Gordon Northcott

Case record: Gordon Northcott

Overview

Gordon Stewart Northcott was a Canadian-born ranch owner who later murdered boys in 1928. He was described as a homosexual sadist. Northcott lived on a poultry ranch near Riverside, California, sharing quarters with his mother and a 15-year-old nephew, Sanford Clark. For years, Northcott abducted boys and hid them out on his ranch, renting victims to wealthy Southern California pedophiles. When he tired of the boys, they were shot or brained with an ax, their flesh was dissolved with quick lime, and their bones were transported to the desert for disposal.

Only one victim was ever found. A headless teenage Mexican boy was discovered near La Puente during February 1928. Homicide detectives identified three other victims.

Timeline

• February 1928 — A headless teenage Mexican boy was discovered near La Puente.
• March 10, 1928 — Walter Collins disappeared from home.
• May 16, 1928 — Lewis Winslow and Nelson Winslow disappeared from Pomona.
• September 17, 1928 — Detectives dug up blood-soaked earth, unearthing human ankle bones and fingers.
• October 2, 1930 — Gordon Northcott was executed by hanging.
• November 1, 1930 — Wineville changed its name to Mira Loma.

Background

Gordon Northcott was born in Saskatchewan, Canada, and raised in British Columbia, Canada. His family moved to the Los Angeles area in 1924. Northcott later purchased a plot of land in Wineville, California, and built a chicken ranch and home.

The narrative also stated that Northcott later claimed his father sodomized him at age ten. His old man finished his life in a lunatic asylum. One paternal uncle died years later in San Quentin while serving a life term for murder.

Sanford Clark was Gordon Northcott’s 13-year-old nephew at the time of the initial taking of Clark from his home in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Before his sister, Jessie Clark, told police about the situation, Northcott had beaten and sexually abused Clark. Northcott forced Clark to participate.

The offence

Northcott abducted boys and hid them on his ranch near Riverside, California. He mixed business with pleasure in Riverside, renting his victims to wealthy Southern California pedophiles. When he tired of the boys, they were killed with an ax and disposed of using quick lime, with bones transported to the desert.

Investigators found that only one victim was ever found complete enough for identification initially: the headless teenage Mexican boy discovered near La Puente during February 1928. Homicide detectives later identified three other victims.

Investigation

Clark was taken into custody by immigration officials on a complaint from his Canadian parents. Clark recounted murder and pointed out newly-excavated “grave sites” on the ranch.

Detectives dug into the ranch grounds and unearthing human remains. They dug up blood-soaked earth and found human ankle bones and fingers on September 17. They also found a bloodstained ax and hatchet on the premises that Clark said had been used on human prey, as well as chickens.

After the police visit, the Northcotts fled to Canada and were arrested near Vernon, British Columbia.

Arrest, custody, and extradition

Clark was taken into custody first by immigration officials. After Northcott fled to Canada, he was captured there and extradited back to Riverside. Northcott’s mother was convicted in the Walter Collins case.

Major victims and cases involving victims

Walter Collins

Walter James Collins, Sr. (born February 1, 1890) and Christine Ida Dunne Collins (born 1891) were named as Walter Collins’ parents. Walter James Collins, Jr. (September 23, 1918 – March 1928) was described as a presumed murder victim and was said to have been nine years old when he disappeared.

Walter Collins disappeared from his home in Mt. Washington, Los Angeles on March 10, 1928. His disappearance received nationwide attention and the Los Angeles Police Department followed up on hundreds of leads without success.

Five months after Walter’s disappearance, a boy claiming to be Walter Collins was found in DeKalb, Illinois. Letters and photographs were exchanged before Walter’s mother Christine Collins, who worked as a telephone operator, paid for the boy to be brought to Los Angeles. A public reunion was organized by the police.

At the reunion, Christine Collins claimed that the boy was not Walter. She was told by police Captain J.J. Jones to take the boy home to “try him out for a couple of weeks,” and Collins agreed. Three weeks later, Christine Collins returned and persisted in her claim that the boy was not Walter. Even though she was armed with dental records proving her case, Jones committed her to the psychiatric ward at Los Angeles County Hospital under a “Code 12” internment, described as a term used to jail or commit someone who was deemed difficult or an inconvenience.

