Autopsies revealed each victim had been killed by either strangulation, shooting or a combination of both.[25]. [32], The State of Texas presented a total of 82 pieces of evidence throughout Henley's trial, including the written confession Henley had given on August 8, which was read to the court in which he admitted killing or assisting in the abduction and murder of several youths, including the 6 teenagers for whose murder he was on trial. In late 1971, Brooks introduced Elmer Wayne Henley to Corll, reportedly with the intention of selling him to the serial rapist and murderer. Another adolescent identified as Corlls co-conspirator, David Brooks, was arrested at 18 and sentenced to life for Lawrences murder. For years, Corll had used Henley and another teen as procurers to lure victims. He was getting drunk too much, getting too rowdy. Less than one month later, Henley and Brooks persuaded another friend of theirs, 17-year-old Mark Scott, to attend a party at Corll's home. On July 16th, the jury reached their verdict in less than an hour: guilty on all six counts. Henley then fired a further three rounds into the rear of his right shoulder and upper back, killing him. Elmer Wayne Henley (left) admired Dean Corll (right) and wanted to make him proud. In his confession given almost two years later, Henley told detectives Brooks lured him to Corll's home on the promise he could participate in "a deal where I could make some money." . ", "I told him teenagers could learn from him," she said when asked how she succeeded where many others had failed. I wanted to find out what his deal was. Texas has the nations largest prison population, with more than 140,000 people incarcerated in 2022. She has made commercials and short films in the past. But in Henleys case, Harris County prosecutors did not seek a death sentence, which the U.S. Supreme Court had declared to be cruel and unusual punishment on June 29, 1972. On October 3, Henley assisted Corll in the abduction and murder of two Heights boys named Wally Simoneaux and Richard Hembree. However, he eventually confessed that he, Corll, and Brooks, worked together to kill at least 28 young men and boys. Henley exchanges a few words with his attorney, and shuffles off down the hall. [26] The youth, who vanished on July 12, 1973, had died of four gunshot wounds fired from a rifle, whereas each other victim of the Houston Mass Murders had either been strangled or killed with the .22 caliber pistol Henley had used to kill Dean Corll. For 26 years, Henley refused to talk to anyone in the media about those crimes. Corll agreed. But Henley was subsequently convicted of six other murders in which he actively participated. Henley fired a round at Corll, hitting him in the forehead. Elmer Wayne Henley and David Brooks were both convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. In his opinion, Corll would have "been proud" of the way he killed him. Elmer Wayne Henley with police at High Island Beach on Aug. 10, 1973. Dean was a personal friend, as well as a source of income. The lawyer and his young partners want to sell Henley's life story to recover their fees, and they. On February 1, 1973, Corll abducted and killed a 17-year-old youth named Joseph Lyles, apparently without the assistance of Henley, who had temporarily moved to Mount Pleasant in early 1973. Dean Corll obscured his crimes by forcing his victims to send postcards to their families, explaining that they left town willingly and were safe. However, Henley is not a typical aging and ailing Texas prisoner. Texas did not adopt life without parole sentences until 2005. He was 18 years old at the time of his conviction. Brooks became emotionally dependent upon Corll, and played a passive role in later, demented exaltation, for which he would be sentenced to only 99 years. Henley told the interviewer he believed he had been reformed and that he was under the spell of Corll. [1]:46[n 1], In the winter of 1971, when he was 15, Wayne Henley was again taken by David Brooks to meet Corll. She later said, I do believe he has remorse for what hes done. Porras said she spoke with Henley for four hours, sans notebook, recorder or any journalistic accoutrements. One of them is his. He beat up my mother, he beat up my mother and my grandmother once, at the same time. He overreacted, out of meanness. The depths of Corlls depravity soon started to come to light. The state Board of Pardons and Paroles approved 76 persons for release in 201959 terminally ill and 17 already assigned to long-term care. 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. He sits cross-legged on a folding chair in the hospital ward of the Harris County jailhouse, laughing and brandishing a Marlboro. On August 8, 1973, Henley brought a further potential victim, 19-year-old Timothy Kerley, to Corll's home upon the promise of a party. [43] Brooks died of COVID-19 complications in May 2020.[44]. I dont really feel about it, you know. Families of Corlls victims have actively opposed parole for Henley for decades. White fatigues hang open at the neck, revealing a sunken chest and the colorless flesh of the restricted prisoner. Once Corll had raped and murdered Aguirre, Henley, Brooks, and Corll buried him at a beach near Houston called High Island. Henley did not know the extent of Brooks and Corlls relationship, though he had his suspicions. 