Mary Bell: The 11-Year-Old Killer of Martin Brown and Brian Howe | Ep. 273

Mary Bell: The 11-Year-Old Killer of Martin Brown and Brian Howe | Ep. 273

From British Murders with Stuart Blues by Stuart Blues

September 2, 2026 · 50 min · Episode 273

About this episode

This episode examines the murders of Martin Brown and Brian Howe and the investigation that revealed the involvement of 11-year-old Mary Bell.

In the summer of 1968, two little boys died within weeks of each other in the Scotswood area of Newcastle upon Tyne. Four-year-old Martin Brown was found dead inside a derelict house, while three-year-old Brian Howe disappeared from the streets where he lived before his body was discovered on a patch of wasteland known locally as the "Tin Lizzie". At first, the two deaths appeared to be separate tragedies, but as detectives began digging into Brian's murder, they uncovered a series of disturbing clues that would force them to look back at Martin's unexplained death. The investigation quickly became one of the most extraordinary murder inquiries in British criminal history. Police questioned more than a thousand local children, strange handwritten messages appeared to reveal knowledge of Martin's death, and detectives found themselves trying to work out whether the person responsible for Brian's murder could actually be another child. At the centre of the investigation were two young girls, Mary Bell and Norma Bell, whose friendship and behaviour had already attracted attention in the neighbourhood. As the evidence mounted, detectives were faced with a question that seemed almost…

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