Changeling: Wineville Chicken Coop Murders

Changeling is a Clint Eastwood movie that took place in the 1920’s in Los Angles, California. This film is based off of the true story known as the Wineville Chicken Coop Murders. Overall, the movie for the most part, accurately portrayed the actual event. However, there were some minor details that were not mentioned in the film. In the actual event, Gordon Stewart Northcott kidnapped, sexually abused, and violently murdered, at least three, and possibly as many as twenty young males. Of those children, the most intriguing story what that of Walter Collins. Nine years old at the time, he lived with his mother in Southern California. His father was in Folsom State Prison for robbery. His mother, Christine Collins, was a telephone operator and worked several hours …show more content…
Christine left for work on day and gave Walter money to attend a movie. When she returned Walter was nowhere to be found. Several tips were reported to the police. However, all of them turned out to be unrelated. After months of searching for Walter, the police reported that they had found Walter and he was safe. Christine was eagerly arrived to be reunited with her son. Come to find out, they boy they found was not Walter. The police convinced Christine to “try him out”. They promised her she would realize that it was indeed her son. Police misconduct and corruption was highly publicized at this time. Therefore, they were fishing for a happy ending story to present. After living with him for some time, Christine was able to prove he was not her son. She had proof from dental and school records. She persisted this to the police who, instead of admitting their mistake, threw her in a mental institution under a code 12. Back then, this code was used by officers to get rid of unruly people but they often misused it