Murder In America - EP. 125 CALIFORNIA - The Wineville Chicken Coop Murders: America's Forgotten Pedophile Serial Killer (PT. 1)

Episode Date: September 15, 2023

In the 1920's a number of young boys started to go missing in the greater Los Angeles area. Nobody had any idea where these kids were going... that is, until mass grave was unearthed at an abandoned farm in the middle of the Californian desert. This is the story of Gordon Stewart Northcott, and his heinous crimes that inspired the film "The Changeling". - Start your therapy journey TODAY with BetterHelp! Just visit https://www.betterhelp.com/MIA to get 10% of YOUR first month! - Stay Connected: Join the Murder in America fam in our free Facebook Community for a behind-the-scenes look, more insights and current events in the true crime world: https://www.facebook.com/groups/4365229996855701 If you want even more Murder in America bonus content, including ad-free episodes, come join us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/murderinamerica Instagram: http://instagram.com/murderinamerica/ Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/people/Murder-in-America-Podcast/100086268848682/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/MurderInAmerica TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@theparanormalfiles and https://www.tiktok.com/@courtneybrowen Feeling spooky? Follow Colin as he travels state to state (and even country to country!) investigating claims of extreme paranormal activity and visiting famous haunted locations on The Paranormal Files Official Channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheParanormalFilesOfficialChannel - (c) BLOOD IN THE SINK PRODUCTIONS 2023 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week's episode is sponsored by Hocum, the new film that critics are calling Damian McCarthy's most unnerving horror yet. From the director of Oddity, Hocom stars Adam Scott, in a deeply monstrous horror that bloody disgusting called pure nightmare fuel that holds you firmly in its grip. Don't miss Hocom, the groundbreaking new horror from Damian McCarthy, now playing in theaters. This episode is sponsored by Better Help. is a journey. I know this. I think we all know this. Some days feel good and other days feel absolutely overwhelming. Whatever's keeping you up at night, it's easy sometimes to feel like you have to figure it all out on your own. But the truth is, nobody has all the answers. And no journey should be taken alone. However, having someone with you to listen, to understand, and to support you

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So refresh your everyday with luxury that you'll actually use. Head to quince.com slash America for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q-U-I-N-C-E.com slash America for free shipping and 365-day returns. Quence.com slash America. The following podcast is not suitable for all audiences. We go into great detail with every case that we come. cover and do our best to bring viewers even deeper into the stories by utilizing disturbing audio

and sound effects. Trigger warnings from the stories we cover may include violence, rape, murder, and offenses against children. This podcast is not for everyone. You have been warned. In our story for today, we are going to take you all the way back to the 1920s, right outside of Los Angeles, California. At the time, this was the place to be.

Hollywood was entering its golden age. Movies were going from silent films to talkies, as they'd call it. So people from all around the world were moving here to follow their dreams. But behind all the glitz and the glamour, Los Angeles had a big problem on their hands. In the late 1920s, little boys all around the L.A. area were going missing. And no one had any idea who the person was. perpetrator could have been, but he wasn't successful with every kidnapping.

Some boys around the area would get away and live to tell their stories. And based on their account, it was clear that a young man in his early 20s was driving around L.A. in his nice car, searching for a target. Then when he found one, he would try and coax the little boys into his car with the promise of candy, or getting to pet a puppy. For some, he even offered to take them to his farm so they could ride ponies. The common tactics that child abductor still use over 100 years later, but in this story, some of these boys would end up taking him up on his offer, never to be seen alive again. The investigation into these disappearances would eventually lead the LAPD to a 19-year-old farmer named Gordon Stewart Northcott, who everyone called

Stewart. Stewart had moved from Canada to a farm in the city of Wineville, and in his spare time, he would drive around and abduct little boys for his own sick desires. Then he would bring them back to his farm, where they would face unimaginable torture for weeks on end. And sadly, he would use his teenage nephew, who was also one of his victims, to help him carry out and cover up the murders. After Stewart's arrest, these crimes were all anyone could talk about at the time. It was such a stain on the area's reputation.

The city of Wineville even decided to change its name to Miraloma, which is what it's called today. So follow along with us this week as we walk you through part one of the Wineville Chicken Coop murders. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browne. And you are listening to Murder in America. Stuart Northcott was born on November 9, 1906 in Bladworth, which is a province of Saskatchewan in Canada. But his entrance into the world wasn't necessarily a happy one. His parents, George and Louise, had recently lost their six-year-old son, Willie, to know.

pneumonia. Louise was devastated after his death, and when she found out she was pregnant again, she didn't even want the baby. It was almost as if this child was trying to take the place of her beloved son, Willie. George would later say, several years before her boy Stuart was born, she lost his six-year-old boy. Like most mothers, she idolized her little boy, lavished all her love, and lived for him. He was her very life almost. When he died, she very near went with him. Now, Louise had always been a very aggressive person, but Willie's death caused her to be angry with the world and with the people around her. Throughout her grief, she often took her frustrations out on her husband George, 18-year-old daughter Winifred, and even the baby

inside of her. After finding out she was pregnant, Louise did everything in her power to terminate the pregnancy. She would ride horses all day long, violently jump up and down, and excessively exercise as much as she could. But all of her attempts to abort the child were unsecretely. It should be noted that she and her husband George also had a very volatile relationship. Believe it or not, Luis was extremely religious and George was not. And their differences often caused many fights. One of their bigger fights was just two months before their son was born. We aren't sure exactly what transpired, but at the end of it, George would kick Luis in the stomach.

