Child Serial Killers: Mary Bell and Harvey Robinson
- Chelsea Deuso
- Aug 11, 2020
- 17 min read
Child Serial Killers: Mary Bell and Harvey Robinson
When we think of kids, serial killers aren’t necessarily the first thing that comes to mind. Except when we talk about adult serial killers that have been caught. The stories will pour out about them killing and torturing animals, setting fires, and a lot of behavioral issues. But I can’t really recall any of them that actually committed murders... until now. These are the stories of Mary Bell who was 10, almost 11 years old.. and Harvey Robinson who was 17.
Mary Bell's Life
Mary Bell was born on May 26, 1957 to a 17-year-old named Betty in Northumberland, England. Betty was a prostitute, and she didn’t always make the best decisions. It’s unknown who her father is, but she always guessed it was a man named Bill whom married her mother after she was born. Bill was not a great person, either. He was a hamburgler that later got arrested for armed robbery.
Betty wasn’t really home a lot as she was typically out working the streets in Glasgow.
There’s also a lot of stories that came out about how Betty attempted to kill Mary when she was little. Sounds like a real great mom.
On one account there’s a story that Mary “fell” from a window where she suffered brain damage to her prefrontal cortex that helps you make decisions.
Then, she also overdosed on sleeping pills which some of have said they witnessed Betty giving them to Mary as candy.
Mary also claims that she was forced by her mom to start performing sexual acts on men at the age of four.
Betty’s sister also claimed she witnessed her trying to give Mary away, but the sister was able to recover her.
Clearly, Mary had been through a lot as a young child. So it wasn’t really shocking to anyone that she was super strange, manipulative, mean, and withdrawn.
But.. Mary did have a friend. A friend named Norma Bell.
The Murders
May 11, 1968 Mary had been out playing with a little three-year-old boy. Which I find this to be strange because she was almost 11 years old... and why was the three-year-old out playing by himself? I get this was a different time, but that just still seems really odd to me.
This little boy fell from the top of an air raid shelter and was hurt pretty badly. And this little boy was with Mary Bell. His parents chalked it up to an accident until three mothers from around the neighborhood mentioned to police that Mary Bell had tried to strangle their children. Police talked to Mary, but nothing ever happened.
May 25, 1968 would be the last day Martin Brown’s parents would see him alive. Martin Brown was a four-year-old little boy out who was strangled to death by Mary Bell. She left the crime scene and returned with her friend Norma to a little abandoned house in Scotswood, England. Unfortunately for her, they had been beaten there by two boys who discovered the body.
For police, there wasn’t lot of evidence to go on. Martin’s body was found next to an empty bottle of pain pills, and they thought maybe it was an accident. All he had on his body was some saliva and a little bit of blood on his face. They ruled his death an accident and moved on.
But Martin’s family would get an unexpected visit from a little girl named Mary Bell.
She showed up at their house asking to see Martin, and the family, heartbroken, explained to Mary that Martin had passed away. Only for her response to be something that would send cold chills up your whole body...
Mary told them she knew Martin was dead, and she wanted to see his dead body in the coffin.
Mary would go on to brag to the people at school that she is responsible for Martin’s death and nobody believed her.
Her and Norma would also start breaking into a nursery school, making a mess, and leaving notes that they killed Martin Brown and promised to do it again. The school got tired of this, and I’m sure pretty concerned so they installed an alarm system which caught Mary and Norma participating in their sketchy little games. Police arrive, they don’t take it seriously, and they let these two little girls go....
And then, we get the story of Brian Howe.
Brian Howe was the last victim of Mary. He was only three years old when his little life was taken from him. July 31st, 1968, Mary and Norma strangled Brian Howe and then mutilated his body with scissors.
Mary and Norma helped Brian’s sister search for him pointing out where his body was hidden, but also turning her away from searching that area.
When his body was discovered, everyone was panicking, as expected because now two little boys had wound up dead.. Within just a couple months of each other.. And nobody to answer for it.
When the autopsy report came back, there was some gruesome and shocking evidence for police.
Remember when I mentioned earlier they had mutilated his body? Well, not only did they scratch up his thighs and cut his private parts, Mary had carved a letter “M” on his chest and an “N” on his stomach with a razor blade, and the cause of death suggested a child had committed the crime.
