LAST+AS...-a060685300 https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/mary-bell-killings-50-years-14702293

We normally cover cases where minors are preyed upon by the sickest of individuals, namely their parents or guardians. But what if the monster responsible for their deaths wasn't an adult or even a teenager? What if it was an 11-year-old girl? Today, we are covering one of the youngest killers to ever exist, and how her reign of terror almost went undetected. Mary Flora Bell was born the 26th of May, 1957 in an impoverished slum area in the west end of Newcastle upon Tyne called Scottswood.

It was a close-knit working-class neighborhood, with local kids playing in the derelict streets at all hours without parental supervision. One area which they frequented was a rubble-strewned waste ground near the railways dubbed the Tin Lizzie. However, Scottswood had also been described as a community where DV and criminal behavior was commonplace. Her mother, Betty McCricket, was described as a mentally unstable 16-year-old who would work the streets as a lady of the night to support herself and her daughter. Although Betty would eventually wed Mary's alleged father, Billy Bell, their home life was still quite unstable. Billy Bell was often unemployed and was frequently arrested, including for robbery with a weapon. Betty frequently left Mary with friends or relatives

while she traveled to work in the streets of Glasgow. On one occasion, she attempted to give Mary a way with strangers she met on the streets, standing outside of a women's clinic. It's also been noted that Betty had attempted to get rid of Mary by making her death look like an accident on several occasions during the first few years of her life. Mary has alleged that she was subjected to repeated essay at the hands of her mother's clients, starting at just the age of five. As she grew older, Mary exhibited numerous signs of disturbed and unpredictable behavior, including sudden mood swings and chronic bed wedding.

She would often get into fights at school and have, had attempted to strangle or suffocate her classmates on numerous occasions. Mary was also involved in petty crimes such as vandalism and theft. Although due to the area she grew up in, none of this attracted much attention. She also had a reputation for being a bit of a show-off, so when she began to boast, I am a murderer. Nobody paid her any mind, dismissing her proclamations as attention-seeking behavior. Due to this behavior, Mary didn't have many friends aside from a 13-year-old neighbor called Norma Jean Bell.

no relation to Mary. However, Norma wasn't exactly an angel either. One Saturday afternoon, a three-year-old was discovered dazed and bleeding from his head on St. Margaret's Road. He informed police that he had been playing with Mary and Norma atop of former air raid shelter, when one of the girls pushed him from the roof of it. The three-year-old fell seven feet to the ground and suffered a severe laceration to his head. The same evening, parents called to complain that Mary and Norma attempted to strangle their kids in a sandpit. Due to their age, the girls were given a warning, with no further action taken.

Both Mary and Norma denied any wrongdoing with regards to the three-year-old, claiming that it had simply found him bleeding after he had already fallen. But when questioned about the sandpit incident, Norma finally stated, quote, Mary went to one of the girls and said, What happens if you choke someone?

Do they die? Then Mary put both hands around the girl's throat and squeezed. The girl started to go purple. I told Mary, to stop, but she wouldn't. Then she put her hands around Pauline's throat and she started going purple as well. Another girl, Susan Cornish, came up and Mary did the same thing to her, end quote. On the 25th of May, 1968, the day before her 11th birthday, Mary Bell's behavior finally escalated. In the upstairs bedroom of a derelict house located on 85 St. Margaret's Road, she strangled

four-year-old Martin Brown to death. Martin's body was found at a approximately 3 p.m. the same day, and a local workman named John Hall attempted CPR, but unfortunately it was too late. Coincidentally, as Hall was attempting to resuscitate the boy, who appeared in the doorway, none other than Mary and Norma, who were quickly shooed away. Aside from the blood in the foam around his mouth, the cause of death wasn't clear. During Martin's autopsy the following day, doctors were equally stumped as to the manner of his death. Detective speculated that Martin had possibly died from ingesting poison due to the blood and foam around his mouth, which was later disproved. Due to his autopsy results providing no clear answers, Martin's case remained opened for further investigation.

The same day as the autopsy, which was also Mary's 11th birthday, she and her friend Norma broke into a nursery in Woodland Crescent and vandalized the property. The damage was extensive, with the girls tearing up books, knocking over desks, smearing ink and paint all over the walls, they also damaged the roof by peeling up tiles to gain entry to the building. Before they left, the girls left a series of four profanity-laced notes which taunted the police and claimed responsibility for the killing of Martin Brown. Although it was not thought that Norma had been present for Martin Brown's death, the notes suggested otherwise. To add insult to injury, Maria Norma did several things to make themselves known to the Brown family. After being shoot away from the scene of Martin's death by John Hall,

