Gordon Stewart Northcott
Template:Short description Template:Refimprove Template:DMCA Template:DMCA Script error: No such module "Template wrapper".Script error: No such module "Check for conflicting parameters". Gordon Stewart Northcott (November 9, 1906 – October 2, 1930) was a Canadian serial killer, child rapist, and child abductor who was convicted of the murders of three young boys in California, U.S., and confessed to the murders of nine in total. He was executed on October 2, 1930.
Biography
Gordon Stewart Northcott was born in Bladworth, Saskatchewan and raised in British Columbia. He had an early fondness for animals, particularly ducks and rabbits. His father later described Northcott as "an abnormal boy, both physically and mentally". Northcott's mother insisted that her son wore dresses and played with dolls until his mid-teens.[1] He moved to Los Angeles with his parents in 1924.
Northcott asked his father to purchase a plot of land in Wineville, California. On this land, he built a chicken ranch and a house with the help of his father—who was in the construction business—and his nephew, Sanford Clark. It was under this pretext that Northcott brought Sanford from Canada to the United States.
Police and press commonly referred to Northcott as "Ape Man" in reports, due to both his father and nephew taking note of his excessive body hair.[2][3][4]
Wineville Chicken Coop murders
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". While residing at his chicken ranch, Northcott abducted an undetermined number of boys and sexually abused them. Typically, after abusing a victim, he would drive the boy home and let him go. However, he murdered some of them at the ranch.
The police in Canada arrested Northcott and his mother on September 19, 1928.[5] Due to errors in the extradition paperwork, they were not returned to Los Angeles until November 30.[6][7] Northcott was implicated in the murder of Walter Collins, but because Northcott's mother had confessed to murdering Collins and had been sentenced for it, the state chose not to prosecute Northcott in that murder.[8]
It was speculated that Northcott may have killed as many as 20 boys, but the state of California could not produce evidence to support that allegation. Ultimately, the state only brought an indictment against Northcott for the murders of an unidentified underage Mexican national, later to be identified as Alvin Gothea—known as the "Headless Mexican"—and the brothers Lewis and Nelson Winslow (aged 12 and 10, respectively).[9] The brothers had been reported missing from Pomona on May 16, 1928.[10]
In early 1929, Northcott's trial was held before Judge George R. Freeman in Riverside County, California. The jury heard that he kidnapped, molested, tortured, and murdered the Winslow brothers and Alvin Gothea in 1928. On February 8, Northcott was convicted of those murders. On February 13, Freeman sentenced him to death.[11] He was hanged on October 2, 1930,[12] at San Quentin State Prison.[13] The rope failed to break Northcott's neck, resulting in it taking 13 minutes for him to die from strangulation.[12][failed verification]
Popular culture
In 2008, Clint Eastwood directed the film Changeling, in which Northcott was portrayed by Jason Butler Harner.[14][15]
See also
References
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- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Pathological study". The Oregeon Daily Journal. September 18, 1928. p. 4.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."'Ape Boy' Sought In Killings". The Bee. September 18, 1928. p. 1.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Gordon Stewart Northcott". Los Angeles Public Library.
- ^ The 'Ape Man' Has Confessed To Killing Four" (December 4, 1928); Navasota Daily Examiner p. 3, Vol. 31, No. 254, Ed. 1
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."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.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Error in Extradition Papers to Delay Northcott's Return: Officers Go On To See Suspect State Aides Discover Flaws in Legal Documents Burying Alive Charge Laid to Sanford Clark Examination Continues of "Death Farm" Clews". Los Angeles Times. September 26, 1928. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Youth's Nerves At High Tension: Northcott Embarrassed on Debarking from Train Request for Picture Brings Defiant Refusal Prisoner Lodged in Cell That Housed Hickman". Los Angeles Times. November 30, 1928. Retrieved April 24, 2010.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Paul, James Jeffrey (2008). Nothing is Strange with You: The Life and Crimes of Gordon Stewart Northcott. Bloomington, Indiana: Xlibris. p. 141. ISBN 978-1436366267.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Northcott Convicted of Slaying Three Boys; His Last Dramatic Plea Fails to Move Jury". The New York Times. February 7, 1929. Retrieved January 16, 2008.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Wetsch, Elisabeth (1995). "Chicken Murders". Serial Killer Crime Index. Archived from the original on January 6, 2012. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."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. Archived from the original on October 9, 2008. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
- ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kurz, John (December 15, 1988). "Mira Loma History, Riverside County, California: Wineville Chicken Murders". Rubidoux Historical Society. Retrieved January 26, 2008.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Healey, Floyd J. (October 3, 1930). "Northcott Executed". The Los Angeles Times. p. 1.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Changeling". Universal Studios official website. Archived from the original on February 2, 2008. Retrieved January 30, 2008.
- ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.King, Susan (September 7, 2008). "Changeling actor reveres his boss: Clint Eastwood". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on October 11, 2008. Retrieved September 5, 2008.
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