Most of us see children as cute and adorable
innocents, the hopeful future of a new generation. Others see them as a burden of responsibility
and an impediment to personal freedom. Regardless of your perspective, all over the
world, it is all too common for kids to suffer at the hands of abusive parents, bullies,
pedophiles, and rapists. We might try to ignore this truth, might censor
it or simply avoid talking about it, but we cannot hope to cure this cancer that festers
in our civilization unless we face it. Though our first instinct is to think of the
children as victims, it’s even worse when they are in fact the criminals themselves,
responsible for gruesome acts of violence. Though we at Mindchop typically rank our lists
by a criteria, the following murder cases are so equally heinous that any attempt to
categorize them would marginalize the suffering endured by the victim’s families and glorify
the perpetrators. Viewer discretion is advised. === Number 10. Joshua Phillips
In early November of 1998, fourteen-year-old Joshua Phillips played baseball with his eight-year-old
neighbor, Maddie Clifton, outside of Joshua’s home in Jacksonville, Florida. Shortly thereafter, Maddie’s family reported
her missing and police opened an investigation into her disappearance. Police suspected that Clifton’s neighbor,
Larry Grisham, who had been previously charged with sexual battery on two prior occasions
and also failed a polygraph when questioned. However, Grisham provided an alibi, and the
police dropped the case after their investigation didnt come up with any good evidence. Community volunteers persisted in the search
for Maddie, which included Joshua Phillips. The Clifton family handed out fliers at local
events and offered a one-hundred thousand dollar reward, drawing the attention of America’s
Most Wanted, who planned to broadcast the story. About a week after the reported disappearance,
Mellisa Phillips was cleaning Joshua’s room when she discovered a leak in her son’s
waterbed. She peeled away the electrical tape concealing
the tear and discovered Maddie’s body. Maddie’s body was found nude from the waist
down, but the autopsy showed no signs of a sexual assault. Police recovered a baseball bat used to bludgeon
Maddie and a knife that matched the eleven stab wounds on her face, neck, and chest. Joshua was tried as an adult and convicted
of first-degree murder in a Polk County court. However, Joshua’s age made him ineligible
for the state death penalty, and instead sentenced him to life without parole. Fourteen years after the murder, the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that sentencing convicted children to life imprisonment is
unconstitutional, and in 2016 the court granted a retroactive appeal to re-sentence Joshua. His next court hearing is scheduled for February
2017. === Number 9. Daniel Petry
In 2007, sixteen-year-old Daniel Petry lived in Santa Catarina, Brazil. He had just loaned his friend, twelve-year-old
Gabriel Kuhn, 20,000 units of in-game currency in their favorite MMORPG, ‘Tibia.’ Time passed, and both carried on amiably,
with Gabriel promising to repay the money soon. The Kuhn family chastised Gabriel for making
friends with a boy they saw troubled and prone to angry outbursts but didn’t press the
issue. Daniel was, in fact, a psychiatric patient
who often missed his therapy sessions or left early and without permission. When Daniel came to collect on his prior loan,
Gabriel either didn’t have or refused to pay back the in-game currency. In a fit of rage, Daniel broke into the Kuhn
residence while Gabriel was home alone and sexually assaulted the younger boy. Reports vary as to the chain of events that
ultimately escalated the conflict to violence, but one witness saw Daniel leave the Kuhn
residence with blood all over him. When Gabriel’s mother returned from work,
she found her son lying in a pool of blood and no longer in one piece. The police report stated that Gabriel had
been physically and sexually assaulted, with severe bruising around his neck from an attempted
strangulation with a wire cable, but ultimately the cause of death was blood loss from dismembered
limbs. The crime scene indicated that Daniel attempted
to hide Gabriel’s body in the attic, but he lacked the physical strength needed to
carry the boy up the ladder, even after the dismemberment. A Brazilian court tried Daniel as a minor,
and he received a three-year prison sentence and released him in 2010. ===
Number 8. Kipland Phillip Kinkel
