We know that children comprise the victim list in many acts of violence. As we gaze upon the innocent faces of our leaders of tomorrow we may wonder how a person could commit any crime against these little people. Now let’s take another look at some of them. History tells us that some of these little darlings; more than you might suspect, are the perpetrators of some of the most heinous crimes known to man. Not only have some of these rascals murdered, they have become, by definition, serial killers.
I remember Lyle and Eric Menendez and their high-profile trial in 1994 for the 1989 murder of their parents. These young men assassinated their wealthy parents and attempted to use child abuse as a defense. At the time I thought that it got no worse than that; children that killed their own parents had to be the worse crime ever. A while back I did a post on mommy murderers, highlighting some of the most ungrateful, thoughtless acts that could be committed by a son or daughter. These young people take the cake however, they have crossed the line of depravity from being murderers they have entered the realm of being serial killers and with that, they have made their way into my blog; with that I present to you seven of the youngest serial killers in the world.
Gordon Stewart Northcott was responsible for a group of murders known as the Wineville Chickencoop Murders. Northcott kidnapped, sexually abused, and murdered at least three, and possibly as many as twenty or more young boys in the Los Angeles and
Riverside county areas between 1926-1928. In 1926, Northcott, a 19-year-old Canadian born chicken ranch owner, took his 13-year-old nephew Sanford Clark, from the boy’s home in Canada to his ranch in Wineville, CA under the guise of showing him the ropes of ranching. However, once young Sanford arrived, Northcott immediately forced him into slavery The young boy waited on his uncle hand and foot and in return he would be beaten and raped regularly. Sanford also assisted Northcott in luring small boys to the ranch where they too would be beaten and sodomized. When he tired of the boys he would pimp them out to a network of rich pedophiles. Northcott’s mother assisted her son in his crimes against children. It would be Sarah Louise Northcott that gave Gordon the notion to murder the boys when he was done with them. Previous to this Northcott would generally drive his victims home after he has had his way with them. Following his mother’s advice, Northcott either shot or hit the victim in the head with an ax after defiling the boys.
The first known murder was to a young Mexican boy with whom Northcott had argued with. Northcott shot the boy and beheaded him. Northcott forced Clark to help dispose of the head by burning it in a fire pit and then crushing the skull. He then left the headless body by the side of the road. Though it is believed that Northcott murdered a great number of boys, due to a lack of evidence, he was only charged with the murder of 3 and an accomplice in one. Lewis and Nelson Winslow and of Walter Collins were killed by ax. With the assistance of his mother and nephew, he would then dissolve the flesh from the corpse using quicklime. The remains were buried in shallow graves on the ranch.
Authorities first became knowledgeable of Northcott’s crimes when Sanford’s sister Jessie came to the Wineville ranch for a visit. Sanford, 15 years old at this time told his older sister everything concerning the crimes their uncle and grandmother had committed. Jessie went to the authorities and reported every horrid detail that her younger brother had told her. To ensure proper handling of this case, Los Angeles Police Department contacted the United States Immigration Service to determine facts relative to Jessie’s complaint and Sanford’s status in the country. Immigration officers visited the ranch; finding Sanford there alone they immediately took him into custody. During the ensuing investigation, partial remains of the Winslow boys, as well as Walter Collins, were found. Northcott and his mother, Sarah Louise, fled to Canada but were arrested near Vernon, British Columbia on September 19, 1928. During questioning Northcott alternated between confessing his guilt in these and other murders to adamantly professing his innocence in all charges. Northcott was eventually sentenced to death for the murders of Lewis and Nelson Winslow. Sarah Louise Northcott pleads guilty to the murder of Walter Collins and was sentenced to life. On October 2, 1930, 23-year-old Gordon Stewart Northcott was hanged at San Quentin State Prison.
