Poetic Justice
There was a bit of poetic justice in how Gordon Stewart Northcott died on the gallows at San Quentin in 1930. It was certainly not the end he would have chosen, but it was the one that best fit his true persona.
A swaggering, pompous ass with delusions of grandeur and an over-inflated ego, the 24-year-old Canadian immigrant had been convicted of the torture-murders of three young boys on his Riverside, California, farm.
Like many killers, Northcott used the criminal justice process as a chance to relive his crimes and enjoyed being the center of attention during his 15 minutes of fame. He considered himself smarter than most people and was not shy with the press.
“The whole case is simply that of a dissatisfied husband seeking divorce grounds, a movie publicity-mad girl from whose mind all of these ideas came, and a lazy, stupid boy half cracked from reading too many wild west stories,” was how he dismissed his accusers.
When Northcott realized that he would not be the star of his capital murder trial, he fired his attorneys so that he could take center stage to defend himself.
“I told him that he might hang himself,” his attorney told the press after he was fired. “‘Well, it will be worth it. My name will become known all over the world,’” the man said Northcott replied.
Serving as his own attorney, he led one of his surviving victims through a blow-by-blow account of one murder and questioned whether the boy knew the difference between a groan and a death rattle.
“You made me put some mud over his head to stop the noise,” testified Sanford Clark, Northcott’s nephew and foil.
“What kind of noise?” Northcott asked the 16-year-old.
“A groaning noise,” was the response.
“I wonder if you know the difference between a groaning and a gasping noise,” Northcott countered. “What kind of noise was it?”
“It was an awful noise.”
At trial, he repeatedly referred to a large blow-up photograph of the headless remains of one of his victims, forcing courtroom observers to acknowledge his gruesome handiwork.
Northcott laughed as he led investigators on wild goose chases for the graves of his victims and shrugged when the suggestion was made that there were many more undiscovered victims of his cruelty.
The killer called his own father to the stand simply to belittle and badger the man who, by his own admission, could not control his son. Then, just for fun, he convinced his mother — who confessed to participating in at least one of Northcott’s murders — to perjure herself by claiming that she was not his mother but his grandmother. Her daughter, living in British Columbia, strongly denied that this was the case.
Northcott might have avoided detection if not for a visit from an 18-year-old cousin, Jessie Clark, who came from Kamloops, British Columbia, to visit her younger brother Sanford who was working for Northcott on his Southern California chicken ranch.
There she found Sanford living in decrepit conditions on the farm occupied by Northcott, his mother, Sarah Louisa, and his father, Cyrus.
Sanford told Jessie stories of abuse at the hands of Northcott, who was overindulged by his mother and feared by his father. Part of the abuse consisted of helping Northcott dispose of the bodies of boys he killed.
Jessie returned to Canada and told authorities about her brother’s plight, and they contacted Riverside County investigators, who took Sanford Clark into protective custody. That gave Northcott and his mother time to flee north. They escaped over the border and eluded capture for two months.
While the Canadians were looking for the mother and son fugitives, Riverside authorities were excavating the farm based on information provided by Sanford and Cyrus.
Sanford claimed Northcott killed three young boys and a Mexican teenager, and buried their remains in graves about three feet deep. Sifting through the dirt, investigators found a few bones that still contained flesh and hair. They also located a “toenail believed from the foot of a 10-year-old boy,” according to contemporary media reports. It appeared that the bodies had been moved before Northcott fled north, for no complete skeletons were found.
“I knew of the killings but never saw them,” Cyrus told police. “My wife would go to any extreme, not excepting murder, to please her son.”
Sanford told police that Northcott’s first victim was 9-year-old Walter Collins, who had been kidnapped in April 1928. After Walter was dead, Nelson and Louis Winslow were kidnapped, held captive, and then slain. He said Northcott killed the boys with an axe as his mother helped. Under threat of death, Sanford was forced to help dispose of their remains.
The last victim was the Mexican youth, whose decapitated corpse was found dumped along side a rural Riverside County road. His head was never found.
When Northcott was arrested in Canada, he denied his identity, but positive identification was a simple matter. Durin his trip back to Southern California, a bit of the old “third degree” helped secure a confession that Northcott was not successful in repudiating.
Shortly before Northcott and his mother were to stand trial, Sarah Louisa pleaded guilty to one count of murder in return for a promise by the state not to seek the death penalty. When Northcott learned of his mother’s deal, he threw a temper tantrum, jail guards told the press.
The trial was a perfunctory affair except for Northcott’s grandstanding and he was convicted of three counts of murder for the deaths of the Winslow boys and the unidentified Mexican youth. He was slated to stand trial later for Walter Collins’s murder.
Northcott squeezed every bit of notoriety out of his crimes as he could. He remained confident that the conviction would be overturned on appeal, and when that failed, he hinted that he could lead authorities to the final graves of his victims. The searches proved fruitless.
“Well, I just had to send you on another wild goose chase before I was through,” Northcott said to police, a smirk on his face.
