Info for JMS on Gordon Stewart Northcott

[Ro1101]

Dear Mr. Paul,
I would love to read your book Nothing is Strange with You: The Life and Crimes of Gordon Stewart Northcott on "Kindle 2: Amazon's New Wireless Reading Device. So far I'm not having any luck, Would you be interested in
signing up with them? Loved the movie the Changeling

[Dan Dassow]

Randy Boswell, The Ottawa Citizen, Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Murderer wanted his name 'known all over the world'
Fame-seeking Gordon Stewart Northcott

was hanged for child sex killings

and a new film may just give him that infamy, writes Randy Boswell

http://www.canada.com/ottawacitizen/news/story.html?id=54fe38d8-0bf5-4c34-b2ff-c73950e6fa9c&p=2

Randy Boswell
The Ottawa Citizen
Wednesday, May 07, 2008

This article has spoilers for plot points and includes an interview with James Jeffrey Paul. I've included only the first four paragraphs for reference.

Nearly 80 years after a young, publicity-craving Canadian man was hanged in California for a series of child sex killings -- horrific crimes dubbed the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders during his sensational 1929 trial -- Gordon Stewart Northcott's twisted dream of global fame is finally set to be fulfilled

Changeling, a hotly anticipated historical drama directed by Hollywood icon Clint Eastwood and chosen to premiere this month at the Cannes Festival, revolves around efforts of a desperate mother, played by Angelina Jolie, to determine whether her 10-year-old son was one of the victims.

Born in Saskatchewan in 1906 and raised in B.C., Mr. Northcott moved to the Los Angeles area with his parents in the 1920s, but fled to Canada after body parts of four boys were discovered at the family's Wineville, California, chicken farm in 1928.

The 21-year-old fugitive was apprehended near Vernon, B.C., and Mr. Northcott's extradition and interrogation aboard a Los Angeles-bound train, his mother's admitted involvement in the slayings, his high-profile trial -- at which he unsuccessfully defended himself -- and his execution at San Quentin Prison in October 1930 were all widely covered by North American newspapers.

...

[James Jeffrey Paul]

Dan -- No, GSN claimed that his father sodomized him when he was little, but that wasn't true, and his dad forgave him for slandering him. His mom said that she wasn't his mom--she was the product of an incestuous union between his dad, Cyrus, and his older sister, Winnifred, which also wasn't true!

Anything to help Stewart, even if he did molest and kill children.

I've found over 6,000 pages of primary source materials--the 5,000+ pages of trial transcript, files on Northcott, his mom, and his uncle from San Quentin, hundreds of newspaper articles, transcripts from Canada, and other legal documents and records.

And photographs--over 200 of them, most never published before, so far as I know.

Thank you so much for your interest.

[Dan Dassow]

Gordon Stewart Northcott

Hello. I'm a freelance writer in Raleigh, North Carolina. For over 15 years, I've been researching and working on a biography of Gordon Stewart Northcott, the serial killer and pedophile who lived in Riverside County in the late 1920s. The Christine Collins case--the subject of CHANGELING--is but one peripheral part of that overall fascinating, terrifying, and tragic story.

James,

I am happy to see that someone has finally done research related to Gordon Stewart Northcott and will be publishing a book about him. The manhunt, trial and execution of Northcott were front page news in the Los Angeles times from mid-1928 through October 2, 1930 when he was executed. There are indications in some of the news stories that Northcott was abused and humiliated as a child.

My book is called NOTHING IS STRANGE WITH YOU: THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF GORDON STEWART NORTHCOTT. I've found an incredible amount of facts and primary source materials that no researcher has ever uncovered before.

I have become intrigued about the events related to the Collins case and have done a minor amount of research myself. There seems to be little published other than short articles and newspaper accounts. I am rather surprised that no one has previously written a book about Northcott. I am looking forward to reading your book.

