177: The Wineville Farm Murders

In 1928, agriculture and the movie industry were booming in the Los Angeles area. But a string of child abductions and murders in nearby Wineville changed the lives and views of the locals. Someone had kidnapped, sexually abused, and murdered at least three, and possibly as many as twenty, young boys. From 1926 to 1928, teenager Sanford Clark was kept prisoner on his uncle Stewart Northcott’s chicken farm in Wineville. He suffered unimaginable abuse and witnessed horrific acts by Northcott. Sanford’s escape from the clutches of his abuser and his journey to live a life without violence is inspiring. His time on the farm was a living hell and the stories he shared with the police were unlike anything they had heard before. Today we’re talking about a dark part of history that most people were in a hurry to forget. As brutal and upsetting as the crimes of Stewart Northcott were, it is the resilience and strength of Sanford Clark that makes this story something worth telling and something that can stay with us as proof that good can prevail over evil.   Join Team Tiegrabber Try Madison Reed