May 20th, 1998. At approximately 8:00 AM, fifteen-year-old
Kipland Phillip Kinkel has just been suspended for receiving a stolen weapon and bringing
it with him to Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon. Kipland was arrested and brought to the local
police station where police charged him with two counts of possession. A year earlier, Kipland suffered a bout of
depression that left his parents, Bill and Faith, very concerned about his state of mind. They took Kipland to psychologist Dr. Jeffery
Hicks, who prescribed Prozac and documented the steady progression of Kipland’s treatment
in the months that followed. Despite Kipland’s improvement, he struggled
to maintain healthy relationships with his parents and school friends and developed a
growing obsession with firearms and explosives. Kipland purchased The Anarchist’s Cookbook
online and several guns from local friends, some of which he purchased with permission
from his parents. However, Bill was furious when he found out
about Kipland’s arrest, he made several phone calls to friends and co-workers where
he said: “I don’t know what to do at this point.” At noon that same day, Bill picked up Kipland
from the police station and drove him home. After arguing about the incident, Kipland
shot Bill in the back of the head with a .22 caliber Ruger rifle, then dragged the body
into the bathroom and covered it with a sheet. Over the next few hours, several people called
the Kinkel residence looking for Bill, Kipland lied about his father’s whereabouts. When Faith arrived home from work that evening,
Kipland shot her six times in the face and chest, and also covered her with a sheet. The next morning, Kipland loaded up his backpack
with ammunition and taped the .22 rifle to his leg, concealing it and two pistols under
a heavy trench coat. He then drove his mother’s Ford Explorer
to school where he opened fire on a crowded cafeteria, killing students Mikael Nicholauson
and Ben Walker, and wounding twenty-five others. Five students tackled Kipland as he reloaded
and pinned him to the ground until police arrived on the scene. The same day, Lane County sheriffs raided
the Kinkel residence and found two live bombs, one in Kipland’s room and the other attached
to his mother’s corpse. Kipland briefly pursued an insanity defense
but ultimately plead guilty to a laundry list of aggravated murder charges. He is currently serving an 111-year prison
sentence without the possibility of parole. ===
Number 7. Lionel Tate
July 28th, 1999. Kathleen Grossett-Tate was entrusted as a
nanny to care for 6-year-old Tiffany Eunick for the evening. Kathleen left Tiffany with her twelve-year-old
son, Lionel Tate, who were both watching television, and went upstairs to take a short nap. Approximately forty-five minutes later, Lionel
woke Kathleen to the chilling statement: “Tiffany’s not breathing.” Kathleen raced downstairs to find Tiffany’s
ravaged body, who had thirty-five separate injuries including broken bones, ruptured
organs, and a cracked skull. Lionel told police that he was “only imitating
pro wrestling moves” that he’d seen on TV, and didn’t realize that he had mortally
wounded the girl until she stopped moving. Child abuse experts thoroughly refuted Lionel’s
story, testifying in court that the injuries Tiffany sustained were “the equivalent of
a fall from a third story building.” In 2001, Lionel’s mother turned down a plea
deal to reduce the charge to second-degree murder, which would have sent Lionel to a
juvenile detention center for one year and ten years of probation. Instead, the case went to trial, and Lionel
was convicted of first-degree murder, where Judge Joel Lazarus sentenced Lionel to life
without parole, making the boy the youngest convict to receive a life sentence. In January of 2004, an appeals court overturned
Lazarus’ decision and allowed Lionel to take the aforementioned plea deal. A few months later, Lionel was found by probation
officers out of his house and carrying a four-inch knife, they elevated his house-arrest status
to zero-tolerance probation. One year later, Lionel robbed a pizza delivery
guy with a firearm and stole four pizzas worth $33.60. Police arrested Lionel for gun possession
and was sentenced to thirty years in prison for violating his probation, and ten years
for the robbery, though both terms are served concurrently. As of 2017, Lionel has nineteen years left
on his prison sentence. ===
Number 6. Andrew Golden & Mitchell Johnson
