The Road Out of Hell

Author/Guide: Anthony Flacco

Why a Booktrail?

1926 – 1928: The hell part isn’t what makes the story important; it’s the road out that does.

ISBN: 978-1626811843
Genre: Non-Fiction

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What you need to know before your trail

From 1926 to 1928, Gordon Stewart Northcott committed at least 20 murders on a chicken ranch outside of Los Angeles. His nephew, Sanford Clark, was held captive there from the age of 13 to 15, and was the sole surviving victim of the killing spree. Here, acclaimed crime writer Anthony Flacco―using never-before-heard information from Sanford’s son, Jerry Clark―tells the real story behind the case that riveted the nation.

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Travel Guide

Wineville/Mira Loma

Gordon Stewart Northcott committed at least 20 murders on a chicken ranch in Wineville, now renamed Mira Loma to distance itself from its hideous past. It’s a small village, only a few miles outside of Los Angeles. Wineville changed its name to Mira Loma on November 1, 1930. The new city of Eastvale, California, blended in with some parts of Mira Loma in 2010; and the new city of Jurupa Valley took parts of Mira Loma in 2011

There are still many reminders of that time – Wineville Avenue, Wineville Road, Wineville Park are names which bear the painful past.

Sanford Clark was forced to carry out the murders and was himself kept at the lodge. Nevertheless, despite the unbelievable trauma he suffered, he still managed to gain some justice for the dead and their families by testifying at Northcott’s trial. Northcott was convicted and executed for the murders.

This tells the extraordinary story of what happened next – what kind of life Sanford Clark went on to live, far away from the memories or murder in Wineville.

Wineville changed its name to Mira Loma on November 1, 1930, due in large part to the negative publicity surrounding the murders. Sanford Clark returned to Saskatoon, Canada. Records of the city of Saskatoon indicate that he died on June 20, 1991,[9] and was buried in the Saskatoon Woodlawn Cemetery on August 26, 1993.