So hard she would end up injuring her spine. But somehow against all odds, they would give birth to a healthy baby boy named Gordon Stewart Northcott, who they would call Stewart. This was not a happy time for the Northcott family. They didn't even care enough to remember Stewart's actual birthday. Reports just say he was born around November 9th.

Luis also suffered from, severe postpartum depression, so she was very uninterested in Stewart at first. But somehow, along the way, this indifference she felt towards her son turned into an unhealthy obsession. No one really knows why, but soon enough, Stewart was her pride and joy. So much so, she spoiled him any chance she could, and she hardly ever disciplined him. George recalled. After a lapse of several years following Willie's death, her boy came along and she gave him all the affection she had for the one who died. And as much more for him, himself, naturally, I encouraged her.

They were fools. Their love was sublime. But since Louise's mental health had drastically improved, the Northcott household was a lot more bearable for the rest of the family. So George and Winifred never got in the way of their strong bond. In an article for the Los Angeles Evening Herald, reporters stated that Louise would even dress Stuart up in girls' clothing and make him play with dolls. And in part, it read, from the delicate, effeminate life the boy swung in early adolescence to the other extreme, officers say. His father says he noted strange tendencies. Now, Stewart would grow up and have a very high-pitched voice and was described as being

feminine, so it's possible that this story was made up to fit this narrative, but it's worth noting. In 1913, when Stewart was seven years old, the Northcott family moved to Vancouver, and by all account, Stewart was a bright and popular child. He was very social, and he really enjoyed being the center of attention. His mother always doted on him and gave him all of the attention in the world. So he kind of expected it. Luis would also give him everything he ever wanted and would punish people who didn't. Both George and Winifred knew to never tell Stuart no, or else they would face the brunt of Louise's wrath. So through all of this, Stuart became a very manipulative and entitled child, traits that would follow him throughout his life. Now, something else that's

very interesting about Stuart is that he was a very hairy person, like abnormally hairy. During puberty, he started growing this thick black hair all over his body and he absolutely haired. hated it. He even saw a doctor to try and figure out why he was growing so much hair, but there really wasn't much they could do for him. So he was often made fun of. Children in his classes and even adults would start calling him ape man. Now this is also something they used to call criminals back in the day, because people felt that they weren't as evolved as everyone else. and they clearly weren't calling him ape man because he was a criminal, but little did everyone know he would soon become one.

Stuart would go on to have many hobbies throughout his life, but his first was his love for the arts, specifically music and literature. In an interview, he said, I've studied music for a long time, I love it, it inspires me, it makes me happy, makes me feel sad too, but a thrilling kind of sadness it is. His favorite composer was Beethoven, and when it came to literature,

he loved Shakespeare and Charles Dickens, saying, I like them because both authors make their characters human. They have their frailties and shortcomings. I don't like glorified people. In Stuart's free time, he often sat at the piano learning to play different songs. And he even made a career out of it while he was still in high school. He played the piano for different movie theaters, a jazz orchestra, and even grocery stores, which I didn't even know they played live music at grocery stores back in the day.

I thought that was interesting. But Stewart loved it, and so did everyone in town. On the outside looking in, he seemed to have a good life and a promising future. Sure, he was a little spoiled and outspoken, but he was also very charismatic, friendly, and talented, and he always had a pretty big group of friends. In his late teen years, Stuart was known to wear very different and bold pieces of clothing, especially for their time. He also loved showing off his really nice car that his parents bought him.

It was this convertible type car where you could take the top off, so he would drive around and get really excited when people would look in his direction. He would also use these opportunities to find people he was attracted to. And when he found someone he liked walking along the street, he would offer them rides just so he could feel important. The only issue was that Stewart didn't like giving rides to people his age. His preference was usually young boys. Now, there were never any documented reports of Stewart abusing any boys around this time.

However, it's safe to assume that it's here, where his dark pedophilic desires were born. Before Stewart was able to act on anything, the Northcutt family decided to uproot their lives. and move from Canada to the United States. It's unknown exactly why they decided to move, but it's assumed that they came here to find better jobs. So in August of 1924, they packed up all of their belongings and moved to Los Angeles,

the city of Angels. Stewart was 18 at the time, and he was actually excited for the fresh start. Like we mentioned, Los Angeles was entering its golden age, and it was the perfect spot for people who loved the arts, like Stewart. In Canada, he was often judged for his clothing and flamboyant personality, but here, he would fit right in.