During Collins’ incarceration, Jones questioned the boy, who admitted to being 12-year-old Arthur Hutchins Jr., a runaway from Illinois but originally from Iowa. The narrative stated that a drifter at a roadside café in Illinois had told Hutchins of his resemblance to the missing Walter and that Hutchins had planned to impersonate him so he could get to Hollywood to meet his favorite actor, Tom Mix.

Collins was released ten days after Hutchins admitted that he was not her son. She then filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department. The narrative stated that Christine Collins went on to win a lawsuit against Jones and was awarded $10,800, which Jones never paid.

Five years after Gordon Northcott’s execution, one of the boys previously thought to be murdered by Northcott was found alive and well. The narrative indicated that Christine Collins continued to search for Walter for the rest of her life and died without knowing her son’s fate. The last public record of Christine Collins was from 1941, when she attempted to collect a $15,562 judgment against Captain Jones in the Superior Court.

Christine Collins’ later status was also described: she died without having known Walter’s fate, and her death was listed as 8 December 1964.

Lewis Winslow and Nelson Winslow

Lewis Winslow was described as being 12 years old, and Nelson Winslow, Jr. as being 10 years old. They were the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Nelson H. Lewis, Sr. The narrative stated that they went missing on May 16, 1928 from Pomona, California.

On May 26, 1928, H. Gordon Moore, a local Scoutmaster, reported that Lewis and Nelson ran away to Imperial, California to pick cantaloupes and helped with the search for the two boys.

Northcott was later condemned for the murders of the Winslow brothers despite the absence of bodies. The narrative also stated that Gordon Northcott was convicted of kidnapping and killing the Winslow brothers.

After the trial, Nelson Winslow, Sr. led a lynch mob with the intent of hanging Gordon Stewart Northcott after completion of the trial but before sentencing. The police convinced the group to disband before seeing Northcott.

Unidentified Mexican boy

A teenage Mexican boy was described as discovered during February 1928 near La Puente. The narrative stated that homicide detectives identified three other victims beyond this one found victim.

Arrest and extradition details relating to Sanford Clark

Immigration officials struck first and took Sanford Clark into custody. Under investigation, the neighbor recalled seeing Gordon beat Clark on occasion and urged detectives to “find out what goes on” at Northcott’s ranch. Clark regaled authorities with tales of murder and pointed to the ranch’s “grave sites.” Detectives then dug up blood-soaked earth and remains.

Northcott fled to Canada, was captured there, and was extradited back to Riverside.

Trial

Sarah Louise Northcott

Sarah Louise Northcott initially confessed to the murders, including that of 9-year-old Walter Collins. She later retracted her statement, as did Gordon Northcott, who had confessed to killing five boys.

After returning from Canada, Sarah Louise pled guilty to killing Walter Collins. Superior Court Judge Morton sentenced her to life imprisonment on December 31, 1928, sparing her from execution because she was a woman. Sarah Northcott served her sentence at Tehachapi State Prison and was paroled after less than 12 years.

During her sentencing, Northcott claimed her son was innocent and made a variety of claims about his parentage, including that he was an illegitimate son by an English nobleman, that she was Gordon’s grandmother, and that he was the result of incest between her husband, George Cyrus Northcott, and their daughter. She also stated that as a child, Gordon was sexually abused by the entire family.

Gordon Northcott’s trial and sentencing

A 27-day trial took place before Judge George R. Freeman in Riverside County, California, and ended on February 8, 1929. Gordon Northcott was convicted of the murders of an unidentified Mexican boy and brothers Lewis and Nelson Winslow (aged 12 and 10, respectively).

The narrative stated that the jury heard that Northcott kidnapped, molested, tortured, killed, and dismembered these and other boys throughout 1928. On February 13, 1929, Judge Freeman sentenced Gordon to be hanged. The sentence was carried out on October 2, 1930.

The narrative also stated that Northcott was convicted on three counts of murder, including the Winslow brothers and the anonymous Mexican.

Other named individuals and their roles

Sanford Clark

Sanford Wesley Clark (March 1, 1913 – June 20, 1991) was described as Northcott’s nephew. Sanford Clark was never tried for murder. He was sentenced to five years at the Whittier State School (later renamed the Fred C. Nelles Youth Correctional Facility). His sentence was later commuted to 23 months.

