KILLER CHILDREN

Article BY SKYE ANDREWS - Art by Ryan Almighty

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Joshua PHILLIPS

Classification: Homicide

Number of Victims: 1

Date of Murder: 3 November 1998

Date of Birth: 17 March 1984

Method of Murder: Beating with a baseball bat – stabbing with knife

Location: Jacksonville, Florida, USA

Victim: Maddie Clifton (8 years old)

On November 3, 1998 Maddie Clifton aged 8 went missing, after the police called off the search for Maddie over 400 members of the public continued to search, but with no luck.

The search ended a week after the disappearance when PHILLIP'S mother Melissa went to clean his room, finding that his waterbed seemed to be "leaking". Upon further examination, she discovered Maddie's body hidden inside the pedestal of PHILLIP'S waterbed. She promptly ran outside her home and went across the street to get the police.

PHILLIP'S was arrested that day at his school. He was held in maximum security as he made his first court appearance. It was determined that Maddie's cause of death was from stabbing and clubbing with a baseball bat. PHILLIP'S claimed the event happened when he and Maddie were playing baseball one afternoon. He inadvertently struck 8 year-old Maddie in the eye with the baseball bat. The injury caused Maddie to scream. Out of his panic, he proceeded to drag her into his room and strangle her with a phone cord for approximately 15 minutes. Soon after, he hit her again with the baseball bat and stabbed her 11 times.

PHILLIP'S was charged with first degree murder. His trial was held in Polk County due to the massive amount of media coverage. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, with no possibility of ever being freed. Because he was under 16, he was not eligible for the death penalty under Florida's law at the time.

Though PHILLIP'S had no history of violence some of the evidence retrieved during police searches included violent pornography. And while the autopsy did not reveal any sexual assault, Maddie's body was found nude from the waist down.

The murder appears to have been motivated by PHILLIP'S fear of his abusive father, who would have been very angry had he found Maddie inside their house.

Mary BELL: The Tyneside Strangler

Classification: Homicide
Number of Victims: 2
Date of Murder: 25 May 1968/31 July 1968
Date of Birth: 26 May 1957
Method of Murder: Strangulation
Location: Newcastle upon Tyne, England
Victims: Martin Brown, 4
Brian Howe, 3

BELL was convicted of manslaughter on the grounds of her dimminished responsibility and sentenced to be detained at Her Majesty's pleasure. She was released in 1980.

On 25 May 1968, the day before her 11th birthday, Mary Bell strangled four-year-old Martin Brown in a derelict house. Between that time and a second killing, she and a friend, Norma Joyce Bell (1955–89; no relation), aged 13, broke into and vandalised a nursery in Scotswood, leaving notes that claimed responsibility for the killing. The police dismissed this incident as a prank.

On 31 July 1968, the two girls took part in the death, again by strangulation, of three-year-old Brian Howe, on wasteland in the same Scotswood area. Police reports concluded that Mary Bell had later returned to his body to carve an "M" into his stomach with a razor. Mary Bell also used a pair of scissors to cut off some of Brian's hair, scratch his legs, and mutilate his penis. As the girls were so young and their testimonies contradicted each other, the precise details of what happened have never been entirely clear.

An open verdict had originally been recorded for Brown's death as there was no evidence of foul play – although BELL had strangled him, her grip was not hard enough to leave any marks. Eventually, his death was linked with Brian's killing and in August 1968 the two girls were charged with two counts of manslaughter.

George STINNEY

Classification: Homicide
Number of Victims: 2
Date of Murder: 24 March 1944
Date of Birth: 21 October 1929
Method of Murder: Beating with a 15 inch rail road spike
Location: Clarendon County, South Carolina, USA
Victims: Betty June Binnicker, 11
Mary Emma Thames, 8

STINNEY was executed by electric chair on 16 June 1944 aged 14. He was the youngest person executed in the United States in the 20th Century.

STINNEY, an African American youth from South Carolina, was convicted of the first degree murder of two white girls: 11-year-old Betty June Binnicker, and 8-year-old Mary Emma Thames. However, no physical evidence existed in the case, and the sole evidence against STINNEY was the HYPERLINK "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumstantial_evidence"circumstantial fact the girls had spoken with Stinney and his sister shortly before their murder and the testimony of three police officers, presented at a trial which lasted barely two hours, that STINNEY had confessed to the murders.

Since his conviction and execution, the question of his guilt, the validity of his confession, and the judicial process leading to his execution have been criticized as "suspicious at best and a miscarriage of justice at worst.”

 

Eric SMITH

Classification: Homicide
Number of Victims: 1
Date of Murder: 2 August 1993
Date of Birth: 22 January 1980
Method of Murder: Strangulation – dropping rocks on head
Location: Savona. New York, USA
Victims: Derrick Robie, 4

SMITH was sentenced to the maximum term available to juvenile murderers at the time (minimum to nine years to life imprisonment).

On August 2, 1993, Eric Smith was riding his bike to a summer day camp in a local park and 4-year-old Derrick Robie was walking alone to that same camp. SMITH saw Derrick and lured him into a nearby wooded area. There, Smith strangled him, dropped a large rock on the boy’s head, undressed his body, and sodomized him with a tree limb. The cause of death was determined to be blunt trauma to the head with contributing asphyxia.

Around 11:00 am, Derrick's mother, Doreen, went to the park to pick up her son, only to find that he had not arrived. After four hours of investigation, Derrick's body was found.

Eric Smith had been diagnosed by a defense psychiatrist with intermittent explosive disorder, a mental disorder causing individuals to act out violently and unpredictably. According to court documents, SMITH, a loner, was often tormented by bullies for his protruding low-set ears, thick glasses, red hair and freckles.

Brenda SPENCER

Classification: Homicide
Number of Victims: 2
Date of Murder: 29 January 1979
Date of Birth: 3 April 1962
Method of Murder: Shooting
Location: San Diego, California, USA
Victims: Principle Burton Wragg, 53
Michael Suchar, 56

SPENCER pled guilty to two counts of murder and assault with a deadly weapon and was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

On the morning of Monday, 29 January 1979, SPENCER began shooting from her home at children who were waiting outside Cleveland Elementary School for principal Burton Wragg to open the gates. Eight children were injured. Wragg was killed while trying to help save the children. Custodian Mike Suchar was killed while trying to pull Wragg to safety. A police officer responding to a call for assistance during the incident was wounded in the neck as he arrived.

After firing thirty rounds of ammunition, SPENCER barricaded herself inside her home for several hours. While there she had a telephone conversation with a journalist who reported that she had said "I don't like Mondays, this livens up the day" in reply to his question why she had done it. She also spoke with police negotiators, telling them those she had shot had made easy targets, and that she was going to "come out shooting." Ultimately, she surrendered.

SPENCER was also the inspiration for the song "I Don't Like Mondays," written by Bob Geldof for his band the Boomtown Rats, which was released later that year. Spencer's family tried unsuccessfuly to prevent the single being released in the United States.