The Murder of James Bulger

Warning, this case discusses crimes against children. For today’s case I decided to look into this one, because it was committed by two ten year old boys. I’ve heard about this case many times before, but I never looked into the details on my own. I can’t believe that these boys had this much evil in them at that age, and how they could hurt another child who was only two years old.

Background

James Bulger was born on March 16, 1990. He lived in Kirkby, Merseyside, England. James was only two years old when he was killed, and didn't even get to experience life.

On the day of James’ death, the two ten year old boys who killed him were looking for targets. James was targeted, and I believe he was picked because he was so young and naive, and probably went with them willingly.

Murder

On February 12, 1993, James went to the New Strande Shopping Centre, with his mom, Denise.

Two ten years old named Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were also there that day. They had skipped school, like they always did and were planning on doing something terrible that day. They weren’t at the mall to shop, they were there to observe children. They were also caught stealing on the mall’s surveillance cameras. They had stolen candy, a Troll doll, blue paint and batteries.

Around 3:40pm, James and Denise went to a store called A.R. Tym’s butcher shop. Denise had gotten distracted, and James was taken by Jon and Robert. It was captured on the mall security cameras, of James holding one of the boy’s hands and being taken away.

*James being led away. Robert Thompson (top) and Jon Venables (bottom)*

The boys then took James to Leeds and Liverpool Canal. James was dropped on his head, and had gotten injuries to his face. There were many eyewitnesses that day, who saw the three boys. Apparently one of the said that James was crying his eyes out, but still no one did anything, they just told people that James was their younger brother.

Next, they went to an abandoned railroad station in Walton. The two boys began torturing James. He was kicked, stomped and they threw various items at him including stones and bricks. They also threw the blue paint that they had stolen into one of his eyes. They also put the stolen batteries into his mouth, and it’s rumored that they also put the batteries in other places (this is just a rumor, so I’m not going to discuss where). As if the torture wasn’t bad enough already, they finished by dropping an iron bar onto James’ head. The iron bar caused James to have 10 skull fractures, along with 42 other injuries.

This part is really brutal, so just a warning. The boys then laid James’ body on some railroad tracks, and weighted his head down with rubble. James was cut in half by an oncoming train.

Discovery of James

James’ body was found on February 14. The police believed there could have been a sexual element to this case, because James was stripped of his socks, shoes, trousers and underwear. They also discovered that James was dead before the train hit him.

The police then got the surveillance footage from the mall. The resolution was very grainy, and hard to make out who the boys were.

A witness came forward, and said she recognized Jon Venables as being one of the boys on the surveillance footage. She also knew that Jon had cut school with Robert Thompson. The boys were were arrested after she told this to the police.

Arrest and Trials

The police were shocked, and thought the suspects were at least teenagers. However, both boys had blue paint on their clothing and blood on their shoes. The blood was a match to James’ DNA. There was also a bruise on James’ cheek, and the pattern of Thompson’s shoe matched the bruise pattern.

Thompson and Venables were charged with James’ murder on February 20, 1993. The trial began on November 1, 1993 at Preston Crown Court.

In the trial, police interrogation was played. The police had different theories about who was the mastermind. Apparently, Venables had wanted to kidnap James and was the one to do the planning. They also went over James’ various injuries for about 33 minutes during the trial. James’ had severe brain damage, and included a brain hemorrhage.

The boys’ attorneys also tried to blame everything on Denise, James’ mother and said she let them take her son away because she was distracted.

Conviction

On November 24, 1993, Jon and Robert were found guilty of James’ murder. They were 11 years old.

The judge in this case, Mr. Justice Morland said this to the boys:

“In my judgment, your conduct was both cunning and very wicked. ”

He also said they should be locked up for many, many years to come.

Sentencing

In July 1994, the boys were sentenced to stay in custody for a minimum of 15 years. He also recommended that they should not be released until 2008, when they were 25 years old.

Release from Prison

The boys were released from prison in June 2001, after serving 8 years. They were both given new identities, and told not to ever tell anyone who they really were. They were also not allowed to contact each other, or James Bulger’s family.

James’ parents, Ralph and Denise, unfortunately divorced in 1995.

Other

On June 21, 2010, Jon Venables was charged with possession and distribution of indecent images of children. He had reportedly downloaded 57 images over a 12 month period. When the police arrived to arrest him, he was caught trying to remove or destroy the hard drive with a knife and tin can opener.

He was released from prison on September 3, 2013.

He was arrested again on November 23, 2017 for child abuse imagery. On February 7, 2018, he pleaded guilty to possession of indecent images of children.

He was denied parole in September 2020.

FINAL THOUGHTS

This case actually made me sick to my stomach. Not that all cases don’t, but this one especially. This two year adorable boy went through so much torture. I 100% believe that both boys, but especially Jon Venables didn’t have any remorse for what they did. I also believe it was sexual in nature on Venables’ part, especially after he was arrested constantly for possession of child pornography. I hope he never gets out and rots in prison forever.

I also feel SO bad for James’ parents, especially Denise, who was blamed for losing James that day. Could she have been paying closer attention? Yes. James was lured out of the mall by these sick people though. I hope they can one day move past these terrible things that have happened to them.

Sources

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger

https://allthatsinteresting.com/james-bulger-killers-robert-thompson-jon-venables

https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cxwkxyvg4pet/murder-of-james-bulger