I have heard of many true crime cases before but few have shocked me as much as the Case of Mary Bell.

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 laid eyes on her daughter (foreshadowing much?). From the beginning, it was clear that the little girl was subject to both physical and mental abuse in the hands of her mother.

It seems that Mary’s life was nothing short of a tragedy. According to her aunt, Mary’s mother had tried to give Mary away to a woman who had been trying to adopt until her sister intervened. Mary also stated that her mom started to prostitute her out when she was only four years of age although this was never confirmed. What was confirmed, however, was that during her childhood Mary had to witness her five-year-old friend being run over and killed by a bus. This is perceived to be the trigger of the life of violence that Mary would soon lead.

On May 11, 1968, Mary had been playing with a three-year-old boy when he was badly injured in a fall which his parents assumed to be an accident. The following day, however, three mothers went to the police station and claimed that Mary had attempted to choke their young daughters but soon all charges were dropped. These instances were of course minor compared to what Mary decided to do on the day before her 11th Birthday.

On May 25, 1968, Mary Bell strangled and killed 4-year-old Martin Brown in an abandoned house in Scotswood, England. Even after leaving a note claiming responsibility for the killing, law enforcement dismissed it as a prank and ruled the killing as an accident because an empty bottle of painkillers was found on the scene as well.

The distraught Bowen family were crushed but they had suspected foul play when little Mary Bell knocked on their door after his death. Mary asked to see Martin to which his mother kindly responded with the news of his death. Mary allegedly stated that she already knew that but she wanted to see his body in the coffin. Horrified, the mother slammed the door in her face.

On July 31, two months after the first killing, Mary and her friend Norma killed 3-year-old Brian Howe by strangulation. This time, Mary had gone so far as to ravage the body with scissors, scratching the little boy’s thighs and butchering his penis.

When Brian’s body was found, the whole neighborhood was in a panic as this was the second little boy to turn up dead in the quant area. Police were especially shocked when they found that the lack of force in the body indicated that the person responsible was a child. Later reports even stated that Brian’s torso had been marked with the letter “M”.

On the day of Brian’s burial, Mary was caught sneaking around his house with the utmost joy and laughter. Because of this suspicious behavior, she was brought in for questioning by the police. Mary made up a story about how she spotted an 8-year-old boy with Brian that day. He apparently had hit him and also was carrying a pair of broken scissors. Mary smirked, seemingly proud of her fable but she had made one major mistake. The detail concerning the mutilation of the body with scissors was not public information. It was a fact known only to investigators and one other person: Brian’s murderer.

On 17 December 1968, Mary Bell was found guilty of manslaughter (She wasn’t charged with murder as a psychologist described her as displaying “classic symptoms of psychopathy”). In 1980, 23-year-old Bell was released from prison after serving 12 years and was granted anonymity and federal protection which allowed her to start a new life.

This story is wild in so many ways. I personally do believe that Mary had been dealt a terrible hand in life. Her mother even went and claimed her fame as the parent of a murderer as she sold Mary’s belongings for-profit and constantly talked to the press. Even with her issues at home, I feel that there are also psychological issues that are genetically embedded seeing as to obscure her behavior was regardless of the situation. What are your thoughts on this case?

Humans are a complicated and diverse species. Diversity can apply to many ends of the spectrum from skin color to age to overall intelligence. Deviants (criminals) are obviously not unheard of and despite their morals, many are considered to be masterminds such as the likes of Leonardo Notarbartolo and Al Capone. I’m sure that the fact that there are countless ones that are not too bright comes as a shock to no one. Here are a few of the “dumbest” criminals that I have heard of.

Gary Rough AKA Cucumber Man 

28-year-old Gary Rough attempted to rob a bookmaker shop in Glasgow, Scotland. For reference, a bookmaker’s or bookie’s is a place in which someone facilitates gambling, most commonly on sporting events. Amidst the robbery, Rough pointed a cylindrical object at a worker… it was assumed to be a gun. Shortly after the worker refused him, an off-duty officer came to the rescue and pinned the supposed robber to the ground, and punched him in the face to subdue him. This was when it was discovered that what Gary had was not a gun but rather a cucumber covered with a black sock. The practically knocked out Rough told police: “It was a f****** cucumber. Will I get jail for this? It was a dare.” Well, his question was answered on February 27th, 2014 as the plumber was sentenced to 40 months in jail with the charges of assault with intent to rob. One of his statements was “I think it was quite stupid – I am not a robber. It was a laugh that went too far.”

