Elmer Wayne Henley [30] 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. "[142], Kerley later told detectives that before the police officer had arrived at Lamar Drive, Henley had informed him, "If you wasn't my friend, I could have gotten $200 for you. All of these victims were killed by either shooting, strangulation or a combination of both. "[183] He agreed to accompany police to High Island Beach to assist in the search for the bodies of the victims. ", "Murder Mystery: Houston Serial Killer 'Candy Man's' Last Victim Still Not Identified", "Forensic Anthropologist 'Digging' for Answers to 37-Year-Old Murders", "Houston Family Notified Son a Victim of Slaying", "The Charley Project: Norman Lamar Prater", "Texas Police Hunting More Bodies at Beach", "New Victim Discovered in Decades-Old Candyman Serial Killing Case", "Filmmakers May Have Discovered New Victim of 1970s Mass Murders", "Mass Murder Victims Linked with Sex Ring", "Henley Attorneys to Fight Court's Psychiatric Exam", "Alleged Homosexual Ring Found Inside a Raid on Apartment in Dallas", "Real Horror: Local Filmmaker Brings the Horrific Crimes of Dean Corll to the Silver Screen", "Dean Corll Biopic, In a Madman's World, Finally Gets a Release Date", "Investigation Discovery Reveals Who Is Most Evil with Leading Forensic Psychologist Dr. Kris Mohandie On Sunday, December 7", "Mindhunter Season 2 Episode 4 Recap Netflix Series", "The Evidence Room, Episode 9: The Candy Man's Henchmen", "Episode 1: "The Candyman": The Inside Story of Dean Corll", the identity of Corll's only unidentified victim, The Houston Mass Murders: What Really Happened, strongly believed to belong to Houston Mass Murders case, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dean_Corll&oldid=1152248449, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2023, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. to which Henley answered, "Yes." 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. He had lived on Antoine Drivethe same street upon which Brooks resided in 1973. "[140], Minutes later, a PPD patrol car arrived at 2020 Lamar Drive. FactualTV has screened a documentary focusing upon the murders committed by Corll and his accomplices. [288] In addition, his T-shirt bore a handwritten inscription believed to read either "LB4MF", "LBHMF",[286] or "L84MF". [30], Despite the revelations that Corll was, in reality, killing the boys he and Brooks had assisted in abducting, Henley nonetheless became an active participant in the abductions and murders. [172], Police found nine additional bodies in the boat shed on August 9. [99], On January 20, 1973, Corll moved to an address on Wirt Road in the Spring Branch district of Houston. Dr. Derrick has stated that she believes this particular victim may be named Harman, Harmon or French,[286] 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. 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. [303], The January 14, 1973, disappearance of 16-year-old Norman Lamar Prater has been tentatively linked to Corll. [62] In each of these abductions, Brooks is known to have been a participant. He was shot twice in the head and buried in the boat shed. 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. Henley suggested to Kerley and Williams that they should simply leave, to which Kerley replied, "No, we should call the police." [80] 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. [223] He had been indicted for four murders committed between December 1970 and June 1973,[224] but was brought to trial charged only with the June 1973 murder of 15-year-old William Ray Lawrence. If Henley's statement is to be believed, the victim was abducted from the Heights in February or early March 1972. 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 was going to kill all three teenagers after he had assaulted and tortured Kerley, initially saying, "Man, you blew it bringing that girl,"[126] before shouting: "I'm gonna kill you all! 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. Corll and his accomplices are known to have killed a minimum of 28 teenagers and young men between September 1970 and August 1973, although it is suspected that the true number of victims is higher. Most victims were abducted from Houston Heights, which was then a low-income neighborhood northwest of downtown Houston. [63] 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, 1971. Henley later compared the acceleration in the frequency of killings and the increase in the brutality exhibited by Corll towards his victims 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. [155] Another wooden crate with air holes drilled in the sides was found in Corll's backyard. ", In one section of his subsequent testimony at Henley's 1974 trial, Detective Sergeant David Mullican would state to the court: "Other means of torture were pulling their pubic hairs out one by one, shoving glass rods up the penis and shoving a large, bullet-like instrument in the victim's rectum.". Moreover, Corll also is not known to have killed between February 1 and June 4, 1973. Kerleya casual acquaintance of Corll's who was intended to be his next victimaccepted the offer. Mindhunter Dreymala was abducted by Brooks and Corll while riding his bike in Pasadena and driven to Lamar Drive upon the pretense of collecting empty glass bottles to resell. When Dean finished high school, the family decided to move to the outskirts of Houston, where most of the candy was sold. [72] Henley subsequently assisted Corll and Brooks in Aguirre's burial at High Island Beach. Brooks served his life sentence at the Terrell Unit near Rosharon, Texas. Elmer Wayne Henley Jr., now 66, in a recent mug shot on the left, and at age 17 in 1973 on the right. Corll's family opened a new shop, which they named Pecan Prince[17] in reference to the brand name of the family product. [188], 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 in 1971 for killing 25 men. [101][n 5]. Konen was born November 20, 1951, per death certificate. [108][109] 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. 