The Wineville chicken coop murders involved the kidnapping and murder of at least four young boys, though authorities believe there could have been as many as 20 victims. These events took place between the years 1926 and 1928 in what was once the town of Wineville, California. Before these boys were murdered, they first had to endure both physical and sexual abuse. The town was so horrified and heartbroken by what had occurred that it changed its name so that it would not be forever associated with the murders that took place there.

In 1924, at the age of 17, Gordon Stewart Northcott moved with his parents to Los Angeles, California from British Columbia, Canada. Two years later, nineteen-year-old Northcott asked his father to buy a piece of land for him in Wineville so that he could build a house and chicken ranch. Northcott asked his fifteen-year-old nephew, Sanford Clark, if he would help with the building of the ranch. Clark’s parents gave him permission to go to California from their home in Saskatchewan, Canada. After all, he would be in the protection of a loving family member…or so they thought. Little did they know what young Sanford Clark would endure during his time at his uncle’s chicken ranch.

Gordon Stewart Northcott

Nine-year-old, Walter Collins went missing on March 10, 1928 after his mother, Christine Collins, gave him money to go to the movie theater. A couple months later, on May 16, 1928 two brothers went missing on their way home from a Yacht Club meeting. Nelson Winslow was ten-years-old and his brother, Lewis, 12. A couple of bizarre letters were sent to the Winslow boys’ parents. One stated that they were going to Mexico, the other said they wanted to stay missing for as long as possible to gain fame. The authorities didn’t connect the two cases with one another. They also didn’t know that the headless body of a Latino boy found in February had a connection to these cases.

“The Chicken Coop Murders”

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