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. They came across one Corll liked the look of, so Henley asked the teen if he wanted to come and smoke pot with them. For Porras, a graduate of New York's American Academy of Dramatic Arts and the John Ruskin School of Arts in Los Angeles, "Decisions and Visions" is her first foray into long-format film making. If I were you, I wouldnt want to know., Houston Heights is a seedy, lower-middle-class enclave with horizons limited to once-fashionable homes divided into low-rent apartments, and guarded by pickups on concrete blocks. Elmer Wayne Henley and David Brooks were both convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Henley, answering in a soft voice, said, "No, ma'am, I'm not a serial killer. As reported by Texas Monthly, Dean Corll's suggestion piqued Henley's curiosity, as he "wondered what it was like to kill someone.". Daniel Vaughn is the countrys first barbecue editor, and he has eaten more barbecue than you have. The compassionate release process, which is confidential, first requires the board to consider whether Henleys request is based on a legitimate medical condition or other hardship covered under the law. Seven minutes from true crime documentary, "THE KILLING OF AMERICA," on the infamous Henley/Corll Houston torture - murder case. One of Texas most famous death row exonerees died before winning compensation under a law inspired by his own story. Nor was he deterred when Dean Corll told him he had abducted, tortured, and murdered a close friend of Henleys, David Hilligeist, in May 1971. Wikimedia CommonsDean Corll was viewed as a friend to many children in Houston. He is currently incarcerated at Mark W. Michael Unit in Anderson County, Texas, and he will next be eligible for parole in 2025. I am sorry that I decided to leave but I just had to go. He is also a perverted product of some of those frontier values, degraded in social transition, and emerging in the crime of the decade that seems too utterly contemporary to warrant further examination. The couple divorced in 1970 when Henley was 14. Henley's motherwho worked as a cashier at a parking lot[4]retained custody of her four sons. One day, Brooks walked in on Corll raping two teenage boys. It was, says Elmer Wayne Henley, snapping his fingers, such cool. Henley lured the victim to Corll's Schuler Street apartment on the promise of smoking some marijuana. "I thought I was looking at Hannibal Lector," she said of her first meeting with Henley. Other pieces of evidence presented included the wooden box used to transport the victims' bodies to the various burial sites and the plywood body board upon which many victims had been restrained. Dean searched for a climax he never found, says Henley. When Brooks was 12, hed met Dean Corll, a man twice his age. But film maker Teana Schiefen Porras managed to break through not only correctional system red tape, but Henley's reluctance, to come away with a filmed interview. Lise Olsenis a Houston-based senior reporter and editor at the Texas Observer. The two boys were killed by strangulation later the same day. Henley is currently housed in Texas' Mark W. Michael Unit. Henley was convicted in 1974[1]:219 for his role as a participant in a series of murders known colloquially as the Houston Mass Murders in which a minimum of 28 teenage boys and young men were abducted, tortured, raped and murdered by Dean Corll between 1970 and 1973. Henley and David Owen Brooks (Corll's other teenage accomplice), together and individually, lured many of the victims to Corll's home. Corlls apartment provided a place to waste time. Henley realized that the candy shop operated by Corlls motherwhere her son constructed a giant frog with red eyes that lit up when the telephone rang, for the amusement of childrenwas a store he had visited earlier. Once the teenagers passed out, Corll tied up and gagged all three of them. Of course I said yesego would dictate that. Within the last year, Henley provided information about other possible clandestine graves to Tim Miller, the founder and executive director of Texas EquuSearch. Katy Vine has been a staff writer since 2002. If I did go, I knew Dean would go after one of my little brothers, who he always liked a little too much.". His other needs would prove too complicated for ordinary sexuality, hetero or otherwise, and would match those of his mentor, but with a deadlier lack of passion. Sometime in the following month, an 18-year-old named Willard Karmon Branch Jr. was emasculated and shot before his body was buried in Corll's boat shed. However, Elmer Wayne Henley and David Brooks did not become involved until later that same year when, as reported by All That's Interesting, Corll began offering Henley and Brooks money to lure other teenage boys to his home. Displays and public sales of Henley's artwork have drawn severe criticism from victim support groups. Although some of the victims' families were suspicious of the postcards, authorities were reluctant to investigate the disappearance of boys who appeared to be runaways. He was hoping to get enough money together to take his girlfriend to the latest James Bond movie. Although I have conducted hundreds of interviews, I am uneasy in the presence of this high-school dropout from Houston Heights. He then released Kerley and Williams, phoned the Pasadena police and subsequently confessed to his role in the Houston Mass Murders.