see no evil

The 1928 Wineville Chicken Coop Murders

The two babies photographed above are brothers Lewis and Nelson Winslow. When Lewis was 12 years old, and Nelson just 10, they disappeared from their home in Pomona, Los Angeles. Soon after, poultry ranch owner Gordon Northcott (pictured top left) was suspected of their murder.

It was believed that Northcott had hacked the older brother to death, as an axe was found at the ranch containing traces of human hair and blood. He went on to confess to the killings himself. At one point, he told authorities: “I felt sorry for Nelson after I killed Lewie, the little one was so distressed and wept so.” Nelson was then murdered by Northcott’s teenage nephew, Sanford Clark (pictured top right), although Clark always maintained that he was forced to do so by his physically abusive uncle. Clark had been tasked with luring young boys to the farm, where they would be held captive in a chicken coop before being raped and brutally murdered by Northcott.

Different fragments of human skeletons were discovered buried at Northcott’s farm, and analysis showed they belonged to multiple male children. To this day, it is estimated that Northcott may be responsible for over 20 deaths, although he was found guilty on just three counts of murder. He was convicted for the killings of the Winslow brothers and a teenage boy named Alvin Gothea. Gothea was a farmhand referred to for some time as ‘The Headless Mexican’, as his body had remained unidentified until Northcott confessed to murdering him. He had been shot through the heart with a .22 calibre rifle and decapitated. 

Northcott was hanged in 1930. Despite his unbothered facade throughout the trial, he conceded to fear after being led to the gallows. Moments before he plunged to his death, he was heard desperately pleading to witnesses: “A prayer! Please, say a prayer for me!” The execution itself proved to be far from straightforward, as the rope used was too slack to cause immediate death, and instead he struggled for thirteen minutes and died from strangulation instead of neck breakage. 

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