During Northcott's trial, Sanford Clark testified about the "sexual abuse" inflicted on the children, says Straczynski. "It was pretty horrific," says the writer, who believes that Northcott had an incestuous relationship with his mother, Louisa, who later claimed to have killed Walter Collins, but Straczynski believes that she was just trying to save her son.
Once it was shown that the boy returned to her was not her son, Collins improbably waged war on the establishment. The Police Commission held a hearing but refused to discipline Jones. Later, however, the City Council's health and welfare committee recommended the removal of both Jones and Chief Davis. After two trials, a judge eventually ordered Jones to pay Collins $10,800, but he never paid. He and Davis were eventually reinstated to the LAPD, with Davis becoming chief again in 1933.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, October 19, 2008 Home Edition Main News Part A Page 2 National Desk 1 inches; 24 words Type of Material: Correction
Clint Eastwood: An article in today's Calendar section about Clint Eastwood's newest film, "Changeling," says the actor-director has three children. Eastwood has seven children.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Sunday, October 26, 2008 Home Edition Sunday Calendar Part E Page 2 Calendar Desk 1 inches; 23 words Type of Material: Correction
Clint Eastwood: An article last Sunday about Clint Eastwood's latest film, "Changeling," stated that the actor-director has three children. Eastwood has seven children.
More important, in the wake of Collins' incarceration, the California Legislature passed a bill that prohibited the police from throwing a person into a psychiatric facility without a warrant.
Eastwood believes that Collins was killed on the Northcott ranch, but the boy's body was never found. Unlike some of Northcott's other victims, none of Walter Collins' possessions or trace elements were found there. Throughout her life, Christine Collins maintained hope that her son was alive, and continued to search for him.
Northcott, notes Eastwood, tormented Collins to the very end. Citing a memoir by Quentin Duffy, a San Quentin warden, Eastwood notes that Northcott invited Collins and another mother to see him in jail right before his execution in 1930. "He messed with their brains. [Northcott] led them to believe he would give them closure and he didn't. He jerked them around." In fact, the killer again insisted he was innocent.
Says Eastwood, "It was his last sadistic act."
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rachel.abramowitz@latimes.com