[22]. [14], On March 24, Henley, in the company of Corll and Brooks, persuaded an 18-year-old friend of his named Frank Aguirre to accompany him to Corll's home on the promise of smoking marijuana with the trio. [5][6], Prior to his leaving high school, Henley became acquainted with a youth one year his senior named David Brooks. The officers who were dispatched had no inkling that they were about to uncover the most heinous and horrifying killing spree the nation had ever seen up until that point. From what Wayne says, there may be more bodies out there. He gestured vaguely in the direction of the Gulf of Mexico, where in August 1973, police discovered the remains of seventeen teen-age boys beneath the dirt floor of a boat shed, wrapped in plastic shrouds and laced with lime, and subsequently dug up ten more along a lonely stretch of beach. When that didnt kill him, Henley shot him five more times in the back and shoulder. Williams, who was jailed and hospitalized for a time, was let go and told to forget and never speak of that night again. As reported by ABC13, Henley's last victim was Dean Corll who was known throughout Houston, Texas, as the Candy Man. When Henley does discuss the victims and his feelings, he speaks with an air of practiced regretfulness and seeming detachment. He had a big build, but he was flabby. He does NOT deserve to have any compassion for any illness as my brother was not even treated with basic humanity.. Dean Corlls deadly crime spree had finally come to an end. ", Even with a weapon pointed at him, Corll was not cowed: he walked towards Henley, shouting, "Kill me, Wayne! A decade later, Henley was interviewed by filmmaker Teana Schiefen Porras for her documentary Decisions and Visions. 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Watt tweets the 2 things he doesn't miss about Houston, You can own your own cave system for a cool $875k, home included, Texas college baseball player hit by stray bullet mid-game, Greg Abbott announces $50k reward for information on Cleveland shooting, Massive Coastal Bend ranch up for sale near Texas next big state park, Property north of San Antonio set to become a new Texas state park, Texas man catches massive alligator snapping turtle, then releases it back into the wild, How former KPRC 2 anchor Dominique Sachse is getting back to reporting, Uber ranks Houston among the most 'forgetful' U.S. cities. Visiting time has expired. PASADENA, Texas - Convicted killer Elmer Wayne Henley directed Texas Equusearch Friday to the Pasadena home of Dean Corll, otherwise known as the 'Candy Man' and 'the Pied Piper,' one of his accomplices whom he shot to death.. How Galvestonians used to dance until they dropped (for fun), a former figure skater turned journalist, and other Lone Star State stories. Before Corll was able to manacle Kerley to his torture board, the pair left Corll's home to purchase sandwiches. Between 1970 and 1973, Dean Corll, aided by David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley Jr., killed 26 young men in the Heights area of Houston. Most capital murderers are ineligible for compassionate release in Texas: That path is not available to those sentenced to death or life without parole. Elmer Wayne Henley Jr, a gray-haired 66-year-old serving six life sentences for his role in Houstons most notorious serial killings, is requesting compassionate release from Texas prison, according to letters some victims families recently received. The parents of the rings last known murder victim, 13-year-old James Stanton Dreymala, are among those who were alarmed after receiving notification of Henleys compassionate release request. As promised, Henley was paid $200 the next day. Image: Netflix. 2021 The Texas Observer. I was an ignorant, stupid child. Corll then bought Brooks a car and told him he would pay him to bring him more boys. Henley Sr. was a violent and abusive alcoholic who took his rage out on his family. . I liked being there. At Corll's home (where he was possibly taken as an intended victim), the youth was told by Corll that he belonged to an organization based in Dallas which recruited young boys for a child sex slavery ring. The Wild History Of Predjama Castle, The Medieval Fortress Built Into The Mouth Of A Cave, The Disturbing Story Of Ward Weaver III, The Oregon Dad Who Brutally Murdered His Daughter's Preteen Friends, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Thats something Ive tried to build in me. As the episode of "Mindhunter" explores, Henley would help lure victims to the 33-year-old serial killer Dean A. Corll. Henley was friends with two of the youths, David Hilligiest and Gregory Malley Winkle, who had disappeared on May 29, 1971, on their way to a local swimming pool. He died in prison in 2020 of COVID-19. Porras initially set out to interview "anybody on death row," she said. He is obviously pleased with his clients performance. Henley pleaded for his life, promising to participate in the torture and murder of the other youths if Corll released him. A film loosely inspired by the Houston Mass Murders. The fact that he did work, wasnt a wild drunk, got along with kids and people in generalthats what started it.. Phillips knows Brian Falcon and Mike Huffine of Silver Rock. Only when Porras asks specifics about the crimes does Henley refuse to answer. Elmer Wayne Henley, Jr. (born May 9, 1956) is