March 23th, 1998. Eleven-year-old Andrew Golden and thirteen-year-old
Mitchell Johnson had just had a conversation about their grades with one of their teachers,
Debbie Spencer, at Westside Middle School in Jonesboro, Arkansas. Mitchell politely responded to every question
with ‘yes, ma’am, no, ma’am,’ though his friend Andrew is a bit distant and doesn’t
seem phased by his B- score. Later, Debbie would tell reporters that she
knew the boys were up to something, though she had no idea what. The following day, Mitchell stole his parent’s
car while Andrew broke into his grandparent’s house and looted an (unlocked) weapons cache. The boys then drove to school and split up. Andrew attended school like usual, while Mitchell
broke off into a nearby construction site that bordered a bushy, forested area. Mitchell found suitable cover and proceeded
to load and place the firearms within easy reach. At lunchtime, Andrew pulled a fire alarm and
ran outside to meet up with Mitchell. As students and teachers filed out of the
designated exits, the young boys opened fire with rifles and pistols, including a Remington
.30-06 (note: pronounced thirty-ought-six) rifle and a Universal M1 Carbine replica. Four students were killed including Brittheny
Varner, Stephanie Johnson, Paige Anne Herring, Natalie Brooks, and one teacher Shannon Wright,
who happened to be pregnant. Ten other people were also gravely wounded. Despite the careful planning and brutal execution
of this school shooting, both boys were tried as juveniles and sentenced to confinement
until the age of twenty-one, the maximum allowable under Arkansas law. The boys had their public records sealed (though
police still have their fingerprints on file) and were set free in May of 2007. Both attempted to acquire firearms upon release
using aliases, and Mitchell succeeded in acquiring an illegal firearm. However, police arrested Mitchell for drug
possession, petty theft and confiscated his firearms. ===
Number 5. Alex & Derek King
In late November of 2001, twelve-year-old Alex King together with his thirteen-year-old
brother, Derek, have just ran away from their family home in Cantonment, Florida. They share a marijuana cigarette and play
games at the house of a family friend, forty-one-year-old Rick Chavis, a previously convicted pedophile. For the boys, life is anything but simple. Their mother, Kelly Marino, struggled with
drug abuse that ultimately led to her separation from their father, Terry King, and the boys
frequently moved in and out of foster care. Rick took an inappropriate interest in the
boys and lied to their father as to their whereabouts. The boys also testified that Rick told them
that he “killed a man once, and got away with it.” Though the statement is untrue, it seeded
in the young boy’s minds the idea that they could finally be rid of the man who they saw
as the source of their problems. On November 26th, Alex and Derek King returned
to their father Terry’s home while he slept. Alex egged on his older brother while Derek
bludgeoned Terry to death with an aluminum baseball bat. The boys then set the house ablaze in an effort
to cover their crime. What happened next is ultimately a mystery. Over the next few years, the King brothers
changed their testimony and committed perjury in a slew of trials. In one case, Alex said it was his idea to
murder their father. In another, Alex said that both he and his
brother were locked in the trunk of Rick’s car at the time of the murder. Later still, the boys stated that they fabricated
their confessions to cover up for Rick, knowing that they would receive a lesser punishment. In Rick’s own trial, he stated that he only
learned of the murder after the boys came to him and sought refuge from the police. Rick counseled them to tell police that they
killed their father in self-defense, and Alex testified in defense of Rick and admitted
to having consensual sex with the older man. In the end, the jury found Rick Chavis not
guilty of the first-degree murder and arson charges, but guilty of being an accessory
to murder and tampering with evidence. The jury also acquitted Rick of the molestation
charges but found him guilty for falsely imprisoning a minor. Rick received a five-year prison sentence
for the purported abduction and thirty-five years as an accessory to murder. For the boys, Alex confessed to hatching the
plot and received a seven-year prison sentence while Derek confessed to the actual murder
and received eight years. Upon their release in 2008 and 2009, both
