• You must be logged in to see or use the Shoutbox. Besides, if you haven't registered, you really should. It's quick and it will make your life a little better. Trust me. So just register and make yourself at home with like-minded individuals who share either your morbid curiousity or sense of gallows humor.

Jessiesgirl1108

Chameleon
The first case I ever really read in depth was the case of James Bulger. This is the case that really got me interested in true crime stories. I don't know what it was, but as much as I hated reading this story (it really broke my heart) I couldn't stop reading it. So here it is, I wanted to share with everyone the horrifying tale of James Bulger...in hopes that something like this will never happen again.
2a.jpg
James was a beautiful little two year old with his whole life ahead of him. One day his mother takes him to the mall; while she is standing in a line at one of the stores her son was being led away by two strangers. Now you may ask, why would a toddler willing go off with two strangers? Because these strangers were just kids themselves, and poor little James just wanted to make friends.
1a.jpg
2b.jpg

I am not going to go into detail of what happened to James on that fateful day, if you want to know the rest you will have to read. It is too graphic and heartbreaking for me to even repeat.
Here is the link:http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/bulger/1.html
So when you are all teary eyed and heartbroken after reading this story, you can send a thanks to Silvahalo68 for encouraging me to post this! lol Thanks Silva, you know I love ya!
 
I think one of the boys who took the kid is released already. I think they changed his name so he wouldn't be killed or something like that. The other is still in jail.
 
This story horrified me and made me cry every day for months. I did hear that one the boys is out of jail and was put in hiding by the government, which is just sickening all over again.

I don't care how old they were when they did this. They should have been put to death!!
 
I have read so many articles about this boy. It is atrocious what happened to him. I believe both of the boys who did this to him have now been released. The problem with the entire situation and the ongoing debate with this case is that were the children that did this capable of understanding the repercussions of their actions?
 
Both of them are out and they were given new names. One of the boys has a child himself, and his girlfriend has no idea he is the killer.
 
I hadn't heard about this case before. I must be living in a cave, perhaps I should see if Osama is back here somewhere...

This is so so sad. I'm crying at my desk and the other ladies in my office keep looking over at me. I can't even begin to imagine the pain his family is still dealing with to this day.
 
I hadn't heard about this case before. I must be living in a cave, perhaps I should see if Osama is back here somewhere...

This is so so sad. I'm crying at my desk and the other ladies in my office keep looking over at me. I can't even begin to imagine the pain his family is still dealing with to this day.

And you know who to thank for that....ok, I'll take some of the blame!
 
Ok, found links for them getting out and getting new ids, can't find the one about the kid. What is the name of the major tabloid in the UK? Does anyone remember?
 
I was familiar with this case for sometime but never read all the gory details. I did so that day when Jessiesgirl1108 posted the link. That night I had the worst case of insomnia I've had in many months. I lay there thinking how a small child's mind could ever conceive such horrific things. These boys they were just children themselves...10 years old!

The story never seemed to end, it just kept going and going as little James was being lead about by these two boys. At every twist I kept hoping, (although I already knew how it ended), that they would just leave little James to be found by a concerned passerby. Of course it doesn't end that way. Again, I'm astonished how many people saw the boys and little James and no one made a real effort to make certain that little James was O.K. He was visibly injured and still, no one did the right thing. I thought about the one person who seemed most concerned and at the end watched the boys walk away. The boys said they would take James to the Police Department just up the road. This is where I would have said, "we will all go together...". Something as simple as that would have halted a distraught mothers worries and stopped the brutal killing of little James.

Every step of little James' journey to death, I felt a new tear fall. As I type now, they start up again. At the end, I wondered did little James lay there fully awake unable to get up before the train came by? I pray he was unconscious and totally unaware of the last impact that severed his tender life. For a moment I put my self in the young mothers place and cried with her, as I'm sure, even today she thinks of James all the time and cries in private, imagining, her sweet baby in her arms.

With my hand on my heart, I promise little James Bulger to never forget your sweet face. You were the center of your mother's life, her only child, her light of life.
Know that her love runs deep for you far deeper than the grief she still carries today.


sdfdxy.jpg
w8uwpd.jpg

Taken shortly before his abduction...

James Bulger memorial site: (mention of current new on his killers).
http://www.geocities.com/cagney555uk/Jamesbulgermemorial.html
Pictures collected from various source sites:
http://www.angelfire.com/nb/tears_in_heaven/jbc_photos/index.album/the-death-of-james-bulger-innocence-forever-lost?i=0
 
This story horrified me and made me cry every day for months. I did hear that one the boys is out of jail and was put in hiding by the government, which is just sickening all over again.

I don't care how old they were when they did this. They should have been put to death!!

I just don't know what should be done with children who do things like this. Certainly they need help, a good deal of professional help. They couldn't have lead a "normal" life after what they did. On every level, they were not "normal" children and today as adults, I'm sure their rage continues. I think they should have never been allowed to lead a free life. To walk amongst people unaware who they are and possibly put others at danger...I think its wrong. People seem far more hell bent in protecting the killer's rights, even now that they are no longer children, than the victim's rights.

