The road out of hell

From 1926 to 1928, Gordon Stewart Northcott committed at least 20 murders on a chicken ranch outside of Los Angeles. His nephew, Sanford Clark, held captive there from the age of 13 to 15, was the sole surviving victim of the killing spree. Here, crime writer Anthony Flacco--using never-before-heard information from Sanford's son Jerry Clark--tells the real story behind the case. Forced by Northcott to take part in the murders, Sanford carried tremendous guilt all his life. Yet despite his youth and the trauma, he was the star witness at Northcott's trial, leading to his execution. Perhaps the most shocking part of all is the extraordinarily ordinary life Clark went on to live as a decorated WWII vet, a devoted husband of 55 years, a loving father, and a productive citizen. Flacco shows how Sanford was able to detoxify himself from the evil he'd encountered and emerge intact.--From publisher description.