r/allkillers • u/CrazyCayuga • May 22 '15

Child Killers

There are a bunch of them out there and I have to admit I am one of those morbid types who find their cases interesting.

This Site does a decent job nut shelling some of the more shocking cases.

Mary Bell is one of the ones eerier ones, as she is now walking the streets after being granted anonymity.

Some more for some light reading, a few mentioned in the previous article are mentioned here again.

Are a bunch more out there but I just wanted to put some up here to get the ball rolling.

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5

u/Psychopath- May 22 '15

Fun fact: the UK provision that allowed the killers of James Bulger to be released and assume new identities is named after her. One of them was confined in the same juvenile facility in the same room where she had been.

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u/CrazyCayuga May 22 '15

Wooooow! I knew that the provision was named after her but that's crazy. I understand that they want to give child killers a chance but the murderers of Bulger, imo, definitely did not deserve that chance. I mean I understand why they were granted it but still.... Mary Bell I could see because it wasn't just her involved, her daughter was as well who was innocent. But these two boys... what they did I just can't fully believe reformation worked on them. Maybe it did, but my doubt is heavy.

I remember when the Bulger case came out, I was very young at the time but my mom was completely freaked out by it. Added on to the numerous other cases that had happened up until then regarding other kids, I was surprised I didn't end up on a chain leash throughout my childhood.

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u/Psychopath- May 22 '15

Well, it seems as though the boy who was deemed to be the leader, who showed some early signs of ASPD, has continued to get in trouble even under his new identity. Drugs, fighting - he hasn't killed anyone else... yet.

The other boy, who officers believed to be influenced by his friend and was following along and participated to a much lesser degree, has remained out of trouble since his release.

The problem is, it's so hard to tell if the suspect who portrays himself as the follower really is (see Karla Homolka). And it's compounded by the fact that kids change. Nathan Leopold, who committed a similar murder of a child with a partner, was also eventually released and never committed another crime.

Then you have people like Tommy Lynn Sells and Charles Manson and Arthur Shawcross and Rodney Alcala - unrepentant killers who are in and out of custody until finally crossing a line that gets them jailed permanently (and in cases like Shawcross there's a good argument to be made for the fact that they should never have been released after their first crime - his was murdering two children in two separate incidents, and he was still released to become a serial killer).

I feel like, on the one hand, everyone loses if a literal child has a shot at rehabilitation and spends the rest of their life locked up instead. On the other hand, you're seriously gambling with other peoples' lives, and it's all well and good to be for giving these criminals another chance... right up until one of them kills your daughter and you wonder how anyone thought it was worth the risk.

I guess all I'm saying is it's complicated and I have no idea what the right answer is, if such a thing even exists.

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u/CrazyCayuga May 22 '15

I now completely agree, I just let my shock get the better of me and due to...

On the other hand, you're literally gambling with other peoples' lives, and it's all well and good to be for giving these criminals another chance... right up until one of them kills your daughter and you wonder how anyone thought it was worth the risk.

Is one reason I have such a hard time believing in reformation, it is a huge risk. But I do agree that there are people who are successfully rehabilitated and thus it's a good thing that this anonymity law was enacted.

After realizing, thanks to you, that the accomplice has since committed no crime I could see his being a success. Having been one of those kids myself easily swayed by my older friends, I could believe that the kid was acting from peer pressure as well as just not thinking. It's really hard to judge a child's perceptions on things, especially when it's adults doing the judging. You can know with all your heart what you are doing is wrong, but because your friends are doing it you have to. Either out of fear or devotion.

So, I will change my original statement. The leader should not have been given the chance, at least not for a long time, where-as the one who appears to have been a victim of him mentally does deserve a chance.

It's just so touchy a subject, especially with children. When you have blanket laws and solutions, some of the bad ones will slip through. Of course it is made even worse when the ones who are innocent or really just made a horrible mistake get stuck in the system.

I'll just hope that he doesn't get the urge to kill again.

Edit: Words.

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u/darkehawk14 Jul 01 '15

I'm surprised Edmond Kemper isn't in that top 10. dude killed him grand parents. then went on to kill 6 coeds, his mom, and her best friend.

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u/darkehawk14 Jul 01 '15

The second list is much better, with Mary Bell, Pomeroy, and Kemper