by Paul R. Spitzzeri
After days on the run in western Canada following the sensational revelations of killings of four young males on a chicken ranch in Wineville, now part of Jurupa Valley in Riverside County, Gordon Northcott and his mother (Sarah) Louise were apprehended by authorities in British Columbia on 19 September 1928. The following day’s edition of the Riverside Press informed readers that “Gordon Stewart Northcott, degenerate of the bloody ‘murder farm’ near Riverside, California, was today enroute to Vancouver under heavy guard of the Royal Canadian Provincial police.”
The paper added that Louise was arrested in Calgary in the adjoining province of Alberta, while officers were searching for her daughter Winnifred Clark, whose son Sanford, revealed the terrible story of what was alleged to have happened at Wineville and who, it was stated, may have been killed by her mother and brother because of her role in the affair. Gordon was trying to cross a lake on a ferry when the craft’s owner happened to be reading a newspaper sporting a photo of the suspect and contacted an officer, who “arrested the boy butcherer.” The plan was to have extradition proceedings instituted so that a return to California could be facilitated from Vancouver, but with the Secretary of War in Washington to be requested to communicate with his counterpart in Ottawa to officially begin proceedings.
Riverside County Sheriff Clem Sweeters was reportedly planning to take an airplane trip to pick up the Northcotts, though District Attorney Ford opined that one of his investigators, Jim Quinn, was better suited for the task. Ford, though, held off on filing papers until he could get confirmation from colleagues in Los Angeles County about their intentions, as there were alleged crimes committed in that jurisdiction, while there had to be clarity on whether a complaint or indictment was to be the means for seeking the transfer. Notably, it was stated that an unnamed oil company offered free use of a plane and that reporters would be allowed to accompany the sheriff, with a separate piece noting that he planned to take his wife, the female matron of the county jail, as well as a deputy and a court reporter.
Separately, the Press noted that Sanford Clark was to be taken to the ranch “and permitted to tell his story of the crimes under altogether different conditions” from those in Los Angeles. Ford, meanwhile, told the paper that “the testimony of the boy alone we believe sufficient to cause the arrest of the Northcotts” while evidence gathered at the ranch was supplementary for the purpose of issuing a criminal complaint. The D.A. added,
We believe murder has been committed on the Northcott ranch and we are working on the assumption that the Clark boy’s story is true . . . [In addition to extradition proceedings] One warrant, charging the son and mother jointly, has been issued. After we have taken the statement of Sanford Clark it is our plan to make another complaint, using the name of the two Winslow boys [Pomona brothers Lewis and Nelson], Walter Collins and the unknown Mexican boy, who will be identified in the complaint as John Doe.
The Los Angeles Times of the 20th told readers that neither Gordon or Louise admitted their identities, though the Press stated that the former first denied, then changed his mind about that, and the Angel City paper repeated word that Gordon told authorities that his mother was in Calgary. It was added that it was clear that Gordon was seeking passage to the U.S. when he was nabbed and, when asked for documentation, told an officer, “I am not such a fool.”
Another important bit of news was “the admission of ‘Walter Collins,’ a ward of the Juvenile Court, that he is not the original Walter Collins kidnaped here last March” and presumed to have been killed by Gordon and his remains destroyed at Wineville. Also of note was that an initial chemical analysis of bloodstained dirt was deemed faulty because of problems with the serum used, but a second test reaffirmed that the blood was human.
A separate article concerned the boy who was brought from Illinois by Los Angeles Police Department officials who asserted that he was Walter Collins and who induced the mother, Christine, to take the child in, despite her clear reservations, though it was added that she identified a photo of the boy as Walter. The Times noted that the child “confessed . . . that he is not the Collins lad and that his story is a huge hox and fabrication.” This, though, was made “with a show of bravado” and the youngster claimed he did not recall his name and thought his parents were dead.
As to the plausible answers given to Captain of Detectives Joseph J. Jones, who was thoroughly fooled, the boys told authorities that “he made wild guesses and delayed his replied until some one gave him a suggestion that made them ring true.” From the Land of Lincoln came reports of evidence that corroborated the finding that the child was an impostor. As noted here previously, Christine Collins took the boy to Juvenile Hall the very day that Sanford Clark told of the gruesome events at the Northcott ranch. Jones placed Mrs. Collins in the General Hospital psychopathic ward for observation but she “was released after passing all tests.”
