by Paul R. Spitzzeri
With investigations continuing into what transpired at the Northcott ranch near Wineville, later Mira Loma and now part of the Riverside County city of Jurupa Valley, with regard to the 1928 killings of four boys, based on initial statements made at Los Angeles County’s Juvenile Hall by Sanford Clark regarding his cousin Gordon Northcott and the latter’s parents, Cyrus and Louise, the Riverside Press of 18 September reported,
Gordon Stuart Northcott, alleged to have murdered four boys on the chicken ranch of his father, Cyrus Northcott, near Wineville, and his mother, Louise Northcott, today are confronted with a first degree murder charge and Canadian police and detectives are close on their trail at Vancouver [British Columbia].
Riverside County District Attorney Albert Ford issued the murder complaint with the department investigator, Jim Quinn, as the witness and who “believes the state has sufficient evidence to convict both Gordon Stuart Northcott and his mother of first degree murder.” This included Clark’s remarks, as well as a statement Cyrus gave that implicated his son, while evidence found at the ranch, including pieces of human remains, “strengthens the case . . . and proves that a human life has been taken.” Quinn added that “the murders were committed between May 15 and August 1, and the remains dug up and disposed of about the middle of August.”
Efforts were underway to have the elder Northcott transferred from Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department custody to that of Riverside County, while Clark was to be taken to Riverside “provided the United States Immigration officers will agree.” Officials in Los Angeles County were looking into allegations that Gordon Northcott may have killed a miner in present-day Santa Clarita, but were, otherwise, finished with their investigations.
The paper added that Gordon and Louise Northcott were at a Vancouver rooming house, but escaped a half-hour before police arrived there to arrest them. When they were apprehended, Riverside law enforcement personnel were prepared to retrieve them, stopping at Sacramento to procure extradition papers. Quinn told the Press,
It is my belief from long experience in dealing with juveniles that if the Clark boy is brought to Riverside, divested of his prison garb and dressed decent, given good food and treated like a boy wanted to be treated, we will learn much more than has already been told touching on the murders and activities of Gordon Stuart Northcott.
This would include a walkthrough with the teen at the ranch and it was added that, after relating his experiences and what he knew of the murders, Clark “has been in a fit of nervous excitement” but also was treated in a way that “would wreck the nerves of a strong man.” As for Cyrus Northcott, the investigator remarked that, if a visit at the ranch was undertaken, “he will be able to tell us a lot of things that we are anxious to know,” while he was said to be tight-lipped because of threats made against him by his wife and son.
Tantalizingly, Quinn added,
Then there are angles to this tragedy that have not been made public. All the publicity has come out of Los Angeles. There are some things yet to come to light through the proper channels that will, when developed, strengthen what I believe is a strong first degree murder case against young Northcott and his mother.
In its coverage on the 17th, the Los Angeles Record added that a car purchased from Gordon Northcott was found in Ontario and “a rear compartment and a tire cover were spattered with dried blood” and this auto was said to be the one that “carried the head of a Mexican of Filipino youth,” which the news of another ethnicity from what was reported previously based on remarks made by Cyrus Northcott after a pair of axes with purported blood stains and a rifle of the same caliber as the bullet found in the young man’s body were found in the basement of his Lincoln Heights home.
Cyrus told investigators, “I asked Gordon about the Filipino,” said to have been a friend, “and he only sneered an answer.” The elder Northcott asserted that only the unnamed Filipino could have been killed in the residence, while the discovery of the axes and gun were said to be “the most important pieces of evidence in substantiating the story of Clark.” The paper mentioned that the next-door neighbor told investigators that Cyrus borrowed a garden house at midnight the prior week to wash off concrete steps leading to the basement, as well as the front porch, but it was said the remnants of blood were found at both locations.
The Record observed that, while recent finds at the ranch including a Boy Scout whistle, bones and blood-covered papers and a sack were encouraging developments, “after four days of investigation, the mystery status of the case remains the same.” Chemical analysis, however, of stains found at the site of two purported graves at the ranch found that the material was not human blood. Handwriting expert Milton Carlson, who was involved in a 1926 Orange County murder case covered here, was looking into writing samples of the missing Walter Collins.
Another development of note concerned another element of Clark’s narrative regarding Gordon Northcott’s attempts to bring a family with four young boys to the ranch, ostensibly for work, and a witness emerged who corroborated this, including identification of the car that Gordon, who gave the last name of Gray, was driving. The family went to the ranch for an interview, but after waiting two hours and hearing discussion between the elder and younger Northcotts, left.
