The Crime Crypt

JAMES BULGER

James Patrick Bulger, born March 16, 1991, from Kirkby, Merseyside, England, was only 2 years old when he met his gruesome fate.

Two 10-year old boys, who were named, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, kidnapped Bulger from the New Strand Shopping Center in Bootle, and tortured.

The two noticed his mother had taken her eye off of him for a short moment and sought out their plan.

Bulgers' mutilated body would eventually be found, 2 days later, on a railway 2.4 miles away in Walton, Liverpool.

February 20, 1993, Thompson and Venables were charged with the boys abduction and murder.

November 24, 1993, they were both found guilty. This made them the youngest convicted murderers in modern British history. They were sentenced to detention during Her Majesty's pleasure until June 2001, when a Parole Board made a decision of recommending their release. Venables was sent to prison in 2010 for breaching an agreement he had made with them, but was released on parole in 2013. Then in November of 2017, Venables, again, would be sent to prison once again for possession of child abuse images on his computer.

Now let's dig in to Bulgers' murder.

CCTV cameras from New Strand Shopping Center, on February 12,1993, captured Thompson and Venables observing children, very casually. This had proven they were searching for their target. The boys were playing truant from school, which they did quite often. The two were seen stealing items that included: sweets, a troll doll, some batteries, and a cam of blue paint.

These were all found later at the murder scene.

One of the two later came out and said they had planned to snatch a child, lead said child to a busy road along the shopping mall, and proceed to push said child into oncoming traffic.

That same afternoon, Bulger and his mother wound up going to the shopping mall. His mother, while inside of A.R Tym's butcher shop on the lower floor, noticed that her son had suddenly vanished. This happened around 3:40pm. Thompson and Venables had approached Bulger, took him by the arm, and escorted him out of the mall. The moment of this happening was caught on CCTV at 3:42pm.

The two proceeded to take Bulger to Leeds and Liverpool Canal, which was about a quarter mile from the shopping mall. They then dropped him on his head and he had injuries to his face.

A witness at the trial said that when he saw Bulger at the canal and he was "crying his eyes out."

During the 2.5 mile walk, the boys had been spotted by 38 different people, but no one paid any mind to it. Two people intervened but Thompson and Venables ensured them that Bulger was just their little brother, or that he was lost and they were taking him to the local police station. At one point the two had taken Bulger to a pet shop, but was later kicked out.

The boys finally made it to one location, but noticing they were right across the street from the police station, they proceeded to lead Bulger up a steep bank and over to the railway line. The railway line was near the Walton and Anfield railway station, close to the Anfield cemetery.

This is where the would begin torturing him.

One of them threw blue Humbrol modeling paint into Bulgers' left eye, which they had stolen earlier from the mall. They kicked him, stomped him, threw bricks and stones at him, even placed batteries into his mouth and anus. They then dropped a 22-pound iron bar on Bulger. 10 skull fractures were a result of the iron bar striking his head. Bulger had suffered so many injuries-42 in total-that they could not pin point what the fatal blow was, said by pathologist Alan Williams.

Thompson and Venables then laid Bulger across the railroad tracks, weighing his head down with the nearby rubble. They were hoping that a train would hit him and make his death look accidental.

Once they left the scene, his body was split in half by an oncoming train.

His body was discovered 2 days later on February 14. The pathologist did report that Bulger was indeed already deceased before being laid across the tracks.

Because his shoes, socks, underwear, and pants had been removed, police think there was a sexual element to the crime. A report by the pathologist stated that his foreskin had been forcibly retracted.

When police were searching for the culprits, a woman, seeing slightly enhanced photos from the CCTV footage, had recognized Venables, who she knew had played truant with Thompson that day. She contacted police immediately and both boys were arrested.

The police were in absolute shock because of how young the two boys were.

Forensic tests confirmed that the blue paint found on Bulger was also found on the Thompson and Venables clothing. Both boys also had blood on their shoes. DNA matched the blood to Bulgers'. The pattern of bruising on Bulgers' cheek matched that of Thompson's shoe.

Thomason apparently asked police if the two year old had been taken to the hospital to "get him alive again."

February 20, 1993, the two were charged with the murder of James Bulger. On February 22, 1993, they appeared at South Sefton Youth Court, where they remained in custody to await their trial. During this time they were known as 'Child A' (Thompson) and 'Child B' (Venables).