Upon moving, George found work as a contractor and builder. Luis worked at the Los Angeles County General Hospital, and Stewart went to school, and worked part-time as a car salesman. Luis was more than excited for her son's future, but things would soon take a dark turn when her precious son was accused of statutory rape. In 1925, shortly after moving to L.A.,

Stewart started to hang out with a friend from school named Claude Scott, and Stewart was constantly going over to their house. The Scott family liked him, and they really enjoyed his company every time he visited. But little did they know he wasn't coming over to see Claude. He was coming over for his little brother named Philly. Now, we don't know Philly's exact age because there are differing reports, but he was anywhere from 9 to 12 years old.

And any time Stuart could get Philly alone, he would rape him. and it was clear that Stuart had a disgusting obsession with a little boy. Even years later, Stuart would constantly play Philly's favorite song on the piano, which was called Song of Songs. And sometimes when he would play it, he would just start crying out of nowhere. As he played the piano, he also sat on the handmade stool that Philly gifted him. The sexual assault would go on for a while. And it's unclear exactly how it came to light, but eventually, Philly and Claude's parents would find out about it and they pressed charges.

On July 25, 1925, Stewart Northcott would be arrested for statutory rape. However, he would never face any consequences. One account said that the charges were dropped, and another said that Stewart was placed on probation. but he never had to go to jail. He never had to face any consequences, which was a common pattern throughout his life. And now that he couldn't sexually abuse his friend's little brother, he moved on to someone else.

In 1926, young boys were known to hang out on Pasadena Avenue's Arroyo Seco district, and some of them were sex workers, despite them being minors. And according to reports, neighbors of the Northcots had seen Stewart soliciting them for sex. Four of these young boys would end up getting around, and although Stewart's name wasn't technically connected to the crime, it was pretty well known that he was a frequent customer. In fact, people would refer to Stewart as the sheikh of Pasadena Avenue. And sadly, a lot of people back then were more disturbed by the homosexual aspect of the

crime than the fact that the victims were minors. In fact, it was very common for people to associate homosexuality with pedophilia. But little did anyone know. Stuart Northcott wasn't just a pedophile. He was also a budding serial killer. and it's at around this time when his thoughts begin to get much darker. At the time, the Northcott family was living in a home in Highland Park, and their next-door neighbor happened to be a doctor named Ernest Tracy. And like we mentioned, Stuart was a very charming and friendly guy, and he came from a good family.

If you were to run into him on the street, you'd have no idea he was a monster. So every once in a while, he would strike up a compliment. with the doctor next door and ask him a bunch of questions about anatomy. Now, Dr. Tracy just thought that Stewart was a curious guy who liked to talk. He maybe even wanted to become a doctor himself. So Dr. Tracy always answered his questions. He would later recall that in one of their conversations, Stewart wanted to know what happens to a body after death.

Dr. Tracy explained the decomposition process, but his next question was how to dispose of a body. Now, in hindsight, this should have been alarming, but at the time Dr. Tracy had no idea what the young man in front of him was capable of. So he told him that quicklime is the most efficient way to dissolve a human body, something that would show up later in Stewart's sadistic crimes. And believe it or not, shortly after this conversation, Stuart decided to change his entire career path. And no, he didn't want to be a doctor, he wanted to be a farmer. When he went to his parents with this new idea, they were kind of shocked.

Throughout his entire life, Stuart wanted to be a musician, maybe even make it to Hollywood. And now he wanted to be a farmer, it didn't make a lot of sense. But of course, Luis was willing to do anything in her power to support her little boy. And when Stewart asked his parents to buy him an entire farm so he could run a chicken ranch, they without question went out and bought him three acres of land

in the town of Wineville, California. The only issue was that Stewart had no idea what it would take to run a farm. He wasn't really the type to do a lot of things. physical labor, and he had absolutely no knowledge about animals or anything that has to do with farming. So after buying him the land, George and Louise asked him about how he planned on running it, and he told them that he was going to ask his sister Winifred if one of her sons could come down from Canada to work for him. George would later say, one day, three or four months after the farm was purchased, when I came home from work, he said to me he was going to Saskatoon and look up one

of friends' children, if possible he was going to bring one of them back with him. He gave me that information one night and he left the next morning. Looked to me as if he had already made arrangements to go. The next morning, Stuart packed his bags and drove to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Once there, he spent nearly two weeks with his sister Winifred and her family. At the time, she was 37 years old, with three kids of her own. There was her oldest daughter, Jesse, and then two boys, Sanford and Kenneth. But for Winifred, Stuart was almost like her first child. He was born when she was 18 years old, so she babied him his entire life, always giving him everything he ever wanted. So when Stewart asked to have one of her sons come work for him on his farm, she agreed.

She thought it would be a good idea for a child of hers to learn discipline. And she even told Stuart that he could take his pick of which son he wanted. There was 11-year-old Kenneth and 13-year-old Sanford. But the age of the boys didn't really matter to Stuart. He was going to choose based on who he was more attracted to. And in this case, it was unfortunately 13-year-old Sanford. And now we're going to take our first and only ad break. This show is sponsored by Better Help.

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Support the show by mentioning us at checkout, terms, and conditions apply. And now, let's get back to today's story. So Winifred started packing up all of her son's things. Sadly, she didn't even tell Sanford why he would be leaving Canada with his uncle Stuart. They made it seem like they were just going to go on a big road trip together. Stewart even told Sanford that the main reason for their trip was so that Sanford could learn the history of their capital city of Regina. He even promised to take him to a Regina Pat's baseball game. But before leaving, Sanford knew that something was off.

He heard his mom and uncle whispering about a chicken farm in California. And sure enough, that's exactly where they would be headed. Winifred's oldest daughter, Jesse, begged her mom to let Sanford stay, but she had already made up her mind. So, Jesse told her brother that she would come and visit as soon as possible and to write her whenever he could. And with that, Sanford hugged his siblings, and soon enough, they were on their way. He wasn't very happy with the idea of spending the year with his uncle in the middle of a desert on a chicken bird. farm. He even thought to himself, quote, the whole damn family knew about his dreams of becoming a concert pianist. Why would anybody move from a city like Los Angeles to live in the middle of nowhere

unless they had to? But even more unsettling for the 13-year-old was the way his uncle looked at him. Even as a little boy, he could see that Stewart did not have good intentions. But Sanford truly had no idea what was to come. Shortly into their drive, Stuart informed his nephew that they would not be stopping in Regina. They also would not be doing any history tours or going to any baseball games. Instead, they drove 12 hours straight until they reached the United States border near Montana. Before pulling up to the border agents, Stuart told Sanford to stay quiet and that he would do all the talking. His plan was to tell the agents that Sanford had actually been born in the United States and that he had dual citizenship. And somehow, the officer,

believed the story and let the pair through. From here, they spent most of the daylight hours driving. Then, once it got dark, they would pull the car off to the side of the road and camp out. And it was during these few days where Sanford really got to know about his uncle's frequent mood swings. He would later say, Uncle Stewart was wide awake and excited, nearly frantic. But then there were those periods where he would slide down into foul moods and glower for a couple of hours. By the time they finally got to Los Angeles, Stuart and Sanford decided to spend a few weeks with George and Louise. After all, it had been a while since Sanford saw his grandparents, but he didn't necessarily get a warm welcome. According to Sanford, Louise completely ignored him

and ran straight to Stewart, smoothing his hair, straightening his collar, and hugging him all while saying, my precious boy, my precious boy. Even 13-year-old Sanford found their relationship to be very strange. He even described her hovering as a musty gray cloud, and as for George, he barely even said a word. He seemed very unhappy. It was a strange that Sanford didn't like, and I would only get worse from here. During their two weeks' day, George completely ignored him, while Louise verbally and physically assaulted him. In an attempt to protect himself, Sanford mostly just kept to himself. Having grown up in an explosive household, Sanford learned to take the beatings and never strike back. He believed

it was best to remain as invisible as possible. Part of him was even excited to get to the farm, so he wouldn't have to be around his grandparents. But little did he know, his nightmare hadn't even begun. When they arrived at the farm, there really wasn't much to see. It was basically just three acres of empty land. So during their first week there, Sanford and Stewart spent their time clearing weeds. And at night, they slept in a tent, Stewart on a cot, and Sanford on the ground. They had a lot of work to do, a lot of things to build to get the farm up and running. George, who worked as a contractor in the Los Angeles area, would help them with building the farmhouse. Once he arrived, they all worked tirelessly, building a tiny one-bedroom home, a garage for

Stewart's car, six chicken coops, rabbit hutches, goat houses, a hen run, and a grain house. It was a lot of work for George and Sanford. On the other hand, Stewart mostly ordered everyone around, and he treated them like servants. If Samford didn't do everything exactly like he said, he would get beat with anything Stuart could get his hands on, like leather belts, clubs, and wooden slats, to name a few. But finally, after two long weeks, they finally had everything completed. However, Sanford soon came to realize that life on the farm was very lonely.

The closest neighbors were acres away. He didn't have any friends or any kids around, for that matter. All he had was his uncle, and Stewart would soon take advantage of that. On the very night that his grandpa George left the farm, Sanford got into bed after a long hard day at work, and soon enough, he heard his uncle walk into the room. He wasn't sure what to think of it, but his uncle never had good intentions. So he pretended to be asleep, but that unfortunately wouldn't stop him.