What should society do? I'm interested to know what people think.
 
wait, so the guy goes and has a baby then he turns around and gets a boyfriend????????

I would've kept them locked up for a lot longer. They knew what they were doing was wrong. Even to the point of the psychologist saying that the reason the little boy had the paint on his face was to dehumanize him so they wouldn't feel so bad beating him to death.

Silvahalo, I really do also hope that he was gone by the time the train came along, because to be that small and knowing that a bright light is coming and feeling the ground shake beneath you as is does it a horrible thing to think. I really do hope he died before then.
 
If I read correctly on wikipedia, the forensic pathologist (I think that's the specialty I'm thinking of) said that the injury to the body by the train was caused postmortem. Either way, they're sick sick sick fucks, and (because I believe in the afterlife) I think they should enjoy what sorry lives they've been given (undeserving though) because they'll be in the deepest pits of Hell.
 
So many people so many so many so many....I can't even fucking believe how many "life" chances this toddler had and no one, not a one, followed through. This didn't have to happen. People CAN make a difference. One real question, one adult action, just one --can save a life.

Please have a backbone, ask a question, take one action, give just a moment of your busy day and just maybe you could save a life, maybe. Isn't it worth it. I bet 38 people now feel it was. Fucking shameful!!!! That poor mom. Although I couldn't leave my two year old more than an arm's length from me, she didn't deserve this as parent punishment. I wonder how she is...
 
So many people so many so many so many....I can't even fucking believe how many "life" chances this toddler had and no one, not a one, followed through. This didn't have to happen. People CAN make a difference. One real question, one adult action, just one --can save a life.

Please have a backbone, ask a question, take one action, give just a moment of your busy day and just maybe you could save a life, maybe. Isn't it worth it. I bet 38 people now feel it was. Fucking shameful!!!! That poor mom. Although I couldn't leave my two year old more than an arm's length from me, she didn't deserve this as parent punishment. I wonder how she is...

Here she is with her then husband and James' father. They look beat from life...I know they didn't make it together as a family.
I'm sure the grief just broke them apart.
<pic went poof....looking for another one>
 
Last edited:
Ok, found links for them getting out and getting new ids, can't find the one about the kid. What is the name of the major tabloid in the UK? Does anyone remember?

The Sun and The News of The World covered it extensively . The one with the child is reportedly gay , no longer with the child's mother . The film Boy A is loosely based on the case . It's very irritating to watch because it makes you feel a bit sorry for the 2 boys . Then you remember what they did and you want to rip them apart with your bare hands . Watching Jamie walk away with them on the cctv is heartbreaking ! There were reports in Australia that a killer named Dante was actually one of Jamie's killers who had went there when released . I don't think they'd be allowed to leave Britain though , well I hope not .
 
Yes, thank you. I found the links to him having a kid and being gay on The Suns website. Weird that Wiki and shit hasn't been updated.


Slackers.
 
Not long after James Bulger was murdered, this happened not far from where I live:

Eric M. Smith (born January 22, 1980) is an American criminal, incarcerated for the murder, sexual abuse and mutilation of four-year-old Derrick Robie on August 2, 1993, in Steuben County, New York. According to court documents, Smith, a loner, was often tormented by bullies for his protruding ears, thick glasses, and freckles. The murder case made national headlines, largely due to the young age of the killer, at 13 years of age and his victim, 4 years of age.

While in jail, Smith wrote an apology letter to Robie's family and he read it on public television: "I know my actions have caused a terrible loss in the Robie family, and for that, I am truly sorry. I've tried to think as much as possible about what Derrick will never experience: his 16th birthday, Christmas, anytime, owning his own house, graduating, going to college, getting married, his first child. If I could go back in time, I would switch places with Derrick and endure all the pain I've caused him. If it meant that he would go on living, I'd switch places, but I can't." Smith was sentenced to 9 years to life in prison. He was denied parole a second time in 2006, and again in June 2008. If granted parole, Smith has stated an intent to return to Savona. He was held in a juvenile facility for six years. In 2001, he was transferred to the Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, New York, a maximum security prison. Since then he has been moved to the Orleans Correctional Facility, a medium security prison.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Smith_(murderer)

28s1w1u.jpg




At 24, Eric Smith has long red hair and thick glasses. His prison uniform seems one size too big. And the image he presents doesn't match his crime. It never did.

At 13, Smith was at the center of a media storm. His redheaded looks, and his age, were so completely at odds with his horrific crime that he almost got away with murder.

"That’s one of the things that has frightened me most in this situation," says Prosecutor John Tunney. "Because I don't doubt for a second, never have doubted, that had he not been caught, Eric Smith would have killed again. And that's terrifying."

And Tunney says a decade behind bars hasn't changed that: "My fear of Eric Smith is not diminished."

In 1994, Smith was convicted of choking and battering the life out of 4-year-old Derrick Robie. A jury unanimously found Smith guilty of murder in the second degree.