As I mentioned in the Keddie Cabin murders, it’s not uncommon for murderers to stay real close to the case. Ask a lot of questions. Call in tips. Mary and Norma did just that. Norma may have seemed a little crazier than Mary. When police questioned her, she was really enthusiastic about the whole situation while Mary remained more elusive and tame. I feel like what you’d see from a real serial killer. They may remain close, but they stay quiet and to themselves.
Police reminded Mary she was seen with Brian on the day of his death.
Earlier, we talked about Mary wanting to see Martin’s body in his coffin. This time, she was able to see Brian from afar and was said to be seen rubbing her hands together and laughing when she saw the coffin..
Police decided to talk to Mary for a second time. To which she informed them she saw an 8-year-old boy hit Brian, and he was carrying around some broken scissors.
It was at this point police knew they had their killer as nobody outside the investigation knew that Brian had been cut up with scissors.
Norma blamed Mary. Mary blamed Norma. Both are arrested.
The Trial
The trial started in December of 1968. The prosecution claimed Mary killed simply for excitement while the press described her as “evil born”.
The court appointed a psychiatrist to evaluate Mary Bell. They determined she had “classic symptoms of psychopathy” therefore making her incapable of being held responsible for what she’d done.
Norma claimed that Mary forced her participation which I think is complete crap. You don’t participate the way she did with force, and it’s pretty clear Mary didn’t need anyone to help her commit the murders since she killed Martin by herself. Norma is just a lying mcghee trying to get out of trouble.
Which worked. Norma was acquitted.
Mary on the other hand was found guilty of manslaughter instead of murder because of the psychiatrist stating she didn’t have true capacity.
So, Mary’s sentence. She was ordered to “at Her Majesty’s pleasure” aka life in prison until the government sees she is fit to be released.
She stayed at the Red Bank Community Home which was essentially like a juvenile detention center. Where she will accuse a guard of sexually assaulting her, and he was acquitted. Who knows if he really did or not because she had such psych issues.
Her mother also continued to use and sell her by telling all kinds of lies to the tabloids.
In 1977, Mary ended up at Moor Court prison once she was an adult where she escaped with another inmate for three days. They ended up staying with two guys that they met during this brief stent of escape, and the headlines were inappropriately reporting her losing her virginity as a headline versus just “they were caught” .. crazy how sex sells even back then.
In 1980, Mary was released from prison. I guess the government had been impressed enough by her prison stay and rehab that they felt she was fine to let out. They also allowed her to change her name and granted her anonymity so that she wouldn’t be harassed by the press.
However, the press was like Kris Jenner or The Bachelor producers and found her multiple times. This forced her to continue to move and change her name.
Mary ended up meeting a man and having a daughter with him in 1984. We don’t know much about her or her life, but she did find out about her mom being titled a child serial killer when she was 14, and the press had finally tracked her down. Imagine trying to find Mary for 14 years.. Was there not other news to report? That's just weird to me.
The anonymity granted by the court was only good for her daughter until she turned 18, but in 2003, court approved for her daughter to continue to live in anonymity for the rest of her life as well as her daughter when she was born.
The only time Mary has been outed was when she was participated in the book written about her called, “Cries Unheard: Why Children Kill – The Story of Mary Bell”, but that was in 1998. The families of her victims attempted to prevent her from being paid by this, but they were unsuccessful. The author of the book came out and said that Mary never asked for money, but she offered to pay her even though she thinks she would have done it for free.
And that is it for Mary Bell – She has since lived in anonymity, and nobody really knows anything about her.
The family of Martin were very unhappy that she was granted anonymity, and I’m torn. Yes, she did something incredibly heinous and who knows what she is really capable of, but she was 11.. So it’s kind of tough. Either way, I totally agree with the anonymity for her daughter and grandchild because they didn’t ask for Mary Bell to be their family, and they shouldn’t have to endure crap from it. And those are just my feelings.
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Harvey Robinson
Harvey was born on December 6th, 1974, and he is considered to be one of the youngest serial killers in American history.
From a young age, he lived in a very tumultuous and violent home. His father was an abusive alcoholic, both physically and emotionally. His parents divorced when he was three years old, thankfully for his mother. But unfortunately, he ended up going to prison for beating his mistress to death. Harvey Jr idolized his horrible father, and thus.. A serial killer is born.
