Mary Bell was only ten years old when she committed her first murder — and it wasn’t her last.

Mary Bell killed two young boys in 1968. After serving a 12-year sentence, she was only 23 years old when she was released from prison.

In other words, Mary Bell was only 10 when she started committing her murders.

But her experiences of violence didn’t begin there — pain and death were her companions almost from the moment of her birth.

The Beginning Of A Crime

On May 26, 1957, Mary Bell was born to Betty, a 16-year-old prostitute who reportedly told doctors to “take that thing away from me” when she saw her daughter.

Things went downhill from there. Betty was often away from home on “business” trips to Glasgow — but her absences were periods of respite for the young Mary, who was subject to abuse, both mental and physical when her mother was present.

Betty’s sister saw Betty try to give Mary away to a woman who had been unsuccessfully trying to adopt; the sister quickly recovered Mary herself. 

Mary was also strangely accident-prone; she once “fell” from a window and “accidentally” overdosed on sleeping pills on another occasion.

Some attribute the misfortunes to Betty’s determination to rid herself of an encumbrance, while others see the symptoms of Munchausen syndrome by proxy; Betty longed for the attention, and sympathy her daughter’s accidents brought her.

According to later accounts given by Mary herself, her mother started to prostitute her out when she was just four years old — though this remains uncorroborated by family members. 

They did know, however, that Mary’s young life had already been marked by loss: she had seen her five-year-old friend run over and killed by a bus.

Given all that had happened, it did not surprise them that Mary had become a strange child, withdrawn and manipulative, always hovering on the edge of violence by the age of ten.

A Terrible Plan That Mary Bell Had Made

Mary was with her friend Norma Jean Belle on her eleventh birthday, May 25, 1968. The duo planned to set an ambush for Martin Brown, a 4-year-old neighbor’s boy. 

They lured him by offering him candies, then took him to an old building nearby, where Mary choked him to death. When the child’s parents failed to see him return, they alerted the police, and the body was discovered the following morning. The case was dropped as an accident since there were no visible traces of an assault on the child’s body.

Mary Bell Kills For A Second Time

Mary and Norma planned to attack again on July 31, 1968, targeting Brian Howe, a 3-year-old boy. He was lured with the promise of candy, as in the previous murder, and then murdered. 

They moved much farther this time, etching an “M” on the child’s chest with scissors, cutting his hair and genitals, and dumping the body in a field. The body was discovered the following day, and the police investigated the possibility of a pedophiliac. 

As a result, the case was linked to Martin’s killing, and the possibility of a serial killer emerged.

Mary’s Confession For Her Crime

Around 1200 youngsters from the region were interrogated, and these two girls, in particular, sparked suspicion. Their answers did not persuade the detectives, and Mary confessed to both murders under duress during the interview.

The two were captured in August 1968. Norma was freed because she was an inactive witness to the murders, but Mary was convicted. The detectives did not trust Mary when she claimed that Norma had lied and that she had been playing an active role.

She Was Sentenced To Life Imprisonment

Mary Bell was sentenced to life imprisonment on December 17, 1968. Mary stayed in confinement till 1980, when she was certified recovered after undergoing many psychiatric therapies throughout her detention.

She had a reputation for being bright, aggressive, violent, and lying since she was a child. Her family claims she wanted to squeeze a classmate’s throat in kindergarten by putting her hands around her. 

She also displayed tremendous rage and retaliated violently against her family. Her horrible life experiences, which began when she was a baby, forced her into this scenario.

According to her relatives, Betty, her mom, was dealing with a Factitious condition imposed on another (FDIA), a psychiatric illness where a patient wants to harm her kid. 

Mary’s mother wanted to throw her daughter away when she was born, and her aunt saved her after she was given out to a woman who had been refused adoption. She became a disconnected, lonely, and quiet person at two.

Where is Mary Bell Now?

She was freed and given a new identity. She had a daughter in 1984, but they had to depart after a reporter exposed their identities. 

The girl remained unidentified till 2003, when Mary Bell, after a legal battle, was granted a lifetime extension of confidentiality for herself and her daughter on May 21 of that year.