Derrick Mosley AKA Batman 

Planning is normally a priority when it comes to committing most crimes, especially a robbery. 22-year-old Derrick Mosley didn’t seem to get the memo as he attempted to pull off a grand heist on a Thursday afternoon. Mosley attempted to rob a gun shop outside of Portland, Oregon. His weapon of choice: a baseball bat. Yup, you read that correctly, this man seriously brought a baseball bat to a GUN SHOP. The manager of the shop witnesses him smashing a gun display case with his bat and struggled to pull out a few unloaded guns. The practically unfazed manager pulled out a gun of his which stopped the would-be robber in his tracks. It was said that he was teasing him as he was waiting for authorities to arrive. Washington County soon came to the scene and found Mosley on the floor when they arrived. He was charged with first-degree robbery and unlawful possession of a firearm with bail set at $250,000.

Joey Miller and Matthew McNelly AKA Dumb and Dumber

Do you think that picture above is a joke? Oh, how I wish it was. 23-year-old Matthew McNelly and 20-year-old Joey Miller attempted to rob an apartment in their hometown in Carroll, Iowa. They failed the break-in and fled the scene. Authorities were notified and found their vehicle in no time. They were shocked to find out that the two men inside had permanent marker marks all over their faces. “We’re very skilled investigators and the black faces gave them right away,” an officer said. “I have to assume the officers were kind of laughing at the time. I’ve never heard of coloring your face with a permanent marker.” The two were heavily intoxicated and targeted the place that they did because the owner was accused of having relations with one of the burglars’ girlfriends. The situation was extremely comical and became the talk of the town to the point that the two were let off the hook. Carroll Police Chief Cayler said, “I’ve been chief here almost 25 years, been with the department 28½ years and I’ve seen a lot of things that make me laugh and weird things but this was probably the best combination of the two — strangely weird and hilariously funny all at the same time.”

I have to admit, I’m not exactly the brightest crayon in the box but reading through this made me feel sharper than before. I’m not saying that I would ever commit a robbery but all I’m saying is that if I had to, I would probably not bring a baseball bat, a cucumber, or streak my face with a permanent marker. Since we are talking about criminals I will say that my friend from middle school who would frequently shoplift lip glosses from Walmart was at least more clever than these grown men. Hi Samantha, I hope life’s going better for ya. Okay all jokes aside, I honestly am curious to know what was going on in their heads when they were committing these crimes. Heck, I wanna know what they were thinking before and after as well. These cases are very peculiar, to say the least… what are your thoughts?

6-year-old Etan Patz made national headlines after his 1979 disappearance from his New York Neighborhood. On the day that he went missing, the child had packed his elephant printed bag with his toy cars, took a dollar to buy a soda, and was headed for the bus stop. It was exciting for him considering that it was the first time that his mother would allow him to walk all by himself for those two blocks. That would soon become her greatest regret.

Etan never made it home, in fact, he never even made it to the bus stop. It was assumed that he was abducted and the story sparked major interest. As his father was a photographer, Etan had plentiful headshots which were used for his national missing child campaign (the biggest one for its time). Etan’s photos were plastered all across television screens, telephone polls, and even on the screens of Times Square. Soon Etan would become known for being one of the original milk carton kids.

Contrary to popular belief, Etan wasn’t the first missing child to be printed on milk cartons, two missing boys from Iowa were. But because Etan’s case had sparked such attention, people to this day still consider him to be the pioneer of the popularized “missing kids on milk cartons” campaign as he was the first to go national. In 1983, President Reagan even proclaimed May 25, the day of his kidnapping, “National Missing Children’s Day.”

Even with national attention, Etan’s case proceeded to go cold for decades. In 2001, 22 years after his disappearance, Etan Patz was declared legally dead but somehow the case still remained open. Due to lack of evidence, authorities would have to hope for a miracle, which would eventually come in 2012.

33 years after Etan’s disappearance, Authorities received a call from one Jose Lopez, who claimed his brother-in-law, Pedro Hernandez, was responsible for Etan Patz’s death.

Pedro Hernandez was an 18-year-old shopkeeper on Prince Street, not a long way from Etan’s home. A couple of days after Etan Patz disappeared, Hernandez moved back to his old neighborhood in New Jersey. Before long, he began telling people that he was Etan’s murderer

Crying, Pedro admitted to his church, friend circle, and soon his fiancee that he had lured little Etan into his store’s basement and choked him to death. He put the child’s body in a plastic bag and threw him away in a box. The body was never recovered.

Although the case seemed clear-cut, it went on for quite a while considering that Pedro Hernandez was difficult to sentence. With an IQ of 70, he was considered mentally ill and his defense team was so solid that he was even found innocent in 2015 since the jury came to a deadlock. After a retrial in 2017, however, Pedro was found guilty of kidnapping and Murdering the pioneering Milk Carton Kid.

