Kids can be sinister and evil. Childhood itself is a mixture of innocence, self-imposed morals, and dark intentions. Freud’s famous sex theory harks back to the idea that children are perverse polymorphs. Individuals who practice countless transgressions that, were they done by adults, would be considered deplorable inhuman acts. The psychoanalyst believed these actions should not be understood as pathological, but a consequence of having no self-control. He thought this was due to a lack of set limitations. But, what happens when you’re young, know something is wrong, and yet still do it? What happens in that moment of judgement?
Our understanding split apart in 1993, when a couple of kids massacred another minor in Liverpool, England. Both boys, age ten at the time, came from dysfunctional families and were the stereotypical troubled students at their school. They lived within a home situation of substance abuse and domestic violence, as well as other traumas that warped their identities into an archetypal depiction of evil.
According to statements they would later give, prior to the crime both boys had watched the third sequel of Chucky. This proved an important detail since, according to their confessions, the film would then inspire them to commit the crime.
It all started when young James Bulger was kidnapped in a shopping mall one afternoon while out with his mother.
The following day the parents made an urgent call for help finding their son.
Investigators checked the security cameras and found a terrifying image: James being led away from the play area taken by the hand of two boys.
James’ body was found by the train tracks, and the two kids identified in the recording were arrested, convicted, and sentenced on murder charges. They were the youngest people to receive these charges in the twentieth century.
Analyzing the footage and poring through each of the aggressors’ confessions, it can be understood that, along the more than two miles between the mall and the murder site, James was dragged, beaten, and abused by his assailants.
Approximately 38 people were witnesses to the kidnapping and mistreatment of the younger child, yet nobody intervened.
When they reached the train tracks of Walton Station, Robert Thompson and Jon Venables, the murderous boys, painted James blue. Then they proceeded to hit him with bricks they found nearby and a metal rail.
The victim’s face was found with a footprint belonging to one of his murderers. His fingers had been broken and stepped on.
James Bulger had had electric batteries put into his body. According to forensic investigations this appears to be sexual abuse; however, his assailants never admitted to the act.