Stewart then got into bed with a 13-year-old Sanford and raped him, the first of many. In fact, Sanford would later say that from this day forward, his uncle would rape him at least two to three times a week, sometimes many more. Sanford was quickly learning that life on the chicken farm was far from what he expected. Every single day he had to wake up at 5.30 a.m. where he would tend to the chickens, collect eggs, care for the other livestock, pull weeds. Then once he was finished with his morning duties, he would come back inside and make Stewart breakfast. And Sanford was never allowed to eat any of it himself. He had to make it for Stewart, and then anything Stuart didn't

need would be his breakfast. Then from there, after getting barely any food, Sanford would go right back outside and work for hours, oftentimes till his hands were bloodied and blistered. He did all of the work on the farm, while Stewart stood back and micromanaged everything. And like we mentioned, if he didn't do everything exactly like he was told, he would get beat senselessly. Sanford would scream as loud as he possibly could, but since the closest neighbors were acres away, no one would ever hear him. And disturbingly, the screams only made Stewart want to beat him more. Once the sun went down, Sanford was ordered to make Stewart dinner, while he sat down at the piano

and played the same song over and over. The song was his first victim, Philly's, favorite song. a sick reminder of how twisted Stewart was. But once dinner was ready, Stuart always ate first, and Sanford got his scraps. So most nights he would go to bed hungry, and as if his life couldn't get any worse. Once he finally got into bed after a long, hard day, he would sit there and pray that his uncle wouldn't come in and assault him. hearing that door open in the middle of the night was one of his worst fears. In most nights, those fears came true.

This next part is pretty graphic, so trigger warning. But according to Sanford, the rape was so forceful, it would leave him bleeding out of his rectum for days. And he compared the pain to, quote, barbed wire shoved into him. Some nights, Stuart would even sodomize him with random, random objects, and when he was finished, he would lean down and whisper, better the devil you know, a saying that meant it was better to be hurt by someone you know rather than a stranger, as the punishment from a stranger might be far worse. But that wasn't really the case here. Sanfer would

rather be in anyone's company other than stewards. Nothing could be worse than what he endured on that farm. And to make sure he would never run off and tell anyone, Stuart would tell him things like, No one will ever believe you. And if they do, they're going to think you're just as bad as me. They're going to think you liked it. And back then, homosexuality was actually illegal. If you were caught participating in homosexual acts, you could very well be thrown in jail. So Stewart would threaten him every single day, telling him, things like, if you tell anyone, you'll go to jail too. So Sanford really was trapped. And sadly, he couldn't even tell anyone if he wanted to. Being 13 years old, Sanford was supposed to enroll

in school that year, but Stewart wouldn't let him. Now, Winifred, Sanford's mom and Stuart's sister, was under the impression that Sanford was going to school and to make sure they kept up with this lie, Stewart would force Sanford to write letters to his family, telling them how great school was and how he was really enjoying life on the farm. One of the letters read, Dear family, everything Uncle Stewart said that he would do he has done for me, I am healthy and working hard whenever I am not in school. My school teacher, Mrs. Haberdasher, says Uncle Stewart is doing a good job of teaching me everything I need to know about the farm, and she should know because her whole family is from a long line of farmers in the area,

and they have made several fortunes in citrus crops and cows. My scouting group had a camp out right here on the ranch, and Uncle Stewart provided the tents. I hope you are well. I am fine. He made it seem like everything was great, when in reality Sanford was being, treated like a slave. He was doing all of the work on the farm, wasn't going to school, he wasn't getting paid, and he was being physically and sexually abused. Life on the farm was so bad, he even lost a ton of weight and was losing his hair from barely eating throughout the day.

One day, Stewart needed Sanford to respond to a letter his mother sent, but Sanford refused. He was tired of pretending everything was fine when it clearly wasn't. So when he refused, he To refuse to pick up the pen, Stuart brought him into the chicken coop, chained his arms to a wooden board, and then beat him mercilessly, until Sanford agreed to write the letter. Many of these beatings would take place inside of this chicken coop, and as you'll learn later on, this is where many other children would get beat as well. One day, Sanford was beaten so hard inside of this chicken coop that he passed out. When he woke up again, it was nighttime and all the lights inside had been turned off. So it was here when Sanford decided he was going to run away. He looked around to make sure the coast was clear, and once it was he took off running.

He ran all the way to the edge of the property, but once he reached the gate, he started having second thoughts. Where would he even run? And who would he call? Wineville was a small town. Neighbors were far away, and in reality, he was there illegally since Stuart pretty much smuggled him into America. There was a huge possibility that whoever he told would bring him right back to his uncle's

house, and Sanford was terrified of what would happen if Stewart knew he tried to run off. so he turned back around and quietly slipped back into the farmhouse before drifting off into an uneasy sleep. However, not long afterwards, he woke to boiling water being poured all over his back. Apparently, Stewart had seen him trying to escape. Over the next few hours, Sanford was in an unbearable amount of pain, so much so that he spent the next day slipping in and out of consciousness. And when he finally woke up, he realized that Stewart had placed him into a wooden box the size of a coffin. Now, luckily, there were little gaps between the wooden boards so he could breathe,

but it was clear that Stewart was making him pay for what he did. He knew from that moment on that he would never try to escape again. It was a cruel mind game every single day for 13-year-old Sanford. But over time, he started learning about how to deal with his uncle's anger. For instance, the sooner Sanford started screaming during a beating, the sooner Stewart would stop. He also learned that if he could make his uncle feel like he was in control, things usually went a lot easier for him.

