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Dean Arnold Corll (December 24, 1939 – August 8, 1973) was an American
serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...
and
sex offender A sex offender (sexual offender, sex abuser, or sexual abuser) is a person who has committed a Sex and the law, sex crime. What constitutes a sex crime differs by culture and legal jurisdiction. The majority of convicted sex offenders have convi ...
who abducted,
rape Rape is a type of sexual assault involving sexual intercourse, or other forms of sexual penetration, carried out against a person without consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or against a person ...
d,
torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...
d and
murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse committed with the necessary Intention (criminal law), intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisd ...
ed a minimum of twenty-nine teenage boys and young men between 1970 and 1973 in
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
and
Pasadena, Texas Pasadena () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Harris County. It is part of the metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 151,950, making it the 23rd most populous city in Texas and the second mos ...
. He was aided by two teenaged accomplices, David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley. The crimes, which became known as the Houston Mass Murders, came to light after Henley fatally shot Corll. Upon discovery, the case was considered the worst example of serial murder in United States history. Corll's victims were typically lured with an offer of a party or a lift to one of the various addresses at which he resided between 1970 and 1973. They would then be restrained either by force or deception, and each was killed either by
strangulation Strangling or strangulation is compression of the neck that may lead to unconsciousness or death by causing an increasingly hypoxic state in the brain by restricting the flow of oxygen through the trachea. Fatal strangulation typically occurs ...
or shooting with a .22 caliber
pistol A pistol is a type of handgun, characterised by a gun barrel, barrel with an integral chamber (firearms), chamber. The word "pistol" derives from the Middle French ''pistolet'' (), meaning a small gun or knife, and first appeared in the Englis ...
. Corll and his accomplices buried eighteen of their victims in a rented boat shed; four other victims were buried in woodland near Lake Sam Rayburn, one victim was buried on a beach in Jefferson County, and at least six victims were buried on a beach on the
Bolivar Peninsula Bolivar Peninsula ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Galveston County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,769 at the 2020 census. The communities of Port Bolivar, Crystal Beach, Caplen, Gilchrist, and High Island are located o ...
. Brooks and Henley confessed to assisting Corll in several abductions and murders; both were sentenced to
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
. Corll was also known as the Candy Man and the
Pied Piper The Pied Piper of Hamelin (, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back to the Middle Ages. The earliest refere ...
, because he and his family had previously owned and operated a candy factory in
Houston Heights Houston Heights (often referred to simply as "The Heights") is a community in northwest-central Houston, Texas, United States. "The Heights" is often referred to colloquially to describe a larger collection of neighborhoods next to and includin ...
, and he had been known to give free candy to local children.


Early life


Childhood

Dean Arnold Corll was born on December 24, 1939, in
Fort Wayne, Indiana Fort Wayne is a city in Allen County, Indiana, United States, and its county seat. Located in northeastern Indiana, the city is west of the Ohio border and south of the Michigan border. The city's population was 263,886 at the 2020 census ...
, the first child of Mary Emma Robison (1916–2010) and Arnold Edwin Corll (1916–2001). Corll's father was strict with his children, whereas his mother was markedly protective of both her sons. Their marriage was marred by frequent quarreling and the couple divorced in 1946, four years after the birth of their younger son, Stanley Wayne. Mary subsequently sold the family home and relocated to a trailer home in
Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...
, where Arnold had been drafted into the
United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
after their divorce, to allow her sons to remain in contact with their father. Corll was a shy, serious child who rarely socialized with other children, but at the same time displayed concern for the wellbeing of others. He was also markedly sensitive to any form of criticism or rejection. At the age of seven, he suffered an undiagnosed case of
rheumatic fever Rheumatic fever (RF) is an inflammation#Disorders, inflammatory disease that can involve the heart, joints, skin, and brain. The disease typically develops two to four weeks after a Streptococcal pharyngitis, streptococcal throat infection. Si ...
, which was not recognized until doctors found Corll had a
heart murmur Heart murmurs are unique heart sounds produced when blood flows across a heart valve or blood vessel. This occurs when turbulent blood flow creates a sound loud enough to hear with a stethoscope. The sound differs from normal heart sounds by th ...
in 1950. As a result of this diagnosis, Corll was told to avoid P.E. classes in school. Corll's parents attempted reconciliation and remarried in 1950, subsequently moving to
Pasadena, Texas Pasadena () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, located in Harris County. It is part of the metropolitan area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 151,950, making it the 23rd most populous city in Texas and the second mos ...
, a suburb of
Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...
; however, the reconciliation was short lived and, in 1953, the couple once again divorced, with the mother again retaining custody of her two sons and briefly residing in a trailer home upon a rural farm while supporting her children via menial employment. The divorce was granted on amicable grounds and both boys maintained regular contact with their father. Following the second divorce, Corll's mother married a traveling clock salesman named Jake John West. The family moved to the small town of
Vidor, Texas Vidor ( ) is a city in western Orange County, Texas, United States. A city of Southeast Texas, it lies at the intersection of Interstate 10 and Farm to Market Road 105, east of Beaumont. The town is mainly a bedroom community for the nearby ...
, where Corll's half-sister, Joyce Jeanine (1955–2016), was born. Corll's mother and stepfather started a small family candy company, initially operating from the garage of their home. From the earliest days of the business, Corll worked day and night while still attending school. He and his younger brother were responsible for operating the candy-making machines and packing the product, which his stepfather sold on his sales route. This route often involved West traveling to Houston, where much of the product was sold. From 1954 to 1958, Corll attended Vidor High School, where he was regarded as a well-behaved student who achieved satisfactory grades. As had been the case in his childhood, Corll was also considered somewhat of a loner, although he is known to have occasionally dated girls in his teenage years. In high school, Corll's only major interest was the
brass band A brass band is a musical ensemble generally consisting primarily of brass instruments, most often with a percussion section. Ensembles that include brass and woodwind instruments can in certain traditions also be termed brass bands (particularl ...
, in which he played trombone.


Move to Houston Heights

Corll graduated from Vidor High School in the summer of 1958. Shortly thereafter, he and his family moved to the northern outskirts of Houston so that the family candy business could be closer to the city where the majority of their product was sold. Corll's family opened a new shop, which they named Pecan Prince in reference to the brand name of the family product. In 1960, at the request of his mother, Corll moved to Yoder, Indiana, to live with his widowed grandmother. During this time, Corll formed a close relationship with a local girl, although he rejected a subsequent marriage proposal she made to him in 1962. Corll lived in Indiana for almost two years but returned to Houston in 1962 to help with his family's candy business, which by this date had moved to
Houston Heights Houston Heights (often referred to simply as "The Heights") is a community in northwest-central Houston, Texas, United States. "The Heights" is often referred to colloquially to describe a larger collection of neighborhoods next to and includin ...
. He later moved into an apartment of his own above the shop. Corll's mother divorced West in 1963 and opened a new candy business, which she named Corll Candy Company; her eldest son was appointed vice president of the new family firm, with his younger brother Stanley being appointed secretary-treasurer. The same year, one of the teenaged male employees of Corll Candy Company complained to Corll's mother that her son had made sexual advances towards him. In response, she fired the teenager.


U.S. Army service

Corll was drafted into the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...
on August 10, 1964, and assigned to
Fort Polk, Louisiana Fort Polk, formerly Fort Johnson, is a United States Army installation located in Vernon Parish, Louisiana, about 10 miles (15 km) east of Leesville and 30 miles (50 km) north of DeRidder in Beauregard Parish. Named after New Yo ...
, for basic training. He was later assigned to
Fort Benning Fort Benning (named Fort Moore from 2023–2025) is a United States Army post in the Columbus, Georgia area. Located on Georgia's border with Alabama, Fort Benning supports more than 120,000 active-duty military, family members, reserve compone ...
,
Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...
, to train as a radio repairman before his permanent assignment to
Fort Hood, Texas Fort Cavazos is a United States Army Military installation, post located near Killeen, Texas. The post is currently named after Gen. Richard E. Cavazos, a native Texan and the US Army’s first Hispanic four-star general. The post is located ha ...
. According to official military records, Corll's period of service in the army was unblemished. Corll, however, reportedly hated military service; he applied for a hardship discharge on the grounds that he was needed in his family's business. The army granted his request and he was given an
honorable discharge A military discharge is given when a member of the armed forces is released from their obligation to serve. Each country's military has different types of discharge. They are generally based on whether the persons completed their training and the ...
on June 11, 1965, after ten months of service. Reportedly, Corll divulged to some of his close acquaintances after his release from the army that it was during his military service that he had first realized that he was
homosexual Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" exc ...
and had experienced his first homosexual encounters. Other acquaintances noted subtle changes in Corll's mannerisms when in the company of teenage males after he had completed his service and returned to Houston, which led them to believe he may have been homosexual.


Corll Candy Company

Following his honorable discharge from the army, Corll returned to Houston Heights and resumed the position he had held as vice-president of Corll Candy Company. Corll's former stepfather had retained ownership of the family's former candy business, Pecan Prince, following his divorce from Corll's mother in 1963; competition between the two firms was fierce. As had been the case in his teenage years, Corll increased the number of hours he devoted to the candy business to satisfy an increasing public demand for his family's product. In 1965, Corll Candy Company relocated to a bungalow on West 22nd Street, directly across the street from Helms Elementary School. Corll was known to give free candy to local children, in particular teenage boys. As a result of this behavior, he earned himself the nicknames of the "Candy Man" and the "
Pied Piper The Pied Piper of Hamelin (, also known as the Pan Piper or the Rat-Catcher of Hamelin) is the title character of a legend from the town of Hamelin (Hameln), Lower Saxony, Germany. The legend dates back to the Middle Ages. The earliest refere ...
." The company employed a small workforce, and he was seen to behave flirtatiously toward several teenage male employees. Corll is also known to have installed a pool table at the rear of the candy factory where employees and local youths would congregate—typically in the evening—to listen to music and play pool or penny ante.


Relationship with David Brooks

In 1967, Corll befriended 12-year-old David Owen Brooks, then a sixth grade student and one of the many children to whom he gave free candy. Brooks initially became one of Corll's many youthful companions, regularly socializing with Corll and various teenage boys who congregated at the rear of the candy factory. He also joined Corll on the regular trips he took to
South Texas South Texas is a geographic and cultural region of the U.S. state of Texas that lies roughly south of—and includes—San Antonio. The southern and western boundary is the Rio Grande, and to the east it is the Gulf of Mexico. The population of th ...
beaches in the company of various youths, and later commented that Corll was the first adult male who did not mock his appearance. Whenever Brooks told Corll he needed cash, Corll gave him money, and the youth began to view Corll as a father figure. Upon Corll's urging, a sexual relationship gradually developed between the two. Beginning in 1969, Corll paid Brooks in cash or with gifts to allow him to perform
fellatio Fellatio (also known as fellation, and in slang as blowjob, BJ, giving head, or sucking off) is an oral sex act consisting of the stimulation of a human penis, penis by using the mouth. Oral stimulation of the scrotum may also be termed ''fellat ...
on the youth. Brooks's parents were divorced; his father lived in Houston and his mother had relocated to Beaumont, a city east of Houston. In 1970, when he was 15, Brooks dropped out of Waltrip High School and moved to Beaumont to live with his mother. Whenever he visited his father in Houston, he also visited Corll, who allowed him to stay at his apartment if he wished. Later the same year, Brooks moved back to Houston. By his own later admission, Brooks began regarding Corll's apartment as his second home. By the time Brooks dropped out of high school, Corll's mother and his half-sister, Joyce, had relocated to
Manitou Springs, Colorado Manitou Springs is a home rule municipality located at the foot of Pikes Peak in western El Paso County, Colorado, United States. The town was founded for its natural mineral springs. The downtown area continues to be of interest to traveler ...
, after the failure of her third marriage and the closure of Corll Candy Company in June 1968. Corll's mother would open a new candy firm in Colorado, although Corll opted to remain in Houston. Although she often talked to her eldest son on the telephone, his mother never saw him again. Shortly before the closure of the candy company, Corll took a job as an electrician at the Houston Lighting and Power Company (HL&P) while simultaneously working for the family firm. In this employment, he tested electrical relay systems, and would later rise to the rank of supervisor. Corll worked in this employment until the day of his death.


