纵观历史，邪党恶徒层出不穷。从小偷小摸到杀人放火，抑或连环杀手也都屡见不鲜。

(资料图片仅供参考)

Throughout history, plenty of evil, ignoble characters have come and gone. From murderers and thieves to the unspeakable acts of history’s most prolific serial killers.

但说到连环杀手，你脑海里出现的形象肯定不会是个孩子。一个年仅十一岁的孩子怎么可能犯下这种罪行。但可叹的是，这样的案件确实存在。

However, when one pictures such a character, it would be unthinkable to imagine a child. One as young as eleven-years-old, carrying out such deeds – but, alas, such a case exists.

玛丽·贝尔（Mary Bell）的故事令人毛骨悚然。从天真无邪走向阴险恶毒。到底是什么，使得一个年幼无辜犯下如此令人费解的暴行？是什么使她走上了这条不归之路？

The haunting chronicles of Mary Bell detail a chilling story. One where innocence becomes malevolence. How could a child, so young and innocent, commit such unfathomable acts of brutality? What twisted forces sent her down such a path?

这个问题至今没有一个明确的答案，仍旧悬而未决。但我们可以从其幽暗的人生中一瞥人性的复杂。

The case of Mary Bell, the eleven-year-old serial killer, is a puzzle that defies simple answers. It is an unsettling account. It invites us to navigate the murky depths of her story and delve into the complexities of human nature.

贝尔动荡的童年 Bell’s Troubled Upbringing

玛丽·贝尔早年的生活环境动荡不安。她的母亲是一位名为贝蒂（Betty）的年轻女子，精神状况不稳定。玛丽就降生于这样艰巨的条件下。

Mary Bell’s early life was marred by a tumultuous and disturbing upbringing. Born to a young, mentally unstable mother named Betty, Mary entered the world under challenging circumstances.

她的母亲是名妓女，很少待在家里。她没有让玛丽过上稳定的生活，常常将她丢下不顾。从人们对其家庭账户进行调查，贝蒂对玛丽早年的虐待从中一览无余。

Her mother worked as a prostitute and often left the family. She left Mary to fend for herself without the comfort of a stable home life. Family accounts also reveal a horrifying picture of Betty’s treatment of Mary during her formative years.

根据检方指控，早在玛丽五岁时，贝蒂就曾多次试图杀死玛丽，而她本人却称之为意外。玛丽还多次遭受了其母（贝蒂）的性虐待。

Disturbing allegations say Betty attempted to end Mary’s life on multiple occasions. She disguised the attempts as accidents. Mary was subjected to repeated sexual abuse at the hands of her mother. The trauma began at just five years old.

玛丽在纽卡斯尔（Newcastle）的史考兹坞（Scotswood）长大。史考兹坞是个贫困区，家庭暴力与犯罪行为都是家常便饭。她也因此对其他孩子充满敌意，时常打砸盗窃。

Mary grew up in the poorer Scotswood area of Newcastle. She was exposed to a harsh environment rife with domestic violence and criminal behavior. This only normalized her acts of aggression towards other children, as well as vandalism and theft.

她虽然屡屡越界，但人们权当她在寻求关注。人们也就忽视了她说的话——“我是个杀人犯”，只当这是她的胡言乱语。可惜，她并不是在吹牛。

She had disruptive behavior and gained a reputation for attention-seeking. This made it easier to dismiss her alarming proclamation, “I am a murderer,” as just another one of her idle boasts – unfortunately, it was no empty claim.

第一次谋杀 The First Murder

1968年5月25日，玛丽·贝尔11岁生日的前一天，她犯下了第一起谋杀罪。

On May 25, 1968, just a day before turning eleven, Mary Bell committed her first murder.

但玛丽的暴力倾向其实早就出现了。当日的几周前，5月11日，玛丽和她的朋友诺玛·乔伊斯·贝尔（Norma Joyce Bell）正与当地一名三岁的男孩一同玩耍。据消息称，这名男孩摔倒后受了重伤。此次事件被视为意外，两名女孩没有受到任何责罚。

However, Bell displayed a propensity for violence earlier than that. Weeks before, on May 11, Mary and her friend Norma Joyce Bell were playing with a local three-year-old boy. Supposedly, the boy fell and suffered severe injuries. The incident was labeled an accident, and both girls escaped punishment.

第二天，5月12日，三名不同女孩的母亲纷纷报警，称玛丽殴打了她们的孩子，还曾掐住她们的脖子。警方迅速对玛丽进行了约谈和教育，但并没有以青少年犯罪的罪名起诉她。

The next day, May 12, the mothers of three young girls informed the police that Mary had attacked and choked their children. Mary was quickly interviewed and lectured by authorities. But no juvenile charges were filed.

