The real stories of Mindhunter season 2: Episode 4. All of these victims were killed by either shooting, strangulation or a combination of both. On August 8th, 1973, his reign of terror came to an end when he was shot by Henley, when he tried to turn on Henley and murder him. Bail for each youth was set at $100,000. Twenty-eight young boys killed in all, from 1970 to 1973. If Henley's statement is to be believed, the victim was abducted from the Heights in February or early March 1972. [110], In July 1973, after Brooks married his pregnant fiance,[30] 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. [150] Corll had paid up to $200 for each victim Brooks or he were able to lure to his apartment. [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. He was responsible for the murders and sexual assaults of 28 boys and young males in the Houston area of Texas between 1970 and 1973. [22]:3647, Corll was drafted into the United States Army on August 10, 1964,[5] and assigned to Fort Polk, Louisiana, for basic training. 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. As a result of this diagnosis, Corll was told to avoid P.E. Lyles was known to both Corll and Brooks. "[127] He then repeatedly kicked Williams in the chest[30] before lifting Henley to his feet, dragging him into his kitchen and placing a .22-caliber pistol against his stomach, threatening to shoot him. [5] Most of the bodies found were wrapped in thick, clear plastic sheeting. In 1970, when he was 15, Brooks dropped out of Waltrip High School[30] and moved to Beaumont to live with his mother. The retrial lasted nine days, with Henley's attorneys again calling no defense witnesses and again attacking the credibility of Henley's written confession. [n 2], During the years in which he abducted and murdered his victims, Corll often changed addresses. [19][24] The army granted his request and he was given an honorable discharge on June 11, 1965, after ten months of service. 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. [22]:3644. Norman Lamar Prater 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. [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. The first victim of 1972 was Frank Aguirre, who disappeared on March 24, meaning no known victims were killed for seven months. [22]:3670 Investigators later returned to the scene where these extra bones bodies were discovered in efforts to locate any additional human remains at the site of their discovery, although this search yielded no further remains. Corll died where he fell, his naked body lying face toward the wall. The three teenagers began drinking and smoking marijuana, with Henley and Kerley also sniffing paint fumes as Corll watched them intently. [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. He's serving 6 life sentences, but is being considered for compassionate release. [311] The discovery of the material in Houston in 1975 subsequently led to the arrest of five individuals in Santa Clara, California. 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. He was murdered at Corll's Westcott Towers address. However, no firm evidence exists to link Prater's disappearance to Corll and his accomplices. This route often involved West traveling to Houston, where much of the product was sold. [22]:3641 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 cells to give increased volume,[152] an electric motor with loose wires attached,[153] eight pairs of handcuffs, a number of dildos, thin glass tubes, and lengths of rope. [3], Dean Arnold Corll was born on December 24, 1939, in Fort Wayne, Indiana, the first child of Mary Emma Robison (1916-2010) and Arnold Edwin Corll (1916-2001). [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. Right then's when I knew there were going to be bodies in that shed. [123], Henley awoke to find himself lying on his stomach and Corll snapping handcuffs onto his wrists. [22]:3670 Two women had also observed three men digging at the beach in May 1973one of whom they positively identified as Brooks. No known victims were killed between February 1 and June 4, 1973. Between 1970 and 1973, Dean Corll, aided by David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley Jr., killed 26 young men in the Prior to their respective trials, both Henley and Brooks would reject offers presented to them by the district attorney of life sentences in exchange for pleas of guilty in the murders for which they had been indicted. [18][19] 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. 