Murders

Between 1970 and 1973, Corll is known to have killed a minimum of twenty-nine victims. All of his victims were males aged 13 to 20, the majority of whom were in their mid-teens. Most victims were abducted from Houston Heights, which was then a low-income neighborhood northwest of
downtown Houston Downtown is the largest central business district in the city of Houston and the largest in the state of Texas, located near the geographic center of the metropolitan area at the confluence of Interstate 10 in Texas, Interstate 10, Interstate 45 ...
. In most of these abductions, he was assisted by one or both of his teenage accomplices: David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley. Several victims were friends of one or both of Corll's accomplices; others were either hitchhikers or individuals with whom Corll had himself become acquainted prior to their abduction and murder, and two other victims, Billy Gene Baulch Jr. and Gregory Malley Winkle, were former employees of Corll Candy Company. Corll's victims were usually lured into either one of the two vehicles he owned (a
Ford Econoline The Ford E-Series (also known as the Ford Econoline, Ford Econovan or Ford Club Wagon) is a range of full-size vans manufactured and marketed by the Ford Motor Company. Introduced for 1961 as the replacement of the Ford F-Series panel van, four ...
van and a
Plymouth GTX The Plymouth GTX is an automobile introduced as the Belvedere GTX in 1967 by the Plymouth division. It was positioned as a mid-sized upscale-trimmed performance muscle car through the 1971 model year. __TOC__ 1967 The GTX was based on the ...
) or a 1969
Chevrolet Corvette The Chevrolet Corvette is a line of American two-door, two-seater sports cars manufactured and marketed by General Motors under the Chevrolet marque since 1953. Throughout eight generations, indicated sequentially as C1 to C8, the Corvette is not ...
he is known to have purchased for Brooks in February 1971. The enticement was typically an offer of a party or a lift, and the victim would be driven to Corll's house. At Corll's residence, the youths would be plied with alcohol or other drugs until they passed out, tricked into donning handcuffs, or simply grabbed by force. They were then stripped naked and tied to either Corll's bed or, usually, a marine-grade plywood torture board which was regularly hung on a wall. Once manacled, the victims would be
sexually assaulted Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their will. It is a form of sexua ...
, beaten, tortured and, sometimes after several days, killed by strangulation or shooting with a .22 caliber pistol. Their bodies were then tied in plastic sheeting and buried in one of four places: a rented boat shed in
Southwest Houston Southwest Houston is a region in Houston, Texas, Houston, Texas, United States. The area is considered to be from Texas State Highway 6, south of Westpark Tollway to north of U.S. Route 90. Many Section 8 (housing) complexes are located in South ...
, a beach on the
Bolivar Peninsula Bolivar Peninsula ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Galveston County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,769 at the 2020 census. The communities of Port Bolivar, Crystal Beach, Caplen, Gilchrist, and High Island are located o ...
, a woodland near Lake Sam Rayburn (where Corll's family owned a lakeside log cabin), or a beach in Jefferson County. In several instances, Corll forced his victims to either phone or write to their parents with explanations for their absences in an effort to allay the parents' fears for their sons' safety. He is also known to have retained keepsakes—usually keys—from his victims. During the years in which he abducted and murdered his victims, Corll often changed addresses—sometimes residing in an apartment for a matter of weeks before relocating. However, until he moved into his father's former home in Pasadena in the spring of 1973, he always lived in or close to Houston Heights—frequently close to elementary schools.


First known murders

Corll killed his first known victim, an 18-year-old college freshman named Jeffrey Konen, on September 25, 1970. Konen vanished while hitchhiking with another student from the
University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...
to his parents' home in Houston. He was dropped off alone at the corner of
Westheimer Road Westheimer Road () is an arterial east–west road in Houston, Texas, United States. It runs from Bagby Street in Downtown and terminates at the Westpark Tollway on the southern edge of George Bush Park, stretching about long. The street was n ...
and South Voss Road near the Uptown area of Houston at approximately 6:30p.m. Corll likely offered Konen a lift to his home, which Konen evidently accepted. At the time of Konen's disappearance, Corll lived in the Harold Turboff apartments, where he had paid a deposit of a month's rent on September 21. Brooks led police to Konen's body on August 10, 1973. The body was buried at
High Island Geologically, a volcanic island is an island of volcanic origin. The term high island can be used to distinguish such islands from low islands, which are formed from sedimentation or the uplifting of coral reefs (which have often formed on ...
Beach. Forensic scientists subsequently deduced that the youth had died of
asphyxiation Asphyxia or asphyxiation is a condition of deficient supply of oxygen to the body which arises from abnormal breathing. Asphyxia causes generalized hypoxia, which affects all the tissues and organs, some more rapidly than others. There are ...
caused by manual strangulation and a cloth gag that had been placed in his mouth. The nude body was found buried beneath a large boulder, covered with a layer of
lime Lime most commonly refers to: * Lime (fruit), a green citrus fruit * Lime (material), inorganic materials containing calcium, usually calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide * Lime (color), a color between yellow and green Lime may also refer to: Bo ...
, wrapped in plastic, and bound hand and foot with nylon cord, suggesting he had been violated. Shortly after Konen's murder, Brooks interrupted Corll in the act of sexually assaulting two teenage boys whom Corll had strapped to a
four-poster bed __NOTOC__ A four-poster bed or tester bed is a Bed (furniture), bed with four vertical columns, one in each corner, that support a tester, or upper (usually rectangular) panel. This tester or panel will often have rails to allow curtains to be ...
. Corll promised Brooks a car in return for his silence; Brooks accepted the offer and Corll later bought him a green Chevrolet Corvette. Corll later told Brooks that he had killed the two youths, and offered him $200 (the equivalent of approximately $1,620 ) for any boy he could lure to Corll's apartment. On December 13, 1970, Brooks lured two 14-year-old Spring Branch youths named James Glass and Danny Yates away from a religious rally held in Houston Heights to an apartment Corll had recently rented at 3300 Yorktown. Glass was an acquaintance of Brooks who, at Brooks's behest, had previously visited Corll's address. Both youths were restrained to Corll's four-poster bed with rope and handcuffs and subsequently raped, strangled, and buried in a boat shed he had rented on November 17. An electrical cord with alligator clips attached to each end was buried alongside Yates's body. Six weeks after the double murder of Glass and Yates, on January 30, 1971, Brooks and Corll encountered two teenage brothers, Donald and Jerry Waldrop, walking toward their parents' home. The Waldrop brothers had been driven to a friend's home by their father with plans to discuss forming a bowling league and had begun walking home after learning their friend was not at home. Both boys were enticed into Corll's van and driven to an apartment Corll had rented on Mangum Road, where they were raped, strangled and subsequently buried in the boat shed. Between March and May 1971, Corll abducted and killed three victims, all of whom lived in Houston Heights and all of whom were buried toward the rear of the boat shed. In each of these abductions, Brooks is known to have been a participant. One of these three victims, 15-year-old Randell Harvey, was last seen by his family on the afternoon of March 9 cycling towards
Oak Forest An oak forest is a plant community with a tree canopy dominated by oaks (''Quercus spp.''). In terms of canopy closure, oak forests contain the most closed canopy, compared to oak savannas and oak woodlands. Setting Oak forests are categoriz ...
, where he worked part-time as a gas station attendant. Harvey was driven to Corll's Mangum Road apartment, where he was subsequently killed by a single gunshot to the head. The other two victims, 13-year-old David Hilligiest and 16-year-old Gregory Malley Winkle, were abducted and killed together on the afternoon of May 29; both were murdered at an apartment Corll rented on West 11th Street. As had been the case with parents of other victims of Corll, both sets of parents launched a frantic search for their sons. One of the youths who voluntarily offered to distribute posters the parents had printed offering a monetary reward for information leading to the boys' whereabouts was 15-year-old Elmer Wayne Henley—a lifelong friend of Hilligiest. The youth pinned the reward posters around the Heights and attempted to reassure Hilligiest's parents that there might be an innocent explanation for the boys' absence. On July 1, 1971, a 17-year-old named Donald Falcon disappeared from the streets near his parents' West University Place apartment complex. Sections of his body were later recovered from the boat shed. Seven weeks later, on August 17, Corll and Brooks encountered a 17-year-old acquaintance of Brooks named Ruben Watson Haney walking home from a movie theater in Houston. Brooks persuaded Haney to attend a party at an address Corll had moved to on San Felipe Street the previous month. Haney agreed and was taken to Corll's home where he was subsequently strangled and buried in the boat shed. In September 1971, Corll moved to an apartment on Columbia Street. This address was also located in the Heights. Brooks later stated he had assisted Corll in the abduction and murder of two youths during the time Corll resided at this address, including one youth who was killed "just before Wayne Henley came into the picture." In his confession, Brooks stated the youth killed immediately prior to Henley's involvement in the murders was abducted from the Heights and kept alive for approximately four days before his murder. The identities of both of these victims remain unknown.


