Killers By 10: The Murder of James Bulger

Ma'n stu'l deit weth fysruch, Is ma'n holl fel nerd ffaibena ar eithuch. Ma'n sbynlaetun cyrry ymryrd, Er hyste'n holl gardo dduchry. Ma'n sbynlaetun mwy'n difyr i anof, Le bartu'r sfwybli'n i'n sfar. Nŵ ma'n holl ddut holl gael eisiau'n lydge, Is dwy gyrig i ychyrch yn cynn. Ma'n sbynlaetu'r sfyd yw'n dduchryd sfwybli'n sfwybli'n i'n sfar. Holl ddut holl ddwybli'n hi'n chrygys'n, One thing I've learned is that I can help even more when I can easily connect with. fysio'r. pediatrision, specialis. nersus. who'r all working with me in a healthcare network that takes a wider view of your health. That's VHI, we're healthcare connects. So let me rephrase the question. How can we help? VHI, because your health means everything. This question is advised. This is 10-minute murder. John Venables and Robert Thompson were released from a British detention facility in 2001, when they were both 18 years old. A high court judge in London ruled that the media were not allowed to reveal where Venables and Thompson would be living once they were released. They would more than likely be living under aliases, and those names could not be published. Also, the media was forbidden to publish photos of the two that were taken from 1993 until 2001, and they were forbidden to release where the two were living. Venables and Thompson were living in secrecy. Why? In 1993, John Venables and Robert Thompson committed a murder. A murder carried out when they were both 10 years old. Their victim was James Bulger, and he was only 2 years old. Venables and Thompson kidnapped James from a shopping center at random. Britain and the rest of the world were shocked and outraged by the crime. Venables and Thompson had been incarcerated for roughly 8 years when released. They were free. However, the high court judge understood that both Venables and Thompson were marked men. Their release was not a popular decision, especially with the parents of James Bulger. It was no secret that there were people willing to find Venables and Thompson and avenge the murder of James. Ralph Bulger, the father of James, did it one time vow to find them and kill them. One of the most horrific cases in British history was committed by children, and their victim was an innocent child who was barely shy of 3 years old. Denise Fergus was born and raised in Liverpool, England. She always wanted to be a mother. She gave birth to James Bulger in March of 1990. He was remembered by her as being a wonderful child. It was Friday, February 12, 1993, when she decided to go on a trip with James to the Strand Shopping Center, which is outside of Liverpool. Denise would later tell a reporter that it was the worst decision that she ever made in her life. Denise and James stopped by a butcher shop at the Strand. Denise recalled that James was at her side when she stopped to pay for some food. When she looked back down at her son, he was gone. She panicked, afraid that he had wandered off into the shopping center. Police arrived 40 minutes later after James vanished. The search for the toddler began and all hands were on deck, searching for him. Four hours after he vanished, the Criminal Investigation Division was called in to work the case. They would soon have a lead. A witness claimed to have seen a child crying by a canal that was right next to the Strand. This was especially terrifying at the time because it was possible that James wandered away from his mother and could have fallen into the canal by accident. Investigators decided to check the CCTV system at the Strand. The quality of the video was not perfect because it never is, but they painstakingly reviewed the footage. Something caught their attention. James was seen walking hand in hand with one boy while another walked ahead of them. They were leading him somewhere. Investigators were surprised to see James walking away with two boys. Due to the poor film quality, investigators could only guess the ages of the two boys. They were possibly teens, maybe. It took roughly 90 seconds for the two to lead James from one end of the Strand to the exit. Investigators were dealing with children who had abducted a child. It was unbelievable. And where did they go? Early on, investigators were trying to figure out why the two young boys had taken James. They wondered if it was some kind of prank. An investigator involved in the case remembered being relieved that James was taken from the Strand by young boys because they didn't think anything sinister would happen. Images from the CCTV footage were released to the public. Police were fielding calls for tips and they were searching the Liverpool area for James. Nearly 40 hours after James Bulger went missing, police received word that a body had been discovered. It was on a railway line a few miles from the Strand. The police were absolutely horrified with what they discovered. The victim had been hit by a train and what the police saw was too upsetting to share with the public. Bulger was discovered some 200 yards from a police station. And one thing they were sure of when they found James was that the train was not responsible