Smith’s parents, Ted and Tammy, were devastated by the verdict. They were convinced that their child was sick. He would be sentenced to the maximum sentence, nine years to life in prison.

Dale and Doreen Robie, the murdered boy’s parents, cried with relief. But they didn't know that they were being sentenced, too.

"The hardest thing for me is when somebody asks me, 'How many children do you have,'" says Doreen Robie. "Most of the time I simply say, 'I have one boy, here at home. And I have one boy waiting in heaven for me.'"

Dalton Robie, 12, has grown up in the shadow of his brother’s death. "All I really know is that I had a brother," he says. "Sometimes I just think about him and just start to cry."

This past June, Smith was up for parole, and the Robie family struggled to keep its fear in check. The hearing was held at Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora, N.Y., a maximum security prison.

"Some people have said we need to forgive, but I can’t yet," says Dale Robie, who is condemned to an agonizing wait, since the parole hearing is closed to the public.

The summer Derrick was murdered, in 1993, he was coming up fast on his fifth birthday. That's the first time Correspondent Dan Rather met the Robies.

Derrick was all boy -- all the time. He was also the unofficial mayor of Savona, a tiny village in western New York, with a population of 970.

"He sat on the corner on his bike and waved to cars that went by," recalls his mother, Doreen. "Everybody remembers him doing that."

Smith grew up just across town, and liked to spend time with his grandparents, Red and Edie Wilson. "He'd always come in and give us hugs and kisses," recalls Red Wilson. "He liked being a clown."

"He definitely wanted to be paid attention to," adds Edie Wilson.

But Smith’s bright red hair and freckles made him a target at school for years. And as a teenager, he was seen pedaling around town for hours on end -- alone.

During the summer of '93, Smith attended a recreation program held a block from the Robie home. Derrick also attended the program.

On Aug. 2, Derrick was ready to head out to the program, but his mother wasn't ready to take him. "Normally, I would walk him to the end of the driveway, but Dalton that morning was very fussy," recalls Doreen Robie. "Derrick says, 'It’s OK, mom. I’ll go by myself.' … He gave me a kiss and I said, 'I love you,' and he says, 'I love you, Mom,' and he went hopping off the sidewalk."

He had only a block to go, and no streets to cross. The park was on a dead-end street. "It was the first time I've ever let him go anywhere alone," says Doreen Robie.

A short time later, as storm clouds moved in, Doreen says she felt something close to panic: "I swear that was the moment he died. I think he was letting us know."

"Derrick was very close to us," adds his father, Dale. "If there was any way he could have told us he was leaving, he would have tried."

What Doreen felt, but didn't yet know, was that five minutes after she kissed Derrick goodbye, he was dead. The most disturbing details of the crime, however, were never made public. But now, a decade later, with the fear that their son's killer could be set free, the Robie family wants the whole story to be told.

"People need to know what this kid did," says Doreen Robie.

On Aug. 2, 1993, Derrick's body was found in a small patch of woods, halfway between the park where he was headed, and his home.

"He chose to end Derrick Robie's life, and he chose to do it in a way that was much more than just killing," says Tunney, who vividly remembers the crime scene and the brutality of the murder.

Evidence showed that Derrick was lured from the sidewalk and strangled. But at the time, the killer's identity was unknown.

"He discovered and dug up one very large rock and one smaller rock. And he battered Derrick with those rocks," recalls lead investigator Charles Wood.

"He went into Derrick's lunch bag and he smashed a banana and took Derrick's Kool Aid, and he actually poured that Kool-Aid into the – that had been made by the large rocks. And he sodomized Derrick with a small stick that he had found."

According to Wood, the killer then arranged Derrick's body: "The left sneaker had been removed and was lying near Derrick's right hand. And his right sneaker had been removed and was lying near Derrick's left hand. It almost looked like the body had been posed in that position."

"Eric continued to deal with Derrick’s body because he wanted to," says Tunney. "Because he chose to. And most frighteningly, because he enjoyed it."

The word "enjoy" would come up again and again in the course of the investigation. The first time was four days after the murder, when Smith walked into the police command center to see if he could be of help in solving the crime.

"[He] totally enjoyed it. Totally enjoyed it. Didn't want it to end," says investigator John Hibsch, who repeatedly talked with Smith, and had no idea the killer was sitting right in front of him. "He's looking right at me. He's very upbeat, very happy. He likes the fact that he's being talked to."

At first, Smith denied seeing Derrick. But then, he abruptly changed the story. "He says, 'Right across the street from the open field. And that's when I saw Derrick.' And when he said that, he about knocked me off the chair," recalls Hibsch. "He's putting him right on top of the crime scene. I mean, you've just got to walk across an open field. And you're at the scene where the murder was."

When Hibsch asked Smith what Derrick was wearing, Smith was able to describe Derrick's clothing and the fact that he had a lunch bag in his hand. "He said it was kind of cool, really," says Hibsch. "He's bouncing around again. He's happy and he's telling us something."