Harvey showed signs of promise as a young child, though. He was incredibly smart and athletic. He wrestled, played football, soccer, and ran cross-country. He also had multiple academic accolades. But even with this promise, teachers could tell there was something not great deep down inside him. He would throw tantrums often, but as he got older it was evident that he had a quick temper, and he didn’t care about anything. He quickly started building a reputation with police. He was burglarizing homes, fighting with police, and had developed a drug habit. All of this between the ages of 9-17, but it would only get worse from here.
He enjoyed the fear people had for him.
His spree would start August 5, 1992 with another burglary.
Joan Burghardt
August 5th, 1992 Joan Burghardt would experience a burglary at her apartment. She lived on the first level of the Gordon Street Apartment Complex in Allentown, PA.
He broke into her place by cutting the locked patio screen door, slid his hand through, and opened the actual patio door. Dear Lord.. I have anxiety.
Joan only reported $50 missing, but that was it.
It wasn’t until August 9th, 1992 that we would learn Joan had been murdered.
Obviously, the night he broke in, he didn’t kill her because she’d reported the burglary.
Joan worked as a nurse’s aide at nursing home, and she loved her job. She was a talented lady who had played the piano her whole life, and according to friends and family, was very good at it. She often played it in high school for her friend’s entertainment, and on her off days at work.. She'd go to the home and play for the patients. But on August 9th, Joan didn’t show up for her shift, which wasn’t like her.
According to her parents, Gladys and Stanley, Joan had been suffering for the last 7 years with some sort of depression that her psychiatrist wouldn’t share with them due to HIPAA. She had been hospitalized multiple times throughout the years at psychiatric facilities but was on the up and up according to them. She had contemplated suicide during this time, but as far as they knew, she had never tried to take her life. However, when they discovered she had not shown up for her job, they quickly jumped to the possibility of suicide and drove to her apartment. They said if they saw her car outside when they arrived, they’d know she was no longer with them.
But when her parents arrived, it wasn’t just her vehicle that they saw outside. Police and neighbors were outside the apartment.
How did police find out? Her friendly, concerned neighbor. They called when she’d not been heard from for the weekend. The neighbor also noted that the radio had been on for multiple days with no answer when trying to knock on her door. She also told police that she had heard screaming and loud noises coming from Joan’s apartment over the weekend.
When police went into the apartment, what they found was a grim and disturbing scene.
Joan was found dead with her head bludgeoned and her body only partially clothed. She had been raped, and there were shorts found near her body with seminal stains on them. She had defense wounds on her hands.. Joan tried to fight.
According to her autopsy report, she’d been hit in the head 37 times and suffered extensive brain damage.
Police were unsure if the burglary and murder were related, at that time, and they said they weren’t going to rush the process with honing in on a specific suspect. They wanted to keep their eyes and minds open.
Joan had been going great since being hospitalized from May-June, according to family, and she’d had plans to pursue a career in nursing. Sadly, the world lost their chance at having another caring nurse.
Meanwhile, after committing this heinous crime, Harvey was arrested, but not in connection to Joan. He was arrested for burglary and spent eight months in jail. Leading us to our next victim. As soon as he was released..
Charlotte Schmoyer
15-year-old Charlotte Schmoyer worked for the Morning Call newspaper. It was something she took great pride in along with making the swim team at her high school and being in band, according to friends and family.
She had been there for 3.5 weeks when her young life was taken from her, and she had been super excited for her one month anniversary so that she could get a Morning Call t-shirt.
Sadly, that day would never come.
On the morning of June 9th, 1983, Charlotte was out doing her usual morning newspaper deliveries when a neighbor noted that her 5:30am newspaper had not arrived, and it was now 6:15am, and she noted that her paper cart was between two cars and still completely full. She called the Morning Call to let them know she was concerned about Charlotte’s safety.
The district manager, Marty, went to Charlotte’s home to see if maybe she was there, but when she wasn’t there, either, he had police called at 7:12am.
The Allentown Police immediately took action and began searching for Charlotte.
They started checking around with her friends to see if maybe she were with one of them or if she had gone back to the school, but that turned out to not be the case.
So they went back to E. Gordon street where the neighbor who had originally called the paper to express concern lived, and they found some indications that maybe Charlotte had been abducted.
