Diksha Sundriyal
The second season of Netflix’s ‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder‘ follows Pippa Fitz-Amobi trying to crack the case of a mysterious disappearance. Connor’s brother, Jamie, did not come home one evening, and while others are not too concerned, Connor thinks something has happened to him. He asks Pip for help, and the investigation leads them to an old case she learned about through a documentary. It’s the case of a serial killer named Scott Brunswick, who was convicted of the murder of several children. He was helped in his crimes by his son, who, because of being underage, is known as “Child Brunswick” in the media. What makes the severity of the Brunswicks’ crimes even more chilling is that they are loosely inspired by real-life cases. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Holly Jackson was Inspired by a Real-Life Crime for Pip’s Second Case
‘A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder’ is based on the book series of the same name by Holly Jackson. The second season adapts the second book in the series, ‘Good Girl, Bad Blood.’ While the stories are entirely fictional, the author revealed that, being a true crime fan, she borrows inspiration from real-life cases. For the first book, she was inspired by the true-crime podcast ‘Serial,’ among other things. But for the second season, she looked towards two criminal cases in the UK. She didn’t specify which cases, but she did mention that one of them was a very famous case in the 90s that shook the country to its core. This detail has led fans to speculate on the true inspiration behind Pip’s second case, and the James Bulger case feels like the one Jackson may have been talking about.
James Bulger was a two-year-old boy who was abducted, tortured, and murdered on February 12, 1993, by two 10-year-old boys named Robert Thompson and Jon Venables in Merseyside, England. The two-year-old had been at the New Strand Shopping Center in Bootle with his mother when he was led away by the two boys, as confirmed by CCTV footage. They led Bulger to a railway track about 2.5 miles from the shopping center. Reportedly, they kicked and punched him all the way through. They were reportedly spotted by 38 people. Some people tried to get Bulger away from the two boys, but Thompson and Venables made up stories like Bulger was their brother or that he was lost, so they were taking him to the police station.
One witness reported that they’d seen James with a head injury, which was later found to have been the result of being dropped on his head. Bulger was found two days later at the railway line in Walton, Liverpool. According to the police reports, he had been attacked with bricks and a metal bar. He was also found stripped from the waist down. The attackers had also thrown paint in his eyes. The brutality of the attack, especially considering that it came from two ten-year-olds, shook the public to its core and pushed forward the conversation about child offenders. The case was heavily discussed in the media, and to this day, remains one of the darkest crimes in the country’s history.
Child Brunswick May Have Been an Attempt to Understand the Psyche of Child Murderers
Robert Thompson and Jon Venables were found guilty of killing James Bulger on November 24, 1993. Throughout the trial, they were known as Child A and Child B. Due to their ages, they were sentenced to be detained during Her Majesty’s pleasure. They were both released on a life license in June 2001. They were given new identities to provide them with the anonymity needed to start their lives anew. Since the release, Venables has been in and out of prison. In February 2010, he was sent to prison for possessing child pornography. He had also violated his parole conditions. He was released in August 2013 with a new identity, but was brought in again for possessing disturbing images of child abuse in November 2017.
In February 2018, he was sentenced to three years and four months in prison. Bulger’s family, among other people, has raised questions about allowing Venables out of prison repeatedly, given the nature of his crimes. Robert Thompson, on the other hand, has not been heard from. Since his release, he has not been held for any crimes. While Jackson did not confirm that this is the case that inspired her to write about Child Brunswick, it wouldn’t be wrong to assume that she may have considered Thompson while writing Stanley’s character. She was likely interested in exploring the psyche of a person who is haunted by the crimes they committed at a young age, what impact it has on their lives, and, more importantly, if the shadow of their crime ever truly leaves them.
In the show, the details of the crime differ. The murderer is an adult man who uses his son to lure other kids to a secluded place where he then kidnaps the kids and later murders them. In this case, the son has no option but to follow his father’s instructions. When they are caught, the son testifies against his father and is sent to a rehabilitation center, from where he emerges with a new identity. However, his past actions continue to haunt him, and even as he tries to be a good person now, he knows that one day, the past will catch up to him. And he turns out to be right.
Read More: A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder: Is Little Kilton a Real Town?
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