Hibsch says Smith started getting emotional when investigators asked Smith to tell them where he had last seen Derrick. "His voice started cracking. He put his head down," says Hibsch. "He brings his fists up and his fists were vibrating a little bit and he goes, 'You think I killed him, don't you?'"

Smith then asked to take a break and his father brought him a glass of Kool Aid. When Hibsch continues the discussion, he says that Smith "grabs the red Kool Aid and just throws it on the ground."

"Now we all knew that Derrick, the boy who was killed, had red Kool Aid spilled all over him," says Hibsch. "I'm thinking this kid has seen something that's very traumatic, and there's a block in there. And I can't get around it."

The next day, investigators asked Smith to get his bike and show them where he was when he saw Robie. Wood was there, and said that Smith was very calm: "I would have to say that he enjoyed it. He was having a good time."

But Smith's grandfather, Red Wilson, says the family knew Eric was hiding something: "In no way did we feel he had done it. So we felt that he knew something, maybe somebody had threatened him. That's why he wouldn't tell."

It's exactly what Smith's neighbors, John and Marlene Heskell, friends of the Smith family, also believed. After the murder, Smith spent nearly every night at their home.

"Eric asked me 'What would happen if it turned out to be a kid?' And I said, 'I seriously think they would need some psychiatric help.' Oh, OK, and he walked away," recalls Marlene Heskell. "And DNA testing. He wanted to know what that would show."

Gradually, details began to leak out about the crime, and Marlene’s friend called with a new theory about the murder. "She said 'We think it’s a kid and they don’t like bananas,' because whoever killed Derrick had squashed the banana," says Marlene Heskell. "An adult would have just discarded the banana. They wouldn’t have squashed it and made a mess."

Marlene Heskell launched her own investigation into the murder. "I went up to the store and I bought ice cream and nuts and syrup and bananas and I brought it home and asked everybody if they wanted sundaes. Well, they all did," says Marlene Heskell.

"Eric was going to have the nuts and syrup, but he didn't want banana. … 'No! I don't like bananas.' And I called Nancy and I said, 'Eric doesn't like bananas, and I'm scared.'"

Five days after he was killed, Derrick was buried in his baseball uniform. And just two days later, his killer confessed.

Family members sat Smith down and begged him to tell what he knew. But the truth was more terrible than they ever imagined. "It's still hard to believe," says Red Wilson, about his grandson. "Something must have happened to him. Because that wasn't my grandson."

A decade later, on June 8, 2004, Smith's parole hearing takes place behind closed doors.

The Robie family has already learned in the most brutal way that nothing can be taken for granted, so they sent a letter to the parole board, along with home video showing the short life of Derrick Robie.

"It upsets me that we have to beg for them to keep this killer behind bars," says Doreen. "My biggest worry is that I still have a 12-year-old. There’s certainly enough things to worry about with an adolescent, other than the fact that there could be a killer running loose. I don’t like to say that very often, because I don’t want to scare Dalton. But that’s the way I look at that."

The uncertainty also weighs on Tunney, the man who convicted Smith. Will the parole board see things differently than the jury? "In a lot of ways, it's like having the trial all over again – the uncertainty of the outcome," says Tunney.

At the heart of the trial, which took place in August 1994, was the haunting question: Why did Eric kill?

Tunney said, "The fact is, Eric chose to do something horrible."

But defense attorney Kevin Bradley said there was no choice. "Eric Smith suffers from a very serious mental disease," says Bradley. "The fact that he seemed normal afterwards shows he is not normal."

"At one point, he turned to me and he said he did it. I lost control," said Smith's mother, Tammy. "I asked him why, and why he did it. And he was just saying, 'I don't know. I don't know.' And he cried."

The jury heard that as a toddler, Smith threw temper tantrums and banged his head on the floor. He had speech problems, he was held back at school, and he was relentlessly bullied. When he asked for help with his anger, his adoptive father did not seem equipped to give it to him.

"He was really upset. He was crunching his fists and shaking and told me that 'Dad, I need help,'" said Ted Smith. "I said 'Hold it. When I got angry when I was your age, I just grabbed a bag in our barn and started beating on it until I was too tired to do anything else.'"

Then, Ted Smith said: "I heard a door shut, and I turned around and he was gone. And as I got to the window, he was coming back in the door and he was calm. And I looked down and I noticed his knuckles and his hands were kind of skinned up and bloody. I asked him what happened, and he said, 'I hit the tree a couple of times.' Seemed to be OK."

Defense psychiatrist Dr. Stephen Herman diagnosed Smith with intermittent explosive disorder, uncontrollable rage. "Literally deadly rage and anger," said Herman. "After the episodic rage, the child may appear to be normal."

But the prosecution's expert said it was a rare disorder that was rarely seen at Smith's age. Smith was subjected to extensive medical testing from specialists from both sides. They examined brain function, hormone levels and found nothing to explain his violent behavior.

But Dr. Herman still believed there was something wrong: "Something happened to his brain, but we can't measure it."

Smith's mother, Tammy, said she took a drug to control her epilepsy while she was pregnant with Eric. The drug, Tridione, can cause birth defects.