Participation of Elmer Wayne Henley

In approximately October 1971, Brooks encountered Wayne Henley as the two truanted from Hamilton Junior High School; he later introduced him to Corll. Henley likely was lured to Corll's address as an intended victim. However, Corll evidently decided the youth would make a good accomplice and offered him the same fee of $200 for any boy he could lure to his apartment, informing Henley that he was involved in a "
white slavery White slavery (also white slave trade or white slave trafficking) refers to the enslavement of any of the world's European ethnic groups throughout human history, whether perpetrated by non-Europeans or by other Europeans. Slavery in ancient ...
ring" operating from
Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
. Henley later stated that, for several months, he ignored Corll's offer, although he did maintain an acquaintance with Corll and gradually began to view him as something of a "brother-type person" whose
work ethic Work ethic is a belief that work and diligence have a moral benefit and an inherent ability, virtue or value to strengthen character and individual abilities. Desire or determination to work serves as the foundation for values centered on the i ...
he admired and in whom he could confide. In early 1972, he decided to accept Corll's offer because he and his family were in dire financial circumstances. Henley said the first abduction he participated in occurred during the time Corll resided at 925 Schuler Street, an address he moved to on February 19. (Brooks later claimed that Henley became involved in the abductions while Corll resided at the address he had occupied immediately prior to Schuler Street.) If Henley's statement is to be believed, the victim was abducted from the Heights in February or early March 1972. In the statement Henley gave to police following his arrest, the youth stated he and Corll picked up "a boy" at the corner of 11th and Studewood, and lured him to Corll's home on the promise of smoking some
marijuana Cannabis (), commonly known as marijuana (), weed, pot, and ganja, List of slang names for cannabis, among other names, is a non-chemically uniform psychoactive drug from the ''Cannabis'' plant. Native to Central or South Asia, cannabis has ...
with the pair. At Corll's residence—using a ruse he and Corll had prepared—Henley cuffed his own hands behind his back, freed himself with a key hidden in his back pocket, then duped the youth into donning the handcuffs before observing Corll
bind BIND () is a suite of software for interacting with the Domain Name System (DNS). Its most prominent component, named (pronounced ''name-dee'': , short for ''name Daemon (computing), daemon''), performs both of the main DNS server roles, acting ...
and gag him. Henley then left the youth alone with Corll, believing he was to be sold into the sexual slavery ring. The identity of this first victim Henley assisted in the abduction of remains unknown. One month later, on March 24, 1972, Henley, Brooks, and Corll encountered an 18-year-old acquaintance of Henley's named Frank Aguirre leaving a restaurant on Yale Street, where the youth worked. Henley called Aguirre over to Corll's van and invited the youth to drink beer and smoke marijuana with the trio at Corll's apartment. Aguirre agreed and followed the trio to Corll's home in his Rambler. Inside Corll's house, Aguirre smoked marijuana with the trio before picking up a pair of handcuffs Corll had left on his table. In response, Corll pounced on Aguirre, pushed him onto the table, and cuffed his hands behind his back. Henley later claimed that he had not known of Corll's true intentions towards Aguirre when he had persuaded his friend to accompany him to Corll's home. In a 2010 interview, he claimed to have attempted to persuade Corll not to assault and kill Aguirre once Corll and Brooks had bound and gagged the youth. However, Corll refused, informing Henley that he had raped, tortured, and killed the previous victim he had assisted in abducting, and that he intended to do the same with Aguirre. Henley subsequently assisted Corll and Brooks in Aguirre's burial at High Island Beach. Despite the revelations that Corll was, in reality, killing the boys that he and Brooks had assisted in abducting, Henley nonetheless became an active participant in the abductions and murders. One month later, on April 20, he assisted Corll and Brooks in the abduction of another youth, 17-year-old Mark Scott. Scott—who was well known to Corll, Henley and Brooks—was specifically chosen by Corll to be his next victim as, according to Henley, he had recently "cheated orllon a deal" relating to stolen property. He was grabbed by force and fought furiously against attempts by Corll to restrain him, even attempting to stab Corll with a knife after several hours of abuse and torture including burning with incense cones. However, Scott saw Henley pointing a pistol toward him and according to Brooks, Scott "just gave up." All three then alternately shot Scott with a
pellet gun A pellet is a non-spherical projectile designed to be shot from an air gun, and an airgun that shoots such pellets is commonly known as a pellet gun. Air gun pellets differ from bullets and shot used in firearms in terms of the pressures encount ...
before Corll again raped him. Scott ultimately suffered the same fate as Aguirre: rape, torture, strangulation, and burial at High Island Beach. Brooks later stated Henley was "especially sadistic" in his participation in the murders committed at Schuler Street and Henley later admitted to gradually becoming "fascinated" with "how much stamina people have" when subjected to the act of murder. Before Corll vacated the address on June 26, Henley assisted Corll and Brooks in the abduction and murder of two youths named Billy Baulch and Johnny Delome. According to Henley, on this occasion, he was invited to Corll's apartment where he observed the two socializing with Corll and Brooks; he then assisted in subduing the pair. In Brooks's confession, he stated that both youths were tied to Corll's bed and, after their torture and rape, Henley manually strangled Baulch, with the process lasting almost thirty minutes. Henley then shouted, "Hey, Johnny!" and shot Delome in the forehead, with the bullet exiting through the youth's ear. Delome then pleaded with Henley, "Wayne, please don't!" before he was strangled. Both youths were buried at High Island Beach. During the time Corll resided at Schuler Street, the trio lured a 19-year-old named William Ridinger to the house. Ridinger was initially tied to hooks drilled upon the wall of the property and, later, the plywood board, where he was tortured and abused by Corll over the course of approximately three days. Brooks later claimed he persuaded Corll to allow Ridinger to be released, and the youth was allowed to leave the residence. On another occasion during the time Corll resided at Schuler Street, Henley knocked Brooks unconscious as he entered the house. Corll then tied Brooks to his bed and assaulted the youth repeatedly before releasing him. Despite the assault, Brooks continued to assist Corll in the abductions of the victims. After vacating the Schuler Street residence, Corll moved to an apartment at Westcott Towers, where, in the summer of 1972, he is known to have killed a further two victims. The first of these victims, 17-year-old Steven Sickman, was last seen leaving a party held in the Heights shortly before midnight on July 19. The youth was savagely bludgeoned about the chest with a blunt instrument before he was strangled and buried in the boat shed. Approximately one month later, on or about August 21, 19-year-old Roy Bunton was abducted while walking to his job as an assistant manager in a
Northwest Mall Northwest Mall was a shopping mall located in the Lazybrook/Timbergrove neighborhood of Houston, Texas near the intersection of U.S. Route 290 and Loop 610. The mall opened in October 1968, two weeks after its sister property, Almeda Mall, op ...
shoe store. Bunton was gagged with a section of Turkish towel and his mouth bound with adhesive tape. He was shot twice in the head and buried in the boat shed. Neither youth was named by either Brooks or Henley as being a victim of Corll, and both youths were identified as victims only in 2011. On October 3, 1972, Henley and Brooks encountered two Heights teenagers, Wally Jay Simoneaux and Richard Hembree, walking to Hembree's home. Simoneaux and Hembree were enticed into Brooks's Corvette and driven to Corll's Westcott Towers apartment. That evening, Simoneaux is known to have phoned his mother's home and to have shouted the word "Mama" into the receiver before the connection was terminated. The following morning, Hembree was accidentally shot in the mouth by Henley, with the bullet exiting through his neck. Several hours later, both youths were strangled to death and subsequently buried in a
common grave A potter's field, paupers' grave or common grave is a place for the burial of unknown, unclaimed or indigent people. "Potter's field" is of Biblical origin, referring to Akeldama (meaning ''field of blood'' in Aramaic), stated to have been pur ...
inside the boat shed directly above the bodies of James Glass and Danny Yates. Sometime in November 1972, 18-year-old Willard Branch, an Oak Forest youth known to both Corll and Henley, disappeared while hitchhiking from Mount Pleasant to Houston. His gagged and emasculated body was buried in the boat shed. On November 11, a 19-year-old Spring Branch youth named Richard Kepner disappeared on his way to a phone booth. Kepner was strangled and buried at High Island Beach. Altogether, at least ten teenagers between the ages of 13 and 19 were murdered between March and November 1972, five of whom were buried at High Island Beach, and five inside the boat shed. On January 20, 1973, Corll moved to an address on Wirt Road in the Spring Branch district of Houston. Within two weeks of moving into this address, he had killed 17-year-old Joseph Lyles. Lyles was known to both Corll and Brooks. He had lived on Antoine Drive—the same street upon which Brooks resided in early 1973—and is known to have visited Corll's apartment to purchase marijuana on at least one occasion prior to his disappearance. On March 1, Corll vacated his Wirt Road apartment; he briefly resided in an apartment on South Post Oak Road before moving to 2020 Lamar Drive, an address his father had vacated in Pasadena after residing in the property for twenty-two years.


2020 Lamar Drive

No known victims were killed between February 1 and June 4, 1973. Corll is known to have suffered from a
hydrocele A hydrocele is an accumulation of serous fluid in a body cavity. A hydrocele testis, the most common form of hydrocele, is the accumulation of fluids around a testicle. It is often caused by fluid collecting within a layer wrapped around the tes ...
in early 1973, which may have contributed to this period of inactivity. In addition, around the time of Lyles's murder, Henley spontaneously traveled to
Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
with a long-haul truck driver uncle before temporarily relocating to Mount Pleasant in an apparent effort to distance himself from Corll. These facts may account for this sudden lull in killings. Nonetheless, from June, Corll's rate of killings increased dramatically, and both Henley and Brooks later testified to the increase in the level of brutality of the murders committed while Corll resided at Lamar Drive. Henley later compared Corll's escalation to being "like a blood lust", adding that he and Brooks would instinctively know when Corll was to announce that he "needed to do a new boy," due to the fact that he would appear restless, smoking cigarettes and making reflex movements. On June 4, Corll and Henley abducted 15-year-old William Ray Lawrence; the youth was last seen alive by his father on 31st Street. After three days of abuse and torture, Lawrence was strangled before being buried at Lake Sam Rayburn. Less than two weeks later, 20-year-old Raymond Stanley Blackburn was abducted, strangled, and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn. On July 6, 1973, Henley began attending classes at the Coaches Driving School in Bellaire, where he became acquainted with 15-year-old Homer Luis Garcia. The following day, Garcia telephoned his mother to say he was spending the night with a friend; he was shot and left to bleed to death in Corll's bathtub before he was buried at Lake Sam Rayburn. Five days later, on July 12, 17-year-old John Sellars of Orange County was bound, shot to death and buried at High Island Beach. In July 1973, after Brooks married his pregnant fiancée, Henley temporarily became Corll's sole procurer of victims, assisting in the abduction and murder of three Heights youths between July 19 and 25. Henley claimed these three abductions were the only three that occurred after his becoming an accomplice to Corll in which Brooks was not a participant. One of these three victims, 15-year-old Michael Baulch, brother of previous victim Billy Baulch, was last seen by his family on July 19 on his way to get a haircut; he was strangled and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn. The other two victims, Charles Cobble and Marty Ray Jones, were abducted together on the afternoon of July 25. Henley himself later buried both youths' bodies in the boat shed. On August 3, 1973, Corll killed his last victim, a 13-year-old boy from
South Houston South Houston is a city in the U.S. state of Texas, within Greater Houston, Houston–The Woodlands–Sugar Land metropolitan area and Harris County, Texas, Harris County. The population was 16,153 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 cens ...
named James Stanton Dreymala. Dreymala was abducted by Corll while riding his bike in Pasadena and driven to Lamar Drive upon the pretense of collecting empty glass bottles to resell. At Corll's home, Dreymala was tied to Corll's torture board, raped, tortured, and strangled with a cord before being buried in the boat shed. Brooks later described Dreymala as a "small, blond boy" for whom he had bought a pizza and in whose company he had spent forty-five minutes at Corll's home before the youth was attacked.


August 8, 1973

On the evening of August 7, 1973, Henley invited 20-year-old Timothy Cordell Kerley to attend a party at Corll's Pasadena residence. Kerley—a casual acquaintance of Corll who was intended to be his next victim—accepted the offer. Brooks was not present at the time. The two youths arrived at Corll's house, where they sniffed paint fumes and drank alcohol until midnight before leaving the house, promising to return shortly. Henley and Kerley then drove back to Houston Heights and Kerley parked his vehicle close to Henley's home. The two exited the vehicle and Henley, hearing commotion across the street emanating from the home of his 15-year-old friend Rhonda Louise Williams, walked toward her home. Williams—nursing a
sprained ankle A sprained ankle (twisted ankle, rolled ankle, turned ankle, etc.) is an injury where sprain occurs on one or more ligaments of the ankle. It is the most commonly occurring injury in sports, mainly in ball sports (basketball, volleyball, and foo ...
—had been beaten by her drunken father that evening and, having resolved to run away from home, had packed several basic belongings into an overnight bag before seeking temporary refuge in a washateria close to her home, where Henley encountered her. Williams accepted Henley's invitation to join him and Kerley at Corll's home and climbed into the back seat of Kerley's
Volkswagen Volkswagen (VW; )English: , . is a German automotive industry, automobile manufacturer based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Established in 1937 by German Labour Front, The German Labour Front, it was revitalized into the global brand it ...
. The trio then drove toward Corll's Pasadena residence. At approximately 3:00a.m. on the morning of August 8, Henley and Kerley, accompanied by Williams, returned to Corll's residence. Corll was furious that Henley had brought a girl to his house, telling him in private that he had "ruined everything". Henley explained that Williams had argued with her father that evening, and did not wish to return home. Corll appeared to calm down and offered the trio beer and marijuana. The three then began drinking and smoking marijuana, with Henley and Kerley also sniffing paint fumes as Corll watched them intently before seemingly retiring to bed. After approximately two hours, Henley, Kerley, and Williams each passed out.