There was a backyard with some of her personal belongings to which the police blocked it off with yellow tape and began searching for more evidence. They discovered her Walkman outside of a garage which was also noted the owner said they had discovered some streaked fingerprints on the same garage door where her radio was found outside of.
It was also puzzling to police that her stuff was found in the backyard of this house because she delivered the newspaper to the front of the house. So they were unsure how her stuff ended up back there, was she forced or did she run to hide?
The owner also told police that she had noticed a man watching Charlotte from the road and warned Charlotte that he was watching her.
Police found this man, questioned him, and searched his vehicle.
They also ended up at the end of the road to a place called Halstead Street. They start on a trail and once at the top notice some drops of blood at 12:11pm. At this point, police are realizing this is likely a search and recover and not a search and rescue.
It wasn’t long after that police would find Charlotte’s body under a stack of logs.
There was a storm heading in so police quickly worked as fast as possible to recover any evidence they could and remove her body before everything could be washed away. While they lost some blood, they continued to work through the night and storm to get what they needed.
Police were able to collect blood and hair samples that did not belong to Charlotte.
Once the autopsy report came back it revealed how Charlotte had been brutally murdered and raped by this animal. He had stabbed her 22 times and slashed her throat. She had wounds on her neck that indicated these had been inflicted while she was still alive. At least two of her stab wounds were so deep, the whole blade had been inserted.
Denise Sam-Cali
June 17th, 1983 John and Denise Sam-Cali were out of town enjoying life when Harvey broke into their home. When they arrived back home the only thing they really noticed missing was John’s gun collection which he kept in a closet.
So, they did what most people would do and replace this gun collection. John bought three new guns, two for him and one for his wife, Denise, to protect herself with.
Ironically, they did not live far from where Charlotte was abducted, and the news started circulating that another home had also been broken into where a little girl had been attacked.
The Little Girl
We don’t really know much about this little girl, who she is, what all happened, and I don’t really blame the family for wanting to keep her protected and not out in the news media. But what we do know..
Just three days after breaking into the home of the Sam-Cali's, on June 20th, 1983, Harvey broke into another home where he attacked a little 5-year-old girl choking and raping her. And that’s truthfully all we know. Which will take us back to the Sam-Cali's.
Denise Sam-Cali
So after he originally broke into the Sam-Cali's home, it’s as if he was just waiting on the right time to be able to attack Denise because as soon as John left town, that’s exactly what he did.
June 28th, 1983, Harvey broke back into the home of John and Denise Sam-Cali.
Denise was asleep when she awoke to noises coming from her closet. I can’t even imagine what was going through her mind or her body, I know I would have gone numb from the waist down. But she made the split decision to make a run for it when he grabbed her. After fighting with him, Denise managed to escape and get out the front door before Harvey tackled her on the front lawn.
She wasn’t going down without a fight, either. She fought back hard biting him on the inside of the arm as he punched her over and over again, busting her lip, and raping her on her front lawn. Her screams were loud enough to wake up her neighbors who are ultimately what saved her life. As they awoke, the neighbors turned their porch lights on and scared Harvey off.
The police were called and came immediately to Denise. They found her alive with strangulation marks around her neck, her busted lip, and after being significantly beaten by this person.
Police found evidence of what Robinson had planned for Denise. Another stabbing. As they were searching through the house, outside the bathroom they found a napkin lying on the ground.. Inside of it? A butcher knife.
Scared out of her mind, Denise and John left town for a little while to wrap their mind’s around what happened and allow Denise to feel some sort of safety, I’m sure.
Jessica Fortney
Then there’s Jessica Fortney. Robinson actually waited a couple of weeks between his last stent with Denise and this crime.
Jessica was a 47-year-old mother and grandmother. I couldn’t find as much information on her as I was the other victims, but he had the same MO.
July 14th, 1983 Jessica had been staying at her daughter’s home when Robinson broke in and committed yet another murder. Like Joan, she was found deceased in their living room, partially clothed, and beaten. She was beaten so badly there was blood spatter all over the walls, her face was black, and incredibly swollen.
Like the rest of the victims, her autopsy report came back stating she had also been raped by Robinson.
Unbeknownst to him, they were not alone in the house that night. Her grand daughter was also present and saw the whole thing. This was very helpful to the police.