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. [65], On August 17, 1971, Corll and Brooks encountered a 17-year-old acquaintance of Brooks named Ruben Watson Haney walking home from a movie theater in Houston. The divorce was granted on amicable grounds and both boys maintained regular contact with their father. [16], By the time Brooks dropped out of high school, Corll's mother and his half-sister, Joyce, had moved to Colorado after the failure of her third marriage and the closure of Corll Candy Company in June 1968. [66] Haney agreed and was taken to Corll's home where he was subsequently strangled and buried in the boat shed. [230][231] Brooks is buried at Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery in Walker County. Family victimized by serial killer Elmer Wayne Henley speak out [25], 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. [159] Police continued excavating through the earth of the shed, unearthing the remains of more victims in varying stages of decomposition. Williams then asked Henley: "Are you going to do anything about it? [23] He was later assigned to Fort Benning, Georgia, to train as a radio repairman before his permanent assignment to Fort Hood, Texas. Detective David Mullican, recollecting the Houston Mass Murders, April 2011. Presume Both Kerley and Williams had awakened by this point. What did Elmer Wayne Henley do? [204][205][n 11], Elmer Wayne Henley and David Owen Brooks were tried separately for their roles in the murders. That afternoon, Henley accompanied police to Lake Sam Rayburn, where he, Brooks, and Corll had buried four victims killed that year. [289] He had dark hair and may have had spina bifida, a congenital disability that could have affected his gait, or caused chronic pain. [187] 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. The oldest of the couples four sons, Henleys childhood home was an unhappy one. Henley Sr. was a violent and abusive alcoholic who took his rage out on his family. Henleys mother tried to do right by her children, and when Henley Jr. was 14, she left her husband and took the kids with her, hoping for a fresh start. [46] He is also known to have retained keepsakesusually keysfrom his victims. After listening to over six hours of testimony from various people, on August 14, the jury initially indicted Henley on three counts of murder and Brooks on one count. [5], 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. Also known as the Houston Mass Murders, at least 28 boys and young men were raped, tortured, and killed by Corll up until [310], The discovery raised the disturbing possibility that the statements Corll had given to both Henley and Brooks prior to his murder that he was associated with an organization based in Dallas which "bought and sold boys"[262] may indeed have held a degree of truth. [308], During a routine investigation in February 1975, the HPD discovered a large cache of pornographic pictures and films depicting boys as young as eight, most of whom were from the Heights. In the rear of the vehicle, police found a coil of rope, a swatch of beige rug covered in soil stains,[154] and a wooden crate with air holes drilled in the sides. This police raid seized a card filing system containing up to 10,000 names of individuals across America ascribed to this network and the personal details of numerous teenage boys exploited by this sex trafficking ring. [31] Whenever Brooks told Corll he needed cash, Corll gave him money, and the youth began to view Corll as a father figure. Aug 14, 2022 | 2. The couple identified two of the men as Corll and Henley. 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. [171] Two additional bodies were found in shallow, lime-soaked graves located close to a dirt road. [69], In the winter of 1971, Brooks introduced Henley to Corll. Within two weeks of moving into this address, he had killed 17-year-old Joseph Lyles. Then, of course, theres Elmer Wayne Henleyquite a bit lesser known than Gacywho was sent to prison in 1974 for the spree of murders he committed alongside How that man was able to go out to that storage shed, time after time, and bury one more dead boy is something I'll never understand. [232], In June 2008, Dr. Sharon Derrick, a forensic anthropologist with the medical examiner's office in Houston, released digital images of Corll's three still-unidentified victims. 