The Chicken Coop Murders
The following is a true story of the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders that took place in the 1920s in California and their connection to Vancouver. NOTE: The material may be extremely disturbing to some readers.
Gordon Stewart Northcott[1] was a notorious serial killer, being one of allegedly four family members involved in the infamous Wineville Chicken Coop Murders, which took place in Riverside County, California between 1926 and 1928.
Cyrus & Louisa Northcott – Herald Examiner Collection 1928
Stewart (or Stuart) was the youngest son of Cyrus George and Sarah “Louisa” Northcott, born in Bladworth, Saskatchewan, in November 1906. The 1906 census took place in June of that year.
There were claims that Stewart was the inbred son between his sister Louise Winifred “Winnie” (born 1882 or 1888 depending on source) and his father Cyrus. Thus, one of the women in the above census was pregnant at that time. His “mother” Louisa would later confusingly state he was and was not her son at different times to suit her purposes. In any regard, Louisa doted on Stewart, giving him anything he wanted.
According to the June 1911 Census, the Northcotts were residing in the Cedar Cottage area of South Vancouver. Father Cyrus listed his occupation as carpenter. Henderson’s Directory for 1911 lists their address on the west side of Marshall Street near Lakeview Drive (today’s 19th Avenue, just south of Trout Lake).
They were no longer residing in Vancouver by 1912. The Census record in June 1921 shows the family of three residing in Edmonton, Alberta.
In 1924, the family moved to Los Angeles. They purchased a plot of land in Wineville, Riverside County, intending it to become a chicken ranch. Grandson Sanford Wesley Clark, joined them (son of Winnie) from Saskatchewan to help out at the ranch. During his visit of two years, Sanford was physically, psychologically, and sexually abused by Stewart.
Between 1926 and 1928, Stewart lured young boys into his car, drove them to his farm. He repeatedly raped, beat, and eventually killed them. It was said that there were as many as 20, but the State of California was not able to substantiate this with proof. Sanford participated in some of the killings, but he was exonerated, believed to have been an unwilling accomplice, forced to comply with his uncle’s demented and sadistic acts. Mother Louisa was not only involved, but told her son to kill one boy, Walter Collins, so he could not identify anyone.
The bodies were chopped up and buried under and around the chicken coops, but were later exhumed by Stewart accompanied by his mother, and taken to a deserted area, where they were burned.
Walter Collins, a nine-year old boy from Los Angeles, went missing on March 10, 1928, after going to a movie.
In a strange twist, police thought that Walter had been located five months later in Illinois, when another boy came forward claiming to be Collins. Police allegedly tried to convince Walter’s mother that this boy was in fact her lost son, stating to “try him out for a couple of weeks.” His mother adamantly refused to accept this boy as hers, and was subsequently confined to a psychiatric ward as she had clearly “lost her mind.”
Once this story went public, the fake Walter admitted to being Arthur Hutchins, 15 years old, of Iowa, who had wanted to get away from his own domestic situation. Mrs. Collins sued the LAPD, and in 2008, Clint Eastwood directed and produced Changeling, a film based on this story (starring Angelina Jolie and John Malkovich).
After Stewart had kidnapped Walter, he sexually assaulted and tortured him over the course of time. He was held in the chicken coop, and eventually murdered, struck repeatedly with an axe by Stewart, his mother Louisa, and Sanford. They dismembered the body and buried it in quicklime.
Two brothers, Lewis and Nelson Winslow (aged 12 and 10, respectively) went missing from Pomona, California on May 16, 1928.
Stewart wrote a letter to the boys’ parents claiming they had run away but were fine. The paper was later matched to a book found on the Northcott farm.
Sanford would later admit to participating in their deaths.
Stewart would later be convicted of their murders. Their bodies were never recovered.
Alvin Gothea, a young Mexican teenager, was decapitated, and Sanford was forced to dispose of the head by burning and crushing the remains. Stewart disposed of the naked body by leaving it at the side of the road. His burlap-wrapped headless body was found in a ditch on February 2, 1928. He had been shot through the heart with a .22-calibre rifle.
On July 21, 1928, Sanford’s 19-year-old sister Jessie, out of concern for her little brother and his lack of communication, scraped together what she could and went to California. Sanford told her that his uncle Stewart had murdered four boys at the ranch, and he was in fear of his own life. She was reportedly attacked by Stewart. She left her brother at the ranch and returned to Saskatchewan the next week.
Upon returning to Canada, Jessie reported Stewart’s activity, as told to her by her brother, to the authorities. They contacted the Los Angeles Police.