So he did what he could, learning how to survive until the next day. And as time went on, things did get easier for him. Because every once in a while, Stuart would leave the farm in his car and be gone for hours. These were the only moments that Sanford could relax and not have to worry about what his uncle would do to him. But sadly, Sanford's few hours of comfort

only meant that another boy was experiencing Stewart's abuse. Before leaving, Stuart would tell his nephew that he was going to search for, quote, fresh meat. And hours later, he would return with a young boy. Many of these boys were Mexican and couldn't speak much English. So Sanford was never able to understand. understand them, but he could hear their screams, and he knew exactly what that meant. Once they were brought back to the farm, Stuart would chain them up in the chicken coop and then

sexually abuse them, sometimes for weeks on end. At night, these boys would scream for health. Sanford would later say, quote, the dreadful noises began to cause the hens in the coop to squawk and alarm. After that, the mix of human and animal sounds was hellish. And hearing their screams, Sanford would lie in bed crying, knowing exactly what they were going through. He desperately wanted to help them, but he knew he couldn't. He couldn't even protect himself against Stewart. So how was he supposed to help them? After about a week, Sanford said that the screams would stop, and he knew then that his uncle had gotten rid of them. Now, it's important to note that these boys Stuart brought home, their bodies were never located,

so we don't know who they were or how many of them there were, but it's widely believed that there were quite a few. But after getting rid of these boys, Stuart would take off again in search of another small child. Sometimes he was successful and other times he wasn't. In August of 1927, Stewart drove down to Pickering Park, a place that often saw many children running about. And while he was scouring the area, he spotted Junior Thompson, who had wandered to away from his parents. Seeing that the boy was alone, Stewart approached him and asked if he wanted to

tickle his genitals. Upon hearing this, Junior started to walk away. But then Stuart said, I'm just kidding, but I do have a puppy in my car if you want to play with it. And from here, Junior started following Stuart back to his vehicle. Once they got closer, Stuart grabbed the little boy's arm and attempted to throw him into the car. But luckily, he started to scream and was able to get away. Junior started running towards his parents who were on the other side of the park, and Stewart chased the little boy as far as he could, but eventually ran into Junior's father who had a knife on him. Junior's dad tried to stab Stewart, but sadly, he was able to get away. Just six months later, Sanford was elated to learn that Stewart was going to take a trip to Los Angeles

to visit his parents. That meant that he would have an entire week all to himself without his uncle's abuse. Now, you may be wondering why Sanford didn't use this opportunity to escape. Well, by this point, Sanford had faced an entire year of abuse and trauma, and like we mentioned, he conditioned himself to follow Stewart's rules. Plus, even if he tried to run away, he had nowhere to go. His family was still living in Canada, and he definitely didn't have the funds to leave the country. So Sanford stayed put, just trying to enjoy his alone time while his uncle was away. But on the morning of February 1st, 1928, Sanford watched as his uncle's car pulled back into the driveway. His week of peace had come to an end. The only positive thing was that Uncle Stewart wasn't sexually

assaulting him much anymore. Now that he was 14 years old, he wasn't really young enough for his uncle to be attracted to him. And sadly, Stuart had moved on to younger boys. But on this day, Stuart got out of his car with a bucket in hand and a large smile across his face. Sanford barely ever saw his uncle smile, so he was confused. Then Stuart handed him the bucket, and inside is what looked to be a dead animal.

It was bloodied with matted hair and, brain tissue coming out. But as he took a closer look, Sanford was horrified. This was not a dead animal. It was the head of a young boy. Sanford quickly stepped away, feeling as if he might vomit. All while his uncle began to maniacly laugh. Stuart then said that he killed the boy in self-defense.

But Sanford knew better. His uncle was too happy for this to be self-defense. When asked why he cut the boy's head off, Stuart replied, I left his body on the side of the road, but I took the head off, so it would be harder to identify him. That afternoon, Stuart forced his nephew to help him get rid of the head. They started a huge bonfire on the property and then just threw it in and watched it burn. Sanford was in charge of keeping the fire going, so the head would burn for hours and hours. By that night, the boy's skull had burned down, but it was still clearly a human skull.