But... we aren’t done yet.
Denise Sam-Cali
We are back to John and Denise. One person who Harvey is obsessed with getting at this point. They’ve escaped him twice. But what happens when you get obsessively crazy about something? You mess up. You make mistakes... will that be what finally gets him in the end? I guess we will find out.
So, July 18th, 1983.. They’re back home from wherever they had gone. At this point, they’re both probably extremely paranoid, worried for their safety.. Especially John for his wife after all that she’s gone through. They did the next logical thing and had a security system put in.
What does Harvey do? Attempt to break in. Alarm goes off. Runs away.
You know he’s now losing his ever-loving mind. How is he going to get to Denise?
And imagine Denise.. How is she ever going to get away from Harvey? I mean, do you move? But their lives are established there. Why should they have to uproot their lives because of some psycho? And would moving even solve the problem?
Allentown Police are obviously over this guy and want him caught as well. They decide to have a live-in police officer at the Sam-Cali household for the foreseeable future.
Time goes by. Harvey waited. He was playing a game. He probably figured if he waited a little while that just maybe they would let their guard down, stop setting the alarm.. Maybe Harvey had gone away? Maybe they don’t have to worry anymore?
July 31st, 1983 Harvey tests his theory.. At 1:25 in the morning, Harvey attempts to break into their home. Officer Brian Lewis was the one tasked to watch the Sam-Cali household this night, and he just watched... like someone watching their prey.. He sat and waited for Harvey to get allll the way in and make his move because if he does, he has more to charge him on, right? As soon as Harvey is inside, Officer Lewis tells him, “hey police, freeze” and Harvey panics, starts shooting at the officer, at which point, Lewis fires back.. Then goes to tell the Sam-Cali's to stay where they are as he calls for back up.
Harvey is absolutely panicked and starts breaking through all kinds of glass to get out a door, cutting himself I’m sure.
Back up arrives, and they immediately find a blood trail, alert local hospitals that this wacko is out on the loose and likely to seek medical treatment for either a gunshot wound or very bloody cuts.
And what do you know? Police were right. Within a few hours of his injuries, Harvey goes to a local hospital seeking medical treatment. He did indeed have a gunshot wounds and several lacerations to his arms and legs. Guess what else they found? Denise’s bite mark on the inside of his arm.
Officer Lewis immediately identifies him. He’s charged. Arrested.
Harvey Robinson was charged with the following:
Murder
Attempted murder
Burglary
Rape
Kidnapping
The Trial/Aftermath
Fortunately for the prosecutor and police, there was so much evidence in this case, it wasn’t going to take much to get a guilty conviction.
Not only did he leave his DNA at every crime scene, he also had evidence at his home.
It was pretty much open and shut.
He was charged with the murders of Joan, Charlotte, and Jean with Denise testifying for the prosecution as a witness who survived the same attacks as these other women.
He had a forensic psychiatrist testify on his behalf that he has an anti-social personality disorder, but that doesn’t qualify as allowing you to get off scott free for murdering and raping multiple people. It just doesn’t.
The jury came back with a guilty verdict and sentenced him to death for all three murders on November 29th, 1994.
He had pled guilty to other charges such as the attempted murder, burglary, carrying a deadly weapon while committing felonious crime, etc.. But in 2001, a judge in Lehigh County decided that the trial judge gave the wrong instructions to the jury regarding sentencing so he kept the guilty verdicts of murder, but decided to throw out the death sentences.
However, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court did not agree with this Judge, and they reinstated the death sentence for Jessica Fortney and kept the first-degree murder charges in the others.
I found some court documents where I think he was still appealing as of 2012, but I'm not going to lie... I could barely understand most of what that document said. I listed it below in resources, though, if anyone wants to take a gander!
They had set an execution date at one point, but it got stayed, and he’s still just hanging out on death row. Apparently, it’s not a bad gig, and he has quite a bit of freedoms. Which is freaking sickening. I also saw somewhere that a judge suggested he donate his brain to science which would be pretty interesting.
Anyways, that’s pretty much it for these two cases! What a wild ride. I mean, the first one is creepy because it’s a little girl out murdering other little kids, but this dude literally committed murders in like my all-time nightmare kind of way. I’m really, really glad he will never have the chance at freedom.
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