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 third individual had long, blond hairlike Brooks. Brooks had also stated in his confession that Scott was likely buried at High Island. [226] Assistant District Attorney Tommy Dunn dismissed the defense's contention outright, at one point telling the jury: "This defendant was in on this killing, this murderous rampage, from the very beginning. [211], Throughout the trial, the state introduced 82 pieces of evidence, including Corll's torture board and one of the boxes used to transport the victims. [22]:3647, Corll was drafted into the United States Army on August 10, 1964,[5] and assigned to Fort Polk, Louisiana, for basic training. However, Scott saw Henley pointing a pistol toward him and according to Brooks, Scott "just gave up." [33], Brooks' parents were divorced; his father lived in Houston and his mother had relocated to Beaumont, a city 85 miles (140km) east of Houston. [98] On November 15, a 19-year-old Heights youth named Richard Kepner disappeared on his way to a phone booth. Elmer Wayne Henley initially ignored Corlls offer, only changing his mind in early 1972 because he needed the money but Henleys later actions suggest that the money was only part of it. Once Henley agreed to help, he and Corll got into Corlls Plymouth GTX and began driving around looking for a boy. Corll ignored him and Henley then grabbed Corll's pistol, shouting, "You've gone far enough, Dean! Corll stated he was burying spoiled candy to avoid contamination by insects. Effort continues to identify last known victim [293], On August 15, 2022, authorities announced that the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science are actively working together to identify this victim. [186] 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. Harvey was driven to Corll's Mangum Road apartment, where he was subsequently killed by a single gunshot to the head. WebJohn Wayne Gacy's father was an alcoholic who physically and emotionally abused him throughout his childhood. The prosecution called dozens of witnesses, including Kerley and Ridinger. 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. He was also observed digging in waste ground that was later converted into a parking lot. Scott was tied to the torture board and suffered the same fate as Aguirre: rape, torture, strangulation, and burial at High Island Beach. Between 1970 and 1973, Dean Corll, aided by David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley Jr., killed 26 young men in the [309] 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. [100] On March 7, Corll vacated his Wirt Road apartment and moved to 2020 Lamar Drive, an address his father had vacated in Pasadena. [15] In high school, Corll's only major interest was the brass band, in which he played trombone. After approximately two hours, Henley, Kerley, and Williams each passed out. [58] An electrical cord with alligator clips attached to each end was buried alongside Yates's body. But first I'm gonna have my fun! This brand of cord was the same type used to strangle and bind the bodies of many of his victims. The defense also contended the evidence provided by the state "belonged to Dean Corll, not Elmer Wayne Henley". John Wayne Gacy : r/conspiracy - Reddit 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. WebTogether with David Owen Brooks, and Elmer Wayne Henley Jr, he killed 28 known boys between September 1970 and August 1973. The three teenagers began drinking and smoking marijuana, with Henley and Kerley also sniffing paint fumes as Corll watched them intently. [113], On August 3, 1973, Corll killed his last victim, a 13-year-old boy from South Houston named James Stanton Dreymala. In 1960, at the request of his mother, Corll moved to Indiana to live with his widowed grandmother. [175] 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);[176][177] another victim unearthed had several fractured ribs. Mindhunter Season 2: All the Serial Killers and Their Stats Elmer Wayne Henley, The Teen Accomplice Of 'Candy Man' Dean "[309], 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. [16][36] He worked in this employment until the day of his death. [120][5] Williams climbed into the back seat of Kerley's Volkswagen. [204], Brooks was brought to trial on February 27, 1975. In his call, Henley blurted to the operator: "Y'all better come here right now! However, it was confirmed that he was the mastermind behind these high-profile killings. [53] The body was found buried beneath a large boulder,[54] covered with a layer of lime, wrapped in plastic, naked, and bound hand and foot with nylon cord, suggesting he had been violated. Houston Police officer Karl Siebeneicher describing Henley's actions upon leading police to Corll's boat shed on August 8. [117][n 6] Brooks was not present at the time. [30] Twenty-seven of Corll's known victims have been identified, and the identity of a 28th victim whose body has never been found, Mark Scott, is conclusively known. [157] Inside the boat shed, police found a half-stripped stolen car, a child's bike, a large iron drum, water containers, two sacks of lime,[5] and a large plastic bag full of teenage boys' clothing. Henley likely was lured to Corll's address as an intended victim. Lyles was known to both Corll and Brooks. "[143][144], In PPD custody, Henley was initially questioned about the killing of Corll. Moreover, the floor of the room where the three teenagers had been tied was covered in thick plastic sheeting. [225] 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. [52], Brooks led police to Konen's body on August 10, 1973. [n 2], During the years in which he abducted and murdered his victims, Corll often changed addresses. Kerley had been stripped naked. Serial killer Henley grants interview - Chron He was murdered at Corll's Westcott Towers address. As the first bodies were removed from the boat shed, a visibly distressed Henley informed investigators: "It's all my fault because I led those boys straight to Dean. The trio then drove toward Corll's Pasadena residence. [225] 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. [124] His mouth had been taped shut and his ankles had been bound together.
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