Baby killer guilty: Mervyn Bell convicted of murdering baby boy
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Version 0 of 1. A West Australian man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting and murdering a 10-month-old baby. Mervyn Kenneth Douglas Bell, 27, had been on trial in the WA supreme court for more than two weeks, accused of abusing the child for about 15 hours in March last year, including inflicting burns, broken bones and bruises. Justice John McKechnie, who presided over the trial without a jury, reserved his decision after combing through forensic evidence including graphic images of the dead baby, before returning his judgment on Friday. Bell had claimed the child’s injuries were caused when he fell out of a moving car travelling at about 60km/h, when the boy sat on hot rocks by a river, and when he fell into the water. But the judge said Bell’s claims that the baby had fallen from a car seat were a “lie” and that rocks had caused his burns was “unbelievable”. Bell had showed a “callous disregard for his health and safety”, Justice McKechnie said. During the trial, the court heard the cause of death could not be ascertained, but the baby had suffered a broken arm and leg, and third-degree burns and severe bruising on parts of his body. The judge said it was one of the more “evil” crimes he had encountered, and the number and nature of the injuries could not have been caused by accident. “It is not possible for the deceased to have injured himself,” the judge said. “He was not yet able to walk.” The judge said Bell had a motive to harm the child because the baby’s mother had humiliated him. “You had no good reason to take charge of the child,” he said. The judge said that while Bell had not intended to kill the baby, his overall intention was to threaten the child’s life, which meant he was guilty of murder. The child’s mother and supporters wept and cheered in court when the verdict was handed down. Bell was remanded in custody for sentencing in December, with The judge warning him that he would face a life sentence. |