Voting Station

Christine Collins

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Scapegoat

The Resume

    (December 14, 1888-December 8, 1964)
    Born in Los Angeles, California
    Christine Ida Collins
    Single mother, telephone operator
    Key figure in the 'Wineville Chicken Coop' case
    Son (Walter) disappeared, in 1928, at the age of nine
    Persecuted by the LAPD after refusing to accept the child they 'reunited' her with, as her son
    Forcibly committed to the Los Angeles County Hospital by Captain Jones; later sued the department
    Portrayed by Angelina Jolie in the film 'Changeling' (2008)

Why she might be annoying:

    She married a known outlaw named Walter Anson, but who went by the alias Walter (or 'Conrad') Collins.
    Her husband went to prison for armed robbery within five years of their marriage.
    Her husband would later insist that their son had been kidnapped as part of a vendetta carried out against him by former prison inmates of his.
    To her own dying day, she remained in denial; refusing to accept overwhelming forensic evidence that her son had fallen victim to Gordon Northcott and his family accomplices.
    Clint Eastwood tried to put a pretty bow on the situation at the end of his movie; having her listen to a an escaped victim of Northcott testify that Walter had helped him and several other boys escape from the Chicken Coop. The inference is that he might still be alive, but no such testimony was ever recorded (the mystery will probably remain unsolved).

Why she might not be annoying:

    Angelina Jolie received an Oscar nomination for playing her.
    She was a second-generation immigrant; the daughter of an Irish sailor and an English mother.
    She endured the trauma of losing her child (and the false hope given that he might still be alive).
    She was publicly smeared by the police department because they feared the bad publicity associated with their mistake (and failure to locate the child).
    The boy they presented her with as 'her son' (whom they told to take home on a three-week trial basis like a novelty item), later confessed that he posed as her kidnapped son so he could get to Hollywood and 'ride Tom Mix's horse.'
    After her release, she sued the police department twice (she won $10,800 in the second lawsuit, but the LAPD never paid).
    A city council welfare hearing recommended that both Captain J. Jones and Chief of Police James E. Davis leave their posts, but both were later reinstated.
    The California State Legislature later made it illegal for the police to commit someone to a psychiatric facility without a warrant (Code 12, as it was known at the time).
    She used aliases to stay out of the media, and lived alone through the 1950s.
    Her treatment exposed a larger corruption problem within the LAPD hierarchy (but it would take almost 70 years for it to come home to roost in full force).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 17 Votes: 64.71% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 6 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying