Customer Reviews

The Road Out of Hell: Sanford Clark and the True Story of the Wineville Murders

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's not often we get to hear the story from the victim of a serial killer as we do in this sensitively written account of Sanford Clark, the nephew of serial killer Gordon Stewart Northcott.

In 1926 Northcott snatched his nephew, 13 year old Sanford, away from his self centered sister and used him for sex as well as his servant and accomplice as Northcott raped, tortured and murdered about 20 young boys on his chicken ranch outside of Los Angeles. This scenario repeated itself with escalating mania for two years before Northcott was caught, convicted and executed by the state.

In an earlier work about Northcott and his crimes, James Jeffrey Paul's book, Nothing is Strange with You: The Life and Crimes of Gordon Stewart Northcott, Paul details the facts about Northcott and the legal ramifications of his crimes, as horrific as anything we've ever known.

But what of the nephew, Sanford Clark, Northcott's victim accomplice who managed to survive the psychopathic depravity and sexual abuse at the hands of his uncle?

Sanford was small for his age during the years he lived with Northcott. He was young, alone and so dominated by his abusive uncle, he lost all sense of the outside world and fully believed he would become Northcott's next victim. Daily Northcott abused Sanford with beatings, humiliation, demeaning his intellect, satisfying his sexual needs and enlisting him to carry out his perverted atrocities on young boys he lured to his ranch with promises of horseback riding, baby rabbit hutches or a day's work. This constant terror forced Sanford to subsume his individuality to suit his uncle's appetites for sex and control.

There is nothing that can change the facts about Sanford's victimization at the hands of Northcott, but we can learn much. The story is told from inside Sanford's head from one spellbinding moment to the next spellbinding moment. I was so consumed reading about Sanford's life that I inhaled the hope he finally found when, "He felt a quick burst of pride over how fast he was learning to find his way around the worst of his uncle."

My only frustration here, and it is a minor one, is that I wanted to know more, and in greater detail, the thoughts and steps during Sanford's years at the Whittier Boys School where he was sent after the murder trial. It was there he found the love and acceptance so necessary at a critical time in his life. I don't think it is a careless assumption that without the Whittier school, Sanford's remaining years would have been a lot more painful for him and the world around him.

It takes an unusually gifted writer to describe Sanford's circumstances without descending into gratuitous salacious descriptions of sexual defilement.

Award winning author, Anthony Flacco, is at his best telling true stories as he did in previous books, A Checklist For Murder from Dell Books and Tiny Dancer from St. Martin's Press. He writes from his point of view that the reader should get into the "heart and mind of his central character." He excels in this challenge.

Flacco's historical fiction, The Last Nightingale from Random House and The Hidden Man from Ballantine Books, are equally well written and captivating as Flacco uses his main characters well to tell the story, but his powerful literary punch comes from his execution of the personal experience.

Painstaking insights into Sanford's strategy to prevail compelled me to keep reading. Although the facts are disgusting, Flacco's writing style is like being carried out of a burning house in the arms of a heroic fire fighter. You know what's happening is really bad, but Flacco's literary embrace, like that of being rescued, allowed me to witness the destruction from a safe place.

The book is inspired by Sanford Clark's son, Jerry Clark. It is his tribute to his father's amazing resolve and strength of will to go on and live a full and loving life in spite of his endless fight to exorcise Northcott's demons embedded within him.

Jerry Clark achieved his goal here. Readers who are skeptical that children can rise above a hellish childhood will find this book not only uplifting but wonderful to read.
Highly recommended. Extremely well crafted.

I read this book in two sittings, simply because it was so intriguing and so mind boggling that I simply could not put it down. I read the other book about northcott and this is far superior because it wasn't as textbookish like. the personalities were brought out much more clearer and real than the previous book about this situation. If there was any criticism, it would be that the capture of the boys and the violence towards them was definitely in the background, but not just in front of the reader. I kept wondering....how were the boys kept for all that length of time and how did he manage to keep them so hidden? Some of those details were left out, but overall, this is one book i will never forget, and for some reason, this story sticks with me and hard to shake. Don't even hesitate buying this book if u are fascinated by this story...the story becomes much too real, much too horrific. Hope u have the stomach for it.

I read "nothing is strange with you" the story of GS Northcott, and I always wondered what happened to poor young Sanford, well, now I know. This book is so wonderful, there is so much detail and you truly get to know this man, and his story. It's amazing that he turned out to be the man he was. This book is both sad and inspiring. Truly a wonderful read.

For the purist follower of the flim Changeling, or the follower of the Wineville Chicken-Coop murders in 1926, the book by Anthony Flacco finally tells us the story from the words of nephew-victim, Sanford Clark (as told to his son Jerry, by Sanford himself).