Final confrontation

Henley awoke to find himself lying on his stomach and Corll snapping handcuffs onto his wrists. His mouth had been taped shut and his ankles had been bound together. Kerley and Williams lay beside Henley, securely bound with nylon rope, gagged with adhesive tape, and lying face down on the floor. Kerley had been stripped naked. Noting Henley had awoken, Corll removed the gag from his mouth. Henley protested in vain against Corll's actions, whereupon Corll reiterated that he was angry with Henley for bringing a girl to his house and that he intended to kill all three after he had assaulted and tortured Kerley, initially saying, "Man, you blew it bringing that girl," before shouting: "I'm gonna kill you all! But first I'm gonna have my fun!" He then repeatedly kicked Williams in the chest, shouting, "Wake up, bitch!" Corll then lifted Henley to his feet and dragged him into his kitchen and placed a .22-caliber pistol against his stomach, threatening to shoot him. Henley calmed Corll, promising to participate in the torture and murder of both Williams and Kerley if Corll released him. After approximately thirty minutes of discussion, Corll agreed and untied Henley, then separately carried Kerley and Williams into his bedroom and tied them to opposite sides of his torture board: Kerley on his stomach; Williams on her back. A
transistor radio A transistor radio is a small portable radio receiver that uses transistor-based circuitry. Previous portable radios used vacuum tubes, which were bulky, fragile, had a limited lifetime, consumed excessive power and required large heavy batteri ...
was placed between Williams and Kerley and the volume turned to maximum to muffle any potential screaming. Corll also removed the adhesive tape from Kerley's mouth before informing him of his intentions to "look up" his anus as Henley again began inhaling paint fumes from a paper bag. Corll then handed Henley an eighteen-inch hunting knife and ordered him to cut away Williams's clothes, insisting that, while he would rape and kill Kerley, Henley would do likewise to Williams. He then shouted, "What are you waiting for?" Henley began cutting away Williams's jeans and panties as Corll placed the pistol on a bedside table, undressed and began to assault and torture Kerley. Both Kerley and Williams had awakened by this point. Kerley began writhing, pleading and shouting as Williams, whose gag Henley had removed, lifted her head and asked Henley, "Is this for real?" to which Henley answered, "Yes." Williams then asked Henley: "Are you going to do anything about it?"


Corll's death

In an apparent attempt to desensitize himself to the unfolding scenario, Henley stood and paced the room as he continued to inhale paint fumes. He then asked Corll whether he might take Williams into another room. Corll ignored him and Henley then grabbed Corll's pistol, shouting, "You've gone far enough, Dean!" As Corll clambered off Kerley, Henley elaborated: "I can't go on any longer! I can't have you kill all my friends!" Corll approached Henley, saying, "Kill me, Wayne!" Henley stepped back a few paces as Corll continued to advance upon him, shouting, "You won't do it!" Henley then fired at Corll, hitting him in the forehead. The bullet failed to fully penetrate Corll's skull and he continued to lurch toward Henley, whereupon the youth fired another two rounds, hitting Corll in the left shoulder, with one bullet penetrating Corll's lung and lodging in his
spine Spine or spinal may refer to: Science Biology * Spinal column, also known as the backbone * Dendritic spine, a small membranous protrusion from a neuron's dendrite * Thorns, spines, and prickles, needle-like structures in plants * Spine (zoology), ...
. Corll began coughing up blood as he ran out of the room, trapping his right foot in a loose telephone wire and hitting the wall of the hallway. Henley fired three additional bullets into his lower back and shoulder as Corll slid down the wall in the hallway outside the room where the two other teenagers were bound. Corll died where he fell, his naked body facing the wall. Henley would recall that immediately after he shot Corll, the sole thought in his mind was that Corll would have been proud of the way he had behaved during the confrontation, adding that Corll had been training him to react quickly and forcefully and that this was exactly what he had done. After Henley had shot Corll, he and Kerley began weeping as Kerley repeatedly thanked him for saving his life. Henley then released Kerley and Williams from the torture board, and all three teenagers dressed and discussed what actions they should take. Henley suggested to Kerley and Williams that they should simply leave, to which Kerley replied, "No, we should call the police." Henley agreed and looked up the number for the Pasadena Police Department (PPD) in Corll's telephone directory.


Contacting police

At 8:24 a.m. on August 8, 1973, Henley telephoned the PPD. His call was answered by an operator named Velma Lines. In his call, Henley blurted to the operator: "Y'all better come here right now! I just killed a man!" Henley gave the address to the operator as 2020 Lamar Drive, Pasadena. As Kerley, Williams, and Henley waited outside Corll's home for the police to arrive, Henley mentioned to Kerley that he had "done that (killing by shooting) four or five times." Minutes later, a PPD patrol car arrived at 2020 Lamar Drive. The three were sitting on the curb outside the house, and the officer noted the .22 caliber pistol on the driveway near the trio. Two of the three were weeping. The officer observed the younger male slumped forward and rocking back and forth with his head in his hands while weeping as the sole female—also weeping—draped one arm across his shoulder; the slightly older male simply stared blankly across the street. The younger male identified himself as Elmer Wayne Henley and told the officer that he was the individual who had made the call and indicated that Corll's body was inside the house. After confiscating the pistol and placing Henley, Williams, and Kerley inside the patrol car, the officer entered the bungalow and discovered Corll's body inside the hallway. The officer returned to the car and read Henley his ''Miranda'' rights. In response, Henley shouted: "I don't care who knows about it! I have to get it off my chest!" Kerley later told detectives that before the first police officer arrived at Lamar Drive, Henley had informed him, "If you wasn't my friend, I could have gotten $200 for you."


Accomplices' confessions

In PPD custody, Henley was initially questioned about the killing of Corll. He recounted the events of the previous evening and that morning, explaining that he had shot Corll in
self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of Force (law), ...
. The statements given by Kerley and Williams corroborated Henley's account, and the detective questioning Henley believed he had indeed acted in self-defense. When questioned regarding his claim that as Corll had threatened him that morning he had shouted that he had killed several boys, Henley explained that for almost three years, Brooks and he had helped procure teenage boys, some of whom had been their own friends, for Corll, who had raped and murdered them. Henley gave a verbal statement; stating he initially had believed the boys he had abducted were to be sold into a Dallas-based organization for "homosexual acts,
sodomy Sodomy (), also called buggery in British English, principally refers to either anal sex (but occasionally also oral sex) between people, or any Human sexual activity, sexual activity between a human and another animal (Zoophilia, bestiality). I ...
, maybe later killing," but soon learned Corll was himself killing the victims procured. Henley admitted he had assisted Corll in several abductions and murders, and that he had actively participated in the torture and mutilation of "six or eight" victims prior to their murder. Most victims had been buried in a Southwest Houston boat shed, with others buried at Lake Sam Rayburn and High Island Beach. Corll had paid up to $200 for each victim Brooks or he were able to lure to his apartment. Police initially were skeptical of Henley's claims, assuming the sole homicide of the case was that of Corll, which they had ascribed as being the result of drug-fueled fisticuffs that had turned deadly. Henley was quite insistent, however, and upon his recalling the names of three boys—Cobble, Hilligiest, and Jones—whom he stated he and Brooks had procured for Corll, the police accepted that there was something to his claims, as all three teenagers were listed as missing at
Houston Police Department The Houston Police Department (HPD) is the primary municipal law enforcement agency serving the city of Houston, Texas, United States, and some surrounding areas. With approximately 5,300 officers and 1,200 civilian support personnel it is the fi ...
(HPD) headquarters. Hilligiest had been reported missing in the summer of 1971; the other two boys had been missing for just two weeks. Moreover, the floor of the room where the three teenagers had been tied was covered in thick plastic sheeting. Police also found a plywood torture board measuring with handcuffs attached to nylon rope at two corners, and nylon ropes to the other two. Also found at Corll's address were a large hunting knife, rolls of clear plastic of the same type used to cover the floor, a portable radio rigged to a pair of
dry cell An electric battery is a source of electric power consisting of one or more electrochemical cells with external connections for powering electrical devices. When a battery is supplying power, its positive terminal is the cathode and its nega ...
s to give increased volume, an electric motor with loose wires attached, eight pairs of handcuffs, a number of
dildo A dildo is a sex toy, often explicitly phallic in appearance, intended for sexual penetration or other sexual activity during masturbation or with sex partners. Dildos are made from a number of materials. The shape and size are typically t ...
s, thin glass tubes, and lengths of rope. Corll's Ford Econoline van parked in the driveway conveyed a similar impression. The rear windows of the van were sealed by opaque blue curtains. In the rear of the vehicle, police found a coil of rope, a swatch of beige rug covered in soil stains, and a wooden crate with air holes drilled in the sides. The pegboard walls inside the rear of the van were rigged with several rings and hooks. Another wooden crate with air holes drilled in the sides was found in Corll's backyard. Inside this crate were several strands of human hair.