Under a bold banner headline of “NEW NORTHCOTT SLAYING,” the Los Angeles Express, also of the 20th, published a report from Regina in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan that there were concerns that Winnifred Clark was a victim of her mother and brother within the last five days, as stated by a U.S vice-consul who’d taken her statements about what she knew of the killings at the ranch. It was added that jailors at Kamloops, near where Gordon was picked up, were concerned that he might get desperate with respect to a potential escape.
As to the arrest of Louise, it was noted that, despite her denials as to her identity, an officer told her “I’m afraid we’ll have to hold you, Mrs. Northcott” and she shot back, “Why? What do they want of me?” When news of the apprehensions reached this region, it was added, “authorities practically ceased their search for remains of Northcott’s victims,” though the Express observed that “the ‘murder ranch’ acreage yielded additional bones yesterday” and “most of the bones have already been identified as those of humans, most likely of juveniles.”
The Riverside paper of the 21st reported that Winnifred Clark was found at Calgary and, because there were no concerns about her involvement in the killings at Wineville, she was sent on her way. Meanwhile, at Vancouver, her brother was said to be “cold, calm and unperturbed” and “talked freely both in jail here and on the train” from the east” as it was added that “he denies not only the charges of butchering and murdering but also all charges of improper conduct,” meaning sexual abuse “toward the boys he is suspected of killing.”
Hundreds of curiosity seekers were at the depot in the British Columbia city to catch a look at the “ape boy,” as some called him, but the train was stopped short of the metropolis and he was taken to another jail some eight miles out. Notably, it was reported that “he had drawn some disgust from police and newspapermen by his constant use of a lipstick,” remember his father’s remarks that he wore dresses and played with dolls until age 16, but the paper added that “it is a colorless lipstick, however, and he says he uses it because his lips became badly parched and swollen” during his flight, so he was using something akin to Chapstick.
Also noted previously in this post was a comparison of Gordon to William Edward Hickman, the killer of Marion Parker in late 1927, “except that there is no sign of confession or breakdown in the demeanor of this strange young man.” Northcott, who soon insisted there was no comparison to Hickman who, he claimed, got exactly what was coming to him, spoke openly, but consistently denied any complicity in the Wineville murders, while the Press noted that, if he fought extradition, it could take at least a month to get proceedings handled.
When Louise heard of her son’s capture, she was quote as uttering, “oh, take me there. I want to be with him. Take me just as soon as you can.” Prior to that, however, she clung to the alias of “Mrs. J. Black” and said she was a childless widower, but, as she reiterated, “wherever they take him I want to go,” Mrs. Northcott, seeing a photo of her son in a Calgary newspaper, stated, with eyes filled with tears, “that is a good picture of him. I cannot remember when it was taken.” The plan, however, was to keep her in Calgary until she could be extradited south.
Meanwhile, the Riverside paper reported that the county grand jury returned indictments of first-degree murder against the Northcotts for the killing of Collins, while Gordon alone was charged with the murder of the Winslow boys. Because the unidentified Latino youth’s body was found at the eastern edge of the Homestead, then owned by Walter P. Temple, any charges were to be left to the Los Angeles County Grand Jury. The quartet of witnesses included the pair of investigators, Bert Kelley and Jim Quinn, as well as Sanford Clark and Cyrus Northcott.
In its edition, the Times observed that Gordon, under heavy guard and securely shackled, was taken to Vancouver, where he was told that his mother admitted to her identity. Sheriff Sweeters and his wife and Quinn were said to be prepared to leave Riverside for the Canadian city the following day. Meanwhile, it was theorized by LAPD detectives that the unidentified Latino teen was killed at the Angel City house occupied by Cyrus and that tests were to be conducted on assumed bloodstains found on the basement floor and in a hallway. If they were determined to be human, it was expected that the grand jury in Los Angeles was to be asked to present an indictment in that killing, though it would be withheld until after the Riverside trials were adjudicated.
Another interesting element to the case was that the paper remarked that “Canadian police methods, which differ considerably from those in this country, prohibit an officer from using any semblance of the so-called third degree,” such as that used on Cyrus Northcott, “or from attempting to obtain a confession.” When Gordon was taken to Vancouver, he was described as “more or less a harmless looking individual,” though media attempts to secure a photo led him to yell, “you can’t take pictures of me, there’s been too much publicity over this affair already.”