Herman says he's not suggesting that the drug would have caused Eric to be violent, but he does believe the drug caused Smith's ears to be low set and caused his developmental delays, which profoundly affected his self-esteem. He says Smith's pain and rage overwhelmed him.

"This stage of the trial is all 'Poor Eric.' Are there issues? Are there problems? Sure, but it doesn't regularly produce killers," said Tunney.

"Did he know when he was strangling Derrick, that he was strangling a child, a person? If he knew what he was doing was wrong, that he shouldn't have been doing it, then he can have every psychological, psychiatric problem in the world, and he's still responsible for what he did, under the law."

Plus, Tunney said that Smith knew full well that his actions were wrong because he admitted that he lured Derrick into the woods for the killing so no one could see.

But throughout his trial, Smith's face was eerily blank. He showed no emotion and expressed no remorse. "I don't ever recall him saying he was sorry that he killed the boy," said Ted Smith.

At the end of the trial, the ultimate question was left unanswered. Smith never did explain why he killed Derrick. But now, a decade later, Smith finally provides the answer.

Smith's new attorney, Susan Betzjitomir, is a mother of five and a former college professor. She graduated four years ago from Cornell Law School. Smith pays her $5 a month.

She believes that Smith should be released. "The issue isn't what kind of disturbed child was he then," says Betzjitomir. "The question now is what kind of young man is he now? Because that's the question the parole board faces."

She credits the enormous change she sees in Smith to the intensive counseling he received during the six years he was held at Brookwood Juvenile Detention Center. Smith was transferred to Clinton Correctional Facility, an adult prison, when he turned 21.

To demonstrate that he has changed, Betzjitomir allowed him to read a statement he prepared. But she did not permit him to answer any questions.

"I know my actions have caused a terrible loss in the Robie family. And for that, I am truly sorry," says Smith. "I’ve tried to think as much as possible what Derrick will never experience. His 16th birthday. Christmas, anytime. Owning his own house. Graduating. Going to college. Getting married. His first child. If I can go back in time, I would switch places with Derrick and endure all the pain I’ve caused him. If it meant that he would go on living. I’d switch places, but I can’t."

Tunney's response? "I don't doubt that somewhere along the line, a light bulb has gone on. And all of a sudden, Eric has a better understanding of the enormity of what he did," says Tunney. "Does that mean he's now safe to be back among us? Of course not!"

Reflecting on his troubled childhood, Smith describes the intense pain he endured at the hands of bullies: "So after quite a few years of verbal abuse, and having been told that I’m nothing, I shut down my feelings. So I wouldn’t feel the emotional pain, which made me vulnerable and weak. But the damage was done."

Smith adds: "I began to believe that I was nothing and a nobody. And my outlook on life was dark. I felt that when I went to school, I was going to hell because that’s what it was for me."

Betzjitomir says Smith had no friends at school: "Nobody liked him."

At this point, Smith has come as close as he ever has to answering the question that has haunted so many people for so many years. Why did he do it? "However minor or major each abuse situation, it all adds up. Until it gets to the point where the individual cannot take anymore," says Smith.

"After a while, they may cope in a horrific way or take their emotional anger or rage out on someone who had done nothing to bring on such violence like Derrick. Not because they’re evil or satanic little kids. It’s because they want the abuse to stop. And it’s the only way they know how to."

But Tunney points out that Smith had given the parole board a more chilling explanation for the killing. When asked if killing Robie gave him a good feeling, Smith said, in a transcript of the interview, "At the moment, it did, yes." When asked why he did it, Smith said, "Because instead of me being hurt, I was hurting someone else."

Smith then talks more about what he believes drives children to kill – and suggests that he was abused at home: "Although each case is different, there is always the underlying fact that the kids who did, who do these unthinkable crimes, endure years of abuse. Whether at school, at home, or both. I had issues at home. But I’m not going to talk about that."

Because of the sexual nature of his crime, the question of whether Smith was abused was repeatedly raised at trial, but repeatedly denied. However, there was testimony that Smith's older sister, Stacy, was sexually abused by their stepfather.

Still, there was absolutely no evidence that anyone had sexually abused Eric. In fact, a decade later, Smith himself told the parole board there was no abuse.

Smith has made the case that he is uniquely qualified to counsel bullied children, and one day sees himself as a forensic psychologist, doing research on children who kill. "You may think I'm a threat to the well-being of society," says Smith. "And I can understand why you would feel that way. The fact is that I'm not. I'd be an asset to society."

"I think society might be safer if he were allowed out to do that kind of research," adds his attorney. "Because nothing will change what happened to Derrick. But maybe something can prevent what might happen to someone else’s child."

Tunney, however, disagrees: "Let’s assume he’s not a threat anymore. OK. Should we release him? There’s a lot more to talk about. That is, has he been punished enough?"

The Robie family and the Smith family have not exchanged a single word over the years. But they have found themselves face to face.

Dale Robie says he can't leave Savona. "I live on Robie Road," he says. "And it's all family up through there. And without that support, I think it would have been harder to be away – especially raising Dalton."