So Stewart instructed Sanford to pulverize it with a fence post. He was disgusted at what his uncle made him do, but at this point he felt like he had no other choice. That very next morning, on February 2nd, 1928, a farmer was walking his dog in the city of Puente, when suddenly the dog took off running to the ditch up ahead. The father called his name over and over, but whatever was in that ditch had his pub's full attention. So the farmer walks over to see what's going on. And there, along Hudson Road, was the headless body of a boy. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department would respond to the scene, and they found that the boy was naked

and appeared to be between the age of 16 and 18 years old. It was determined that he was killed from a 22-caliber bullet that had been shot into his chest, and that the decapitation was done post-mortem with either an axe or a knife, and sadly, this boy has never been identified and would be simply referred to as the headless Mexican. As words spread about the decapitated boy found on the side of the road, Stuart was eager to get out of town. So he decided to drive back to his parents' house, but this time he'd bring Sanford with him. And along the drive, Stewart would toss the pulverized pieces of his victim's head out the window. Once they arrived at George and Louise's house in Los Angeles, Louise greeted her son with shrieking excitement like she normally did.

Sanford was repulsed by the way his grandma called Stuart her precious boy. If only she knew what he was truly capable of. But once there, they all sat down at the dinner table over a cup of tea. And soon enough, Stuart started talking about what transpired at the farm. Of course, he didn't tell them the real story. Stuart went on and on about how he hired a Mexican boy to come do some labor for him, but he caught him stealing. And when Stewart confronted him about it, the boy pulled a knife on him and threatened his life.

Sanford kept a close eye on his grandparents as Stewart told this outlandish story, and it was clear that his grandpa George just didn't believe it. He kept asking questions as if he was skeptical of Stewart's story. Louise quickly shut it down, telling her husband to back off. She was even thankful that Stewart killed the boy saying things like, I can't believe a filthy thief would try to kill my precious boy. In her eyes, her son could do nothing wrong. And even if his story didn't make a lot of sense,

she was going to stick beside him no matter what. From here, Stuart and Louise went back into town to go watch a movie while George and Sanford stayed behind. They both knew that Stewart's story wasn't true, but neither of them would ever say it out loud. This trip made one thing painfully obvious to Sanford, though. His grandparents, George and Louise, were going to support their son no matter what, and he knew that he would never be able to tell them the truth about what happened on that chicken farm. And sadly, it wouldn't be long until Stuart would harm another boy around Los Angeles. Angeles. A little over a month later, on March 10th, 1928, Sanford was on the farm reading

one of his Western books when he heard Stewart's car coming down the driveway. Then, shortly after that, he hears Stewart's voice, followed by the voice of a young boy. This boy spoke perfect English, unlike the other boy Stewart had brought to the farm. When Sanford emerged, he saw nine-year-old Walter Collins, who would go on to be Stuart Northcott's most famous victim. Earlier that day, Walter was outside of his family home in Los Angeles when he crossed paths with evil. It's unclear exactly how Walter was taken, but it's likely Stuart drove by and convinced him to get into the car. It's also widely believed that Stewart offered Walter a ride on one of his ponies, and Walter didn't.

want to pass up the opportunity. It should also be noted that Stewart once worked at the grocery store that Walter and his family used to shop at. So it's likely that they even cross paths before this encounter, making it easy to gain the nine-year-old's trust. But regardless, Walter got into Stewart's car, and from here he was taken to the chicken farm. As soon as they arrived, Walter was thrown into the chicken coop, where he began to scream and cry. He quickly realized that there were no ponies for him to ride and that he was in danger. Upon hearing his screams, Sanford felt horrible for the little boy. He knew exactly what Walter's fate was, and there was nothing he could do to save him.

But he did want to give Walter some advice, the same advice he had learned over his time on the farm. So when Stuart wasn't around, Sanford walked over to the street. walked over to the chicken coop and whispered through the door. Hey, just do whatever he says, okay. It'll be easier for you that way. For the next couple of days, Sanford tried to stay as far away from the chicken coop as possible. Walter was chained up, unable to escape,

and he screamed and cried constantly. By now, Sanford was used to his uncle bringing boys to the chicken coop. Like we mentioned, the boys steward abducted the past were Mexican and they didn't speak much English. So Samford was never able to understand what they were saying when they'd call out for help. But with Walter, he understood every word and every single night he would watch and disgust as Stewart would make his way over to the chicken coop, only to emerge shirtless, smoking a cigar. And sadly, he would do this multiple times

a night until he got tired. His uncle truly was a monster. Sanford felt horrible for Walter, but at the same time, he was strangely grateful that it wasn't happening to him. Now, a couple of days into Walter's captivity, Stuart made his nephew line the chicken coop walls with feed, likely to muffle the sounds.

Sanford thought that this was strange since the closest neighbors were so far away, but he did what he was told. Then, later that day, Stewart ordered Sanford to wash Walter, saying, Take him over to the wellhead and strip him down. I want you to get him washed up head to toe. So Walter was unchained, and together he and Sanford walked over to the well. Along the way, Sanford couldn't help but notice how frail he looked.

There were deep bruises and dried blood on his body. Once they got to the well, Sanford filled up a bucket of water and then turned around, giving Walter some privacy while he washed up. There were so many things Sanford wanted to say, but he couldn't find the right words, so he stayed quiet. But then suddenly Walter says, Can you tell him I'm sorry so he'll stop? Although Sanford wasn't facing him,

he could tell Walter was crying. And he responds, That's not going to help. I wish there was something I could do to help you, but I can't. You just have to listen to every single thing he says. And if you don't, things are going to get a lot worse for you. Don't argue with him, don't talk back, and never beg.

