EFFORTPOST The murder of James Bulger - are you team Venables or Thompson?

Let's play a game. There is a gif below. Take a screenshot. If you land on black, you're Team Venables. If you land on white, you're Team Thompson. Let's see who you've aligned yourself with.

James Bulger

James Bulger was raised by his single mother, Denise Fergus. Denise has three other children, and though she is lower class, she managed to make ends meet for her family. On February 14 1993, two year old James Bulger was taken to the store by his mother. Little did she know it would be the last time they held hands.

Robert Thompson

Robert Thompson grew up a brought home filled with alcoholism and crime. His family was known to the local police, and one of his siblings had been taken into foster care after overdosing on paracetamol. He has been described as frighteningly street smart beyond his years, and psychologists who analysed the two boys have suggested that he may have been the leader of the pack. It has also been reported that Thompon bullied Venables before the two became friends. Adults have this to day about the lad

>Thompson was the most frightening child I've ever seen, with these cold, steely eyes. It was absolutely chilling when he stared at you.

>Neither boy expressed remorse, although Venables was the more emotional of the two, crying and shrieking as the sentence was passed while Thompson sat, dry-eyed, occasionally smirking, fiddling with a gold ring on one hand. The strength of feeling against Thompson ran so high that a frustrated member of his own legal team is said once to have pushed him up against a wall and shouted 'Why don't you ever cry, you little bastard?'

Jon Venables

Venables grew up among alcoholics, and journ*lists who have studied the case note that it was a troubled home:

>I was approached by a relative of Susan Venables who told me some hair-raising stories of the carnage that could result from drinking and fighting within her family. Many of them had been in a show-band that performed at clubs in and around Merseyside. They would drink heavily, often leave children unattended, I was told, and take their arguments on stage. On one occasion one relative, a guitarist, had smashed the neck of his guitar into the mouth of another relative, a woman, in the middle of a performance.

https://web.archive.org/web/20131112145748/http://www.pressawards.org.uk/userfiles/files/Winners2011/entries-301100613-01445.pdf

He attended St Mary's primary school where he was known to be naughty, though he didn't leave much of an impression on his educators or peers.

'I can't really remember him,' he says. 'It's not something you want to remember, to be honest, even though it's always there. Everyone here has been affected by it. A mate of mine found the body. He didn't recognise it as a boy at first. He thought it was a doll. It just destroyed him.'

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/mar/02/ukcrime.prisonsandprobation1

The Murder

On February 13, 1993, Venables and Thompson were seen loitering New Strand Shopping Centre. It wasn't the first time they were playing hookie, and during the afternoon they scoped out strangers and shoplifted from stores. The stolen items include the following:

• sweets

• batteries

• troll doll

• can of blue paint

Today, Venables and Thompson wanted to be naughtier than they had ever been. They wanted to commit murder. Of course, even with two of them, they realized that most adults could overpower them. Furthermore, they wanted to get away with the crime. Consequently, they decided that they would find a small child that they would push into oncoming traffic. They scoped the mall and eventually set their sights on James Bulger, who was being held by his mother, Denise Fergus.

Denise let go of her son's hand to pay for some shopping. This is a mistake she will regret for the rest of her life. Taking advantage of the crowds, the boys grabbed the child's hand and walked away with him. There wasn't a lot of fussing necessary - James was so young that he would go with pretty much anyone who held his hand. They led him out of the New Strand and toward Leeds and Liverpool Canal. Along the way, they were stopped by a few people, but the boys insisted that they were taking their little brother home.

Once they found a secluded spot, the evil began. They hit the boy on the head until he bled, and they threw bricks at him. They attempted to enter a pet store, but they were kicked out, and adults noted that the child was crying and dirtied. Eventually, they arrived at Walton & Anfield train station, passing a police station on the way there. Here, they continued torturing the boy. On the train tracks, the boys poured blue paint on the boy, struck his head with bricks, and kicked and stomped on him. They grabbed iron bars and beat the baby until his bones broke and his skull fractured.