Search for victims

Henley agreed to accompany police to Corll's boat shed in Southwest Houston, where he claimed the bodies of several victims could be found. Inside the boat shed, police found a half-stripped stolen
Chevrolet Camaro The Chevrolet Camaro is a mid-size American automobile manufactured by Chevrolet, classified as a pony car. It first went on sale on September 29, 1966, for the 1967 model year and was designed to compete with the Ford Mustang. The Camaro sha ...
, a child's bike, a large iron drum, water containers, two sacks of lime, two shovels, a broken rake, and a large plastic bag full of teenage boys' clothing. Two prison trusties began digging through the soft, crushed-shell earth of the boat shed and soon uncovered the body of a blond-haired teenaged boy, lying on his side, encased in clear plastic and buried beneath a layer of lime. Police continued excavating through the earth of the shed, unearthing the remains of more victims in varying stages of
decomposition Decomposition is the process by which dead organic substances are broken down into simpler organic or inorganic matter such as carbon dioxide, water, simple sugars and mineral salts. The process is a part of the nutrient cycle and is ess ...
. Most of the bodies found were wrapped in thick, clear plastic sheeting. Some victims had been shot, others strangled, the ligatures still wrapped tightly around their necks. All of the victims found had been sodomized and most victims found bore evidence of sexual torture:
pubic hair Pubic hair (or pubes , ) is terminal hair, terminal body hair that is found in the sex organ, genital area and pubic region of adolescent and adult humans. The hair is located on and around the sex organs, and sometimes at the top of the inside ...
s had been plucked out, genitals had been chewed, objects had been inserted into their
rectum The rectum (: rectums or recta) is the final straight portion of the large intestine in humans and some other mammals, and the gut in others. Before expulsion through the anus or cloaca, the rectum stores the feces temporarily. The adult ...
s, and glass rods had been inserted into their
urethra The urethra (: urethras or urethrae) is the tube that connects the urinary bladder to the urinary meatus, through which Placentalia, placental mammals Urination, urinate and Ejaculation, ejaculate. The external urethral sphincter is a striated ...
e and smashed. Cloth rags had also been inserted into the victims' mouths and adhesive tape wound around their faces to muffle their screams. The tongue of the first victim uncovered protruded over one inch beyond the tooth margin; the mouth of the third victim unearthed on August 8 was so agape that all upper and lower teeth were visible, leading investigators to theorize the youth had died screaming. After the recovery of the eighth body from the boat shed was completed at 11:55 p.m., the search for further bodies was discontinued until the next day. Accompanied by his father, Brooks presented himself at HPD headquarters on the evening of August 8 and gave a statement in which he denied any knowledge of or participation in the murders but admitted to having known that Corll had raped and killed two teenagers in 1970 and naming two youths—Ruben Haney and Mark Scott—whom he had seen in Corll's company immediately before their disappearances. On the morning of August 9, Henley gave a full written statement detailing his and Brooks's involvement with Corll in the abduction and murder of numerous youths. In this confession, Henley readily admitted to having personally killed approximately nine youths and to have assisted Corll in the strangulation of others. He stated the "only three" abductions and murders Brooks had not assisted him and Corll with were committed in the summer of 1973. That afternoon, Henley accompanied police to Lake Sam Rayburn, where he, Brooks, and Corll had buried four victims killed that year. Two additional bodies were found in shallow, lime-soaked graves located close to a dirt road. Inside the lakeside log cabin owned by Corll's family, police found a second plywood torture board, rolls of plastic sheeting, shovels, and a sack of lime. Police found nine additional bodies in the boat shed on August 9, with four separate arm bones not belonging to any victim also recovered close to the body of the twelfth victim exhumed. These bodies were recovered between 12:05p.m. and 8:30p.m., and all were in an advanced state of decomposition. The twelfth body unearthed bore evidence of sexual mutilation (the severed genitals of the victim were found inside a sealed plastic bag placed beside the body); another victim unearthed had several fractured ribs. The thirteenth and fourteenth bodies unearthed bore identification cards naming the victims as Donald and Jerry Waldrop. Brooks gave a full confession on the morning of August 10, admitting to being present at several killings and assisting in several burials, although he continued to deny any direct participation in the murders. In reference to the torture board upon which Corll had restrained and tortured his victims, Brooks stated: "Once they were on the board, they were as good as dead; it was all over, but the shouting and the crying." In reference to the actual murders, Brooks stated his witnessing the victims' deaths "didn't bother im, adding "I saw it done many times." He agreed to accompany police to High Island Beach to assist in the search for the bodies of the victims. On August 10, 1973, Henley again accompanied police to Lake Sam Rayburn, where two more bodies were found buried just apart. As with the two bodies found the previous day, both victims had been tortured and severely beaten, particularly around the head. That afternoon, both Henley and Brooks accompanied police to High Island Beach, leading police to the shallow graves of two victims. On August 13, both Henley and Brooks again accompanied the police to High Island Beach, where four more bodies were found, making a total of 27 known victims – the worst killing spree in American history at the time. Henley initially insisted that there were two more bodies to be found inside the boat shed and that the bodies of two more boys had been buried at High Island Beach in 1972. At the time, the killing spree was the worst case of serial murder, in terms of the number of victims, in the United States, exceeding the 25 murders attributed to Juan Corona, who had been arrested in
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
in 1971 for killing 25 men. The macabre record number of known victims attributed to a single murder case set by Corll and his accomplices was surpassed only in 1978 by
John Wayne Gacy John Wayne Gacy (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994) was an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured and murdered at least thirty-three young men and boys in Norwood Park Township, Cook County, Illinois, Norwood Park Tow ...
, who murdered 33 boys and young men and who admitted to being influenced by press coverage of the Houston Mass Murders to manacle his victims prior to their abuse and murder. Families of Corll's victims were highly critical of the HPD, which had been quick to list the missing boys as runaways who had not been considered worthy of any major investigation. The families of the murdered youths asserted that the police should have noted an insidious trend in the pattern of disappearances of teenage boys from the Heights neighborhood; other family members complained the HPD had been dismissive of their adamant insistence that their sons had no reason to run away from home. Everett Waldrop, the father of Donald and Jerry Waldrop, complained that shortly after his sons had disappeared in 1971, he had informed police an acquaintance had observed Corll burying what appeared to be bodies at his boat shed. In response, the police performed a perfunctory search around the boat shed, before dismissing the reports as a hoax. Waldrop stated that on one of the many occasions when he visited the HPD, the police chief had simply told him, "Why are you down here? You know your boys are runaways." The mother of Gregory Malley Winkle stated: "You don't run away (from home) with nothing but a bathing suit and 80 cents." By May 1974, 21 of Corll's victims had been identified, with all but four of the youths having either lived in or had close connections to Houston Heights. Two more teenagers were identified in 1983 and 1985; one of whom, Richard Kepner, had originally lived in
Humble, Texas Humble ( ) is a city located in the Greater Houston, Houston metropolitan area. Humble became an Boomtown, oil boomtown in the early 20th century when oil was first discovered there in 1904. By 1905, the Humble oilfield was the largest producing ...
, but had relocated to Spring Branch shortly before his disappearance to train as a carpenter's helper. The other youth, Willard Branch, lived in the Oak Forest district of Houston.


Indictment

On August 13, a
grand jury A grand jury is a jury empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a person to testify. A grand ju ...
convened in Harris County to hear evidence against Henley and Brooks: the first witnesses to testify were Williams and Kerley, who testified to the events of August 7 and 8 leading to the death of Corll. Another witness who testified to his experience at the hands of Corll was William Ridinger, who recounted his abuse at Corll's Schuler Street address before he was released. Also to testify at the hearing were the investigators who recounted the various statements and confessions provided by Henley and Brooks in the days following Corll's death and individuals tasked with supervising the exhumation of the victims' bodies. After listening to over six hours of testimony, on August 14, the grand jury
indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offense is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use that concept often use that of an indi ...
Henley on three counts of murder and Brooks on one count.
Bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Court bail may be offered to secure the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when ...
for each youth was set at $100,000. Henley was not charged with the death of Corll, which prosecutors would ultimately rule on September 18 had been committed in
self-defense Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of Force (law), ...
. By the time the grand jury had completed its investigation, Henley had been indicted for six murders, and Brooks for four. Both would later reject pretrial offers presented to them by Assistant District Attorney Don Lambright of life sentences in exchange for pleas of guilty to the murders for which they had been indicted. A pretrial
motion In physics, motion is when an object changes its position with respect to a reference point in a given time. Motion is mathematically described in terms of displacement, distance, velocity, acceleration, speed, and frame of reference to an o ...
that Henley undergo a psychiatric examination to determine whether he was mentally competent to stand trial was also opposed by his attorney, Charles Melder, upon the grounds the ruling would violate Henley's
constitutional rights A constitutional right can be a prerogative or a duty, a power or a restraint of power, recognized and established by a sovereign state or union of states. Constitutional rights may be expressly stipulated in a national constitution, or they may ...
.


Trials and convictions


Henley

Elmer Wayne Henley and David Owen Brooks were tried separately for their roles in the murders. Henley was brought to trial before Judge Preston Dial in
San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
on July 1, 1974, charged with six murders committed between March 1972 and July 1973. Upon advice from his
defense Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense industr ...
counsel, Henley did not take the stand to testify. His attorney, William Gray, did
cross-examine In law, cross-examination is the interrogation of a witness by one's opponent. It is preceded by direct examination (known as examination-in-chief in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, South Africa, India and Pakistan) and may be f ...
several witnesses, but did not call any witnesses or experts for the defense. The prosecution called twenty-four witnesses, including Kerley and Ridinger, and introduced eighty-two pieces of evidence, including Corll's torture board and one of the boxes used to transport the victims. Inside the box, police had found hair which examiners testified came from both Cobble and Henley. Other incriminating testimony came from police officers who read from Henley's written statements. In one part of his confession, Henley had described luring two of the victims for whose murder he had been brought to trial, Cobble and Jones, to Corll's Pasadena residence. Henley had confessed that after their initial abuse and torture at Corll's home, Cobble and Jones each had one wrist and ankle bound to the same side of Corll's torture board. The youths were then forced by Corll to fight each other with the promise that the one who beat the other to death would be allowed to live. After they had spent several hours beating each other, Jones was tied to a board and forced to watch Cobble again be assaulted, tortured, and shot to death before he himself was again raped, tortured, and strangled with a Venetian blind cord. Cobble and Jones were killed on July 27, 1973, two days after they had been reported missing. Several victims' parents had to leave the courtroom to regain their composure as police and medical examiners described how their relatives were tortured and murdered. On July 15, 1974, both counsels presented their
closing argument A closing argument, summation, or summing up is the concluding statement of each party's counsel reiterating the important arguments for the trier of fact, often the jury, in a court case. A closing argument occurs after the presentation of evi ...
s to the jury: the prosecution seeking
life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
; the defense a verdict of not guilty. In his closing argument to the jury, District Attorney Carol Vance apologized for his not being able to seek the
death penalty Capital punishment, also known as the death penalty and formerly called judicial homicide, is the state-sanctioned killing of a person as punishment for actual or supposed misconduct. The sentence ordering that an offender be punished in s ...
, adding that the case was the "most extreme example of man's inhumanity to man I have ever seen." The jury deliberated for 92 minutes before finding Henley guilty of all six murders for which he was tried. The following day, July 16, formal procedures to sentence Henley for the six guilty verdicts began, and on August 8, Judge Preston Dial ordered that Henley serve each 99-year sentence consecutively (totaling 594 years), and he was transferred to the
Huntsville Unit Texas State Penitentiary at Huntsville or Huntsville Unit (HV), nicknamed "Walls Unit", is a Texas state prison located in Huntsville, Texas, United States. The approximately facility, near downtown Huntsville, is operated by the Correctional Ins ...
to formally begin his sentence. Henley
appeal In law, an appeal is the process in which Legal case, cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of cla ...
ed his sentence and conviction, contending the jury in his initial trial had not been sequestered, that his attorneys' objections to news media being present in the courtroom had been overruled, and citing that his defense team's attempts to present evidence contending that the initial trial should not have been held in San Antonio had also been overruled by the judge. Henley's appeal was upheld and he was awarded a retrial in December 1978. Henley's retrial began on June 18, 1979. This second trial was held in Corpus Christi, with Henley again represented by defense attorneys William Gray and Edwin Pegelow. Henley's attorneys again attempted to have Henley's written statements ruled inadmissible. However, Judge Noah Kennedy ruled the written statements given by Henley on August 9, 1973, as admissible evidence. The retrial lasted nine days, with Henley's attorneys again calling no defense witnesses and again attacking the credibility of Henley's written confession. The defense also contended the evidence provided by the state "belonged to Dean Corll, not Elmer Wayne Henley". On June 27, 1979, the jury deliberated for over two hours before reaching their verdict; Henley was again convicted of six murders and again sentenced to six 99-year terms, only to run concurrently this time rather than consecutively.


Brooks

David Brooks was brought to trial before Judge William Hatten in Houston on February 27, 1975. He had been indicted for four murders committed between December 1970 and June 1973, but was brought to trial charged only with the June 1973 murder of 15-year-old William Ray Lawrence. Brooks's defense attorney, Jim Skelton, argued that his client had not committed any murders and attempted to portray Corll and, to a lesser degree, Henley as being the active participants in the actual killings. Assistant District Attorney Tommy Dunn dismissed the defense's contention outright, at one point telling the jury: "Was he an innocent bystander? This defendant was in on this killing, this murderous rampage, from the very beginning. He tells you he was a cheerleader if nothing else. That's what he was telling you about his presence. You know he was in on it." Skelton emphasized within his 40-minute closing argument that the state had based their entire case upon
circumstantial evidence Circumstantial evidence is evidence that relies on an inference to connect it to a conclusion of fact, such as a fingerprint at the scene of a crime. By contrast, direct evidence supports the truth of an assertion directly, i.e., without need ...
and that they had only proven Brooks to be an
accessory to murder Accessory may refer to: * Accessory (legal term), a person who assists a criminal In anatomy * Accessory bone * Accessory breast * Accessory kidney * Accessory muscle * Accessory nucleus, in anatomy, a cranial nerve nucleus * Accessory nerve * ...
as opposed to guilty of murder itself, stating: "The state has proven David Owen Brooks of being an accessory to murder; the state has not established a murder case. They have proved accessory to murder—not murder." Brooks's trial lasted less than one week. The jury deliberated for just 90 minutes before they reached a verdict. He was found guilty of Lawrence's murder on March 4, 1975, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Brooks showed no emotion as the sentence was passed, although his wife burst into tears. Brooks also appealed his sentence, contending that the signed confessions used against him were taken without his being informed of his legal rights, but his appeal was dismissed in May 1979.