I suspect that much of the new material you have uncovered comes from Canada since Northcott and his family emigrated from Canada to Wineville, California in Riverside County. J. Michael Straczynski probably made use of court documents related to the trial and newspaper accounts when researching the Collins case for the film.

The actor who plays Northcott in Changeling, Jason Butler Harner, seems to be perfect for the role. Harner has extensive New York theater background and looks a lot like Gordon Northcott. He is currently appearing in the HBO miniseries, John Adams as Oliver Wolcott, Jr., the second United States Secretary of the Treasury.

A literary agency is looking my book over now. I thought that JMS would be interested in my book and in the info contained therein.

If only my book can be published soon--what a great tie-in to the movie it would make!

If JMS is interested, he can click on my profile, find my e-mail address, and e-mail me.

Best,
James Jeffrey Paul (fellow crime enthusiast)

I hope that your literary agent finds your book interesting. Your agent would probably be the best person to contact Universal Pictures concerning a tie-in with Changeling.

Regardless, I wish you the best of luck and I look forward to seeing the publication of your book. Please let us know about your progress.

Sincerely,
Dan Dassow

[James Jeffrey Paul]

I sure will, Jan-who-is-a-woman.

And I did sign up for that Google Babylon 5 discussion group and post a message there. Thanks for the tip.

[Jan]

Good luck, James!

I knew that there was a lot of the Northcott story missing from the movie just from the tiny bit of research I did when learning about 'Changeling'. With the focus on Christine Collins, though, it pretty much had to be.

Keep us posted, okay?

Jan

[James Jeffrey Paul]

Well, Mr. Straczynski's script for the movie CHANGELING is about one small aspect of the whole incredible story of Gordon Stewart Northcott.

My bio deals (for the first time) with the whole story. As I said, it's called NOTHING IS STRANGE WITH YOU: THE LIFE AND CRIMES OF GORDON STEWART NORTHCOTT.

I've spent 15 YEARS or more researching and have found stuff that no other researcher has ever found. Hundreds of photos, over 6,000 pages of primary documents, hundreds of newspaper articles.

An agency is looking it over now.

Please pray for its success! The fact of the movie should be a good selling point.

[Jan]

Please, don't give it another thought. Technically my name is Janet, I just don't use the second syllable.

Did you send your message to the Moderated Newsgroup? There's a delay until new threads (and posters) get moderated but Amy's good about doing that regularly.

Meanwhile, would you like to tell us more about your project?

Jan

[James Jeffrey Paul]

I apologize, Madam Moderator.

Yes, I usually think of "Jan" as a man's name. Of course, women named "Janet" or "Janice" are often known by the abbreviated nickname of "Jan," but I thought you were a man named Jan.

[Jan]

Well, I'd like to be there this weekend, cuz Jared Padeleki from Supernatural is going to be there, but as far as I know, I won't be there til next year's Megacon.

Okay...I just want to be sure to reward you...properly...for that little slip in my title above. Not to worry, it'll keep.

And that's LADY "Voldem... er, our loving moderator" to you!

Jan
(so hard to find good minions these days...)

[OmahaStar]

PS: Omaha...when did you say you were coming back to this neighborhood??

Well, I'd like to be there this weekend, cuz Jared Padeleki from Supernatural is going to be there, but as far as I know, I won't be there til next year's Megacon.

[Jan]

People, people...I saw it about 10 minutes after it was posted and it bothered me not at all. I understand that in many places in the world the name Jan is considered a man's name rather that a female one. I is a cosmopolitan kinda gal, I is!

Jan
So there!

PS: Omaha...when did you say you were coming back to this neighborhood??

[OmahaStar]

Is that the Narn Bat Squad I hear in the background????

Shhh .. It's going to be fun when Lord Voldem... er, our loving moderator, sees it. Bwahahaha

[cruiser]

Thank you very much for that information, gentlemen.

Is that the Narn Bat Squad I hear in the background????

[James Jeffrey Paul]

Thank you very much for that information, gentlemen.