Many of you know the case, but it is seldom discussed just how vile the crime got. They inserted batteries into the boy's mouth and anus. It has been suggested that there was a sexual nature to the crime, and the boys may have digitally sodomized Bulger as well. Bulger was naked, and his foreskin had been forcibly pulled back, serving as evidence that the boys had done something to the baby's peepee. The boy's head was crushed then with a piece of the railway. It is not known at which point Bulger died because there were far too many injuries.

Having watched several documentaries on this case, and having read several articles, I know that many people involved in the case had PTSD and lifelong nightmares, including the lead detective. Even Venables' lawyer suffered:

>For several years after reading the police reports, Venables's solicitor, Laurence Lee, suffered from nightmares. He dreamt that he was eight years old, taking a ride on a ghost train at a local fairground. 'I would fall out on to the tracks, be run over and killed,' he says. 'I'm 54 now but there's not a day that passes without me thinking about it.

The mangled body was left on the tracks where the naughty boys hoped a train track would destroy James Bulger and rid all the evidence of their sordid deeds.

The Hunt for James Bulger's killers

Thompson and Venables did manage to cover up their crime to some degree. The body - in pieces at this point after being run over by a train - was discovered by a group of kids playing soccer. It didn't take long for the boy to be identified, as Bulger had been reported missing almost immediately by Denise. However, all they had to work with initially were pieces of what was once a two-year old boy.

>a train ran James over with such force his legs were sliced from his torso and flung several metres from his upper body.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/mar/02/ukcrime.prisonsandprobation1

A nationwide search for Bulger's killers kicked off. The entire UK was incensed by the idea that someone would do something so heinous to Bulger. Police returned to New Strand Shopping Center to seek evidence, and they discovered that some stores had CCTV. Imagine the shock when they saw the baby being towed away by two young boys! The CCTV wasn't clear enough to identify Thompson and Venables, so the search was on for a while, and some families had their lives ruined when suspicion was incorrectly laid upon their children.

Eventually, Thompson and Venables were identified by a lady who recognised the boys upon viewing the CCTV footage on television. It should be noted that Venables's parents already suspected he may be the killer

>When they came for Jon Venables, his mother Susan answered the door and said, snidely, "I knew you'd be here. I told him you'd want to see him for sagging school on Friday." Susan mentioned that Jon "came home on Friday, coat full of paint." Officers promptly asked for Jon's mustard-yellow coat, which had indeed been splattered with blue paint. It even appeared that there was a small handprint on the sleeve. Jon grabbed hold of his mother and sobbed. "I don't want to go to prison, mum. I didn't kill the baby." He cried hysterically. "It's that Robert Thompson. He always gets me into trouble." Through tears, Jon told police they should speak to Robert. As they drove him to the police station, Jon continued to ask about Robert. Had they arrested him yet, and where were they taking him?

It didn't take too much questioning before the boys spilled the beans. They may have been killers, but they were still 10 year olds. During interrogations, Venables cried, acted into a boylike fashion, and after a bit of lying eventually confesses though he places the blame on Thompson primarily. In contrast, Robert was a tad more composed, and he denied even going to the New Strand. Robert was also very concerned about not being labelled a pervert.

>When they asked who removed James's pants and underwear, he began to cry. "I'm not a pervert, you know," he said, suddenly agitated. "Well, how would you like me calling you a pervert?" Normally collected, Robert lost it. "He said I'm a pervert, they said I've played with his willy," he told his mom, and refused to answer any more questions. But the detectives persisted. "What would Jon say you did to James?" they asked. Robert was greatly upset by now. He said Jon would say he took off James's pants and played with his "privates."

https://web.archive.org/web/20081002060615/http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/notorious_murders/young/bulger/5.html

There was also some grizzly evidence as well. Bits of brains were found on the boys' sneakers, and shoe prints on Bulger's slain body matched shoes worn by the boys. There was also blue paint on some of their clothes. Once the boys were in custody, there was public outrage with many baying for blood. They saw the two boys as nothing but demons and literal manifestations of evil. They had to be transported to court in secret vehicles, lest they be attacked, and in some cases, decoy police vans were attacked!