The South African murderer and rapist, Norman Afzal Simons be killing on September 29th, 1986 at the age of 19. In October, authorities found the body of 14-year-old Jonathan
Claasen near Modderdam station in Bellville South. The local media dubbed Simons the “Station Strangler,” as he is believed to have lured his victims away from train stations. From October 1986 until April 1994, at least 22 boys were found murdered and buried face down in shallow sandy graves, their hands tied behind their backs and bearing the signs of having been sodomized.
Simons, was quite an intelligent individual, he played classical music and spoke seven languages fluently. Employed as a Grade 5 teacher at Alpine Primary School in East Ridge, Mitchell’s Plain; it is not known whether his victims came directly from his student contact or students associated to those in his class. What is known is that Simons raped and sodomized his victims before strangling them. All victims were young boys aged between 9 and 13 from the Cape Malays community. In 1994 Simons was arrested and thought to be South Africa’s most prolific serial killer. During questioning investigators asked him the motive behind his murders, he alleged that as a child his stepbrother raped and sodomized him. He went on to inform investigators that his stepbrothers spoke to him, forcing him to rape and murder young boys; even though his stepbrother was murdered in 1991.
Though all victims displayed similar modus operandi and prima facie evidence showed Simons was probably responsible for the deaths, Simons was found guilty of only a single kidnap, rape and murder case. In 1995, Norman Afzal Simons was sentenced to 25 years for murder and 10 years for kidnapping Elroy van Rooy.
Peter Woodcock aka David Michael Kruger
Born to a 17-year-old factory worker, Peter Woodcock was put up for adoption and shuffled around from foster home to foster home. In at least one of those homes young Peter was abused by foster parents very early in his life. By the age of two, he had been so
badly treated that he was afraid of most people and would scream loudly when approached. At the age of three Woodcock was placed into the stable home of Frank and Susan Maynard, but by then the damage was done. By the age of five he would no longer scream when approached; instead, he would cower into the nearest corner. This act of cowering when nervous lasted through his adolescent years. As a pre-teen and into his teenage years he was bullied incessantly due to his lack of social skills. When walking home he would wander off his path a great deal. Initially, he wandered to avoid bullies; he continued to wander to find small boys to abuse, rape, and to…………kill.
Peter owned a red and white Schwinn bicycle. He would ride his bike, leading his make believe gang of 500 boys on bikes called the ‘Winchester Heights Gang.’ He and his “gang” would ride around Toronto sexually assaulting children. On September 15, 1956; Woodcock lured 7 year old Wayne Mallette into a secluded area and strangled him to death. During the assault, Woodcock bit him on his calf and butt then defecated next to the body. The following month Woodcock picked up 9-year-old Gary Morris and took him to a nearby beach on his bike. Once he was away from any potential witness Woodcock strangled and beat the child to death. Oddly, in each case, the children’s clothes looked as if they had been stripped from them then redressed.
In January of 1957 witnesses saw a teenager fitting Woodcock’s description riding a bicycle with 4-year-old Carole Voyce on it. Her body was found under a viaduct naked. She had been choked unconscious with a tree branch shoved into her vaginal area. A composite sketch was created based on witness descriptions and Woodcock was arrested. During questioning, Woodcock confessed to all three murders. Due to a lack of evidence as well as witnesses Woodcock was only charged in Voyce’s murder. After a four-day trial, he was found not guilty by reason of insanity and was sent to the Oak Ridge Mental Health Centre. During his time there he engaged in homosexual activity with other inmates. He would trick inmates into giving him oral sex by offering them membership into his imaginary gang, the Brotherhood.
In 1991, after 35 years of incarceration, Woodcock, who had legally changed his name to David Michael Krueger was receiving his first weekend pass. Within an hour of receiving his pass he and Bruce Hamill (an inmate turned guard) murdered Dennis Kerr. Kerr had previously rejected Woodcock’s sexual advances but was meeting Woodcock/Krueger under the pretense of Krueger loaning him 500 dollars. Kerr arrived at the meeting location patiently waiting for Krueger. Unbeknownst to him, Krueger and Hamill were already there, waiting for the perfect time to strike. Suddenly, Krueger struck him in the head with a pipe wrench and continued to beat him into unconsciousness. Krueger and Hamill then seized the hatchet and knife they had hidden in the bushes while waiting for Kerr’s arrival and hacked and stabbed Kerr, mutilating his body, cutting it open, and nearly severing his head. Drenched in Kerr’s blood, they then stripped themselves naked and sodomized the corpse.