Incarceration

Henley is serving his life sentence at the Mark Stiles Unit in Jefferson County, Texas. Successive parole applications dating from July 1980 have been denied. He is next eligible for parole in October 2025. Brooks served his life sentence at the Terrell Unit near
Rosharon, Texas Rosharon ( ), is a census-designated place (CDP) in Brazoria County, Texas, Brazoria County, Texas, United States, at the intersection of Farm to Market Road 521 and Farm to Market Road 1462. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census, ...
. He died of
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
-related complications at a
Galveston Galveston ( ) is a Gulf Coast of the United States, coastal resort town, resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island (Texas), Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a pop ...
hospital on May 28, 2020, at the age of 65. Brooks is buried at
Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery The Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery is the main prison cemetery in Texas, located in Huntsville and operated by the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ). The cemetery is colloquially known as Peckerwood Hill. The name originates from "Peckerwoo ...
in Walker County.


Victims

Corll and his accomplices are known to have killed a minimum of twenty-nine teenagers and young men between September 1970 and August 1973, although it is suspected that the true number of victims is higher. As Corll was killed immediately prior to his murders being discovered, the true number of victims he had claimed will never be known. Twenty-seven of Corll's known victims have been identified, and the identity of a twenty-eighth victim whose body has never been found, Mark Scott, is conclusively known. All of these victims were killed by either shooting, strangulation or a combination of both.


1970

* September 25: Jeffrey Alan Konen, 18. A student at the
University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...
abducted while hitchhiking from
Austin Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...
to the Braeswood Place district of Houston. He was buried at High Island Beach. * December 13: James Eugene Glass, 14. An acquaintance of Corll who also knew Brooks. Glass was last seen by his brother in the company of Danny Yates walking toward the exit of the church the trio had attended. He was strangled with a cord and buried inside the boat shed. * December 13: Danny Michael Yates, 14. Lured with his friend James Glass from a Heights
evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...
rally by Brooks to Corll's Yorktown apartment. He and his friend were strangled before being buried in a common grave in Corll's boat shed.


1971

* January 30: Donald Wayne Waldrop, 15. Disappeared with his brother while walking home from a friend's house. According to Brooks, Donald's father, who was a builder, was working on the apartment next to Corll's at the time that Donald and his brother were murdered. * January 30: Jerry Lynn Waldrop, 13. The youngest of Corll's victims. He and his brother were strangled the day after their abduction and buried in a common grave inside Corll's boat shed. * March 9: Randell Lee Harvey, 15. Disappeared on his way to his job as a gas station attendant; he was shot once in the head and buried in Corll's boat shed. Remains identified October 2008. * May 29: David William Hilligiest, 13. One of Henley's earliest childhood friends; Hilligiest was last seen in the company of his friend Gregory Malley Winkle walking to a local swimming pool, before climbing into a white van. * May 29: Gregory Malley Winkle, 16. A former employee of Corll Candy Company and boyfriend of Randell Harvey's sister. Winkle last phoned his mother claiming he and Hilligiest were swimming in
Freeport Freeport, a variant of free port, may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Freeport, name of several space stations in the video game ''Freelancer'' (2003) * Freeport, a fictional town in the video game ''SiN'' (1998) * ''Freeport: The Cit ...
. His body was found in the boat shed with the cord used to strangle him knotted around his neck. * July 1: Donald John Falcon, 17. Originally from Corpus Christi. Falcon was last seen close to his parents' West University Place apartment complex. Several
appendage An appendage (or outgrowth) is an external body part or natural prolongation that protrudes from an organism's body such as an arm or a leg. Protrusions from single-celled bacteria and archaea are known as cell-surface appendages or surface app ...
bones belonging to Falcon were recovered from the boat shed and identified via
DNA analysis Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...
in 2014. * August 17: Ruben Willfard Watson Haney, 17. Left his home to visit the cinema on the afternoon of August 17. Haney later called his mother to tell her he was spending the evening with Brooks. He was gagged, strangled and buried in Corll's boat shed.


1972

* March 24: Frank Anthony Aguirre, 18. Aguirre had been engaged to marry Rhonda Williams, whose presence in Corll's house would later spark the fatal confrontation between Henley and Corll. He was strangled and buried at High Island Beach. * April 20: Mark Steven Scott, 17. A friend of both Henley and Brooks who was killed at Corll's Schuler Street address. He was forced to write a letter to his parents claiming that he had found a job in Austin. According to Henley, Scott was strangled by himself and Corll the following morning and buried at High Island Beach, although his remains were never found. * May 21: Johnny Ray Delome, 16. A Heights youth who was last seen with his friend walking to a local store to purchase soft drinks. He was shot in the head, then strangled by Henley with the assistance of Corll. * May 21: Billy Gene Baulch Jr., 17. A former employee of Corll Candy Company. Baulch was forced to write a letter to his parents claiming he and Delome had found employment "for a trucker loading and unloading from Houston to
Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...
" before he was strangled by Henley and buried at High Island Beach. * July 19: Steven Kent Sickman, 17. Sickman was last seen leaving a party held in the Heights. He suffered several fractured ribs before he was strangled with a nylon cord and buried in the boat shed. Remains misidentified December 1993 and correctly identified March 2011. * c. August 21: Roy Eugene Bunton, 19. Disappeared on his way to work at a shoe store. He was shot twice in the head and buried in the boat shed. Remains misidentified October 1973 and correctly identified November 2011. * October 3: Wally Jay Simoneaux, 14. Lured with his friend into Brooks's Corvette on the evening of October 3. Simoneaux attempted to phone his mother at Corll's residence before the call was terminated. He was strangled and buried in the boat shed. * October 3: Richard Edward Hembree, 13. Last seen alongside his friend in a vehicle parked outside a Heights grocery store. He was shot in the mouth and strangled at Corll's Westcott Towers address. * c. November 1: Willard Karmon Branch Jr., 18. The son of an HPD officer who subsequently died of a
heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
in the search for his son. Branch was emasculated before he was shot in the head and buried in the boat shed. Remains identified July 1985. * November 11: Richard Alan Kepner, 19. Vanished on his way to call his fiancée from a pay phone, he was strangled and buried at High Island Beach. Remains identified September 1983.


1973

* February 1: Joseph Allen Lyles, 17. An acquaintance of Corll who lived on the same street as Brooks. He was seen by Brooks to be "grabbed" by Corll at his Wirt Road address and was subsequently buried at Jefferson County Beach. Remains located August 1983 and identified November 2009. * June 4: William Ray Lawrence, 15. A friend of Henley who phoned his father to ask if he could go fishing with "some friends." He was kept alive by Corll for three days before he was strangled with a cord and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn. * June 15: Raymond Stanley Blackburn, 20. A married man from
Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...
, who vanished while hitchhiking from the Heights to see his newborn child. Blackburn had arrived in Houston three months before his abduction to work on a construction project. He was strangled by Corll at his Lamar Drive residence and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn. * July 7: Homer Luis Garcia, 15. Met Henley while both youths were enrolled at a Bellaire driving school. He was shot in the head and chest and left to bleed to death in Corll's bathtub before being buried at Lake Sam Rayburn. * July 12: John Manning Sellars, 17. An Orange County youth killed two days before his 18th birthday. Sellars was killed by four gunshots to the chest and buried at High Island Beach. He was the only victim to be buried fully clothed. * July 19: Michael Anthony Baulch, 15. Corll had killed his older brother, Billy, the previous year. He was strangled and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn. Remains identified September 2010. * July 25: Marty Ray Jones, 18. Jones was last seen along with his friend and roommate, Charles Cobble, walking along 27th Street in the company of Henley. He was strangled with a Venetian blind cord and buried in the boat shed. * July 25: Charles Cary Cobble, 17. A school friend of Henley whose wife was pregnant at the time of his murder; Cobble last phoned his father in a state of
hysteria Hysteria is a term used to mean ungovernable emotional excess and can refer to a temporary state of mind or emotion. In the nineteenth century, female hysteria was considered a diagnosable physical illness in women. It is assumed that the bas ...
claiming he and Jones had been kidnapped by drug dealers. His body, shot twice in the head, was found in the boat shed. * August 3: James Stanton Dreymala, 13. The son of
Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church (SDA) is an Adventist Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the seventh day of the week in the Christian (Gregorian) and the Hebrew calendar, as the Sabbat ...
s. Dreymala was last seen riding his bicycle in Pasadena; he last called his parents to tell them he was at "a party" across town. He was strangled and buried in the boat shed. Footnotes * At Henley's trial in 1974, Harris County
medical examiner The medical examiner is an appointed official in some American jurisdictions who is trained in pathology and investigates deaths that occur under unusual or suspicious circumstances, to perform post-mortem examinations, and in some jurisdicti ...
Joseph Jachimczyk raised questions as to whether John Sellars was actually a victim of Corll. Sellars, a
U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
who had been reported missing on July 12, 1973, had been killed by four gunshot wounds to the chest fired from a rifle, whereas all of Corll's other known victims had been either shot with the same pistol that Henley had used to kill Corll, strangled, or both. Moreover, Sellars's car had been found burned-out in Starks, Louisiana, one week after Sellars had disappeared. * Police had been led to Sellars's body on August 13, 1973, by a trucker who recalled conversing with a youth he believed to be Henley after he had seen a car stuck in the sand close to where Sellars's body was subsequently found. The youth had rebuffed the trucker's offer to help free the car, stating he had two friends with him who would free the vehicle. Neither Henley nor Brooks specifically mentioned Sellars being a victim of Corll's in their confessions, nor have they disputed his being a victim. The official tally of victims was reduced to 26 in 1974 after Dr. Jachimczyk testified Sellars "probably was not" murdered by Corll and his accomplices. However, Sellars was of the same age as Corll's known victims, although his grave on High Island Beach was located two miles from the other five victims buried at this location. In addition, his body was found bound hand and foot with rope as other victims had been, and Sellars's autopsy report indicates a possibility of his being sexually assaulted prior to or after death.