On the day before he was to be hanged, Northcott agreed to see the mother of Walter Collins, who wanted to know if he killed her little boy. Northcott kept Christine Collins waiting for several hours before he denied murdering Walter.
In the end, Northcott’s bravado failed him. On October 2, 1930, he was led to the gibbet, whimpering and blindfolded because he said he could not stand to view the gallows. He collapsed as he was taken from the death cell and had to be supported by two guards.
His final words as the black hood and noose were put over his head were “don’t, don’t.”
The last bit of poetic justice came right before the executioner pulled the trap lever. Northcott’s legs gave way and he began to collapse just as the trap sprang. His collapse took the slack out of the rope, and as a result his fall was too short to snap his neck.
It took him 11 minutes to strangle to death.
Shameless Self-Promotion
What a piece of work — and very satisfying ending.
Comment by Laura James — 2/26/2007 @ 10:25 am
I love your site. You’ve given me plenty of things to research and I’m only two articles down. I will book mark your site and, if I can figure out how, put a link to it from my own site. In any event, I will return her again and again.
My own site, operating for about 6 months, deisenberg.blogspot.com, is a combination of history, politics, and, just last week, one piece of fiction. You might like it (discussing matters such as who wrote “A Visit from St. Nicholas”, who invented radio, the atomic bomb, recent political opinion, how Thor became Santa Claus, what we can learn from the Israeli-Hizbollah war, etc.
Keep going.
Comment by David Eisenberg — 3/10/2007 @ 10:29 am
Actually I am doingg a resaerch project on this paticular murder… I was wondering if by chance the mexican child was identified? Please let me know.
Thank you for your help,
Joe
josephthompson1@optonline.net
Comment by J. Thompson — 5/21/2007 @ 1:47 am
This was such a hannis crime that the city of Wineville changed its name to Mira Loma. It is in the County of Riverside, CA.
Your story was very good. I couldn’t even think of such a person.
Linda Herd
Comment by Kinda Terry Herd — 7/12/2007 @ 12:00 am
Northcott’s crimes and method of execution are similar to those of another horrendous monster, Westley Alan Dodd, some six decades later. Dodd strangled three little boys in Washington state and went to the gallows in 1993 (the first hanging in the post-furman era, and one of only three so far) . . . although at least Dodd faced his own death with more courage (relatively speaking) than this worm.
Love your site! Keep up the great work, and thanks for sharing these fascinating stories!
Comment by dave in milwaukee — 8/25/2007 @ 12:51 am
So happy to read it took this dumbass loser over 10 minutes to die. It should’ve been even longer.
Comment by Krista — 10/17/2008 @ 12:32 pm
The movie,The Changeling just came out..related to these Wineville Murders..
its fascinating to see the area where this took place..my co-worker lives right next door to the
Northcutt house/ranch.
for you interested, check out this link from kabc 7 in Los Angeles..
http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?section=news/local/inland_empire&id=6480307
thanks
David
Comment by David — 11/1/2008 @ 1:42 pm
The movie Changeling depicted Clark as identifying Walter Collins, but not knowing his fate. Then the survivor identified Collins as well, but claimed he was in the process of escape, the outcome of which was not witnessed. Was this just a bit of fiction to make the movie more interesting? Your article here says Clark named Collins his first victim.
I haven't seen the movie, but my research shows Sanford Clark telling authorities that he witnessed Walter's death and helped dispose of his corpse. At least that is what he testified to in court. ~m.g.Comment by R. Johnson — 11/4/2008 @ 3:02 pm
Just saw the movie last night. It has captured my soul. What horrible things those
children saw and endured….I have to say I am really haunted by the whole thing. The movie plot was a total surprise to me, although I thought I knew the genre of it, I really didn’t. When I went on line today to find out more about the true story, I could
not believe the picture of Northcott. I e-mailed it to my movie pals…we all agreed the
resemblance with the actor in the movie is remarkable.
Comment by Kris — 11/5/2008 @ 12:27 am
What ever happen to Mrs Collins? Did she remarry or anything? When did she die? Are there any photographs of her? I saw on one web site that she died in 1935, but another site mentioned her civil suite in 1941 Just saw the movie and was totally captivated by it.
Thanx in advance
Comment by Ty — 11/9/2008 @ 10:31 pm
very satisfying ending …. felt like I was there ! Amen RA~ Allen
I am a Chess Player and I have possibly determined that they hung the correct man… but what about the misinformation of Arthur Hutchins JR. maybe more could have been saved had he not let his De4mon do his talking.. and led everybody on an unfortunate and bizarre chase to nowhere `s ville…. later to be named Wineville , California , USA Again Amen Amen Amen RAHALLEN RA~
Comment by Allen RA~ hutcheson — 11/10/2008 @ 5:45 am
This movie was so haunting. The real horror to me was what that poor Sanford Clark had to endure at the hands of a mad man. What happened to him in the end??? My only complaint was that the movie didn’t tell us what happened to him! It has haunted me since I saw it… and I’ve been doing some research but all I’ve found out is that he went to the Whittier State School for Boys for 5 years. After, there are no records of him. I don’t understand how he could have been sent to a correctional institute for juveniles for his hand in murder, when he was FORCED to assist in murder. He was just as innocent as the boys who were killed!!! His story has really touched my heart.