A few months after the murder, the Robie family did move to a new house in Savona, one that didn't have so many memories, especially for Dalton, who's now a straight A student.

To honor Derrick, volunteers bulldozed the scene of the crime, and put in a new ball field – in memory of the little T-ball player.

"A lot of people don’t understand. They say that maybe we should just move on, which we have. We move on," says Doreen Robie. "But, as life evolves, we also carry with us this huge burden of making sure that people don’t forget him."

But most crucial to the Robie family is that the parole board doesn't forget Derrick, either, and allow his killer to walk out the door.

After an agonizing wait, the parole board has reached a decision. Smith's request for release was denied.

Now, the Robies want to give families like theirs more time to heal before facing the anguish of parole. They fought to pass Penny's Law, which lengthens the prison sentence for children who kill.

"Supporting Penny's Law was a proud moment," says Dale Robie, who sees this as Derrick's triumph. "It gave us a little meaning, more meaning. …He was here for a short time. But now look at the impact his five years have had."

Had he lived, Derrick Robie would now be 16. Eric Smith will be up for parole again in 18 months. His case will be reviewed every two years.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/10/48hours/main660314.shtml
 
Oh yes...I remember that story. Man I know I got the willies everytime I would see that kid's pic...he just looks evil. The crazy thing is how he acted after committing such a crime...like he didn't have a care in the world. He was EXCITED about helping the cops find....himself!?!?!
Thanks for bringing that back fresh in my mind!
 
I watched a docu about Eric Smith on youtube , poster named frshholygrailzEGO2 . He claims to be sorry now , but doesn't look it .
 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...lger-killer-Jon-Venables-returned-prison.html


The Government was facing mounting anger today at the secrecy surrounding the sensational return of one of James Bulger's killers to prison.

Government officials have thrown a blanket of secrecy around Jon Venables, refusing to say whether he has committed a new crime or to which jail he has been sent.

The Ministry of Justice have refused to tell even James' distraught mother the reason for the recall, believed to have happened last week.

Both Justice Secretary Jack Straw and Home Secretary Alan Johnson defended the move to keep all details quiet today.

But as the detective who headed the Bulger murder investigation led calls for the truth to be revealed, Mr Johnson admitted the public had a right to know.

He said: 'At this juncture I can say nothing more than confirm that Jon Venables is back in custody. I believe the public do have a right to know and I believe they will know all the facts in due course. But I must in no way prejudice the future criminal justice proceedings

Mr Straw expressed regret that he could not reveal any more about the reasons for the re-imprisonment and claimed it was 'in the public interest' not to do so.
[...]

But, despite the horror at their crimes, they were released from custody only eight years later without spending a single day in an adult prison, and handed new identities protected by draconian rules.

As a result, fellow prisoners will today be unaware of the horrific crime committed by their new cellmate.

Depending on the reasons for his re-imprisonment, Venables could now face a life sentence.
[...]

'Not where he is or details like that but the reason why his probation has been revoked and he is back inside. It's going to be asking the questions "why is he there and did the authorities fail in making the assessments of his suitability to come back into society?".'

He suggested it was unlikely a minor infringement had ended Venables' freedom, given the huge effort made to create a new life for him.

'They wouldn't - using football parlance - have given him a red card and go to prison for one infringement,' the detective said.

In a statement, a spokesman only said: 'We can confirm that Jon Venables has been recalled to custody following a breach of licence conditions.

'Offenders on licence are subject to strict conditions. If they breach those conditions they are subject to immediate recall.'
[...]

'Licence is a means of controlling people once they are released,' he said. 'Now this has been publicised, I think there must be a possibility of his new identity being exposed in prison and the inference must be it was a serious breach

'To go to all the trouble of building him a new identity and a new life, there must be a significant chance it was serious.'
The restrictions placed upon Venables included not returning to the city of his crime, contacting the Bulgers or contacting Thompson.
Since being freed, Venables has been given help with his education, finding jobs and accommodation.

While strict court orders have drawn a veil of secrecy on the killers' lives, it is known Venables, now believed to be a born-again Christian, had settled down and was planning to marry.
Thompson is understood to be living with a homosexual partner.

But Venables was also reported to have been involved in several violent incidents, including in December 2007 when he was said to have been stabbed after accusing someone of chatting up his girlfriend.


LICENCE CONDITIONS
When Jon Venables and Robert Thompson were released in 2001, their parole was subject to strict conditions:

They were ordered to end contact with each other;

They could not contact or attempt to contact any member of the Bulger family;

The killers were not allowed to enter the metropolitan County of Merseyside without the prior written consent of their probation officers;

If their behaviour deteriorated or they started using drugs they could be sent back to prison;

If they are jailed again, they could face a life sentence.
 
A notorious child killer who abducted a toddler and murdered him on a railway track was back behind bars Wednesday after breaching the conditions of his release from prison, officials said.

Jon Venables, who was just 10 when he and another boy the same age murdered two-year-old James Bulger in 1993 in a crime that shocked the world, was freed from jail in 2001 under a new identity.