As to the Walter Collins impostor it was published for the first time that the boy who admitted to the hoax was named Arthur Hutchins, Jr. and that he hailed from Marion, an Iowa town northeast of Cedar Rapids. His evasions continued as he offered more assumed names and places of residence, but contact in the Hawkeye State confirmed his identity, while Arthur told police that the impersonation was “the only way I could get to California” because he had a fascination with the movies. The youth, who was nearly 12 years old, three years older than Walter, told police officials that when Christine Collins wrote to him, “I got much of my information [about Walter] from her.”
With respect to Sanford’s version of events, the Times noted that,
Clark’s story has been attacked from every angle, and despite nearly an incessant barrage of questions thrown at him since he first told his horrible and fantastic tale, his story has never varied.
Another angle to the matter was that an Alhambra lawyer went to authorities the prior day to relate that Gordon went to his office three weeks prior “and told him he wanted an attorney to prevent deportation of Clark,” but did not follow up on his initial consultation.
The Express, with another banner headline blaring “NORTHCOTT CRAZY, CLAIM,” told readers that Gordon retained Frank Lyon, a criminal barrister in Vancouver, to represent him, with the attorney telling papers there,
I last saw Northcott Friday [the same day, the 21st]. He seemed nervous and erratic and said he was at ours with his sister and his niece, and, if it is not disrespectful for me to speak of a client in this way, I thought he was a “nut.”
A reporter from the Vancouver Sun scored a scoop as it was reported that Gordon “fled because he wanted to shield his ‘poor little mother’ from the pain of knowing he was charged with monstrous crimes.” He, however, “bitterly denied being guilty” of the alleged crimes “and declared he will fight extradition,” telling the reporter “what awful things to say about a man,” while declaring “some people have been suffering from too much imagination, and a lot of people will be sorry when this case is cleared up.”
In the first extensive account given by Gordon in his own words, the prisoner referred repeatedly to “poor little mother” and asserted that if she “had known of these charges it would have killed her, so I kept it all from her, newspapers and everything,” hiding any media from her. He went to that “I wanted to get her away to a safe place, then I intended to come back alone and fight this thing,” claiming that the allegations were “trumped up.”
The reporter observed that he didn’t have to ask questions as Northcott freely offered his statement, only showing anxiety as he applied the lip balm, and he asked, “well, take a good look at the horrible criminal. Does he look as terrible as he is painted?” What struck the journalist about Gordon were that “his eyes alone are peculiar” and of a deep blue color, while they “possess a fixed, staring quality, as if their owner was in a thrall.”
It was otherwise mentioned that Gordon was deeply interested in media coverage of him and he remarked “reading all these stories about myself has certainly given me a lot of amusement.” Even as he reiterated his innocence, he “took great delight in telling train officials how he had eluded capture several times” and this included several border crossings by automobile into Washington and back. On one occasion, he noticed each driver and passengers being asked for papers as well as the cars searched, but he nimbly jumped out to help a woman and her children with suitcases and avoided customs and immigration personnel. Afterwards, he drove, took a train and tried the steamship to get back to the U.S. but the newspaper photo proved his undoing.
Heaping praise on Canadian police for their treatment of him, including no questioning, Gordon took time to discourse on the unfairness of greater Los Angeles media, telling the Canadian reporter,
The newspapers, especially those in the south, convict a man before he comes to trial. I do not think there should be so much publicity about crimes before the man charged with them comes to court. I don’t blame the newspapers so much. They are in a competitive business. But I do blame the administration that permits the practice.
Elsewhere, it was recorded that Cyrus Northcott told Riverside County sheriff’s deputies, as they drove him to the Wineville ranch, that, “if [Gordon] ever gets a chance he’ll kill me,” while also professing “fears for the life” of Sanford Clark. District Attorney Ford firmly remarked to the press “we will convict them,” adding that identifying victims was not necessary as long as “we can prove that at least some boys were slain on the ‘murder farm,” while he commented, “it is my intention to not only ask for the death penalty for Northcott, but to demand that the woman [Louise] hang as well.”
With that declaration, we’ll halt here and return next with part six, so check back for that soon.