Held up by politics, it was not until the end of August (1928) that Immigration Service Inspectors Judson Shaw and George Scallorn, visited the ranch. Stewart fled when he saw the agents, telling Sanford to stall them, or he would shoot him with a rifle. Sanford held them off for two hours, after which he figured they might protect him from Stewart and provided evidence towards the heinous events that had taken place on the ranch.
Sanford revealed his frequent beatings, death threats, and rape by Stewart. He told of Mexican boys who were picked up by Stewart and would later disappear.
Three shallow graves were located at the chicken coops, containing 51 human body parts; skull fragments, bones baked in quicklime, and youth clothing.
Stewart and his mother fled to Vancouver on September 8, where they stayed in two rooming houses (Pendrell and Homer Streets). He left Vancouver via train to Summerland, and from there tendered a spot on the S.S. Sicamous to Okanagan Landing (Vernon). It was an alert purser, Alex Watson, who had seen the photograph of Northcott in the Province newspaper as the manhunt was on, and recognized him on the boat train. Once landing in Vernon, Watson contacted the Provincial Police. On the afternoon of September 19, 1928, Stewart Northcott was taken into custody.
Police drove Stewart without haste to Kamloops, where he boarded a train back to Vancouver.
Meanwhile, Louisa Northcott had hopped the No. 4 eastbound train in Spences Bridge. At Calgary, City, Provincial, and Mounted Police were waiting for her, having been appraised of her route by Stewart. She vehemently denied any relation to the Northcotts, lying continuously about her name. She stated she was a widow with no family, and had been supporting herself for years. Police interrogated her for several hours, and were finally satisfied that this was indeed the Northcott matriarch.
While awaiting return to the U.S., Louisa confessed to the murders, then retracted it. Stewart had also confessed to killing more than five boys.
Due to extradition issues, he did not cross the border until November 27 1928.
His mother crossed back into the U.S. on December 6, 1928, in custody of Sheriff Clem Sweeters and his wife.
Once back in California, Louisa again confessed and pled guilty to killing Walter Collins. She was never tried, but sentenced to life imprisonment on December 31, 1928. The Superior Court Judge (Morton) spared her life because she was a woman. It was during her sentencing hearing that she claimed her son’s innocence, that he was the illegitimate heir to an English nobleman, that she was in fact Stewart’s grandmother, and that Stewart had been sexually abused by the whole family. She begged authorities not to execute Stewart.
At the end of 1928, a handcuffed Stewart was taken to the ranch, offering to lead officers to the young victim’s graves. He provided a written confession owning up to the death of Alvin Gothea. He would subsequently toy with investigators, drawing maps of grave locations, which revealed nothing.
He told authorities that he had a sexual relationship with his mother Louisa.
He taunted the mothers of his victims, some of whom met with him in prison, to understand why he had done these despicable acts.
In 1929, Stewart’s trial went ahead amongst much media coverage. The jury heard that he kidnapped, molested, tortured, and murdered Lewis Winslow, Nelson Winslow, and Alvin Gothea in 1928.
Stewart fired three attorneys, took on his own defense, placed himself on the stand (both asking and answering his own questions), and generally acted the role of a sadistic and pathological lying degenerate. He was fearless, defiant, and foulmouthed.
After 27 days in court and two hours of deliberation, Stewart was found guilty of three murders on February 8, 1929. He had not been charged with Walter Collins’ death, as his mother had confessed and was sentenced for it.
Louisa attempted suicide while in custody, and later after finding out that Stewart was to be hanged, she asked authorities to hang her as well.
Just prior to his execution, Stewart threw a fit, telling prison guards he had consumed poison, throwing a vial at officers. He was taken to the infirmary where his stomach was pumped.
At 10 a.m. on October 2, 1930, Stewart had to be dragged up the stairs to the gallows. He had insisted on a blindfold, so that he did not have to see the noose. His last words were to “say a prayer for me.” At the age of 23 years, and after 12 minutes dangling on the rope, Stewart was confirmed dead at San Quentin State Prison.
Six weeks after Stewart’s execution, a young teen male’s remains were found in the desert near the ranch. He was never identified.
Sanford Wesley Clark was sentenced to two years at the Whittier State School for Boys, for his role in one murder. He returned to Saskatchewan after his release. He served during WWII, married and adopted two sons. He died in 1991.
Sarah Louisa Northcott was sentenced to life imprisonment, moved to Tehachapi State Prison (California) in 1933, and was paroled in 1940 after serving only ten years. She died four years later in Maryland.
On November 1, 1930, Wineville formally changed its name to Mira Loma, in large part due to the negative press surrounding the murders.
[1] In some documentation found by this writer, Northcote was the family name spelling.