With respect to the Latino (or Filipino) youth, it was reported that Clark and Gordon told Cyrus “that the Mexican was killed as the result of an argument over the day’s pay on the chicken ranch,” while remains of tapioca pudding found in the body corresponded with Cyrus telling investigators his wife often made the dessert for workers at the ranch. Reports from Vancouver suggested that Gordon made overtures to a private detective based on an assumption that he would face charges in Los Angeles, while an attorney was said to have been consulted, but suggested Northcott’s “imagination was probably getting the better of him.”
The Times of the 17th informed readers that an aviation magazine may have been used as note paper used by the brothers Lewis and Nelson Winslow and that the publication was “found in the asserted prion and torture room” and that the magazine and writing samples were to be analyzed. While those blood stains referred to above were found to not be from a human, it was added that material on an ax was so minute that it would take further work to determine with more certainty, but it was held that it was likely animal blood. Two bones, though to the pelvic bones of young persons, were also determined to be of animals. The chemist, however, remarked that “three strands of hair found on the ax do appear to be from a human scalp.”
There was another twist, also mentioned by the Record, which concerned comments reportedly made by Clark that he “apparently decided to solve all murders in this section,” presumably meaning greater Los Angeles, so Los Angeles Police Department personnel “turned toward the possibility that the youth is a pathological case” and were considering having him examined by an expert. Additionally, despite the remarks by the Riverside paper, the Los Angeles press stated that D.A. Ford was waiting on issuing any complaints against Gordon and Louise Northcott “until more substantial evidence than young Clark’s story is found.”
As to what to do with Cyrus, the LAPD homicide squad’s detective captain told the Times, “the case as I see it is strictly a Riverside affair and I want them either to come and get Northcott or I’ll turn him loose. We have nothing on which to hold him here any longer.” Further interviews with him and Clark found that “officers were unable to shake either story, in so far as major points are concerned.” When it came to the work of handwriting expert Carlson, he pointed out that the lettering of young people could change significantly in a matter of months, so it would take additional time for his analysis to be completed.
The Los Angeles Express, an evening paper, began its latest updates with,
Believed to be making frantic efforts to catch a boat bound for Alaska, Mrs. Louise Northcott, named with her son, Gordon Stuart Northcott, as alleged murderers, was seen today in the town of Jasper House, Alberta. The son was not with the woman, and provincial police said they believe the pair have separated, [Gordon] Northcott attempting to reach the East.
As investigators found the axes at the Los Angeles residence of Cyrus, it was mentioned that, as to hair found on them, “officers were not prepared to say whether they were from the head of a human or from a rabbit.” When Cyrus was asked about the discovery of the axes and about using a hose late at night to wash down areas outside the house, he disclaimed knowledge of the former and asserted that the latter was an effort to keep fleas from entering the dwelling, though why this was done at midnight was not explained.
While District Attorney Ford was remaining patient pending further searching of the Northcott, it was reiterated that he believed that murders were committed on the ranch and told the press “it was not necessary to identify a body, as long as there was concrete proof a murder had been committed.” Moreover, it was stated that Riverside County Hospital doctors “spent the entire night examining bones picked up in scattered areas near the ranch and announced today that they are without doubt those of human beings.” They did not “make anywhere near a skeleton” but were deemed to be parts of one.
With respect to continued searching of the ranch, investigators found a swamp some 1 1/2 miles to the southwest and felt that “Northcott may have disposed of one or more bodies in the swamp” so “preparations were made to drag it” for remains. The work ripping up the concrete floor of the garage also proved to be fruitless and Ford commnented, as paraphrased:
Northcott had worked out one of the most effective methods of disposing of the bodies that has ever come to his attention. The man is alleged to have murdered the boys, buried them in lime until all the flesh was eaten away, then to have exhumed the bones and spread them over a desolate country embracing about nine square miles.
Another automotive angle was disclosed when Riverside County Sheriff Clem Sweeters found that Gordon Northcott borrowed a car from a garage in Norco, ostensibly to tow his sister’s vehicle (she, however, was in Canada), but, when it was returned after closing four days later, “it had been driven hard and nearly burned out.” It was theorized by the law enforcement officer that “it was possible Northcott had one of the bodies of his alleged victims in the machine during that time and was trying to get rid of it.” He and his men were analyzing the vehicle for signs of blood.
Clark also told authorities that his Gordon had a cabin in Mint Canyon near modern Santa Clarita where “he asserted Northcott had boasted he had taken at least 35 boys . . . and there practiced degeneracy,” that is, sexual abuse, “upon them.” Another new item reported upon was that “Clark told officers Northcott planned to do away with his entire family.
We’ll halt there and return tomorrow with more on the investigation as reported in regional media on 18 September, so be sure to check back with us then!