On 25 May 1968, the day before her 11th birthday, Mary Flora Bell strangled four-year-old Martin Brown. She was believed to have committed this crime alone. Between that time and the second killing, she and her friend Norma Joyce Bell (no relation), age thirteen, broke into and vandalised a nursery in Scotswood, leaving notes that claimed responsibility for the Brown killing. The Newcastle police dismissed this incident as a ‘prank’.
On 31 July 1968, the two took part in the death, again by strangulation, of three-year-old Brian Howe. Police reports concluded that Mary Bell had gone back after killing him to carve an “N” into his stomach with a razor; this was then changed using the same razor but with a different hand to an “M”. Mary Bell also used a pair of scissors to cut off bits of Brian Howe’s hair and to mutilate his genitals. As the girls were so young and their testimonies contradicted each other, what happened has never been entirely clear. Martin Brown’s death was initially ruled an accident as there was no evidence of foul play. Eventually, his death was linked with Brian Howe’s killing and in August, the two girls were charged with two counts of manslaughter.
January 25, 2011 at 11:05 am | justcheckin
ok tv thing
February 16, 2011 at 1:30 am | megan
not working! please fix?
May 30, 2011 at 2:52 am | Lolanr1
They should never have released her from prison. She is clearly a psychopath who likes to kill, and she will always remain incredibly dangerous. Nothing anyone can do about it, no amount of therapy will ‘fix’ her. A case of lock up and throw away the key.
August 19, 2011 at 2:26 pm | Anonymous
Moron. She recovered and never commited violent crimes again. People like you are the ones that should be locked up. You are the psychopath.
August 19, 2011 at 2:26 pm | Anonymous
Moron. She recovered and never commited violent crimes again. People like you are the ones that should be locked up. You are the psychopath.
August 19, 2011 at 2:26 pm | Anonymous
Moron. She recovered and never commited violent crimes again. People like you are the ones that should be locked up. You are the psychopath.
October 13, 2011 at 3:46 pm | Zaphodity
She was willing to accept a large sum of money if she helped an author write a book about her killings. Does that sound like a normal thing to do ? The bitch is a psychopath and has to this day a very warped sense of right and wrong and also a lack of empathy and remorse, classic traits of a psychopath.
October 13, 2011 at 6:03 pm | NAND Gate
Being a “psychopath and has to this day a very warped sense of right and wrong and also a lack of empathy and remorse” is not against the law in itself, and is also just an opinion. Locking her up and throwing away the key is wrong. She was a kid when she did this.
October 14, 2011 at 12:13 am | vcx
remember me? I’m the psychopath who wants to rape and murder downies.
I think they should let Mary Bell team up with Casey Anthony and have a reality show, extreme Nannies.
October 14, 2011 at 12:13 am | vcx
remember me? I’m the psychopath who wants to rape and murder downies.
I think they should let Mary Bell team up with Casey Anthony and have a reality show, extreme Nannies.
October 14, 2011 at 5:04 am | NAND Gate
How could anyone forget a charming character like you? I will point out that wanting to do something as “forever alone” as that, is different from actually saying you will – which you did.
Dark cynicism just for the sake of it is utterly try-hard – it is also a true sign of emotional retardation.
Pretty boring dude – because the underlying causes are kind of obvious. Try and be of use to the world, kk? cool.
February 28, 2012 at 1:55 pm | Ali H
You blatantly are Mary Bell.
February 21, 2012 at 11:21 pm | Lolanr1
How do you know she never comitted a crime again? She has a different name now. And fyi: there is no such thing as a recovered psychopathic murder. Do your homework.
February 21, 2012 at 11:59 pm | NAND Gate
Well, for your information, you know-it-all wanker – the police and media release details of her progress, even if she has changed her name. And they did, and she is doing fine and hasn’t re-offended. You have no idea what you are talking about, so why opt to act like a random wanker who does know? You should do your own homework on how to research things, and how not to be a toss pot.
January 22, 2012 at 7:56 pm | guest
Actually, as a “Psychopath” who has attempted to kill various times before, I can say from first hand experience that therapy helps. alot. You are an uneducated assumptious moron who knows nothing about how traumatic abuse can deeply scar a child.
January 25, 2012 at 11:40 am | Vicki78
im not being smart but i had a very hard childhood and yes i have problems now but none of them cause me to harm or kill others.
February 21, 2012 at 11:19 pm | Lolanr1
Precisely, because YOU were not a born psychopath, unlike Mary or ‘guest’.
February 21, 2012 at 11:16 pm | Lolanr1
LOL, ‘moron’, you say? That’s rich, coming from a psychopath!