Comment by Carly — 11/15/2008 @ 1:57 pm
What seems to bother me the most is why the “father” Cyrus was not charged with anything.
Comment by KS — 11/16/2008 @ 1:59 pm
What drives a man to kill other people?
Comment by Ryan — 12/23/2008 @ 6:02 pm
I was interested in the details of the trial which your blog provided but i couldn’t be sure if you had left anything out as you did do so when writing about the life of Gordon Stewart Northcott. You skipped over the fact that not only did Sarah Louisa admit she was his grandmother but also elaborated that he was the child of the incestuous union of his father and his half-sister/mother. It was also clear that he was sodomized by his father at the age of 10, and his mother stated that he was the victim of sexual abuse from the entire family. It should also be noted that his uncle died in prison serving a sentence for murder. I’m not trying to provide an excuse for what he did however your blog seeks to appraise his brutal death by examining his character and crimes. For this reason i feel that it is wrong to have made him out to be a spoiled child whereas he was actually a deranged man made into to the monster he was by unimaginable abuse from everyone he new from even before the day he was born. Yet again i am not attempting to excuse anything he did i just feel these are very important details of such an occurrence.
Comment by King — 1/6/2009 @ 12:23 pm
poor boys. they didn’t suppose to dead. so, according to Sanford Clark, Walter Collins was dead.
Comment by ramadhani — 1/19/2009 @ 3:17 am
Was Northcott buried ?
Comment by Bill — 2/24/2009 @ 7:21 pm
Christine Collins (ca. 1901 - 1996) died age 95 from natural causes.
Sara Northcott confessed to killing Walter Collins (although people believed she did this to take the blame off her son for the murder) and Northcott was sentenced her to life imprisonment on December 31, 1928. She served her sentence at Tehachapi State Prison, and was paroled after less than 12 years, she died in 1944. (from Wikipedia)
Sanford’s older sister, Jessie, became suspicious of the letters Sanford was forced to send home from Northcott’s ranch that assured the family he was well. She went to the ranch and stayed several days. However, she became terrified of Northcott, left and told authorities her brother was in the country illegally.[21]
Sanford Clark was never tried for murder, but 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. Clark’s son, Jerry Clark, credits Clark’s sisters June and Jessie, associate prosecution counsel Loyal C. Kelley, and the Whittier State School for helping save Sanford from Gordon Northcott.
Clark served in World War II, and then worked for 28 years for the Canadian postal service. He married, and he and his wife, June, adopted and raised two sons. They were married for 55 years and were involved in many different organizations. Clark died in 1991. [all from Wikipedia]
Comment by Kathy — 4/28/2009 @ 12:14 am
Actually, Christine Collins’ date of death is not really known.
Here is another site that gives some details: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2008/11/changeling—ch.html
The screenplay writer for “The Changeling” stated that she died in 1935, so who knows?
Comment by Kathy — 4/28/2009 @ 1:30 am
sanford clark help dispose of walter’s body would’nt he know where it is today?
Comment by terine — 10/11/2009 @ 2:54 am
No wonder it took a year or so for the screenwriter to piece the story together. Good choice to
focus the Collins mother side of the story; The Changelling is an excellent movie.
After reading a lot lately, I noticed a few thing not mentioned in blogs very often.
Gordon Northcott had lived and worked nearby Walter Collins and his mother.
http://vintagepowderroom.com/?p=718
Northcott worked at the Ralphs in Lincoln Heights, not Mt. Washington.
http://laeastside.com/2008/09/in-quotes-eastside-stories/, the Collins residence at
217 S Ave 23, which is now gone. http://www.zillow.com/homes/map/217-ave-23,-los-angeles,-ca_rb/
So it makes sense that the Collins boy “knew too much” or “knew his killer” and that sick mother; the sinister
Sarah Louise Northcott ordered his death.
About the Wineville residence in Mira Loma; That 1926 bungalow had been foreclosed
and sold, as bank owned for under $100k, and really looks really different, like a stucco newer condo.
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/6330-Wineville-Ave-Mira-Loma-CA-91752/17813131_zpid/
Comment by D J — 11/6/2009 @ 4:23 pm
I can’t believe that someone can do such terrible things to innocent children. It should have been longer for the sick man to die.
Comment by Lynsey — 5/29/2010 @ 5:24 pm
Chistine Collins died on December 8, 1964, NOT in 1995 or 1935.
Comment by Nostromo — 7/11/2011 @ 11:25 am
In The Changeling the LAPD is shown as totally corrupt, and Christine Collins is taken to a mental home. Are these facts?
Comment by Berry — 10/5/2011 @ 12:41 pm