Introduction

"And you wonder: How the hell did this guy go on to be a loving father and grandfather? How did he bury all that crap? That's a whole story in itself.Clint Eastwood, director of Changeling, regarding Sanford Clark

 

From 1926 to 1928, Gordon Stewart Northcott committed at least twenty 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.   

Forced by Northcott to take part in the murders, Sanford carried tremendous guilt all his life. Yet, despite his youth and the trauma, he helped gain some justice for the dead and their families by testifying at Northcott's trial?which led to his conviction and execution.  It was a shocking story, but perhaps the most shocking part of all is the extraordinarily ordinary life Clark went on to live as a decorated WWII vet, a devoted husband of 55 years, a loving father, and a productive citizen.

In dramatizing one of the darkest cases in American crime, Flacco constructs a riveting psychological drama about how Sanford was able to detoxify himself from the evil he?d encountered, offering the ultimately redemptive story one man's remarkable ability to survive a nightmare and emerge intact.

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Excerpt

One

Thirteen-year-old Sanford Clark felt his stomach lurch when he realized that his mother was really going to send him away. He stared down at the floor and fought to control his breathing while his brain reeled from the news. Everything about it felt wrong. The atmosphere in the room took on a poisonous feel, as if a thin mist of acid had just rolled in through the window. He knew that his mother and uncle were telling him a pack of lies. It was all so off-kilter and strange that the moment belonged in a bad dream. ... view entire excerpt...

Discussion Questions

1. This story began over eighty years ago, still within the lifetimes of certain older people, and yet consider the isolation that so effectively cut Sanford off from escape. How have attitudes changed among the public regarding runaway children, in the sense of the differences in response that he might have expected by appealing for help from a random stranger, then -- as opposed to today?

2. Can you think of any way that he could have escaped from that place earlier than he did? What sort of risks would he have to take and what obstacles would he have encountered in that time and place?

3. Here’s the killer question: Could you do it? If you had two years of such madness and violence inflicted upon you, could you emerge back into the world? If so, where would your internal support come from?

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