But justice officials said he had been recalled after breaking rules governing his release. Media reports said he returned to prison last week.

"We can confirm that Jon Venables has been recalled to custody following a breach of licence conditions," said a Ministry of Justice spokeswoman.

"Offenders on licence are subject to strict conditions; if they breach those conditions they are subject to immediate recall."

The ministry did not release details of how Venables, now 27, had broken the terms of his release.

Venables and Robert Thompson abducted the toddler from a shopping centre in Liverpool, in February, 1993, and killed him on a railway line.

Infamous security camera images released at the time showed the youngster being led away by the hand.

The killers left his battered body on the tracks, splattered with blue paint and with his head surrounded by bricks, in the hope that it would be destroyed by a train.

The youngster was discovered by children on the railway line, more than two miles (three kilometres) from the centre where he was snatched.

The judge at the pair's trial labelled the murder a crime of "unparalleled evil and barbarity."

Both killers were jailed for life over the murder and will remain the subject of restrictions on what they can and cannot do for the rest of their lives, with regular check-ups by the authorities.

In 2001, they won a court order to grant them anonymity for the rest of their lives.

"It is with great regret that I have learned of the breach," said David Blunkett, who as interior ministry in 2001 told lawmakers of justice officials' decision that Venables should be released.
http://www.newsmeat.com/news/meat.p...&channelId=2951&buyerId=newsmeatcom&buid=3281 Bulger killing anger revived as killer back in custodyLondon, England (CNN) --
Nearly two decades after the killing of toddler James Bulger by two 10-year-old boys in a suburb of Liverpool, what remains one of Britain's most notorious child murders this week proved once again it has the power to shock and outrage.

Seen at the time as symbolic of a flawed society, the killing of Bulger -- whose poignant last moments being led to his death were caught by security camera -- continues to be dissected by a country still struggling to comprehend the crime.

This came to a head nine years ago when British authorities provoked anger by releasing the killers, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, just eight years into the life sentences they received for attacking and torturing Bulger and dumping his battered body on a railway track.

And the fury resurfaced this week with confirmation that one of the two boys, Jon Venables, now a 27-year-old man, was placed back in police custody after breaching the conditions of his release.

The pair were jailed for an indefinite period in 1993, but were released after Britain's National Parole Board ruled that they were no longer a threat to the public.

The British government has so far declined to reveal why Venables had been recalled into custody.

Legal commentator Alan Caplin told CNN police would not have acted lightly given the amount of money the authorities have spent on giving the boys new homes and identities.

"I think one can surmise reasonably that... it must be quite serious if there's some intervention in that reset life," he said.

The conditions imposed on the boys on their release banned them from contacting each other, Bulger's family or from returning to the country of Merseyside, in north-west England, where the crime was committed .

British Home Secretary Alan Johnson told Sky News the reason for the recall would be revealed in time.

"I believe the public do have a right to know and I believe they will know all the facts in due course," he said.

However, British Justice Secretary Jack Straw was quoted in the Times Wednesday as saying it was in the public interest to withhold the details.

"I have no interest in gratuitously or unnecessarily withholding information, but there are good reasons to withhold it at the moment and that is in the public interest," he said.

Venables and Thompson were school boys when they abducted and killed two-year-old Bulger in a crime described by the trial judge as "unparalleled evil and barbarity."

In 1993, grainy CCTV images showed the boys leading the toddler away from his mother at a busy shopping center in Liverpool, England.

Public anger grew as details emerged of the chilling attack in which the boys tried to drown Bulger before beating him with rocks, bricks and iron rod. His battered body was left on a railway line to be cut in half by an oncoming train.

In November 1993, after being tried in an adult court, the boys were found guilty of murder and ordered to serve at least eight years of an indefinite prison sentence.

The following year, their minimum sentences were increased to 15 years by then-UK Home Secretary Michael Howard who had received a petition signed by more than 275,000 people in support of life sentences.

However in 1997, the House of Lords overturned the increase and the boys were freed in 2001 on the condition that they could be recalled to custody at any time during their lives if there was "any evidence that they present a risk to the public."

The boys were given new identities and passports and since 2001 have been protected by an injunction banning publication of their images taken after 1993, and anything that could reveal their current names and locations.

Both the boys received death threats and it was feared they would be targeted if their whereabouts were divulged.

The first reaction from James Bulger's mother, Denise Fergus, to Venables' detention was posted in a Twitter message that read: "would like to let everyone know jon venables is were he belongs tonight behind bars is this my sons justice."

The British parole board will now determine whether Venables should remain in custody or return to the life he has been given since his release from jail.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/03/uk.bulger.venables/index.html
Theres video and slideshow at the CNN article
 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...Venables-sent-jail-drugs-workplace-brawl.html


[...]

Sources told how the murderer, now 27, had been using ecstasy and cocaine since his release in 2001 and had a violent temper.

He was said to have 'flipped without warning', grappling with another employee at his minimum-wage job.
[...]

Last night, it was claimed the 27-year-old had been recalled after attacking a work colleague.

