Wineville Chicken Coop murders

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The Wineville Chicken Murders (also known as the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders[1]) is an infamous kidnapping and murder case that occurred in Los Angeles and Riverside County, California from 1928 through 1930. The case exposed corruption in the Los Angeles Police Department and received nationwide attention.[2] The 2008 film Changeling is based upon the events of this case.[3][4]

Case and trial

File:Gordon-northcott.jpg
Gordon Northcott

Among the boys who disappeared were nine-year-old Walter Collins, who vanished on March 10, 1928,[5] and twelve-year-old Lewis Winslow and his brother Nelson, ten, who went missing from Pomona on May 16, 1928.[6]

After a 27-day trial in Riverside County, California before Judge George R. Freeman, on February 8, 1929 Gordon Stewart Northcott was found guilty of killing Lewis and Nelson Winslow and an unidentified Mexican boy.[7] The jury heard that he kidnapped, molested, tortured, killed, and dismembered these and other boys throughout 1928. On February 13, 1929, Judge Freeman sentenced Northcott to be hanged[8] and the sentence was carried out October 2, 1930.[2][9]

Louisa Northcott, Northcott's mother, later admitted killing Walter Collins. She was sentenced to life at San Quentin State Prison[2] although it is believed Northcott coerced his mother into committing the killing. In the Monday, February 11, 1929 issue of Time magazine, it was reported that "Gordon Stewart Northcott, while on trial for abusing and murdering four boys, heard his mother testify that she was not his mother, but his grandmother."[10]

Police corruption

The Los Angeles Police Department was also involved in a scandal as a result of this case. Arthur Hutchins, Jr., a runaway from Illinois and originally from Iowa, claimed he was the missing Walter Collins so he could get a free trip to California.[11][12] The police considered the case closed and tried to convince Walter's mother, Christine Collins, that Hutchins was her son. When she refused to believe it, she was placed in the psychiatric ward of the Los Angeles County General Hospital.[13][14] Only after Hutchins admitted he was not Christine Collins' son, ten days later, was she released.[15]

Because Walter Collins' body was never found at the Northcott's chicken ranch, Christine Collins believed that he was still alive. In October of 1930, Northcott sent a telegram to Ms. Collins, saying that he had lied when he said that Walter was not one of his victims. He said that he would tell her the truth if she came to visit him, but when Ms. Collins arrived and confronted him, he claimed that he didn't know anything about it and was innocent.

Five years after Northcott's execution, one of the boys that Northcott allegedly killed was found alive and well. As Walter Collins' body had still not been found, Christine Collins still hoped that Walter had survived. She continued to search for him, unsuccessfully, until she faded into obscurity without ever knowing her son's fate.[16] The last public record of Christine Collins is from 1941, when she attempted to collect a $15,562 judgment against Capt. J. J. Jones, retired police officer, in Superior Court.[17]

Aftermath

Investigators found an axe and bones, hair, and fingers from three of the victims buried in lime near the chicken house at the Northcott ranch near Wineville, hence the name "Wineville Chicken Murders."[2] Wineville changed its name to “Mira Loma” on November 1, 1930, due in large part to the negative publicity surrounding this case.[18][19] Wineville Avenue, Wineville Road, Wineville Park and other geographic references provide reminders of the community's former name.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b Johnson, Kim Jarrell (2006). Jurupa. Arcadia Publishing. pp. p. 67. ISBN 0-7385-3082-4. {{cite book}}: |pages= has extra text (help)
  2. ^ a b c d Kurz, John (1988-12-15). "Mira Loma History, Riverside County, California: Wineville Chicken Murders". Rubidoux Historical Society. Retrieved 2008-01-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ Foundas, Scott (2007-12-19). "Clint Eastwood: The Set Whisperer - Shooting quietly on the Changeling set". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2007-12-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ "Feature Film: Untitled feat. Angelina Jolie & Clint". Talent Hunter. 2007-08-22. Retrieved 2008-01-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ "New Kidnapping Clew Furnished in Hunt for Missing Collins Boy: Glendale Man Helps Police". Los Angeles Times. 1928-04-04. Retrieved 2008-01-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  6. ^ Wetsch, Elisabeth (1995). "Chicken Murders". Serial Killer Crime Index. Retrieved 2008-01-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ "Northcott Convicted of Slaying Three Boys; His Last Dramatic Plea Fails to Move Jury". New York Times. 1929-02-07. Retrieved 2008-01-16. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ "Northcott put in Doomed Row: Slayer Becomes No. 46,597 at San Quentin Meeting With "Mother" May be Arranged Later Youth "Wisecracks" About Forthcoming Hanging". Los Angeles Times. 1929-02-13. Retrieved 2008-01-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ Gribben, Mark (2007-02-27). "Poetic Justice". The Malefactor's Register. Retrieved 2008-01-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  10. ^ "Ring". Time magazine. Monday, February 11, 1929. Retrieved 2008-10-03. In Riverside, Calif., Gordon Stewart Northcott, while on trial for abusing and murdering four boys, heard his mother testify that she was not his mother, but his grandmother. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ "Hoax Discussed in Collins Suit: Hutchens Boy's Deception Subject of Argument Witnesses Tell of Seeming Truth of His Story Capt. Jones Lays Damage Action to Politics". Los Angeles Times. 1929-07-13. Retrieved 2008-01-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Hutchens' confession". photograph: b&w. Los Angeles Public Library Photo Collection. 1928. Retrieved 2008-09-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); External link in |publisher= (help) "The written confession of the boy who finally revealed he was Arthur Hutchins Jr., not Walter Collins, then later told juvenile authorities he was not Billy Fields. He was later identified as Arthur Hutchens."
  13. ^ "Los Angeles Stirred by Collins Inquiry; Clearing of Police Captain in Women's Detention in Ward Causes Indignation". New York Times. 1928-10-21. Retrieved 2008-01-26. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  14. ^ "Jones Refuses His Testimony: Mrs. Collins's Attorney to Seek Contempt Ruling". Los Angeles Times. 1928-12-29. Retrieved 2008-02-29. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  15. ^ "Enigma Boy Identified:Youth Impersonating Walter Collins Now Declared to be Arthur Hutchins, Jr., of lowa". Los Angeles Times. 1928-09-21. Retrieved 2008-01-28. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ Rasmussen, Cecilia (1999-02-07). "The Boy Who Vanished–and His Impostor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-10-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ "Suit to Renew Old Judgment Recalls Northcott Murders: Mother of Supposed Victim Who Was Imprisoned as Insane in Imposter Mixup Tries to Collect Damages". Los Angeles Times. 1941-01-29. Retrieved 2008-10-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ "Jurupa Valley History: Mira Loma History". Riverside County Planning Department. 2006. Retrieved 2008-01-26. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ Rasmussen, Cecilia (2004-10-31). "During the 1920s, Boys Became the Prey of a Brutal Killer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-09-13. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Further reading

  • Jenkins, Philip. Moral Panic: Changing Concepts of the Child Molester in Modern America. p 221. Yale University Press. 2004. ISBN 0300109636
  • Jenkins, Philip. Using Murder: The Social Construction of Serial Homicide. p 184. Aldine Transaction. 1994. ISBN 0202305252
  • Paul, James Jeffrey. Nothing is Strange with You: The Life and Crimes of Gordon Stewart Northcott. Xlibris. September 2008. ISBN 978-1-4363-6627-4
  • Rasmussen, Cecilia. L. A. Unconventional: The Men & Women Who Did L. A. Their Way. Los Angeles Times. October 1998. ISBN 978-1883792237

External links

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