Forensic developments

In June 2008, Dr. Sharon Derrick, a
forensic anthropologist Forensic anthropology is the application of the anatomical science of anthropology and its various subfields, including forensic archaeology and forensic taphonomy, in a legal setting. A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification o ...
with the medical examiner's office in Houston, released digital images of Corll's three still-unidentified victims. These victims were listed as ML73-3349, ML73-3356 and ML73-3378. Two of the unidentified victims were found buried in the boat shed and were estimated to have been killed in 1971 or 1972. ML73-3378 was buried at Lake Sam Rayburn just from the body of Homer Garcia, who had disappeared on July 7, 1973. On October 17, 2008, ML73-3349 was identified as Randell Lee Harvey, a Heights teenager who had been reported missing on March 11, 1971 – two days after he had disappeared. Harvey, who had been shot through the eye, was wearing a navy blue jacket with red lining, jeans and lace-up boots. A plastic orange pocket comb was also found alongside his body. A body found on a beach in Jefferson County on August 4, 1983, has been conclusively linked to Corll. The scattered skeletal remains were discovered within and close to plastic sheeting near an eroding sandbank, along with sections of rope. These remains were listed as ML83-6849. The body was identified November 11, 2009, through
DNA analysis Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...
as 17-year-old Joseph Lyles, a Spring Branch teenager who had disappeared on February 1, 1973. Lyles is known to have both visited Corll's apartment and to have lived on the same street as Brooks. He was listed as a possible victim of Corll after the other murders were discovered in 1973. At the time of his disappearance, Corll resided in an apartment at 1855 Wirt Road, where he lived between January 20 and March 1, 1973, when he moved to his father's Pasadena bungalow. Brooks had specifically stated Corll had "got one boy by himself" during the time he lived at this address. In addition, at the time that Lyles disappeared, Henley had temporarily moved to Mount Pleasant, which leaves a strong possibility that Corll had killed Lyles without the assistance of Henley. On September 13, 2010, DNA analysis was able to confirm that the unidentified victim known as ML73-3378 was actually Michael Anthony Baulch, who had incorrectly been identified as case file ML73-3333: the second victim unearthed from the boat shed. Baulch had disappeared en route to a barbershop on July 19, 1973—a year after his brother, Billy, had been murdered by Corll. The 1973 misidentification of Michael Baulch was discovered as a result of an independent investigation conducted by freelance writers Barbara Gibson and Debera Phinney, who contacted Dr. Derrick with a tip indicating that the second victim unearthed from the boat shed had been misidentified; upon conducting additional DNA testing, Dr. Derrick discovered their suspicions were correct. Henley had stated in his confession to police that he and Corll had "choked" Michael Baulch and buried him at Lake Sam Rayburn. The unidentified victim mistakenly identified as Baulch had been killed by two gunshots to the head and buried inside the boat shed. Three factors helped lead to the 1973 misidentification of Baulch: Michael's parents had previously filed a missing persons report on their son (who had previously left home to search for his older brother) in August 1972—precisely the same time as the second victim unearthed from the boat shed was estimated to have been killed. This was the only missing persons report on file for Michael Baulch. In addition, the victim was of a similar height to Baulch and circumstantial dental fractures had also helped facilitate the misidentification. On November 4, 2011, the victim mistakenly identified as Baulch (case file ML73-3333) was identified through DNA analysis as Roy Eugene Bunton, a Heights teenager who was last seen by his family heading for work at a Houston shoe store on or about August 21, 1972. Bunton's family had always believed him to be a victim of Corll and had contacted Dr. Derrick in 2009 to submit a
DNA sample Genetic testing, also known as DNA testing, is used to identify changes in DNA sequence or chromosome structure. Genetic testing can also include measuring the results of genetic changes, such as RNA analysis as an output of gene expression, or ...
for comparison with the unidentified bodies. Initially, the results conducted had been negative due to the misidentification of Bunton's remains as being those of Baulch. However, upon discovering the 1973 misidentification of Baulch's remains, DNA samples obtained from Bunton's family were compared to those taken from the body mistakenly identified as being that of Baulch and these proved to be a conclusive match to Bunton. In the confession given by Henley on August 9, 1973, the youth had stated that victim Mark Scott had been strangled and buried at High Island. Brooks had also stated in his confession that Scott was likely buried at High Island. Scott had been a blond youth who had not had any teeth extracted prior to his disappearance; however, Dr. Elizabeth Johnson of the Harris County Medical Institute had concluded in 1993 that the fifteenth set of remains unearthed from the boat shed—which had physical characteristics such as dark brown hair and two extracted molars—were those of Scott. Dr. Johnson had based her findings upon comparison of DNA analysis of a blood sample taken from Scott's mother with the remains unearthed from the boat shed, stating with a 98.5% degree of accuracy the decedent had been related to Scott's mother. In a 2010 interview granted to investigative reporter Barbara Gibson, Henley disputed the 1993 identification of a victim buried in the boat shed as Scott and reiterated his claim that Scott had been buried at High Island "in the sand:
fetal position Fetal position (British English: also foetal) is the positioning of the body of a prenatal fetus as it develops. In this position, the back is curved, the head is bowed, and the limbs are bent and drawn up to the torso. A compact position is ...
; head up," adding that he had repeatedly argued this point with Dr.Jachimczyk. As a result of Henley's claims, DNA tests on the body initially identified as Scott were again tested against samples of DNA taken from Scott's family. In March 2011, DNA analysis confirmed that the victim known as ML73-3355 had been misidentified and the same month, the victim was identified as Steven Kent Sickman, a 17-year-old who was last seen walking down West 34th Street shortly before midnight on July 19, 1972. He was murdered at Corll's Westcott Towers address. Sickman's mother had reported her son missing shortly after his disappearance, but police had been unwilling to conduct a search for the youth, telling the mother that he was 17 years old and that unless they found a body, there was nothing they could do to assist her. Had Henley not been adamant in his assertion that the body of Scott had been misidentified, it is likely Sickman would have never been conclusively confirmed as a victim of Corll. All six bodies directly linked to the Houston Mass Murders found at High Island have been identified. As Henley's claim that the victim known as ML73-3355 was not Scott has been proven to be correct, a strong suspicion remains that Scott's body remains buried on High Island. Four arm bones discovered between the remains of the twelfth and sixteenth victims discovered within the boat shed on August 9, 1973 would be determined via DNA analysis to belong to neither victim. Via familial DNA profiling, in 2014, the
University of North Texas Health Science Center The University of North Texas Health Science Center at Fort Worth – HSC, Health Science Center, Health Science Center at Fort Worth – is an academic health science center in Fort Worth, Texas. It is part of the University of North Texas Sys ...
determined all four of these appendages belonged to a 17-year-old named Donald John Falcon, who had disappeared on July 1, 1971. Although not officially confirmed as a twenty-ninth victim of Corll—with Falcon's
cause of death In law, medicine, and statistics, cause of death is an official determination of the conditions resulting in a human's death, which may be recorded on a death certificate. A cause of death is determined by a medical examiner. In rare cases, an ...
listed as "unknown" due to the fact a human can survive the severance/removal of the four
forearm The forearm is the region of the upper limb between the elbow and the wrist. The term forearm is used in anatomy to distinguish it from the arm, a word which is used to describe the entire appendage of the upper limb, but which in anatomy, techn ...
bones in question—several forensic anthropologists, including Dr. Sharon Derrick, consider Falcon a definitive twenty-ninth victim of Corll.


Unidentified victim

Corll's only known unidentified victim—the sixteenth body found in the boat shed—was in an advanced stage of decomposition at the time of his discovery, leading investigators to deduce that he had likely been killed in 1971 or 1972. This unidentified victim was found wearing red-white-and-blue striped swimming trunks, cowboy boots, a leather bracelet and a long-sleeved, khaki-colored T-shirt decorated with a peace symbol, leading investigators to conclude that he was likely killed in the summer months. In addition, his T-shirt bore a handwritten inscription believed to read either "LB4MF", "LBHMF", or "L84MF". He had dark hair and may have had
spina bifida Spina bifida (SB; ; Latin for 'split spine') is a birth defect in which there is incomplete closing of the vertebral column, spine and the meninges, membranes around the spinal cord during embryonic development, early development in pregnancy. T ...
, a congenital disability that could have affected his gait, or caused chronic pain. This victim has been referred to as "John Houston Doe" since the discovery of his body, but is also informally known as "Swimsuit Boy". This unidentified victim was found buried near the entrance to the boat shed between the bodies of Steven Sickman and Ruben Haney, whereas the bodies of the victims killed between December 1970 and May 1971 were found buried at the rear of the shed. It is likely, though not conclusive, that the unidentified sixteenth victim found within the boat shed may have been killed in the late summer or early fall of 1971. Dr. Derrick has stated that she believes this particular victim may be named Harman, Harmon or French, as the only outstanding missing persons reports relating to youths from the Houston area dated between 1970 and 1973, which fit the forensic profile of this unknown youth, include these surnames. One of these individuals, 15-year-old John Harmon, had been a Heights teenager reported missing in 1971. He is last known to have phoned his parents claiming to need money in much the same manner as victims Charles Cobble and Marty Jones had been forced to telephone their parents before their murder. Dr. Derrick has stated she has reason to believe this victim may be named Robert (or "Bobby") French, adding she has received an anonymous package containing a series of photographs potentially depicting this individual taken shortly before his murder, and that the sender of this package named this individual as one Bobby French. In 2022, authorities announced that the
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Representatives, United States Senate, and the Pre ...
and the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science are actively working together to identify this victim. An updated facial reconstruction was released to the media in August 2023.


Possible additional victims


Unrecovered remains

Forty-two boys had vanished from Houston Heights between 1970 and Corll's death in 1973. The police were heavily criticized for curtailing the search for further victims once the record set by Juan Corona for having the most victims had been surpassed. After finding the 26th and 27th bodies, tied together, at High Island Beach on August 13, the search for any further victims was terminated, despite Henley's insistence that two further bodies had been buried on the beach in 1972. A curious feature about this final discovery was the presence of two extra bones (an arm bone and a pelvis) in the grave, indicating at least one additional, undiscovered victim. Investigators later returned to the scene where these extra bones were discovered in efforts to locate any additional human remains at the site of their discovery, although this search yielded no further remains. The two bodies that Henley had insisted were still buried on the beach may have been those of Scott and Lyles. In light of developments relating to the identifications of victims, the body of Scott still lies undiscovered at High Island, while Lyles's remains were only found by chance in 1983. Had the search for bodies continued, both victims would have likely been discovered. Following
Hurricane Ike Hurricane Ike () was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. Ike took a sim ...
in 2008, the area of High Island Beach where Corll is known to have buried his victims remains submerged, leaving a strong possibility that Scott's body will never be found. Furthermore, Henley also insisted the bodies of two further victims remained buried within the boat shed. His claims were disputed, with one officer informing reporters on August 9: "If there's nineteen ictimsin here, we missed two, but we've been over every inch of this ground." In addition to the arm bones recovered from the boat shed identified via DNA analysis in 2014 as belonging to victim Donald Falcon, investigators also recovered a portion of a child's
cranium The skull, or cranium, is typically a bony enclosure around the brain of a vertebrate. In some fish, and amphibians, the skull is of cartilage. The skull is at the head end of the vertebrate. In the human, the skull comprises two prominent ...
determined to belong to a boy of either nine or ten years of age. A forensic analysis of this skull portion revealed the condition of this section of bone to be similar to other bones recovered at this location and likely not an incidental archeological recovery, thus indicating the bodies of two Corll victims—one still unidentified—remain buried at this location. Although in his August 10 confession, Brooks had informed investigators he believed victim Jerry Waldrop was Corll's youngest victim, he did inform investigators that afternoon that the youngest murder victim had been "about nine" and the son of a grocer. Contemporary investigative records do refer to a missing
prepubescent Preadolescence is a stage of human development following middle childhood and preceding adolescence.New Oxford American Dictionary. 2nd Edition. 2005. Oxford University Press. It commonly ends with the beginning of puberty. Preadolescence is ...
boy named Albright whom investigators had considered as a possible individual Brooks had been referring to; however, all the victims recovered in 1973 had been older than this child. Former employees of Corll Candy Company recalled Corll doing a lot of digging in the years leading up to 1968, when his mother's third marriage was deteriorating and the firm was failing. Corll stated he was burying spoiled candy to avoid contamination by insects. He subsequently cemented over the floor. He was also observed digging in waste ground that was later converted into a parking lot. These former workers also recalled that Corll had rolls of clear plastic of precisely the same type used to bury his victims. Moreover, co-workers at HL&P also stated that, from the earliest days of his employment, Corll had repeatedly retained coils of used nylon cord that would otherwise have been discarded. This brand of cord was the same type used to strangle and bind the bodies of many of his victims. The suspicion is that Corll began killing much earlier than 1970 and had been abusing youths prior to this date. Moreover, in one interview, Brooks claimed that Corll's first murder victim was a youth killed at an apartment complex located at 1353 Judiway Street, where Corll had lived between October 7 and November 10, 1968, and when Brooks himself had been thirteen years old. The earliest of Corll's victims mentioned by Brooks in his confession were two teenage boys killed at 3300 Yorktown, where Corll had only resided between October 1970 and January 1971. Corll's earliest double murder, that of Glass and Yates, took place in December 1970; those victims were actually killed at Corll's Yorktown address. A possibility exists that the earliest double murder victims were Glass and Yates; however, in his confession to police, Brooks specifically described Glass as being murdered at an altogether separate address Corll had resided in at the time of his first double murder. In addition, Brooks only knew the location of Konen's body at High Island Beach because Corll had shown it to him. It is possible that the initial double murder Brooks had discovered Corll in the process of committing occurred after the murder of Konen and before those of Glass and Yates. The confessions of Henley and Brooks separately describe two murders having occurred on unknown dates between September 25, 1971, and early March 1972: a youth Brooks described as having been murdered at Corll's apartment on Columbia Street immediately prior to Henley's involvement in the crimes and the unidentified first teenager whose abduction Henley had participated in shortly prior to the murder of Frank Aguirre. However, only one unidentified murder victim linked to the case remains meaning that, if the unidentified victim discovered in the boat shed is actually one of these two individuals, a further victim remains undiscovered. These details, alongside the two additional bones that were found with the 26th and 27th victims discovered at High Island, the section of a child's cranium recovered from the boat shed, plus the unidentified victim killed at Judiway Street, indicate a minimum of four and possibly seven more unknown victims. There are two suspiciously long gaps between known victims in the chronology of Corll's known murders. His last known victim of 1971 was Ruben Watson Haney, who disappeared on August 17. The first victim of 1972 was Frank Aguirre, who disappeared on March 24, meaning no known victims were killed for seven months. Moreover, Corll also is not known to have killed between February 1 and June 4, 1973. In March 1973, a Mr. and Mrs. Abernathy had reported to Galveston County authorities that they had observed three men carrying and burying a "long, wrapped bundle" at Galveston Beach. The couple identified two of the men as Corll and Henley. The third individual had long, blond hair—like Brooks. As the couple watched the trio, one of the men (whom they later identified as Henley) advanced upon their car with such a menacing expression that the couple felt compelled to drive away. Two women had also observed three men digging at the beach in May 1973—one of whom they positively identified as Brooks. However, police were again unwilling to extend the search. In February 2012, a picture was released to the news media of a likely unknown victim of Corll. The color Polaroid image had been found in the personal possessions of Henley, which had been stored by his family since his arrest in 1973. The image depicts a blond-haired teenage youth in handcuffs, strapped to a device upon Corll's floor, alongside a toolbox known to contain various instruments Corll used to torture his victims. The individual depicted has been ruled out by the Harris County Medical Examiner as being any of Corll's known victims, including his one remaining known unidentified victim. Henley himself has stated that the picture must have been taken after he had acquired a Polaroid camera in 1972—although he is adamant that he has no idea who this boy is. Given that Henley became acquainted with Corll in 1972, it is likely this boy would have been killed in 1972 or 1973.


