There is a Canadian connection to the Wineville chicken coop murders, the subject of the 2008 movie,The Changeling.
In 1926, Gordon Northcott, a Wineville, California, rancher born in Saskatchewan, spoke with the parents of his nephew, Sanford Clark of Saskatoon. They agreed to let Northcott take his nephew, aged 13 years, to California.
Sanford’s parents did not realize that Northcott was an abusive pedophile who physically and sexually abused Clark.
Northcott’s activities became known to his sister, who eventually went to the police. It took until the fall of 1928 for the Los Angeles police to begin investigating. Officers visited Northcott’s ranch and later police removed Clark. Trials of several family members were held and Clark was a star witness for the prosecution.
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Clark said he was kept in a chicken coop after being abused by his uncle. He said that Northcott had kidnapped, physically and sexually abused and murdered three young boys. Clark testified Northcott was aided by Northcott’s mother and by him, saying he was forced to help.
He said the bodies were buried in shallow graves near the chicken coop and covered with quicklime to aid in the decomposition. The police found the graves but they were empty.
Police learned that Northcott had dug up the bodies and buried them in the California desert, where they were never found. It was clear what had been in the original graves from the discovery of forensic evidence of hair, bones and blood and the retrieval of a bloody axe and clothing.
Clarke also said Northcott had molested and killed a young boy from Mexico. Clark helped dispose of the boy’s head.
After dealing with the bodies, Northcott and his mother fled to Vernon, B.C., where they were arrested. They were returned to California, charged and tried. Northcott and his mother initially confessed, with Northcott admitting to killing five boys, but both later recanted.
Eventually the mother pleaded guilty and got life imprisonment, receiving parole after 11 years.
Despite suspecting Northcott in about 20 murders, police only charged him with the murder of two brothers and the Mexican because there was sufficient evidence to prosecute. Gordon Northcott was convicted and was hanged in 1930.
Wineville felt the adverse publicity had taken its toll and voted to change its name to Mira Loma.
Clark was deemed to be an unwilling actor and was never charged with any murders. He was sent to a juvenile facility for less than two years and returned to Saskatoon.
He was a model citizen, married for 55 years, employed and a family and community-minded person. He died in 1991 in Saskatoon.
Rick Danyliuk is a lawyer with McDougall Gauley LLP in Saskatoon.