May 30, 2011 at 8:10 pm | H Pluckrose
She has been out of prison for many years and now has a daughter and a husband and a job – there is a book written by her psychiatrist who says as yet, May has to tell herself that she did not really understand that they would die to live with herself but is working on accepting what she has done. She stopped being violent as soon as she was in a secure children’s home where no-one was abusing her or trying to kill her.
October 13, 2011 at 3:35 pm | Zaphodity
And I suppose you’d let her babysit your kids ?
October 13, 2011 at 6:06 pm | NAND Gate
….and what has that got to do with the law or even reality at all?
August 23, 2011 at 12:40 pm | Vicki
So sad and an amazing story I have never heard about, she was so beautiful but was a bad apple from a bad tree. The poor darling childen killed
September 10, 2011 at 8:21 pm | Anonon
What they don’t tell you here is that her mother tried to kill her on several occasions, and from the age of 4 pimped her out to various men.
October 13, 2011 at 3:23 pm | Zaphodity
Raises a interesting question, are psychopaths born or made ?
October 13, 2011 at 6:05 pm | NAND Gate
Apparently many people are born with a genetic propensity to be psychopaths, but only a very small percentage of those have that propensity triggered (usually in childhood via some kind of trauma).
November 20, 2011 at 8:19 pm | redwhiteandblue
There is crime in England? Poverty? Child abuse? Prostitution? Alert Mr. Theroux!
March 17, 2012 at 2:40 pm | shyannedianne
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1110123/Child-killer-Mary-Bell-grandmother-51-But-I-left-grief-says-victims-mother.html
unbelievable that she was allowed to have children!! what a fantastic family tree bedtime story she can tell her grandkids hey
March 25, 2012 at 6:52 am | ?????????????????>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I believe one of ye is Mary Bell because I can’t believe any sane person would defend this Devil-Child….She is exceptionally intelligent….She seduced the childish innocents into a false sense of security by a well orchestrated plan of choking her victims and then antagonised the mother of the child….From viewing many docs about serial killers they all seem to have the same attributes and play the same games…..She treated the killings as a game and I doubt a sick mind like that could ever really be healed…..
Also I wonder does the husband know who the fuck she really is?????
He is probably wondering why she loves S+M and why he always wakes up with scissors marks in his legs and his hair cut up every morning……
That woman should have not been allowed have kids…….Growing an army of OMEN CHILDREN…….Devils red brigade….
March 25, 2012 at 5:56 pm | LadyNimueh
As a child care worker and former forensic scientist i have to say it’s a tough issue to discuss because it pertains children in this case.
When children are not cared for in a loving and safe environment and are exposed to violence of all kinds it’s most likely will have a devastating effect on the child.
True, this child has to be monitored for the duration of her life but i don’t really think she is the psychopath they claim her to be..
It’s very rare that child killers like Mary and the two boy’s who murdered little Jaime Bulger will ever kill again.
With the proper care and extensive therapy and guidance they will be okay.
April 22, 2012 at 5:53 pm | anonymous
Seriously I am a spychopath.And I did a lot of things let just say it happened for a reason. I dont know why people judge others.God said I shall not judge…So the one that are judging are the one that will go to hell…God will forgive you if you want to be forgiven…Sometime you need total darkness to finally see the light…Thats what happen there…When I’m turning mad I dont care what I’ll do everything happens for a reason so shut the fuck up when you dont know what your talking about…Now I use medications to keep me sane Im out of the institute…I know whats right from wrong but do you???And no I’m not Mary Flora Bell..I’m only someone that beleive someone can change with proper guidance…Because I did change I just need to manage my anger toward other peoples and everything will be all right…peace out and stop judging…
April 22, 2012 at 6:21 pm | jokerama
Seriously I am a spychopath.And I did a lot of things let just say it happened for a reason. I dont know why people judge others.God said I shall not judge…So the one that are judging are the one that will go to hell…God will forgive you if you want to be forgiven…Sometime you need total darkness to finally see the light…Thats what happen there…When I’m turning mad I dont care what I’ll do everything happens for a reason so shut the fuck up when you dont know what your talking about…Now I use medications to keep me sane Im out of the institute…I know whats right from wrong but do you???And no I’m not Mary Flora Bell..I’m only someone that beleive someone can change with proper guidance…Because I did change I just need to manage my anger toward other peoples and everything will be all right…peace out and stop judging…
April 28, 2012 at 9:31 pm | Brittany
While I am pleased she has recovered, I think people need to be less “black or white” on this issue. Seriously, some people are too far from the line to rehab (for example, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger John Venables was “rehabilitated” and ended up a child pornography distributor.) However, she did well. We need to gauge the kids before we make a call one way or the other. Look at the remorse, the possibilities, everything.