Gordon Northcott

Gordon Stewart Northcott (born 1906 in Saskatchewan , Canada , † October 2, 1930 in San Quentin State Prison , Marin County , USA ) was a Canadian serial killer .

Life

Northcotts Farm

Northcott was born in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in 1906 and grew up in British Columbia. In 1924 he moved to Los Angeles with his family. His father bought him a piece of land in Wineville , California and helped build his chicken farm.

Northcott became known as the Wineville Chicken Coop Murderer ( German Wineville chicken coop murderer ) who kidnapped, sexually abused and killed several children on his farm in the 1920s.

He and his mother, Sarah Louise Northcott, were arrested by Canadian police near Vernon, British Columbia on September 19, 1928.

Both were extradited to the US and tried in California. His mother confessed to the murder of a Walter Collins who lived in Los Angeles and went missing after going to the cinema on March 10, 1928. However, it is still not certain whether the confession is true, because the boy was never found. With this confession, she saved herself from the death penalty and was sentenced to life imprisonment on December 31, 1928 . She was imprisoned in Tehachapi State Prison for twelve years and then released. She died in 1944.

In early 1929, the trial of Gordon Northcott began in Riverside County , California. On February 8, 1929, he was found guilty of the murder of an unidentified "beheaded Mexican" and the murder of the Winslow brothers. On February 10, a lynch mob led by the father of the Winslow brothers attempted to take control of Northcott, but the police prevented them. On February 13, 1929, the court under Judge Freeman sentenced him to death. He was hanged in San Quentin State Prison on October 2, 1930 .

The American film The Strange Son is based on Northcott's actions.

literature

Clinton T. Duffy: 88 Men and 2 Women . Doubleday , 1962.
Anthony Flacco, Jerry Clark: The Road Out of Hell: Sanford Clark and the True Story of the Wineville Murders . Union Square Press, November 2009, ISBN 978-1-4027-6869-9 .
Philip Jenkins: Using Murder: The Social Construction of Serial Homicide . Aldine Transaction, 1994, ISBN 0-202-30525-2 , p. 184.
Chrysanthi Leon: Continuity and Change in American Sex Crime Policy . New York University Press, Spring 2011.
James Jeffrey Paul: Nothing is Strange with You: The Life and Crimes of Gordon Stewart Northcott . Xlibris, September 2008, ISBN 978-1-4363-6627-4 .
Cecilia Rasmussen: LA Unconventional: The Men & Women Who Did LA Their Way . Los Angeles Times , October 1998, ISBN 978-1-883792-23-7 .

Web links

Los Angeles Public Library: LAPL Photo Collection , keyword northcott - a photo collection of 121 photographs in this criminal case (English)
Original Los Angeles Times story and photo about the disappearance of Walter Collins from August 19, 1928
Frank Girardot Crime Scene blog about Christine Collins (English) ( Memento of 20 December 2008 at the Internet Archive )
Riverside Public Library: Northcott Murders: James Jeffrey Paul's Research Materials - Collection including material made available by James Jeffrey Paul, used in research for his book Nothing is Strange with You: The Life and Crimes of Gordon Stewart Northcott ( English)

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b John Kurz: Mira Loma History, Riverside County, California: Wineville Chicken Murders . Rubidoux Historical Society. December 15, 1988. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
↑ Murder Farm 'Fugitive Held: Young Northcott Arrested by Canadian Police Mother Also Believed to be in Their Custody Blood Found on Suspects' Ranch Called Human , Los Angeles Times . September 20, 1928. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
^ San Joaquin Valley; Northcott Plea in Vain. No Hope for Woman's Parole for Many Years to Come, Chairman Says , Los Angeles Times . February 14, 1936. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
↑ Mother of Gordon Northcott, Wineville Boy Slayer, Paroled , Los Angeles Times . May 22, 1940.
^ Mrs. Northcott Reported in East; Whereabouts of Ax Murderess Under Parole Disclosed , Los Angeles Times . January 9, 1941, p. 1A.
↑ Northcott in Terror: Mob's Jail Visit Arouses Fear , Los Angeles Times . February 11, 1929. Retrieved July 13, 2009. Reprinted from The Los Angeles Times, The Daily Mirror: Changeling - Part IX , November 5, 2008.
^ 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 . February 13, 1929. Retrieved January 26, 2008.

personal data
SURNAME	Northcott, Gordon
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Northcott, Gordon Stewart (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Canadian serial killer
DATE OF BIRTH	1906
PLACE OF BIRTH	Saskatchewan , Canada
DATE OF DEATH	October 2, 1930
Place of death	San Quentin State Prison , Marin County , USA

[Mira_Loma_History-1] A ^b John Kurz: Mira Loma History, Riverside County, California: Wineville Chicken Murders . Rubidoux Historical Society. December 15, 1988. Retrieved January 26, 2008.

[LA_Times_1928-09-20-2] Murder Farm 'Fugitive Held: Young Northcott Arrested by Canadian Police Mother Also Believed to be in Their Custody Blood Found on Suspects' Ranch Called Human , Los Angeles Times . September 20, 1928. Retrieved April 24, 2010.

[LA_Times_360214-3] San Joaquin Valley; Northcott Plea in Vain. No Hope for Woman's Parole for Many Years to Come, Chairman Says , Los Angeles Times . February 14, 1936. Retrieved January 26, 2008.

[LA_Times_400522-4] Mother of Gordon Northcott, Wineville Boy Slayer, Paroled , Los Angeles Times . May 22, 1940.

[LA_Times_410109-5] Mrs. Northcott Reported in East; Whereabouts of Ax Murderess Under Parole Disclosed , Los Angeles Times . January 9, 1941, p. 1A.

[LA_Times_11.02.1929-6] Northcott in Terror: Mob's Jail Visit Arouses Fear , Los Angeles Times . February 11, 1929. Retrieved July 13, 2009. Reprinted from The Los Angeles Times, The Daily Mirror: Changeling - Part IX , November 5, 2008.

[LA_Times-7] 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 . February 13, 1929. Retrieved January 26, 2008.