for his death. During their investigation, the police were certain the two boys walked with James from the Strand to the railway. They wanted to piece together a route that would have been traveled. A local business along the way to the rail yard had a security camera and the police were hoping it would capture something. Anything. It showed James and the two boys. However, that footage also was not great and the police became even more frustrated. The police were hoping for a break and it happened days after James Bulger's remains were discovered. Someone had called the police and said they knew two local boys. John Venables and Robert Thompson had skipped school on Friday. The caller noted that one of the boys had blue paint on their coat. And this was an important clue for the police because blue paint was on the body of James. Police contacted the school where the boys were enrolled and learned that the two were not at school the day James went missing. And it was also not unusual for them to skip school. Most importantly, both Venables and Thompson lived close to where the body was discovered. Both John Venables and Robert Thompson were arrested by the police and brought in for questioning. The police were surprised at the ages of the two boys. They didn't expect them to be so young and they also didn't expect the two little boys to be behind one of the worst crimes in British history. Police separated the two for questioning and they were easy on them during the interrogations. It was uncharted waters for the police because they had no experience in interrogating suspects this young. One officer that interviewed the boys recalled that one of them asked if you could get fingerprints off of skin. Fingerprints placed the boys near the strand. A shop owner near the strand recalled both Venables and Thompson hanging out in front of their shop and had their hands on the glass. The police removed that glass from the shop to get prints and they got a match on Venables. Venables initially told police that he was nowhere near the strand on the day Bolder went missing. Thompson's interview was different. He admitted to being at the strand with Venables and Thompson admitted the two of them taking James Bolder. Investigators recalled Thompson would cry during their interview but it was strange because Thompson never had tears when he cried and they were convinced that it was all an act. Venables did eventually admit to being at the strand with Thompson and Venables then admitted that it was Thompson's idea to kill Bolder and he also admitted his own guilt in the killing. Another thing he told police was that the plan was for the two boys to toss James into the canal near the strand. When James wouldn't get close enough to the edge of the walkway near the canal, Robert Thompson got angry. He picked James up and dropped him on his head. The police were able to get the entire story from both of the boys in all of its horrible detail. Venables and Thompson did indeed murder James Bolder. The two were sent to court on murder charges. The boys were found guilty and they were each 11 years old at the time they were convicted. Next was the sentencing. How long would these two be in prison for their crimes? At first, the two were told by the judge that they would spend a long time in prison for what they did. But a few weeks later, they were sentenced to eight years in detention facility. Denise Ferguson, the mother of James, was dumbfounded by the decision, both Venables and Thompson served time at a children's home until their release in 2001. Robert Thompson took on a new life with a new identity. He's never been arrested since, but the same cannot be said about John Venables. Since 2001, Venables has been arrested multiple times and served time in prison. He was sentenced to two years in prison in 2010 for making and distributing indecent images of children. It was 2017 when he was arrested again. Again, he was in possession of indecent images, but was involved in a disturbing scheme. In chat rooms, he posed as a 35-year-old mother, bragging about abusing her own eight-year-old daughter. He was trying to solicit more photos from the people he was chatting with, more indecent images of children. In 2020, he was up for parole, but denied. Denise Ferguson had the difficult task of moving on in life and did so with her husband Ralph Bulger, but they eventually divorced. The two remarried and started new families. They are still in the spotlight today when the case is mentioned in the news. The James Bulger story is one where it's extremely difficult to find any silver lining. Today, Ferguson has boxes in her home of letters that she received from all over the world from people who wanted to send their condolences. Letters have trickled in over the years and the memory of James Bulger still lives in the hearts and minds of millions of people. That's 10-minute murder for today, brief and bingeable true crime. I'm Joe, the host, and thank you so much for taking the time to listen to 10-minute murder today. A quick email question. Hi, Mr. 10-minute murder. 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