Anthony Flacco has masterfully written a brilliant crime novel that covers the events, horror and unbelievability that took place between Sanford Clark, his uncle-Gordon Northcott, and 4 murdered children, including Walter Collins on a chicken ranch in Wineville Ca in 1926.

For those of us who were thoroughly engaged by the masterful writing skills of screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski in Changeling, this book represents the third part and final 'trilogy' in the continuing story of what happened at Wineville. (The film being the first part of the trilogy, the second part of the trilogy, the book by James Jeffrey Paul-Nothing is Strange with You).

The film left many of us wondering about whether or not Walter Collins may have escaped.

After hearing the Story that Sanford tells in the book by Mr. Flacco, one has little doubt as to poor Walter's outcome, but besides that, this book is about Sanford and his true story.

When Sanford was discharged from the Whittier reformitory, he returned to Canada to live an exemplary life. Sanford did not wish to relive the horrors that he had been an unwilling participant in and so there has never been a true accounting of Sanford's story, besides the original court transcripts.

This is the second hand account of the story (from Sanford to his son Jerry to Mr. Flacco)of Wineville with all of the inherint horrors.

Sanford was brutalized, sodomized and beaten to the fear of death by his uncle Gordon. At this juncture, Sanford was an unwilling participant in the murders of 4 children. Sanford was never charged with the crime of murder, but was sentenced to a few years in the Whittier reformitory, where they took him in and gave him the love that had been missing from his parents and maternal family.

Sanford lived an exemplary life outwardly in Canada..........he married, adopted 3??children, served in the military, but nonetheless his 'Road Out Of Hell' did not come an emotional price that Sanford had to pay the remainder of his life.

Poor Sanford lost all of his self-esteem blaming himself for the murders of the children and that he was not able to escape from his uncle Gordon. Sanford may have been one of the first victims of what we now call Stockholm Syndrome.

Sanford's nightmares haunted him for the rest of his life, and the author very poignantly helps us to feel first hand Sanford's inner torture towards the ending of the book when he speaks to his own son Jerry on his deathbed. It just ripped my heart out that someone who was a true innocent, lamb of God, and managed to give so much to people after his childhood event at Wineville still had strong feelings of worthlessness on their deathbed.

Gordon's madness lived within Sanford long after Gordon was hung for the murder of the children in 1928.

In terms of crime novels, I am not a fan, but I am a huge fan of the story of the Wineville Chicken-Coop Murders, and I cannot recommend highly enough this masterful writing by Mr. Flacco of Sanford's story of Wineville as told to his son Jerry.

Sanford spoke to us from his grave and it is both a horrendous account of the madness of man, while at the same time a reminder of the goodness that we can keep inside of all of us as we move forward in the daily battles that life gives us all.

This book just popped up on my little "treat yourself" list last week, and since I'd never heard of the Wineville murders before, I grabbed it. It wasn't until I got about a third of the way through, that I recognized the name of Walter Collins from the great Clint Eastwood movie, "The Changeling" when all the pieces began to fall into place. But this book isn't about the abduction of Walter Collins, but the survival of Sanford Clark, who was sent to live with the evil Gordon Stuart Northcott, one of the most depraved serial killers of the 20th century.

This story of survival and the yearning to be "normal" after such unspeakable crimes committed against this young man will break your heart and then have you cheering when Sanford is finally set free of his captor and his long struggle to become a functioning member of society with the help of a loving wife and prosecutor who gave Sanford that second chance he so desperately needed.

I read this book in less than 24 hours and simply couldn't put it down, it was that good and that powerful. Hat's off to the author and the son's of Sanford Clark for having the courage to tell this story, and the pictures were an added plus.

Highly recommended and a must read for those interested in true crime.