Outstanding missing persons cases

The January 14, 1973, disappearance of 16-year-old Norman Lamar Prater has been tentatively linked to Corll. Prater was last seen by his mother in Dallas in the company of an adult male and two teenage youths with shoulder-length hair; he had previously lived in the same neighborhood as most of Corll's known victims and had attended the same high school as Henley between 1970 and 1971. Prater is known to have continued to visit his father in Houston during weekends after he moved with his mother to Dallas. However, no firm evidence exists to link Prater's disappearance to Corll and his accomplices. A further teenager, 16-year-old Rodney Harris, is also speculated to be a victim of Dean Corll. Harris—a
Spring Woods High School Spring Woods High School is a public secondary school in Spring Branch, Houston, Spring Branch, Houston, Texas, United States. The school, serving grades 9 through 12, is operated by Spring Branch Independent School District (SBISD). Spring Wood ...
student—had disappeared from Spring Branch on February 21, 1973, just three weeks after victim Joseph Lyles. He was last seen alive climbing into a sedan close to his family's English Oaks apartment. As with Prater, DNA analysis has excluded Harris as being the sole unidentified victim of Corll. Contemporary investigative records indicate a teenager named John Green—reported missing in December 1972—may also have been a victim of Corll, although no contemporary missing persons report of this individual has been located.


Potential association with a national sex ring

During a routine investigation in February 1975, the HPD discovered a large cache of
pornographic Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolved from cave paintings ...
pictures and films depicting boys as young as eight, most of whom were from the Heights. Of the sixteen individuals depicted within the films and photos, eleven of the individuals appeared to be among Corll's known victims who had been identified by this date; other individuals in the cache were underage at the time the images and films had been taken, but had reached the legal
age of consent The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to Human sexual activity, sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is un ...
by the time of the discoveries and their questioning by authorities, indicating the material had been accrued over many years. The discovery raised the disturbing possibility that the statements Corll had given to both Henley and Brooks that he was associated with a Dallas-based organization which "bought and sold boys" may indeed have held a degree of truth. The discovery of the material in Houston in 1975 subsequently led to the arrest of five individuals in
Santa Clara, California Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...
, including the owner of the warehouse where the cache had been stored, Roy Ames, a known producer of child pornography, whose name police had found on a card in Corll's wallet. No direct link in these arrests to Corll was proven, as the HPD declined to pursue any possible link to the killings, stating they felt Corll's victims' families had "suffered enough." On August 15, 1973, just two days after investigators had uncovered the final bodies initially linked to the Houston Mass Murders, investigators in Dallas uncovered a nationwide homosexual procurement ring operated by John David Norman. This police raid seized a card filing system containing up to 10,000 names of individuals across the United States ascribed to this network and the personal details of numerous teenage boys exploited by this sex trafficking ring. There is still no conclusive evidence to suggest that Corll had ever solicited any of his victims in this manner, not only because the HPD chose not to pursue this potential possibility, but also because neither Brooks nor Henley ever mentioned having met any individuals from the "organization" Corll had claimed he was involved with. In addition, neither mentioned having seen any of the victims either filmed, photographed, or released from the devices Corll restrained his victims to until after their rape, torture, and murder. The arrests in Santa Clara do, however, suggest possible validity in Brooks's statements to police that Corll had informed him that his earliest murder victims had been buried in California.


Media


Film

* A film loosely inspired by the Houston Mass Murders, ''Freak Out'', was released in 2003. The film was directed by Brad Jones, who also starred as Corll. This film largely focuses upon the last night of Corll's life, prior to Henley shooting him and contacting authorities. The film has received mostly mixed to positive reviews. * Production of a film directly based upon the Houston Mass Murders, ''In a Madman's World'', finished in 2014. Directed by Josh Vargas, the film is directly based upon Henley's life before, during, and immediately after his involvement with Corll and Brooks. Limited edition copies of the film were released in 2017.


Bibliography

* Christian, Kimberly (2015). ''Horror in the Heights: The True Story of The Houston Mass Murders''. CreateSpace. . * * Gurwell, John K. (1974). ''Mass Murder in Houston''. Cordovan Press. * Hanna, David (1975). ''Harvest of Horror: Mass Murder in Houston''. Belmont Tower. * * * * * * * *


Television

* A 1982 documentary, '' The Killing of America'', features a section devoted to the Houston Mass Murders. * FactualTV has screened a documentary focusing upon the murders committed by Corll and his accomplices. Dr. Sharon Derrick is among those interviewed for the documentary. *
Investigation Discovery Investigation Discovery (stylized and branded on-air as ID since 2008) is an American multinational pay television network dedicated to true crime documentaries, similar to corporate sibling HLN. It is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery's netw ...
has broadcast a documentary focusing upon the Houston Mass Murders within their documentary series, ''
Most Evil ''Most Evil'' is an American forensics television program on Investigation Discovery, first aired in 2006, presented by forensic psychiatrist Dr. Michael H. Stone of Columbia University during the program's first three seasons, and by forensi ...
''. This documentary, entitled "Manipulators", features an interview with Henley conducted by a former
forensic psychologist Forensic psychology is the application of scientific knowledge and methods (in relation to psychology) to assist in answering legal questions that may arise in criminal, civil, contractual, or other judicial proceedings. Forensic psychology includes ...
named Kris Mohandie. * The crime thriller series '' Mindhunter'' has broadcast an episode mentioning the Houston Mass Murders. This episode was first broadcast on August 16, 2019. * Houston-based news channel
KPRC-TV KPRC-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Houston, Texas, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Graham Media Group. Its studios are located on Southwest Freeway (I-69/ US 59) in the Southwest Management District (formerly Greate ...
has broadcast an episode focusing upon the Houston Mass Murders as part of their crime series ''The Evidence Room''. Hosted by investigative reporter Robert Arnold, this 28-minute episode, titled ''The Candy Man's Henchmen'', was first broadcast in February 2023.


Podcast

* ''The Clown and the Candyman'' (2020–2021). An eight-part podcast series narrated by Jacqueline Bynon, investigating the murders committed by Dean Corll and
John Wayne Gacy John Wayne Gacy (March 17, 1942 – May 10, 1994) was an American serial killer and sex offender who raped, tortured and murdered at least thirty-three young men and boys in Norwood Park Township, Cook County, Illinois, Norwood Park Tow ...
, their respective potential links to a nationwide sex trafficking network, and the ongoing efforts to identify their victims.


See also

*
List of serial killers by number of victims A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more people, in two or more separate events over a period of time, for primarily psychological reasons.''Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying'' entry o"Serial Killers" (2003) by Sa ...
*
List of serial killers in the United States A serial killer is typically a person who kills three or more people, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defines serial murder a ...


Notes


References


Cited works and further reading

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links

* Case information upon unknown victi
ML73-3356
: Corll'
only known unidentified victim
* Contemporar
''news footage''
pertaining to the Houston Mass Murders * ''Crimelibrary.com'

* David Brooks'

* David Brooks's confessio


''Digging for the Truth: Houston Mass Murders'':
A website detailing past and present investigations into the Houston Mass Murders * Elmer Wayne Henley'
''confession''
* Facial reconstruction
depicting unidentified victim ML73-3356

''Houston Mass Murders'':
A website focusing upon the crimes committed by Dean Corll and his accomplices * Houston Police Department ''archive offense reports'' pertaining to the Houston Mass Murders * March 1974 ''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...
'' articl
focusing upon the Houston Mass Murders
* Medical Examiner'
Case Report PA-29-30-31#2
: unidentified partial human remains found at High Island August 9, 197
strongly believed to belong to Houston Mass Murders case

''The Girl on the Torture Board'':
2014 ''
Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown Houston, Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely ...
'' news article focusing upon surviving victims Rhonda Williams and Timothy Kerley
The Houston Horrors
''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'', August 20, 1973.
The Houston Mass Murders: What Really Happened
''
Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the Natura ...
''. April 2011. {{DEFAULTSORT:Corll, Dean 1939 births 1973 deaths 20th-century American LGBTQ people 20th-century American murderers American LGBTQ military personnel American male criminals American murderers of children American rapists American torturers Child murder in Texas Child sexual abuse in the United States Crimes adapted into films Criminals from Houston Deaths by firearm in Texas Gay military personnel Incidents of violence against boys LGBTQ people from Indiana Military personnel from Indiana People from Fort Wayne, Indiana People from Vidor, Texas Rape of males Serial killers from Indiana Serial killers from Texas United States Army soldiers Violence against men in the United States