The Long Arm of the Law

Thus, the trial of Jon Venables and Robert Thompson began. It was determined that the boys were old enough and mature enough to recognize that they had done something that was not only wrong, but heinously evil. Though they did not speak during the trial, their interrogation was played in court. To the surprise of nobody, they were found guilty in November 1993, becoming one of the youngest convicted murderers of all time. They were detained indefinitely, though they would be sent to a detention center that offered rehabilitation for troubled minors.

Naturally, the verdict and sentence triggered controversy. Many saw it as a victory and wanted to see the boys permanently removed from society. Others saw it as a gross injustice, and there was outcry at the idea of ten-year-olds being found guilty of murder. Many folks wanted to serve out vigilante justice on the lads. There were also fingers pointed at the parents of Venables and Thompson.

As part of their sentencing, Venables and Thompson were instructed to never contact the Bulger family or return to the city where the crime took place. The boys were also given new identities to allow them to start new lives following their incarceration. They were given a "legacy lie" about their history and family, and it is a grave crime for the press to report on the two boys, though information has a way of finding itself in the public. Eventually, both boys were released, but it would not be the end of them making headlines.

The Fate of Team Venables

It is reported that Venables adjusted quite well to life in detention. He benefitted from the structure and supervision he was given, and his rehabilitation process was overall smooth. One incident occurred where it was discovered that he was having s*x with one of the workers at the detention center, but considering his age, it is easy to argue that he was being r*ped.

>Jon Venables was aged 17 when he had the illegal affair with the woman who was responsible for his care at the Red Bank Community Home on Merseyside.

>Now that it has emerged that Venables engaged in s*x with a member of staff at Red Bank, Denise Fergus wants an inquiry to establish whether there was a covered-up to withold darning information from the judge.

https://archive.ph/20120729013022/http://www.clickliverpool.com/news/national-news/1212824-mother-of-murdered-toddler-james-bulger-calls-for-inquiry-into-jon-venables-parole-after-reports-he-had-s*x-with-carer.html#selection-308.18-308.19

Nevertheless, he suffered severe PTSD from the event and required psychiatric care. Like Thompson, he was released after serving eight years, and at age 18 he was let go to start his life, under supervision of course.

It took him a while to adjust to the normal world, and it is reported that he had a number of underage girlfriends in a moment of "late adolescence". He also revealed his identity to a few friends and seemed to take some pride in his notoriety. It was also reported that he fell into drugs and alcohol. Unable to stay out of trouble, he visited the site of the murder, and sunk into downloading child pornography. In 2010, he was found guilty of download indecent child images. In 2017, he was arrested yet again for child porn.

So this is the fate of Venables-lads. You are a victim of your biology, unable to quell your urges to harm children. Years of rehabilitation have been insufficient to rid you of your demons. However, can we call you immoral? Do you have control over your actions, or are you just a force of nature plaguing society?

The Fate of Team Thompson

We know far less about Robert Thompson, which is a good thing as it indicates that he has not been getting into trouble. It is reported that he is in a homosexual relationship, though it has also been reported that he is married to a woman and has children.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12544075/What-happened-Jon-Venables-Robert-Thompson-James-Bulgers-murder.html

Of course, it could be the case that Thompson, who has always shown himself to be more street-smart, is simply better at covering up his crimes.

Conclusion

There has been very little forgiveness from Bulger's family, and you can't blame them. Denise's mother says the following:

>'I can never forgive Thompson and Venables for the horrendous, calculated, cold-blooded murder of James.

>'They were 10 years of age but much, much older in their minds. They knew full well what they were doing, yet they've never shown a single shred of remorse.'

>Denise finds it especially galling. 'They have been rewarded with the best of everything: a fine education, a new life and protection by the state,' she says. 'They did get away with murder. They got away scot-free. But I am still under a kind of life sentence.'

Denise has had two conversations with Holly Willoughby and it is evident that she has yet to find closure, and that the pain is constant.

So how do we conclude such a case. The death of James Bulger is proof that we cannot always find resolution in life. Nevertheless, our brains severely crave it when we come upon trauma. What is the solution to this quandary? How do you move on from trauma when you have no means to find closure? I leave you with this thought.