Woodstock spent the rest of his life under criminally psychiatric care. He died on March 5, 2010 his 71st birthday.
This Argentinian serial killer kicked his murderous life off at the tender age of 16. Born with syphilis on Halloween of 1896, he was one of eight boys born to drunk, abusive parents. He started off fucked up. Godino enjoyed killing cats, birds, whatever he could
get his hands on. He also found solace in starting fires. At seven he beat up a 2-year-old and tossed him into a ditch. At 8 he beat a little girl with a rock. In both instances, authorities released him to his parents. When he was 10, he was accused of being a serial masturbator. His parents brought him to the local police and he ended up going to jail for 2 months for THAT.
In January of 1912, Godino set a warehouse on fire. He told police how he loved to start fires and seeing the firemen fall into the flames. The following week the body of 13-year-old Arturo Laurona, was found inside of an abandoned building. In March, Godino set fire to the dress of Reyna Vainicoff a five-year-old girl who lived nearby. She lived for a couple days after the incident but eventually succumbed to her injuries. Throughout the year of 1912, Godino became a menace to Buenos Aries by setting fires and attempting to murder area children. In December 1912, Godino lured 18-month-old Jesualdo Giordano into a shed by offering him sweets. The baby followed and once out of sight, Godino tried to choke him with his belt. When that didn’t work he used the belt to tie his hands and legs and commenced to beating the infant. He then went in search of a long nail. Once he found one to his liking, he then hammered the nail into the side of the baby’s head. When his father attempted to locate the lost infant, Godino denied seeing the child. A short time later the father found the corpse. During the wake later that evening Godino was seen admiring his handiwork, he touched the nail on the side of the deceased child’s head. The following morning Godino was arrested for murder.
Unsure where to house the young murderer authorities placed Godino into a reformatory. Even here the murderous demons called out to Godino as he attempted to kill several of the other inmates there. A judge discontinued his case in December of 1913 finding Godino insane thus allowing him to remain at the reformatory. However, in November of 1915, an appeal was approved ordering him to be moved to jail. In 1933, Godini spent a great deal of time in the prison hospital. Two men had attacked Godino for killing their pet cats. From 1935 onwards, he was always ill and received no visitors until he died on November 15, 1944 under strange circumstances.
In 1987 at the age of 13, Craig Chandler Price murdered his neighbor Rebecca Spencer, a 27-year-old mother of two. Price, a peeping tom; watched the young mother on several 
occasions from several vantage points he’d constructed. This time, however, was different; he crept across a neighbor’s yard and broke into the woman’s home. Price then grabbed knives from the kitchen and proceeded to stab her 58 times. Initially, the murders went unsolved until two years later in 1989, at the age of 15 Price struck again. He viciously murdered 39-year-old Joan Heaton, as well as her two daughters; 10-year-old Jennifer, and 8-year-old Melissa. Price was so malicious in his attack that pieces of the knives broke in the bone of the three victims.
Police on the scene noticed the familiarity in the two murder scenes. Price stabbed Heaton over 62 times and the children approximately 30 times. Both victims showed the bite marks left by the perpetrator. Once outed as the potential assailant, Price nonchalantly gave a vivid account of all four murders. He told how he bit Heaton’s face as he stabbed her repeatedly. He mimicked the last sounds of the dying girls. As he gave his accounts of these horrific crimes his mother sat next to him crying in disbelief at the words that were being spewed carelessly from her son’s mouth. The description given by his son sent Price’s father vomiting.
The scary though is that Price committed these heinous acts as a juvenile. He actually should’ve been released by now but, due to crimes committed during his incarceration. I don’t know if he has indicated any level of remorse for his actions. In my gut, I feel like we haven’t heard the last of Craig Chandler Price.