after having seen the Clint Eastwood film THE CHANGELING, I read a book by Jeffrey James Paul about the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders which dealt with the same subject. I liked that book very much and recently reviewed it on Amazon. ROAD OUT OF HELL essentially deals with the same crimes, but from a different point of view.
The background for this book concerns the Wineville murders which involved the abduction, rape, imprisonment, torture, and sadistic murders of mostly young boys and a couple of young men by a psychopath named Gordon Northcott. Assisting him were Northcott's equally unbalanced mother and his unwilling accomplice nephew Sanford Clark. The point of view this book is written from partially regards the mistreatment and forced imprisonment of Sanford Clark. A slight boy with no sign of the psychological maladies plaguing his uncle and unsettling grandmother, Clark is sexually, physically, and psychologically abused by his uncle and forced into an unwilling alliance with Northcott where he did his uncle's bidding by assisting with the murders of the young boys and the disposal of their remains. Living in fear that he would become Northcott's next victim, Clark managed to survive a period of approximately two years before the authorities focused their attention of Northcott and brought him to justice without ever getting information on all of his potential victims.
Initially, Clark was incarcerated in California and eventually was kept in detention. Released after rehabilitation (though rehabilitation is probably not even an accurate term since Sanford was also victimized and showed no signs of the family madness nor the streak of evil and sadism exhibited by Northcott), Clark served in the military during WWII in his native Canada, married and fathered two sons, and lived an exemplary life as a family man and solid citizen.
This book is hard to take at times because it goes into detail regarding Northcott's activities which were gruesome and sadistic as well as Northcott's treatment of the young and defenseless Clark, but it also stands as testimony that while Clark may have killed he was never a killer.
Well written, this book would appeal to anyone interested in the category of true crimes or anyone interested in the Wineville murders.

I read the road out of hell and thought it was a true crime masterpiece!It is about a young canadian boy named Sanford who is sent away by his uncaring parents to live with his uncle gordon stewart northcott to help him with his chicken ranch in the late 1920's california.Soon Sanford finds out that his uncle Gordon is an absolute monster, killing kids and luring them in by promising them things they want like horse rides,rides in his car,etc.The great part in the book is how Sanford an innocent kid and a victim of his uncle himself tries to comfort the other kids in their approaching doom.Young sanford has a strong ally though in his older sister jessie who comes down from canada to rescue her brother and to help him stop their crazy,sick uncle from killing more innocent kids.It is a triumph to see sanford make a normal life afterwards after the road from hell he was forcibly put into.the perverted very sick uncle really gets what is coming to him in the end!the road out of hell book is a great read but sad.It's great to see sanford and his older protective sis jessie stand up against a monster they have to call their uncle. they are so good and he is so bad!This book is a 4 star book but I think it would of been even better if sanford clark himself wrote it with an authors help.I highly recommend this book.

On the negative side this story involves an uncaring mother, a cruel grandmother, a sociopathic uncle, and an ambivalent father and grandfather. On the positive side we have an abused thirteen-year old boy, a loving sister, a caring adult who the boy did not want to disappoint, and a loving wife and their two adopted sons.

This story aptly illustrates the psychological torment that is involved throughout the remainder of their life when a child is abused. Sanford Clark is forced to leave his home in Saskatchewan, Canada, to live in southern California with his uncle in a murderous environment which is disguised as a chicken ranch. It was only through the determination of his loving and caring sister who spent every cent she had to travel down to check on the welfare of her brother due to suspicions of the letters he wrote to her at home.

We will never know the full extent of the murders committed by the deranged Uncle Stewart, but justice was eventually served and Sanford was able to return home to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, to marry, adopt two children and live a productive life despite having to deal with migraine headaches and other psychological problems for the remainder of his life. Thanks to the efforts of his sister and wife he was able to adjust, and to even serve in the Canadian army during World War II.

This is not a pleasant story to read, but then it is a true crime story that does have a happy ending. It is a fast and easy read and hard to put down. I wouldn't say this is a book to enjoy, but we can, to some extent, learn the difficulties encountered by those individuals that have been tortured physically and psychologically by deranged individuals.

Jerry Clark is Sanford Clark's son. Sanford Clark is the protagonist of this book. He was 13 years old when his uncle Gordon Stewart Northcott took him from his Canadian childhood home to live in California to help out on the uncle's newly acquired chicken farm.

The entire Northcott family is insane, let's get that out of the way. Uncle Stewart was the most insane of them all.

Sanford Clark was very sane but his two years at the hell of Uncle Stewart's chicken farm almost sent him over the brink. It is a testament to the human spirit that Sanford Clark survived it.

Anthony Flacco is likely the composer of the prose for this book and here's a fellow who writes beautifully. Non-fiction books don't lend themselves all that well to fluidity and pretty words, especially the true crime type of this particularl book, but Anthony Flacco managed to pull it off, kudos to him.

The terrific writing coupled with the totally captivating story of the tale kept me immersed for several days. This was one of those rare books that has me looking to see how much I have left to read and hoping the thickness of the remaining pages will stop decreasing that I may enjoy it longer.

And though a crime of a horrific nature, the book had a nice ending with Uncle Stewart getting his due as he deserved, dear Lord, that had to be the best scene of the book.

Wineville was the name of the California town in which Uncle Stewart had his chicken farm. The crimes of Stewart Northcott were so heinous that Wineville residents changed the name of their entire town.