不到两周后，玛丽·贝尔便成为了一名杀人犯。根据警方随后收集的证据，她在史考兹坞一所破旧房屋中凶残地勒死了一名名叫马丁·布朗（Martin Brown）的四岁孩童，事发地就在她家附近。

Less than two weeks later, Mary Bell would become a murderer. According to evidence gathered later, she brutally strangled four-year-old Martin Brown in a run-down house in Scotswood, not far from her home in Newcastle.

警方认为她是独立作案。马丁·布朗案的作案手法极其暴力残忍。玛丽在作案前后的行为也让人费解，使人不安。

Authorities believed she committed this crime alone. The murder of Martin Brown was particularly violent and gruesome. Mary’s behavior before and after the murder was puzzling and disturbing.

犯案后，玛丽同诺曼一起闯入了史考兹坞的一家托儿所，并留下纸条称对此次谋杀负责。然而，马丁的死亡并没有给玛丽的暴行划上句号。

Afterward, Mary and Norma broke into and vandalized a nursery in Scotswood. They left notes that claimed responsibility for the killing. However, Mary’s propensity for violence wouldn’t end with the killing of poor Martin.

第二起谋杀 The Second Murder

玛丽·贝尔的第二起谋杀发生在两个月后。公众也因此次事件而震惊不已。

Mary Bell’s second murder occurred two months after her first. And it shocked and appalled the community even further.

7月31日，三岁的布莱恩·豪威（Brian Howe）在家附近的空地失踪。警方对该区域展开搜索，在混凝土块中发现了其尸体。这名男孩是被勒死的。警方还在现场发现，其腿部以及腹部还有多处因剃刀和剪刀造成的割伤。

On July 31, three-year-old Brian Howe disappeared from a vacant lot near his home. When police searched the area, they found his lifeless body among the concrete blocks. The young boy had been strangled. His legs and stomach were mutilated by a razor and scissors that were found at the scene.

令人毛骨悚然的是，警方报告还提到男孩的腹部被刻有“N”字母，而随后又被刻改为“M”。谋杀现场的种种信息表明，犯罪者很有可能是一名儿童。于是警方便开始对当地儿童展开调查。

Disturbingly, police reports concluded that an “N” was carved into his stomach. But this was then changed by someone else to an “M”. The force used in the murder indicated that the culprit was likely a child. So the police started investigating local children.

警方发现玛丽与她朋友诺曼·贝尔对谋杀发生时的去向表述有矛盾。最终发现，两名女孩都与该案有关，二人一同进行了犯罪行为。与上次相同，她们使用了勒颈的方式进行谋杀。

They discovered that Mary and her friend Norma Bell had contradictory accounts of their whereabouts at the time of the murder. Eventually, both girls were implicated in the killing, which they had committed together. Once again, they used strangulation as their method of murder.

这场犯罪的传播之广泛，细节之凶残，凶手之年轻使得该案成为了英格兰史上最臭名昭著的案件之一。让人们不禁思考，是什么让一个孩子犯下如此残忍凶恶的罪行。

These highly publicized crimes, disturbing details, and Mary’s age made this case one of the most infamous in England’s history. It left many people wondering what could lead a child to commit such cruel and heinous acts.

起诉与定罪 Charged and Convicted

警方在发现了马丁·布朗的尸体后，并未在其身上发现明显的谋杀迹象。这个悬而未决的案件使得警方愁眉不展。

There were no visible signs of foul play following the chilling discovery of Martin Brown’s lifeless body. This left investigators perplexed and with an open case on their hands.

调查人员而后将马丁案与布莱恩案联系起来，真相便很快就浮出了水面。

However, the truth would soon come to light. Investigators would start to put together the case between Martin’s tragic fate and the killing of Brian Howe.

玛丽·贝尔与诺曼·贝尔作为此次调查的中心，最终被以两项过失杀人罪起诉。但随着法庭程序的进行，1968年12月17日，事件却发生了改变。诺曼·贝尔被判无罪，自由释放，而玛丽·贝尔的命运则有所不同。

The two girls at the center of the investigation, Mary Bell and Norma Bell, were ultimately charged with two counts of manslaughter. The court proceedings, however, took a dramatic turn on December 17, 1968. Norma Bell walked free after being acquitted. But Mary Bell faced a different fate.

陪审团根据精神医生的评估报告，认为玛丽具有“典型精神病症状”。陪审团最终判定玛丽犯有过失杀人罪。主审法官称她为危险人物，强调她会对其他孩子构成严重威胁。

The jury was guided by the assessments of psychiatrists. They identified Mary as displaying “classic symptoms of psychopathy.” The jury ended up convicting Mary of manslaughter. The presiding judge described her as a dangerous individual. They emphasized the grave risk she posed to other children.