A source told the Daily Mirror that the pair grappled before others intervened and pulled them apart.

His alleged victim is said to have made an official complaint about the attack which led to Venables's suspension from his job.

And it was alleged that in December 2008 Venables was arrested by police after being seen taking cocaine in an alleyway with another man. It was claimed he was later let off with a caution.
[...]

Mr Bulger added: 'From day one, everything has been done to protect the human rights of Venables.

'He was given a second chance, unlike my son, but he has blown it and now he deserves for those same human rights to be revoked and for the Government to reveal all. My biggest fear now is whether another child has been killed and another family is going through the hell we live with every day.'
[...]

A senior probation source told the Mail: 'You don't recall a prisoner after 16 years of very expensive rehabilitation unless it is something serious.'

The source said that the chances of Venables 'remaining undetected' whilst in prison were 'very small'.

'Hitherto there were only a handful of people involved in his care: a probation officer, a senior probation officer, a police officer and someone at the Ministry of Justice.

'Now he is in the prison service the likelihood of him becoming compromised has increased significantly. He will almost certainly need a new identity when he is released.' Here's an idea - DONT FUCKING RELEASE HIM, THEN!!!!
[...]

During their eight years of detention, they lived a life of comfort and expensive rehabilitation, cookery lessons and trips to watch Manchester United.

Coming from broken homes and dysfunctional families, they enjoyed an education far better than most of their contemporaries

Each was given a new identity, backed up passport, birth certificate, National Insurance documents and NHS records. Bank accounts and credit cards were set up under their new names.

They were coached in their cover stories and given elocution lessons to lose their Liverpool accents.

Years of preparation had gone into the boys' release, with personal tutors mentoring Venables during his stay at Red Banks Children's Home, a former approved school at Newton-le-Willows, Merseyside, only 13 miles from the Bulger family home at Kirkby.

Thompson was nine miles further towards Manchester, at Barton Moss, near Eccles.

While serving his sentence, he began letters to friends: 'It's Bobby here, live from the five-star Hotel Barton Moss.'
[...]

But Venables's attitude was so bad that frustrated police minders threw him across the bonnet of a car - and threatened to leave him chained to a lamp-post in Liverpool to teach him a lesson.

In 2005 there were reports that Thompson was addicted to heroin and was being prescribed the substitute methadone to wean him off his habit.

The following year, the Daily Mail revealed that he was gay and had been given permission by his probation service 'minders' to live with his homosexual lover, who was aware of his past.

In 2007 unconfirmed reports suggested Venables was to marry a pretty office worker he started dating two years earlier.

He was taken to hospital for emergency surgery after violence flared in the street when a man tried to chat up his girlfriend.

In another, unprovoked attack, he was seriously injured and reportedly went to a hospital on Merseyside for treatment - although he is banned from returning to the scene of his crime without permission
.




'You don't recall a prisoner after 16 years of very expensive rehabilitation unless it is something serious.

Somehow, I get the feeling he has done something far worse than 'grapple' with a co-worker.
 
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article7051089.ece


The killer of two-year-old James Bulger is under 24-hour guard after his identity became known at the prison where he is held, it was claimed this morning.

Sources at the prison reportedly told the Sun newspaper that Jon Venables, 27, is being held in isolation for his own safety, while governors said he was “high riskâ€￾ and refused to deny his identity to staff.

“You might as well put a neon light over his head,â€￾ the Sun quoted a prison source as saying. “Guaranteeing his security is a total nightmare.â€￾

The source added: “He doesn’t talk to anyone and his presence here is like a powder keg waiting to explode.â€￾

Prison staff and inmates became suspicious after he arrived without normal registration procedures. He is said to be “withdrawnâ€￾ and makes no attempt to talk to other inmates.
[...]

It also claimed today that Venables had repeatedly returned to Liverpool over the past nine years despite a ban on his going to Merseyside, where Bulger died, without permission from parole officers.
[...]

However he has not visited Bootle, the district where he and Thompson kidnapped, tortured and murdered Bulger, the report said.


jeez, just let them have him already.
 
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-st...ison-over-child-porn-offence-115875-22090622/


James Bulger’s killer Jon Venables was sent back to jail on suspicion of child porn offences, the Sunday *Mirror can reveal.

The reason for Venables’ recall was kept secret by the Government but we can exclusively reveal that probation chiefs revoked his licence once the allegations had been made.
[...]

But if he has committed offences involving child porn while being supervised by probation officers the revelation will send shockwaves through the criminal justice system and will also raise questions about the virtually unprecedented rights and privileges he has enjoyed since he has been released.
[...]

The boys were never properly questioned about whether there was a sexual motive in the killing as they became hysterical when the subject was brought up, but police were concerned that sexual abuse may have been committed.
[...]

Venables is understood to have been masking severe psychological problems by abusing drugs and alcohol on a daily basis.

Probation officers became particularly concerned when they discovered that he was publicly revealing his identity.

But it was only when he was suspected of child porn offences that the decision was taken to jail him again.
 
Back
Top