Amarjeet Sada is undoubtedly the world’s youngest serial killer. Born in Begusaray, Bihar, India in 1998; Sada began killing in 2006. At the age of 7, Sada murdered his six-month old cousin. The same year Sada murdered his own 8 month old sister, both by
strangulation. In 2007 Sada kidnapped and murdered a woman’s six month old baby. Reports vary on just how Sada took the baby. Some witnesses say that Sada eased the baby off of its sleeping mother’s lap. Others say that the mother had left her daughter to sleep at her village primary school while she attended to household chores and returned to find she had disappeared. Unfortunately, what is known is that Sada strangled the infant then laid the baby on the grass and started smashing her face repeatedly. Afterwards Sada covered the body with grass and leaves, and came back to his house. When asked about the whereabouts of the child Sada denied having seen it. Later in the evening, her relatives found the baby dead.
Though he had two previous murders, authorities were only notified about this one. Sada’s family chose to deal with the first two themselves as they were considered, ”family matters.” Sada was placed under arrest and sent to a Begusarai remand home. During questioning, Sada confessed to the murders, never once showing any signs of remorse. Throughout the interrogation he simply smiled at the officers and asked for biscuits.
In less than a month, the Dnepropetrovsk maniacs killed at least 21 people in the Ukraine. Beginning June 25, 2007, these 19 year olds attacked random citizens with a hammer, bludgeoning them to death just for the thrill of killing. Born Viktor Sayenko,
Alexander Hanzha and Igor Suprunyuk; the media dubbed them, “Dnepropetrovsk maniacs” from the town in the Ukraine in which they reside and committed the majority of their murders. They gained worldwide attention because the killers made video recordings of some of the murders, with one of the videos leaking to the internet.
Their murderous rampage began with murdering small animals. During their confessions they told investigators that they met each other at the age of 14. The three youths would help each other conquer their personal fears. To address a fear of heights, they hung over the railing of a 14th floor balcony. It is reported that Hanzha had a fear of blood which lead to torturing stray dogs. The boys captured dogs in a wooded area near their house, hanged them from trees, disemboweled them, and took pictures next to the corpses. By the time they were 17 they had moved on to strong arm and armed robberies. Suprunyuk owned a green Daewoo Lanos. The car was used as an unofficial cab which was used to rob passengers.
On June 25, 2007 they began a murder spree that would take at least 21 innocent lives in less than a month’s time. A combination of witnesses and pawned personal property of the victims led to their capture on July 23rd, 2007. Once apprehended the three men were charged with involvement in 29 separate incidents, including 21 murders and eight more attacks where victims survived. Suprunyuk was charged with 27 of the cases, including 21 counts of capital murder, eight armed robberies, and one count of animal cruelty. Sayenko was charged with 25 instances, including 18 murders, five robberies and one count of animal cruelty. Hanzha was only charged with two counts of armed robbery as he was not present for any of the murders. In less than a month, Suprunyuk and Sayenko attacked and killed 21 children, women, elderly, vagrants, or people under the influence of alcohol. The suspects’ mobile phones and personal computers contained multiple video recordings of the murders. Many of their videos were recorded simply for their own sick pleasure. They were also witnessed and videoed attending funerals of the victims. The video that gained the most notoriety is the leaked video of the murder of Sergei Yatzenko. Uploaded to a gore site and entitled 3 Guys 1 Hammer; (Warning: Very Graphic Video) Sayenko and Suprunyuk can be seen murdering Yatzenko.
Sayenko and Suprunyuk were sentenced to life in prison. Hanzaha was sentenced to nine years for the robberies.
As we see in these 7 instances; these young people are perfect examples of innocence lost; all murderers, just as prolific as their adult counterparts. Were these children victims of society somehow or were they born with a depravity gene? As you delve into the lives of these young people; you become the judge.
True Crime Stories From The Reignmaker 