both girls knocked on the door of Rita Finlay, who happened to be Martin's aunts. Mary informed her, quote, one of your sister's bairns just had an accident. We think it's Martin, but we can't tell because there's blood all over him, end quote. Shortly before Martin's funeral, Mary Anorma called upon his mother, June, asking to see her son. When June Brown replied that Martin was dead and that they could not call on him, Mary replied, quote, Oh, I know he's dead. I wanted to see him in his coffin, end quote. But Mary's rampage didn't stop there. Just over a month later on the 31st of July, 1968, Mary and Norma played out in the streets with three-year-old Brian Howe,

one of his siblings and their family dog. Soon the pair strangled Brian to death and discarded his body in the wastelands known as Tin Lizzie, later returning to the scene of the crime to carve their initials into his stomach with a straight razor, and furthermore to make cuts to his legs and severing off a portion of his private areas. Mary and Norma also used scissors to remove some of Brian's hair. After Brian never returned home that afternoon, his family members and neighbors searched feverishly for him. Finally, at approximately 11.10 p.m., a search party discovered him wedged between two concrete blocks, covered in clumps of grass in a sloppy attempt to hide his body. Mary and Norma even let the scissors used to cut Brian's hair at the scene.

So we should talk a little bit more about what Tin Lizzie is and why the neighborhood kids were playing in what one would picture to be an area that looked like it had been hit by a bomb. So in the 1960s, Newcastle-upon-Tyne was the subject of a significant urban renewal project, where many of the inner boroughs, including Scottswood, saw Victorian-era truss slums demolished so that modern houses and flats could be built in their place. However, many families still resided in the condemned buildings that were marked for demolition while they awaited rehousing. Due to the nature of what was happening in the lack of parks or modern playgrounds, neighborhood kids simply played in the rubble. This was not an easy place to live by any means, and there were often protests regarding the hazardous conditions that families had no choice but to reside in.

With regards to Brian's autopsy, cyanosis, or bluing, was discovered on his lips. Several scratches and bruises were evident upon his neck, and it was clear that the manner of death was manual strangulation. Brian had been deceased approximately seven and a half hours prior to discovery, and it was thought that the killer or killers had squeezed Brian's nostrils shut with one hand, while the other hand gripped his throat. It was also noted that numerous puncture wounds had been inflicted prior to his death, with the other injuries inflicted postmortem. Several gray and maroon fibers were also discovered on Brian's clothing,

shoes which did not match any of the fibers found in the Howe household. The coroner also noticed something that had not been noted in Martin Brown's autopsy, that a relatively small amount of force was used in the strangulation, to which he concluded that those involved might not be adults. More than 1,200 minors were questioned with regards to their whereabouts in the day of Brian's death, including both Norma and Mary Bell. Both testimonies were evasive and contradicted each other's statements, but they both said that they were playing with Brian Howe that day, but hadn't seen him after lunchtime. When questioned again, Mary claimed that she had seen an eight-year-old hitting Brian that day and claimed that he was in possession of a small pair of scissors. She also claimed

that he was covered in grass as if he'd been rolling around in a field. She then went on to exclaim, quote, I saw him trying to cut off a cat's tail with the scissors, but there was something wrong with them. One leg was broken or bent, end quote. Mary's attempt to offer up a possible suspect actually sealed her fate due to the fact that she knew about the scissors that were left behind at the crime scene, and also due to the fact that the eight-year-old she mentioned had a solid alibi. He was at the Newcastle airport on the afternoon of the 31st of July, and numerous witnesses saw him there. Later, Norma Bell contacted police and told them everything she knew. Norma provided them with a drawing depicting all the injuries inflicted upon Brian's body,

all of which matched the coroner's report. She knew about it. the scissors left at the crime scene, and she even led them to where the straight razor used to carve the letters into Brian's stomach had been stashed away. She told police that Mary boasted to her saying she enjoyed strangling the three-year-old. Later, Norma told police that she had been present at the Tin Lizzie when the crime occurred, but had run from the scene when the killing took place. However, a forensic examination of clothing owned by both girls revealed the gray fibers discovered upon Brian's body were a precise match to a woolen dress owned by Mary. and that the maroon fibers found on his shoes were a precise match to a skirt owned by Norma.

