Gordon Stewart Northcott

Gordon Stewart Northcott
Error creating thumbnail: Northcott in 1928
Born	(1906-11-09)November 9, 1906 Bladworth, Saskatchewan, Canada
Died	October 2, 1930 (aged 23) San Quentin State Prison, California, U.S.
Known for	Wineville Chicken Coop murders
Criminal status	Executed by hanging
Conviction	First degree murder (3 counts) (February 8, 1929)
Criminal penalty	Death (February 13, 1929)
Details
Victims	3–20
Span of crimes	1926–1928
State	California
Date apprehended	September 19, 1928

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. 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.

Wineville Chicken Coop murders

Main article: Wineville Chicken Coop murders

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. Due to errors in the extradition paperwork, they were not returned to Los Angeles until November 30. 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.

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.

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). The brothers had been reported missing from Pomona on May 16, 1928.

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 the Alvin Gothea in 1928. On February 8, Northcott was convicted of those murders. On February 13, Freeman sentenced him to death. He was hanged on October 2, 1930, at San Quentin State Prison. The rope failed to break Northcott's neck, resulting in it taking 13 minutes for him to die from strangulation.

Popular culture

In 2008, Clint Eastwood directed Changeling, in which Northcott was portrayed by Jason Butler Harner.

See also

• List of serial killers in the United States
• List of botched executions