Serial Killer Gordon Stewart Northcott #truecrime

Gordon Stewart Northcott

In the late 1920’s a monster was luring boys to his farm where he would abuse and murder them. At least 4 victims are known to have been killed but the actual number could be as high as 20. Many more boys survived the abuse and some were actually driven home by the killer. The story got national news coverage in papers and on the radio leading to the small California town of Wineville changing its name to Mira Loma to get out of the spotlight. But the world would not forget the horrifying events that occurred and questions remain as to how many lost their lives.

Gordon Stewart Northcott and the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders

Gordon Stewart Northcott was a Canadian, born on November 9, 1906 in a town called Bladworth in British Columbia. The town is quite small and has remained so with less than 100 people in 2016. In 1924, when he was 18, Northcott moved to Los Angeles with his family. 2 years later he bought a plot of land in Wineville with the help of his father who also helped him build a house and chicken coop along with his 11 year old nephew Sanford Clark.

Once he was on his own, whatever evil tendencies he had were no longer restrained. When he wasn’t working the farm with Sanford he was giving in to his evil urges. The teenager began picking boys up, using his nephew to lure them, then abusing them. The behavior escalated until he began to kill his victims. The known murders all occured in 1928, but he was in the house for years prior to his arrest.

The first known murder occurred in late January or early February of 1928. The headless body of a boy was discovered on the side of a road near La Puente California on February 2. It had been stuffed into a burlap sack. The identity of tho victim was never definitely determined but Northcott would refer to him as Alvin Gothea when he confessed to shooting him.

The second known murder of Northcott occurred on March 10, 1928. Walter Collins was 9 years old when he went missing. His mother had given him some money so he could go to the movie theatre. The disappearance of young Walter made national headlines. It would later be discovered that he had been lured to Northcotts farm, where he was abused by the killer before being bludgeoned to death with an axe.

His mother was put through further torment in the subsequent months when a boy in Illinois claimed to be her son. After seeing pictures of him Christine Collins paid for the boy to travel to California. When she saw him, she knew immediately he was not her son. The officer in charge of the case, captain JJ Jones was under enormous pressure to resolve the situation and encouraged Ms Collins to keep the boy for a while to see if perhaps Walter had changed.

When, after weeks with the boy, Christine brought the boy back, captain Jones had her confined in a hospital then interrogated the boy. Jones discovered that the boy was a runaway from Iowa named Arthur Hutchens Jr. He had hoped for a free trip to California and a visit to hollywood. When she was released Ms Collins filed a lawsuit against Jones and won, though it seems he never paid her. The mystery of what happened to Walter lingered until the true killer confessed but the identity of his accomplice shocked the world.

The year 1928 was proving to be a bloody year for Northcott with him escalating the nature of his murders. The next 2 murders occurred in the same event on May 16 1928. Lewis Winslow was 12 years old and his brother Nelson was 10 when they were abducted as they had been walking home from a yacht club in Pomona. Gordon took them back to his farm where they were abused before he them were killed with an ax.

This time, the parents were subsequently harassed by letters that were supposed to be from their missing children. One of the letters said that they were running away to Mexico while another simply said they were running away and were going to stay away to get famous. This second letter did not say it explicitly but it seemed to be playing on the publicity that Walter Collins disappearance had received.

The disappearances and murder were not linked as having a single cause until, Sanford Clark got a chance to tell someone what he had seen and done in the 2 years he had spent on the farm. His sister came to visit in August of 1928. Sanford told her about the 3 murders he had seen Northcott commit and also about being forced to burn and crush the skull of the headless victim.

When his sister returned to Canada she contacted the American consulate with what she had heard. 2 immigration agents went to the farm to take Sanford into protective custody. As they approached Gordon fled into the woods after telling his nephew to stall the authorities or he would shoot him from the trees. Sanford did so until he thought Northcott was far enough away then told them where he had gone.

Once in custody, Sanford began telling the police his story about the kidnappings, abuse, and murder he had seen and even participated in under threat of death. When it came to Walter Collins, he told them the boy had been locked in the chicken coop when Northcotts mother came to visit. When she discovered the captive, she told Gordon and Sanford that they needed to silence him and that they all needed to take part so that no one could spill the beans without implicating themselves.

Gordon had suggested they use the gun he had killed the headless victim with, but his mother warned that the neighbors would hear the shot. So instead, they used the blunt side of an ax, which would be the same weapon used in the subsequent murders. All three of them took turns bludgeoning Walter to death. Once he knew the game was up, Gordon and his mother fled to Canada, where they were arrested on September 19 1928 then extradited to California on November 30.

While in custody, both Gordon Northcott and his mother, Sarah, confessed to their crimes. They recanted these confessions upon their arrival in California, but evidence against them was growing. They had found a book belonging to one of the Winslow boys, one of the fake letters addressed to their parents, and bloody axes on his farm. Sanford had also led them to the remains of Collins, and the Winslow Brothers.

Eventually, Northcotts mother would once again confess to the murder of Walter Collins alone. She bypassed a trial and was sentenced to life in prison on December 31 1928, but she only served 12 years before her release. Gordon’s trial started with the new year, he was charged with 3 murders, excluding Walter Collins, due to his mother’s confession.

The trial lasted less than a month, and on February 13 he was found guilty and sentenced to death. This sentence was carried out on October 2 1929. Begging for mercy and prayers in his last moments, Gordon Stewart Northcott was executed by hanging.

Sanford was not charged with any of the murders, as the judge deemed him an unwilling participant, but he was sent to reform school where he spent just under 2 years. On November 1st, 1930, the town of Wineville changed its name to Mira Loma.

#serialkiller #crime #news #truecrimecommunity