Adolescent Sanford did as his Uncle Stewart commanded, taking care of the chickens, doing all daily chores, fixing Uncle Stewart's meals and, of course, helping to murder and dispose of Uncle Stewart's young victims.

Ah yes. Uncle Stewart was one mean, mean, mean son of a bitch. He got his jollies by being mean and Sanford was also the object of Uncle Stewart's mean-ness. Young Sanford suffered more than any child his age should ever have to endure.

With beautiful prose and a continuing theme of a young boy surviving an aching "heaviness" as he buried young boys alive, was himself often thrown into a small pit to survive days on end, had to swing an axe at a young boy's skull to aid in the kill, the book carries the reader through the days and mind-numbing hours of Sanford's survival.

His own grandparents, who were full aware of Uncle Stewart's strange-ness, left Sanford to suffer so horrifically until the young boy lost all touch with reality and a civil world.

Through a series of mis-steps, that crazy family, including the nutty grandmother and insane Uncle Stewart were finally stopped from their crimes.

If I had one complaint about this book it's how unclear it was to me just why Sanford Clark was guilty of any crime. Yes it was frustrating to this reader that young Sanford would avoid escape or reporting the horror around him but knowing the story even in this day of age with phones and email of young people captured and held when it would seem that escape was very possible, I know these "prisoners" accept their captive fate that a casual observer would fine bizarre. Sanford Clark lived through his hell during an era when most people didn't even have telephones. In fact, it was Sanford's sister who finally had to drive down from Canada to save Sanford for the lack of communication available in the early 1900 era that the chicken coop crimes occurred.

Sanford was sent to an American reform school of some sort and I deduce that it was as much to keep him away from that insane family of his as any "crime" this victim might have committed.

I can't recommend this book enough to True Crime afficiandos or any devout reader appreciative of fine prose and a captivating story.


[...]

Many readers will never give _The Road Out of Hell_ a chance because the nightmare "reality" is so sickening. I was drawn to the story because the title clearly suggests the book's purpose: How did Sanford Clark possibly build a life after such a hell of kidnap and sexual slavery, eventually leading to forced partipation in unspeakable murder?

My heroes are people who face terrible ordeals and are not crushed by it: Nelson Mandela on the global scale, and now Sanford Clark on an ineffable scale. The boy Sanford suffered horrors I could scarcely have survived; even physical survival would have been meaningless as my spirit might never have found the needed guidance or support.

Sanford's first and most vital guide was attorney Loyal Kelley, who somehow had intuition to understand what had really happened, and the kind of help Sanford needed to recover. Then came Sanford's gratitude: his resolve to prove he earned Loyal's trust and help.

On release Sanford Clark longed only for a normal life. Here, tremendous ironies: When he met June, who was to become his lifelong bride, he first approached her with a kind of mask. She was indifferent. But his attraction was so real and awkward, he had to go back, and this time she responded to his open sincerity. The irony was perfect: His kidnapper had worn the "Mask of Benign Affability" to ensnare his victims, but June could not warm to masks of any kind. He had to take a risk, and she fully shared that risk, knowing almost from the start the essence of his tragic experience.

Jerry Clark is their son, who had only one conversation with his father about the ordeal but wanted his father's story known. Eventually he found Anthony Flacco to help tell that story, and it's hard not to feel doubts about some dialogue in quotes. Still, the essence feels true, and I must commend Sanford's story to any defeated spirit: If Sanford can return from his hell, so can anyone.

I cannot imagine any young life more afflicted by death and despair. Even holocaust survivors had some sort of support and companionship; Sanford had nobody to lighten his hours in the chickenhouse pit, sensing boy corpses or ghosts around him, looking through slats for a glimpse of stars in the ever-darkening night.

In his long years of resolute recovery Sanford came to see that countless people have their own "heaviness"; they too are haunted in their own ways, and must seek their own process of recovery. His technique is wonderfully summed:

"He knew gratitude as a daily experience. The act of seeking this gratitude in his moments of despair was his key survival tool."

Finally, as I type, it's nearing the twentieth anniversary of Nelson Mandela's release after twentyseven years in South African prisons: Mandela, who most missed the presence of children, their laughter and their play, who surely feels anguish for any child trapped without visible hope; Mandela, whose release prompted the New York Times to publish a series of commentaries by other political prisoners on how Mandela's release brought light into their worlds, giving them courage to endure their own ordeals, and come back stronger than ever.

And so I'm again reminded of a favorite hymn by Enya, whose "life goes on in endless song above earth's lamentation":

"In prison cell and dungeon vile
our thoughts to them are winging,
when friends by shame are undefiled
how can I keep from singing?"