From here, the two walked back to the chicken coop, where Stewart chained Walter up once again. The following morning on March 12, 1928, Sanford was doing his morning work on the farm. When he suddenly heard a car coming down the driveway, his uncle Stuart was already home, so who could be visiting? Sanford prayed that it was the police or someone who could come and rescue them. But it was his grandma, Louise. Now it made sense why Stewart made him soundproof the chicken coop the day before. And Sanford did feel some hope for the first time in a while.

He knew that his grandma doted on Stewart, but surely, if she found a little boy chained up in a chicken coop, she would do something about it. Luis would end up staying at the farm for nearly a week. In the first few days, she had no idea about Walter, and Stewart was still going out to the chicken coop multiple times a night, but he always did it once Louise fell asleep. Or, so he thought.

On the third night of her stay, she must have seen Stuart emerge from the coop disheveled. So the next morning, she got up early and went to see what her son was hiding. Sanford was sitting at the breakfast table drinking coffee when Luis came in screaming at the top of her lungs. You filthy bastard, she told him. I've watched you sneak away to that coop multiple times while I've been here. Why do you have a little boy in there? Stewart played dumb, acting like he had no idea what she was talking about. I thought you were done with this kind of stuff, Stuart, she said.

Sanford stood awkwardly in the corner. It seemed to him like they had had this conversation before. But his grandma Louise truly had no idea the extent of her son's depravity. After a few minutes of scolding him, Stuart finally admitted that he had abducted Walter. saying, I'm sorry, Mama, I lost control. I never meant to hurt the boy. I need your help.

Please, Mama, I love you. Help me. Sanford was excited. This was the moment where everything would come to an end. He was finally admitting to his sick desires. But as Stuart broke down and sobs. Sanford watched as his grandma's eyes softened. She then knelt down next to her son and said,

okay, here's what we're going to do. The quickest and quietest way to kill the boy is to use an axe. And all three of us are going to strike him so that none of us can ever talk about this again. Understood? Sanford couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not only was his grandma suggesting they kill a nine-year-old boy, but they were going to make him participate.

Sanford tried to protest, but Luis wasn't having it. and she started discussing the plan. She said that she was going to deliver the first blow so that she could personally deliver him, quote, unto the arms of the Lord. Then they would all take turns so that they were all equally responsible. So from here, Louise grabbed the axe, and the three of them made their way to the chicken coop.

Inside, Walter was fast asleep on a tiny cot, as Louise quietly placed her lantern on the ground. Next, she gripped the axe with both hands and slowly approached him. Once she was close enough, she lifted it high in the air and then slammed the axe down onto Walter's head. Sanford winced. For years after this night, he would never be able to forget the quote, sickening thud of mush and bone.

Walter was unconscious, but he wasn't dead just yet. So from here, Louise delivered two more blows before handing the axe off to Sanford. At first, he refused to take the weapon. He even backed out of the coop, gagging and retching at what he just witnessed. But both Stuart and Louise threatened him, saying that he would be next if he didn't participate. Sanford looked over at Walter and could see Brampton. matter. So it was likely that Walter was already dead. He also knew if he didn't comply, his uncle Stuart would probably kill him. So from here, Sanford grabs the axe from his grandma,

and he slams it down onto Walter's head. When he looked up, he could see the pleasure in Stewart's eyes. He even smiled at Sanford and said, We can trust you now, Sanford. You're really part of the family. This was the best case scenario for Stewart. Not only was Sanford an accomplice, but his mother was too. He knew that this secret wouldn't be escaping. And from here, he excitedly grabbed the axe from Sanford and slammed it down onto Walter's head four more times.

The only comfort Sanford felt was that Walter's nightmare was now over. His uncle couldn't hurt him anymore. After this, Stuart forced his nephew to dig a grave in the chicken coop, and that's where they would keep Walter's body until further notice. But soon enough, all of California would be looking for Walter Collins. And following his disappearance, there would be a huge scandal involving Walter's mother, the corrupt members of the LAPD, and the appearance of a boy claiming to be Walter that was lying about his entire life story. We'll be covering that portion of the tale in next week's episode, including Stuart Northcott's other victims and his eventual capture and brutal execution. Hey, everybody, it's Colin here.

Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of Murder in America. Courtney and I are so happy to have everybody out there listening. We actually found this story by watching the movie The Changeling, directed by Clint Eastwood. It was a great film, and we had not heard this story before we actually watched the movie. So if you are interested in this, yeah, the movie's great, and we will see you next week for part two. But I want to give a shout out to our new patrons. We're still catching up. Debbie Coates, Shana Potter, Gabrielle, Anna T, Mark Morris, Elena McCullough, Laura Arias, Evelyn Armistead, Georgia Gandhi,

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