Gordon Stewart Northcott was born on November 9, 1906, in Bladworth, Saskatchewan, Canada. He grew up in this small Canadian town for his early years. When he was about eighteen years old, he moved with his parents to British Columbia. In 1924, the family took another big step and moved to Los Angeles, California.

After settling in Los Angeles, Northcott asked his father to buy a piece of land in a place called Wineville, California. There, he built a chicken ranch and a house. His father, who worked in construction, helped him with the building. Northcott also brought his nephew, Sanford Clark, from Bladworth to live with them in the United States. Clark assisted with the ranch.

Gordon Stewart Northcott lived on a chicken ranch in California. While there, he abducted a number of boys and sexually abused them. After the abuse, he usually returned the boys home. However, four of those boys were murdered on his ranch.

On September 19, 1928, Northcott and his mother were arrested by Canadian police. They were not returned to Los Angeles until November 30 due to errors in the extradition paperwork. Northcott was connected to the murder of Walter Collins. His mother confessed to Collins' murder and faced sentencing, so the state chose not to pursue charges against Northcott for that crime.

Authorities speculated that Northcott might have killed as many as 20 boys, but there was not enough evidence to support this claim. He was ultimately indicted for the murders of Alvin Gothea, an unidentified Mexican boy known as the "Headless Mexican," and two brothers, Lewis and Nelson Winslow, who were ages 12 and 10. The Winslow brothers had been reported missing on May 16, 1928.

Northcott's trial began in early 1929, presided over by Judge George R. Freeman in Riverside County, California. The jury heard evidence that Northcott had kidnapped, molested, tortured, and murdered the Winslow brothers and Alvin Gothea in 1928. After a 27-day trial, Northcott was convicted of those murders on February 8, 1929. He was sentenced to death on February 13.

Gordon Stewart Northcott was executed by hanging on October 2, 1930, at San Quentin State Prison. The execution was not carried out as planned. The rope failed to break his neck, causing him to die from strangulation, which took 13 minutes.