boys took an oath of non-violence and stated that while they do not often miss their father,
they deeply regret what they did and that they will pay for it for the rest of their
lives. ===
Number 4. Christian Fernandez
March 14th, 2011. Twelve-year-old Cristian Fernandez watches
his mother, Biannela Susana, leave the house to take his elder half-brother to school. Biannela is only twelve years older than her
eldest son, who was the product of a sexual assault by Cristian’s twenty-five-year-old
father. Cristian is now alone with his other half-brother,
two-year-old David Galarraga, a practice Biannela later confessed to police was commonplace. Anger bubbles beneath Cristian’s icy stare
as he watches his mother disappear from sight. He turns to face David, who plays with toys
next to an old bookshelf. Cristian shoves his half-brother’s head
against the bookshelf several times, killing the boy. When police discovered the crime, Cristian
confessed in the interrogation room and said that he was thinking about his stepfather
when he committed the crime and that it had nothing to do with his younger brother. Less than a year earlier, Cristian’s stepfather,
Luis Galaragga-Bianco, shot himself in the head in front of his children before police
could arrest him on child abuse and molestation charges. At the time, Cristian was taken to the local
emergency room to treat a massively swollen black eye,retinal damage, and a doctor’s
examination revealed extensive long-term sexual abuse. When the case went to trial, Cristian was
tried as an adult charged with first-degree murder and faced life imprisonment without
parole. However, Cristian found sympathy with Judge
Mallory Cooper, who threw out the interrogation tape because he deemed Cristian incapable
of understanding his Miranda rights and what it meant when he confessed without a lawyer
or adult present. The prosecution then offered a plea deal for
a reduced charge of manslaughter, which Cristian accepted. Cristian received a seven-year juvenile detention
sentence and will be released in 2018. ===
Number 3. Jordan Brown
In early 2009, eleven-year-old Jordan Brown lives with his family in a peaceful farmhouse
in New Beaver, Pennsylvania. It’s early in the morning, and Jordan’s
father, Chris, makes breakfast for his son and two stepsisters while Kenzie Houk, Chris’
pregnant fiance, sleeps in late. It’s just a normal, boring day in the average
life of an American family. After breakfast, Chris wishes his son a good
day at school and reminds Jordan to finish moving his things out of his room. The expectant family planned to repurpose
Jordan’s old room for the newborn, and Jordan had been dragging his feet about it for the
past few weeks. Running a little late, Chris hustles off to
work before the children’s school bus arrives. A short while later, there’s a muffled pop
from inside the farmhouse. The tree-trimmers outside the house didn’t
notice anything, and when the school bus arrived, Jordan and his elder stepsister board the
school bus just as they do every day. The bus peels away quietly, and approximately
forty-five minutes later, Kenzie’s four-year-old daughter, Adalynn, ran out of the house screaming
“my mommy is dead!” The nearby workmen ran in to help and notified
the police. First responders discovered the body of Kenzie
Houk in her bedroom, killed by a single gunshot wound to the face. Her unborn child died of asphyxiation. Police discovered a discarded shell casing
in the Brown’s front yard that came from a 20-gauge youth shotgun found in Jordan’s
room, it was an Easter gift from his father. Police believe the shooter fired through a
blanket to muffle the sound, explaining why the nearby witnesses heard no gun shot. Jordan was arrested soon after and remained
in juvenile detention until the completion of his trial. Jordan was tried as a juvenile and both he,
and his father, Chris, professed Jordan’s innocence throughout the trial. Kenzie Houk’s family remained unconvinced
and encouraged the prosecution to press for the maximum punishment. Judge John Hodge presided over the case and
ultimately found the prosecution’s evidence to be circumstantial but compelling, and found
Jordan to be delinquent, if you dont know what that means, its(the equivalent guilty
verdict, but for children). Jordan received a seven-year juvenile detention
sentence in April of 2012. Over the next few years, numerous appeals
were filed by Chris Brown in multiple courts, and he pressed for a retrial on the grounds