The Creativity Movement

The Creativity Movement honestly sounds like a cute campaign that elementary schoolers participated in but the reality is far too crazy. The Creativity Movement was one of the most notorious hate groups in the 1990s, gaining publicity for its
rapid growth and the violence. It was a white-supremacist and xenophobic cult which advocated a religion known as the “White Religion” called Creativity. cult was founded as the Church of the Creator by Ben Klassen in 1973. In the summer of 1993, Klassen committed suicide. After the demise of its creator, Mathew F. Hale led the cult until his incarceration on 8th January, 2003 for scheming with an FBI informant Anthony Evola to murder a federal judge.

The True Way Cult

Now we are getting into UFO religion territory. A UFO religion is one which beliefs align with the idea that there is communication between humans and extraterrestrial beings. Chen tao or true way is a religion originating from Taiwan. This New Religious Movement was a mix of Buddhism, Taoism, and UFOlogy. They emphasized transmigration of souls and three souls per person, and placed great emphasis on spiritual energy. They also believed in “outside souls” who basically acted as bad influences in human world or even as demons. The group immediately broke apart as soon as a major prophecy was failed and televised globally.

Ho No Hana Sanpogyo

Ho-no-Hana-Sanpogyo was a Japanese new religious movement referred to as the “foot-reading cult” in the media. Indeed you read that correctly – a foot reading cult. The founder of the cult claimed that he was the reincarnation of both Jesus Christ and the Buddha. The reality was that he was a con-artist that would bring members into the cult and would drain them of every penny in the name of the betterment of the cult. New members were initiated into grueling conditions, forced to stay up for days and run around the streets yelling things that roughly translate to “I am living a happy and healthy life!” and “Fantastic!” Soon enough the founder was arrested on multiple accounts of fraud and the cult was history.

Freedomites

Among their many outlandish believes, freedoms opposed land ownership, public schools, using work animals, etc. and are mainly known for protesting nude. This Canadian cult was highly problematic as they engaged in arson and public sabotage to spread their message. It came to a point where they even got their children taken away from them.

Children of God

Fair warning: this cult is obscure even for this list. Basically this was a sex-centric hippie cult that preached the words of Jesus. This cult used their younger female teen members to lure in prospective members through sexual favors. They claim that sex wasn’t just sex, it was actually the spread of God’s love. The craziest concept that this church encouraged was having sex with children and they referred to it as a “divine right”. The founder of the cult has engaged in sexual activity with several of his DAUGHTERS on MULTIPLE occasions. According to him, “God created boys and girls able to have children by about 12 years of age”.

Order of the Solar Temple

The Order of the Solar Temple’s headquarters were established in Geneva, Switzerland in 1984. One of the main beliefs of the cult is that a sign of the end of the world would be the birth of a god-child. Di Mambro (the founder) had already given one of the children of his skeptic followers this title. The Order then stabbed the entire family to death with a wooden stake after given this information. Another belief that they had was that death was simply an illusion and that life continues on in another planet. Following the murder of “the anti-christ’s” family, members in the inner circle committed mass suicide and others were found mysteriously shot or smothered to death, all dressed in their ceremonial robes. Surprisingly, this cult is still active today.

The Narcosatanists

Separating themselves from the other cults on this list, The Narcosatanists were a drug cult. It was lead byAdolfo Constanzo and his “witch,” Sara Aldrete who are collectively responsible for at least 15 murders. Before meeting Aldrete, Constanzo had multiple male and female lovers who he began recruiting into his cult. The entirety of the cult consisted of drug smugglers. Their shocking philosophy was that by performing human sacrifices, it would protect them from police and even make them bulletproof.

The Manson Family

When one thinks of an infamous cult, one thinks of the Manson Family. The Manson Family famously murdered seven people over the course of two nights to incite a race war. The crimes committed by the Manson Family included multiple murders, torture, hostage-taking, and the attempted assassination of President Gerald Ford. Manson claimed the members of the Family were the original Christians who had been reincarnated.

Church of the Most High Goddess

Mary Ellen Tracy was a former mormon and a High Priestess. Tracy claimed to have takes part in an ancient, misunderstood Egyptian religion in which sexual rituals put men on the ″path back to the divine.″ According to her, she had sex with over 2,000 men as part of a ritual of spiritual cleansing. As she accepted monetary donations for these acts, she faced prostitution charges and her “church” was seen as nothing more than a brothel.

Heaven’s Gate

Honestly, this was the first cult that I have ever heard of as I came across it on a conspiracy theory video but I digress. Heaven’s Gate was founded by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles in the early 70s. The followers or “the crew” were told that Applewhite was the second coming of Jesus Christ, the end of the world was upon them, and that God was an alien. Cult members cut off contact with their families and were put on a diet of lemonade, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup, in order to get rid of sexual thoughts. In March 1997, 39 members of Heaven’s Gate committed mass suicide as they were convinced that the sacrifice would allow them to leave their bodily “containers” and enter an alien spacecraft hidden behind the Hale-Bopp comet.