After his release, he was deported back to his native Canada. The narrative stated that Clark served in World War II and then worked for 28 years for the Canadian postal service. He married June and they adopted and raised two sons. They were married for 55 years and were involved in many different organizations. Sanford Clark died in 1991 at age 78.

Clark’s son Jerry Clark credited Clark’s sisters June and Jessie, associate prosecution counsel Loyal C. Kelley, and the Whittier State School for helping save Sanford from Gordon Northcott.

Arthur J. Hutchins Jr.

Arthur J. Hutchins Jr. (c. 1916 – c. 1954) impersonated Walter Collins. In 1933, the narrative described his account of how and why he impersonated the missing boy.

The narrative stated that Hutchins’ biological mother had died when he was 9 years old and he had been living with his stepmother, Violet Hutchins. Hutchins pretended to be Walter Collins to get as far away as possible from her. After living on the road for a month, he arrived in DeKalb. When police brought him in, they began to ask him questions about Walter Collins. Hutchins stated that he originally did not know about Walter but changed his story when he saw the possibility of getting to California.

After Hutchins reached adulthood, he sold concessions at carnivals. He eventually moved back to California as a horse trainer and jockey. He died of a blood clot in 1954, leaving behind a wife and young daughter, Carol.

The narrative also included a quote from Carol Hutchins: “My dad was full of adventure. In my mind, he could do no wrong.”

Rev. Gustav Briegleb

Dr. Gustav A. Briegleb (September 26, 1881 – May 20, 1943) was described as a Presbyterian minister and pioneer radio evangelist. He was the pastor of St. Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Jefferson Boulevard at Third Avenue, Los Angeles, California.

He was said to have taken up important causes in the City of Los Angeles in the 1920s and 1930s, most notably the poor handling of the Walter Collins kidnapping case in 1928. He fought to have Christine Collins released from a mental hospital after she was committed there as retaliation for not going along with the LAPD’s version of events.

Other involved parties named

Gordon Stewart Northcott was also identified with “c. 1906 – October 2, 1930.” Walter Collins also had additional named family members including Walter James Collins, Sr., and Christine Ida Dunne Collins. The narrative also named Gordon Stewart Northcott’s mother Sarah Louise Northcott. It also referenced Gordon Northcott’s father George Cyrus Northcott in connection with Sarah Louise Northcott’s claims during sentencing.

Sentencing, imprisonment, and execution

Prison time and statements

After sentencing, Northcott marked time at San Quentin and alternated between protestations of innocence and detailed confessions regarding murders of “18 or 19, maybe 20” victims. The narrative stated that he several times offered to point out remains of more victims but reneged at the last moment. It also stated that he named several of his wealthy “customers” at the ranch, but that their identities were never published.

Warden Duffy recalled his conversations with Northcott as:

“a lurid account of mass murder, sodomy, oral copulation, and torture so vivid it made my flesh creep.”

Execution

Northcott mounted the gallows on October 2, 1930. Before the trap was sprung, he screamed:

“A prayer! Please, say a prayer for me!”

Northcott’s mother subsequently died in prison, of old age.

Aftermath

Wineville changed its name to Mira Loma on November 1, 1930, due in large part to the negative publicity surrounding the murders. The narrative indicated that Wineville Avenue, Wineville Road, Wineville Park, and other geographic references provided reminders of the community’s former name.

Sanford Clark returned to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

The narrative also stated that Sanford Clark was sentenced and later released, deported, and built a post-war life with his family.

Popular culture references were also included: the radio series Dragnet episode “The Big Imposter” aired on June 7, 1951 and was based on these events. When Dragnet moved to television, the radio script was adapted into a teleplay and broadcast on December 4, 1952, focusing primarily on the story of Arthur Hutchins’ impersonation of Walter Collins.

The narrative stated that Changeling, a 2008 film written by J. Michael Straczynski and directed by Clint Eastwood, was based on the Northcott case and depicted the plight of Christine Collins and her search for her real son, and depicted all major figures except Sarah Louise Northcott. It also stated that the film suggested that at least one of the Winslow boys and even perhaps Walter Collins escaped the farm.

Other details

The narrative described the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders, also known as the Wineville Chicken Murders, as a series of kidnappings and murders of young boys occurring in Los Angeles and Riverside County, California in 1928. The narrative also said that the case received national attention and events related to it exposed corruption in the Los Angeles Police Department.