最终，玛丽被判处不定期监禁，被关押在兰开夏郡圣海伦斯的红河堤教养院。

As a consequence, Mary was sentenced to indefinite imprisonment. She began her detention at the Red Bank secure unit in St. Helens, Lancashire.

媒体对于玛丽铺天盖地的报道和追踪吊足了观众的胃口。英国大小新闻媒体都希望能对她进行采访。甚至玛丽的母亲贝蒂，也无耻地利用了这场悲剧，向报社提供出售消息。还拿出声称是玛丽手稿的文章卖给记者。

The media’s voracious appetite for Mary’s story consumed public attention after her conviction. The British press fervently pursued her narrative. Even her mother, Betty, shamelessly capitalized on the tragedy. She sold stories to the press and provided reporters with writings she claimed were Mary’s.

1977年9月，玛丽尝试越狱，又一次上了头版头条。但几天后就被警方抓获。

Mary managed to make headlines again in September 1977 after she briefly escaped from prison. But she was caught just days later.

出狱后的玛丽·贝尔 Mary Bell’s Life After Prison

12年后，玛丽·贝尔终于走出了监狱。23岁的她更名改姓，默默开始了新的生活。

After a long twelve years, Mary Bell was finally released from prison. Now 23 years old, she embarked on a new life under anonymity and with a different identity.

1984年5月25日，她甚至还生下了一名女儿。但尽管如此，记者依旧曝光了她们的行踪。母女二人不得不远走他乡。

She even welcomed a daughter on May 25, 1984. Eventually, though, reporters unveiled their whereabouts. The duo had to flee their home.

2003年5月21日，玛丽通过高等法院赢得了胜诉，为自己和女儿获取了终身匿名权。随后，永久保护某人身份的法院命令被统称为“玛丽·贝尔法令”。

In a significant legal victory on May 21, 2003, Bell secured lifelong anonymity for herself and her daughter by a ruling of the High Court. Subsequently, court orders permanently safeguarding someone’s identity became known as “Mary Bell orders.”

2009年，媒体报道玛丽已经是一名外祖母。这最后一篇报道给玛丽扭曲黑暗、而又引人好奇的人生写下了终章。

In 2009, it came to light that Bell had become a grandmother. This marked another final chapter in her twisted, intriguing life.

词汇 Vocabulary

serial killer /ˈsɪriəl ˈkɪlər/n. 连环杀手

innocence /ˈɪnəsəns/n. 无罪，清白

malevolence /məˈlɛvələns/n. 恶意，恶毒

unfathomable /ʌnˈfæθəməbl/adj. 难以理解的，深不可测的

murky /ˈmɜrki/adj. 暗淡的，模糊的

tumultuous /tjuˈmʌltʃuəs/adj. 动荡的，骚乱的

allegation /ˌæləˈɡeɪʃən/n. 指控，指责

vandalism /ˈvændəlɪzəm/n. 破坏行为，故意破坏

propensity /prəˈpɛnsəti/n. 倾向，偏好

severe /sɪˈvɪr/adj. 严重的，剧烈的

choke /ʧoʊk/v. /n. 窒息，阻塞

juvenile /ˈʤuːvəˌnaɪl/adj. 青少年的，幼稚的

strangle /ˈstræŋɡəl/v. 勒死，掐死

run-down /ˈrʌnˌdaʊn/adj. 破旧的，衰弱的

nursery /ˈnɜrsəri/n. 托儿所，苗圃

vacant lot /ˈveɪkənt lɑt/n. 空地，空地场地

razor /ˈreɪzər/n. 剃刀，刮胡刀

culprit /ˈkʌlprɪt/n. 罪犯，肇事者

contradictory /ˌkɑntrəˈdɪktəri/adj. 矛盾的，相互矛盾的

heinous /ˈheɪnəs/adj. 极恶的，令人发指的

manslaughter /ˈmænsˌlɔtər/n. 过失杀人，非故意杀人

acquitted /əˈkwɪtɪd/adj. 被宣判无罪的

psychiatrists /saɪˈkaɪəˌtrɪsts/n. 精神病医生，精神科医生

psychopathy /saɪˈkɒpəθi/n. 精神病性，精神变态

shamelessly /ˈʃeɪmləsli/adv. 无耻地，不知羞耻地

unveil /ʌnˈvel/v. 揭露，公开

anonymity /ˌænəˈnɪməti/n. 匿名，无名状态

intriguing /ɪnˈtriːɡɪŋ/adj. 引人入胜的，有趣的

往期链接 Link

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来源：https://www.historydefined.net/mary-bell/

翻译/校对/整理：QuasimodoW9

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