of circumstantial evidence but was denied. Throughout his incarceration, Jordan completed
high school education and, with the help of his father, secured a modest college fund. Jordan completed five years of his sentence
and was released early in 2016 for good behavior and signs of rehabilitation. Jordan subsequently changed his name, but
still lives in the same Pennsylvania county. The Houk family told reporters that they were
appalled by the court’s decision at the trial at Jordan’s release, and while they
feel justice has not been served, they’ve let go of the pain and are just trying to
move forward. ===
Number 2. Armajeet Sada
In May of 2007, local villagers in Musahri, India confronted eight-year-old Armajeet Sada
regarding the disappearance of a six-month-old girl named Kushboo Devi. Locals knew the Sada family suffered their
own personal tragedy, when only a year earlier they lost their eight-month-old daughter and
a six-month-old cousin. Armajeet happily recounted his tale to the
concerned mother, casually describing how he bashed the infants head in with a brick. He then led the villagers to the shallow grave,
where the bereaved mother retrieved Kushboo’s body and informed the police. When Bhagwanpur authorities investigated the
murder and questioned Armajeet’s parents, who provided little information to what they
regarded as a ‘family matter.’ Since then Indian authorities have been very
secretive about the details of the incident, partially because Indian law wouldn’t allow
Armajeet to be arrested or convicted of a crime. However, authorities put Armajeet in detention
at a children’s home until the age of eighteen. Psychoanalyst Shamshad Hussain found Armajeet
to be suffering from a conduct disorder where a severe chemical imbalance in his brain makes
him behave in a sadistic manner. Sufferers from this disorder take great personal
satisfaction from inflicting pain in others. Armajeet Sada is the youngest serial killer
in the world and changed his name to Samarjit upon his release in 2016. According to doctors, his conduct disorder
is manageable with medication and rehabilitation. ===
Number 1. Jon Venables & Robert Thompson
February 12th, 1993. Ten-year-olds Jon Venables and Robert Thompson
skipped school to hang out at the New Strand Shopping Centre near Kirkby, England. They also stole batteries, a clockwork toy
soldier, and even a bucket of paint. Jon and Robert walked past a T.J. Hughes department store and attempted to coax
a young child out of the store before the child’s mother caught them and scared the
boys away. It’s then that they spot two-year-old James
Bulger, who wanders out of the doorway at an A.R. Tyms butcher shop. James’ mother, Denise, is momentarily distracted
by the man at the cash register, who mixed up her order. The problem is corrected moments later, and
Denise walks out to find that her son James is gone. Denise reported the disappearance to the police
who searched the mall but couldn’t find the boy. Two days later, James Bulger’s sodomized
and brutally beaten body was found on the railroad tracks outside Liverpool. Police observed forty-two separate injuries
and concluded that James was already dead before the train ran him over. Numerous stolen items from the shopping mall
were found at the crime scene, and by reviewing security camera footage the police identified
Jon and Robert as the abductors. After Jon and Robert had been arrested by
police, both confessed during their interviews. Jon was convicted as a conspirator, sentenced
to confinement until he reached adulthood, and was released in 2002. Robert was convicted as the murderer and confined
to the Barton Moss Secure Care Center in Manchester until his release in 2001. In 2011, Jon Venables was arrested again on
charges of downloading and sharing child pornography but was granted early parole with yet another
new identity when released in 2013. Despite receiving significant special care,
online witch hunts for both boys are commonplace and one man, Scott Bradley, was mistakenly
identified as Robert Thompson. Scott faced allegations of suspected criminal
action by civilians for a wide variety of claims, which left him extremely depressed. Scott Bradley took his life and cited the
abuse as the reason for his suicide. James Bulger’s parents, Denise and Ralph,
have also been stalked online by anonymous abusers who leave taunting or threatening
messages on their social media. Denise told reporters that she dreads the
thought that one of the online trolls might be the real killers.
