Mary Flora Bell (born 26 May 1957 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England) was convicted in December 1968 of the manslaughter of two boys, Martin Brown (aged four years) and Brian Howe (aged three years). Bell was ten years old when she killed Brown, and eleven when she killed Howe. As Mary grew up she exhibited significant signs of rage including the torture of animals and attempts to kill other children through strangulation, what she referred to as a “massage”. Independent accounts from family members strongly suggest that Betty, Mary’s mother, had attempted to kill Mary and make her death look accidental on more than one occasion during the first few years of her life. Mary herself says she was subject to repeated sexual abuse, her mother forcing her from the age of four to engage in sex acts with various men/clients (Mary’s mother was very well known in the area as a sadomasochistic dominatrix/prostitute).

Beth Thomas, pictured here at age 6 and a half, suffered from Reactive Attachment Disorder as a result of being sexually abused as a child at the age of 1 by her biological father. At a very early age she displayed a lack of empathy and remorse for malicious actions she would partake in, often stabbing pins into animals, including killing them. She repeatedly took out her rage and frustration on her smaller brother - Jonathan - on several occasions while growing up. As she became older, on a particularly violent occasion she smashed her brother’s head into the cement floor of their adopted parents’ basement until he needed stitches to close a gash in his forehead. She was only stopped when her mother intervened. Beth’s intention was not merely to harm her brother but to kill him. She often voiced her desire to kill her entire family including her parents.