Furthermore, the same gray fibers had also been found on the body of Martin Brown. When questioned at her home on the 5th of August, Mary became defensive with the officers. She told them, quote, you're trying to brainwash me, I will get a solicitor to get me out of this, end quote. And again, Mary's taunting behavior did not stop there. Brian House funeral was held on the 7th of August 1968. He was buried in a small local cemetery, and his service was attended by over 200 family members, friends, and community members. As Brian's coffin was brought from his family home where he had been laying in wake,

to the beginning of the funeral procession, Mary was standing outside of the Howe family home. She was observed laughing and rubbing her hands together. This behavior was observed by police officers who knew they needed to make their move quickly. Both Mary and Norma Bell were charged in Brian's homicide that same evening, in approximately 8 p.m. Mary said she was president at the Tin Lizzie, but tried to pin Brian's death on Norma. She also said she was responsible for the vandalism that took place at the nursery and Woodland Crescent the day after Martin Brown's death. In response to the charges against them, Mary replied, that's all right by me. However, Norma reacted very differently. She burst

into tears and stated, I never, I'll pay you back for this. During their trials, both Mary and Norma tried to pin the crimes on one another. Despite their ages, the judge waived their rights to anonymity in a rare move due to the nature of the crimes. As such, the media was allowed to print both of their names in the newspaper, along with their pictures. Psychiatrists noted that Norma was intellectually delayed and submissive and easily displayed emotions. Mary, on the other hand, was described as bright yet cunning, prone to sudden mood swings. Four psychiatrists concluded that although Mary wasn't suffering from a mental disorder per se, she did suffer from a psychopathic personality disorder. On the 17th of December, Mary Bell was convicted of manslaughter in the deaths of both Martin

Brown and Brian Howe. She was sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure, which is effectively an indefinite sentence of imprisonment. Norma Bell was subsequently acquitted of all charges against her. Mary was detained in a Durham remand home, but was transferred to numerous facilities being That's inappropriate. I'll start again. Mary was detained in a Durham-Ramand home, but was transferred to numerous facilities, including a remand home in South Norwood,

where she was the only female inmate, Red Bank Secure Unit, and H.M. Prison Style in Cheshire. While imprisoned, Mary claimed that she was subjected to S.A. at the hands of male officers, starting at around the age of 13. When she was 16 years old, Mary tried to apply for parole,

but was unsuccessful. In June of 1976, Mary was transferred to Moore Court, where she began secretarial training. Moore Court was an open prison, which is a facility where the prisoners are trusted to complete their sentences with minimal supervision and security, and often are not locked up in their prison cells. Prisoners often take up employment while serving their sentence in an attempt to rehabilitate them for release. However, Mary just couldn't behave. Fifteen months after her transfer to Moore Court, she and another inmate, Annette Priese, escapes. During this time, the pair spent several days in the company of two young men in Blackpool,

visiting amusement parks and sleeping in various local hotels. Mary used the alias Mary Robinson and even dyed her dark hair blonde to evade detection by police. Mary was finally arrested in Derby Shire at the home of a man called Clive Shirtcliffe on the 13th of September. And a net priest was apprehended in Leeds days later. And the repercussions for escaping prison and going on a joyride with strange men? minimal. Mary and Annette simply lost prison privileges for 28 days. She was eventually transferred once more to H.M. Prison, Ascombe Grange, another open prison to prepare her for her eventual release the following year. In May of 1980, at the age of 23, Mary was released from prison, serving a mere 11 and a half years in custody.

During her final year in prison, Mary worked as a secretary and then as a waitress in a cafe in Yorkminster. She was granted anonymity, including a new name, allowing her to start a new life elsewhere in the country under an assumed identity. Through a spokesperson, Mary released a statement that she wished to be given a chance at a normal life and to be left alone. On May 25, 1984, coincidentally the same day she had killed Martin Brown, Mary gave birth to a daughter. The two lived a quiet life until 1998 when the media discovered her whereabouts in a resort town on the Sussex Coast, essentially outing Mary's. passed to her daughter, who had known nothing of it up until that point. Mary, her living boyfriend, and her now 14-year-old daughter had to flee to a safe house with bed sheets draped over their heads and were eventually relocated to another area in the United Kingdom.

The same year, Mary published a tell-all book called Cries Unheard, The Story of Mary Bell, with author Gita Serenei that outlined her past and the harm inflicted upon her by her mother. also included our interviews with relatives, friends, and professionals that knew Mary before, during, and after her time in prison. In the book, Mary has freely said that her upbringing did not excuse the crimes that she had committed. There were rumors that Mary was paid 50,000 British pounds for her collaboration, but this was disputed. Gita Serenei had previously published the book, The Case of Mary Bell, in 1972. So where is Mary Bell today? Well, we don't know. Her anonymity as well as her daughters, is still protected by a high court order, and it stands for life.

In fact, any order put in place to permanently protect the anonymity of a person or persons is known as a Mary Bell order. As of the date of this recording, Mary would be 64 years old. Her daughter would be my age. Do you think that justice was served and that Mary has a right to a chance at a normal life? Also, do you think that Norma should have gotten off the hook? Let us know in the comments section below. If you appreciate this video, know that we have put a lot of time and effort into it. All I'm asking in return is if you appreciate what we're doing, to please hit that subscribe button if you're listening on YouTube. We also have a very wonderful group of people that are going to that extra step to subscribe to us on Patreon.

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