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. As a result of this behavior, he earned himself the nicknames of the "Candy Man" and the "Pied Piper." Corll then tied Brooks to his bed and assaulted the youth repeatedly before releasing him. Both youths were tied to opposite sides of Corll's torture board and subsequently raped, strangled, and buried in a boat shed he had rented on November 17. [15] Corll, however, reportedly hated military service; he applied for a hardship discharge on the grounds that he was needed in his family's business. Scott had been a blond youth who had not had any teeth extracted prior to his disappearance; however, a Dr. Elizabeth Johnson of the Harris County Medical Institute had concluded in 1993 that the fifteenth set of remains unearthed from the boat shedwhich had physical characteristics such as dark brown hair and two extracted. Elmer Wayne Henley He was aided by two teenaged accomplices, David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley. At the age of 15, Henley dropped out of high school. [5] Henley began cutting away Williams's clothes as Corll undressed and began to assault and torture Kerley. [70] However, Corll evidently decided the youth would make a good accomplice[71] 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 ring" operating from Dallas. Henley suggested to Kerley and Williams that they should simply leave, to which Kerley replied, "No, we should call the police." [197] Two more teenagers were identified in 1983 and 1985; one of whom, Richard Kepner, also lived in Houston Heights. As with the two bodies found the previous day, both victims had been tortured and severely beaten, particularly around the head. Corll's family opened a new shop, which they named Pecan Prince[17] in reference to the brand name of the family product. "[134] As Corll clambered off Kerley, Henley elaborated: "I can't go on any longer! The crimes, which became known as the Houston Mass Murders, came to light after Henley fatally shot Corll. In 2013, Williams recounted Henley's actions on the morning of August 8, stating: "He (Henley) was afraid that he wasn't going to be able to save me. Elmer Wayne Henley Sr. (1938-1986) - Find a Grave Memorial Henley then left the youth alone with Corll, believing he was to be sold into the sexual slavery ring. [9], Following the second divorce, Corll's mother married a traveling clock salesman named Jake West. The defense also contended the evidence provided by the state "belonged to Dean Corll, not Elmer Wayne Henley". classes in school. Production of a film directly based upon the Houston Mass Murders. [230][231] Brooks is buried at Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery in Walker County. Corll ignored him and Henley then grabbed Corll's pistol, shouting, "You've gone far enough, Dean! Some victims had been shot, others strangled,[160] the ligatures still wrapped tightly around their necks. [22]:3661 A possibility exists that the earliest double murder victims were Glass and Yates; however, Brooks specifically described Glass as being killed in an altogether separate double murder from Corll's first double murder in his confession to police. [10][11] Corll's mother and stepfather started a small family candy company, initially operating from the garage of their home. [124] His mouth had been taped shut and his ankles had been bound together. 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. Serial killer Henley grants interview - Chron "[182] In reference to the actual murders, Brooks stated his witnessing the victims' deaths "didn't bother [him]", adding "I saw it done many times. [61], 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 rented boat shed. [145], When questioned regarding his claim that as Corll had threatened him that morning he had shouted that he had killed several boys,[146] 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. [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. WebBorn on 17 Sep 1938. [89] Approximately one month later, on or about August 21, a 19-year-old[90] named Roy Bunton was abducted while walking to his job as an assistant in a Houston shoe store. [30], Former workers at 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. [212] Inside the box, police had found hair which examiners had concluded came from both Cobble and Henley. In addition, Brooks only knew the location of Konen's body at High Island Beach because Corll had shown it to him. Both Kerley and Williams had awakened by this point. [22]:3661 He was dropped off alone at the corner of Westheimer Road and South Voss Road near the Uptown area of Houston at approximately 6:15p.m.[50][51] Corll likely offered Konen a lift to his home, which Konen evidently accepted. [13] He and his younger brother were responsible for running the candy-making machines and packing the product, which his stepfather sold on his sales route. Following Hurricane Ike in 2008, the area of High Island Beach where Corll is known to have buried his victims remains submerged,[30] leaving a strong possibility that Scott's body will never be found. Web"Mama, I killed Dean," confesses Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. "Dean" refers to serial killer Dean Corll, who murdered at least 28 teenage boys and young men in Houston between Ridinger testified that at Corll's home he was tied to the torture board and assaulted repeatedly by Corll before he was released. to which Henley answered, "Yes." [222] Henley's attorneys again attempted to have Henley's written statements ruled inadmissible. The thirteenth and fourteenth bodies unearthed bore identification cards naming the victims as Donald and Jerry Waldrop. 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,[63] where he worked part-time as a gas station attendant. [46] He is also known to have retained keepsakesusually keysfrom his victims. The two bodies that Henley had insisted were still buried on the beach may have been those of Scott and Lyles. Houston Police officer Karl Siebeneicher describing Henley's actions upon leading police to Corll's boat shed on August 8. [52], Brooks led police to Konen's body on August 10, 1973. The three teenagers were sitting on the porch outside the house, and the officer noted the .22 caliber pistol on the driveway near the trio. [43] They were then stripped naked and tied to either Corll's bed or, usually, a plywood torture board which was regularly hung on a wall. [219], Henley appealed 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. He was also observed digging in waste ground that was later converted into a parking lot. The pegboard walls inside the rear of the van were rigged with several rings and hooks. After finding the 26th and 27th bodies, tied together, at High Island Beach on August 13, the search for any further victims was terminated,[294] despite Henley's insistence that two further bodies had been buried on the beach in 1972. 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: 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. 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. [14], From 1954 to 1958 Corll attended Vidor High School, where he was regarded as a well-behaved student who achieved satisfactory grades. Inside this crate were several strands of human hair. [66] Haney agreed and was taken to Corll's home where he was subsequently strangled and buried in the boat shed. Elmer Wayne Henley FactualTV has screened a documentary focusing upon the murders committed by Corll and his accomplices. In his call, Henley blurted to the operator: "Y'all better come here right now! [5], Corll's Ford Econoline van parked in the driveway conveyed a similar impression. Search for more victims from real-life 'Candy Man' serial killer continues [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. 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. Less than two weeks later, 20-year-old Raymond Stanley Blackburn was abducted, strangled, and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn. [204], Brooks was brought to trial on February 27, 1975. [99], On January 20, 1973, Corll moved to an address on Wirt Road in the Spring Branch district of Houston. The only victim of the Houston Mass Murders yet to be identified. [202], The District Attorney requested that Henley undergo a psychiatric examination to determine whether he was mentally competent to stand trial, but his attorney, Charles Melder, opposed the decision, stating the move would violate Henley's constitutional rights. I just killed a man! Corll is known to have suffered from a hydrocele[103] in early 1973, which may have contributed to this period of inactivity. [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. Mindhunter Cast & Character Guide (& How Once manacled, the victims would be sexually assaulted, beaten, tortured and, sometimes after several days, killed by strangulation or shooting with a .22 caliber pistol. This had inspired the salesman to state to her: "If you've got that much energy, why don't you start making candy? 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. [68] The identities of both of these victims remain unknown. Serial killer Henley grants interview. Henley was quite insistent, however, and upon his recalling the names of three boysCobble, Hilligiest, and Joneswhom 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 (HPD) headquarters. [111] 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;[112] he was strangled and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn. The Number of Murderers and Murder Suspects With the Middle [41] At Corll's residence, the youths would be plied with alcohol or other drugs until they passed out, tricked into donning handcuffs,[42] or simply grabbed by force. 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. He later moved into an apartment of his own above the shop. Brooks persuaded Haney to attend a party at an address Corll had moved to on San Felipe Street the previous month. Corll later told Brooks that he had killed the two youths, and offered him $200 (the equivalent of approximately $1,536 as of 2023[update]) for any boy he could lure to Corll's apartment. "[196], 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. However, police were again unwilling to extend the search. 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. Moreover, in one interview, Brooks claimed that Corll's first murder victim was a youth killed at an apartment complex located at 5313 Judiway Street, where Corll had lived prior to September 1970. [171] Two additional bodies were found in shallow, lime-soaked graves located close to a dirt road. "[143][144], In PPD custody, Henley was initially questioned about the killing of Corll. 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, 1972. [29] Corll is also known to have installed a pool table at the rear of the candy factory where employees and local youths would congregate. corll candy company location Simoneaux and Hembree were enticed into Brooks's Corvette and driven to Corll's Westcott Towers apartment. Harvey was driven to Corll's Mangum Road apartment, where he was subsequently killed by a single gunshot to the head. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. [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. After approximately two hours, Henley, Kerley, and Williams each passed out. 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. This unidentified victim was found wearing red-white-and-blue striped swimming trunks,[285] cowboy boots, a leather bracelet and a long-sleeved, khaki-colored T-shirt decorated with a peace symbol,[286][287] leading investigators to conclude that he was likely killed in the summer months. [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. He (Henley) started to take a step inside (the boat shed), but then his face just turned ashen, pale, grim he staggered around outside the door. [297] Former workers also recalled that Corll had rolls of clear plastic of precisely the same type used to bury his victims. [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. [84] 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. [48] However, until he moved to Pasadena in the spring of 1973, he always lived in or close to Houston Heights. 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 Henleya lifelong friend of Hilligiest. [203], By the time the grand jury had completed its investigation, Henley had been indicted for six murders, and Brooks for four. His brutal killings - known as the Houston Mass Murders - were only uncovered when he was shot dead by his accomplice Elmer Wayne Henley in 1973. The statements given by Kerley and Williams corroborated Henley's account, and the detective questioning Henley believed he had indeed acted in self-defense. [58] An electrical cord with alligator clips attached to each end was buried alongside Yates's body. 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. 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. [16][n 8], 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. Brooks later described Dreymala as a "small, blond boy" for whom he had bought a pizza and in whose company he had spent 45 minutes before the youth was attacked. Article detailing investigators' suspicions as to, This page was last edited on 29 April 2023, at 02:20. Following the decision to terminate the search for victims' bodies in August 1973, one lieutenant from the HPD is known to have remarked: "I don't know if [we have] found all the bodies or not", before adding, "What difference does it make?". [100] On March 7, Corll vacated his Wirt Road apartment and moved to 2020 Lamar Drive, an address his father had vacated in Pasadena. In 1960, at the request of his mother, Corll moved to Indiana to live with his widowed grandmother. [15], Reportedly, Corll divulged to some of his close acquaintances after his release from the army that it was during his period of service that he had first realized that he was homosexual, and had experienced his first homosexual encounters. 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. [5] Mary subsequently sold the family home and relocated to a trailer home in Memphis, Tennessee, where Arnold had been drafted into the United States Air Force after the divorce, to allow her sons to remain in contact with their father. The following morning, Hembree was accidentally shot in the mouth by Henley,[95] with the bullet exiting through his neck. The prosecution called dozens of witnesses, including Kerley and Ridinger. These bodies were recovered between 12:05p.m. and 8:30p.m.,[173][174] and all were in an advanced state of decomposition. Elmer Wayne Henley "[140], Minutes later, a PPD patrol car arrived at 2020 Lamar Drive. A film loosely inspired by the Houston Mass Murders. 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. He was last denied parole in October of 2015. He tells you he was a cheerleader if nothing else. Houston serial killer up for compassionate release From 1970 through 1973, Elmer Wayne Henley helped lured 28 teenage boys to a Pasadena home belonging to Dean Corll, also known as The Candy Man. It was the largest of three mass graves where Corll and his helpers buried their victims. You get close to evil like that, no matter how long ago it was, and it never leaves you. 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. That evening, Simoneaux is known to have phoned his mother's home and to have shouted the word "Mama" into the receiver[94] before the connection was terminated. In most of these abductions, he was assisted by one or both of his teenage accomplices: David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley. His mother and sisters testified to this in court, and Gacy Dean Arnold Corll (December 24, 1939 August 8, 1973) was an American serial killer and sex offender who abducted, raped, tortured, and murdered a minimum of 28 teenage boys and young men between 1970 and 1973 in Houston and Pasadena, Texas. He was found guilty of Lawrence's murder on March 4, 1975, and sentenced to life imprisonment. [117][n 6] Brooks was not present at the time. [78][n 3], 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 the recipient of the act of murder.
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