a convicted American serial killer, incarcerated in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) system. medically recommended intensive supervision. Less than two weeks later, a 20-year-old hitchhiker named Raymond Blackburn was likewise strangled and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn before a 15-year-old South Houston youth named Homer Garcia was shot and buried at the same location after his July 7 abduction. "I'm willing to die for the cause, because I can't live.". Please notify us by email that the article will be republished at, Supreme Court had declared to be cruel and unusual punishment. YouTubeSome of the torture devices found in the home of Dean Corll. Elmer Wayne Henley said Corll eventually offered him and David Brooks money to commit petty crimes including theft. Corll spent much of his time at his mothers candy factory giving out sweets to kids, which earned him the nickname The Candy Man.. She inscribed it: From your 54-year-old mother who has just begun to live. The interview, along with other extensively compiled footage, comprises "Decisions and Visions," an hourlong documentary produced by Silver Rock Productions, an Oak Ridge North-based film company. He never really impressed me as masculine unless he was lifting something. The oldest of the couples four sons, Henleys childhood home was an unhappy one. Serial killer Henley grants interview Dec. 27, 2001 Between 1970 and 1973, Dean Corll, aided by David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley Jr., killed 26 young men in the Heights area of. Weve got this problem of culpability, the lawyer had said earlier, when the two of us were seated outside in his dusty Cadillac, the windowsills too hot to touch. [29], Henley was brought to trial in San Antonio in July 1974,[30] charged with the murders of six teenage boys whom he himself had lured to Corll's apartment between March 1972 and July 1973. [15] Henley later claimed that he attempted to talk Corll out of raping and killing Aguirre, but Corll adamantly refused. No one had the energy to discover what was common knowledge among students: that any kid who wanted could turn on and pick up a few bucks by allowing a certain fat electrician to go down on himand that some who had done so were no longer around. He could be around people, but still you never knew what Dean Corll was doing. Brooks introduced Henley to Corll, a heavyset employee of the Houston Lighting & Power Company, who was twice their ages. At Corll's home, Aguirre was supplied with marijuana, then persuaded to handcuff himself. Some of the torture devices found in the home of Dean Corll. I had Dean in a corner, see, and he told me, You wont kill me. I shot himcoollyuntil I ran out of bullets. When Brooks was 14, Corll began molesting him, all the while showering him with gifts and money to keep him quiet. You can chip in for as little as 99 cents a month. Bail was set at $100,000. The eyes dominate a face most notable for its nastiness, speckled green and too large, conveying an extraordinary distance that continues to impress long after the gaze wanders, the ready smile fades. Much of that first year was spent driving aimlessly about the Heights in Corlls car, drinking beer and smoking marijuana and planning petty theft. Even with the COVID-19 epidemic rendering prison conditions infinitely more hazardous, Texas officials rarely granted compassionate release. Henley is currently housed in Texas' Mark W. Michael Unit. I hated to lose my father, but since then weve just had a little friction. John Spong writes primarily about popular culture. Both survived, and Corlls murder was ruled justifiable homicide. David Courtney, a.k.a. Some of those who live around what was once the home of Dean Coryll, know about the horrible things that happened here others don't. All rights reserved. Rubber thong sandals dangle from grubby toes; gone are the wispy beard and shoulder-length hair of those blurred news photos, replaced by dark, oily curls pressed against his head. No matter how much you talked to him, you didnt know him.. Henley suspected that Corll was homosexualI just figured David was hustling himself a queera fact that had remarkably little influence upon his opinion of Corll. I didnt have to do nothing but steal. My only regret is that Dean isnt here now, Henley would say afterward, so I could tell him what a good job I did killing him., Hed of been proud of the way I did it, he added, if he wasnt proud before he died.. Cato allowed Henley the use of his mobile radio telephone to call Henley's mother, at which time Henley blurted the words, "Mama, I killed Dean," into the receiver, confessing to her that he had killed Dean Corll, all while Cato was capturing the conversation on film. In an interview with Texas Monthly, Henley said Corll, who was in his early 30s, seemed like a "quiet" and friendly man, who simply liked spending time with the teens. It was a promise she kept, until now.. Elmer Wayne Henley, 17, (R), accused of 6 of 27 Houston mass murders, is escorted to District Court by Chief Bexar County Deputy Rudy Garza, (L). Elmer Wayne Henley (left) and David Owen Brooks (right) in 1973. Because Holden and Bill were in Atlanta working on another case, Wendy and Gregg went to interview him themselves. Henley remembers sitting on his grandparents bed in the morning, while they drank coffee and read the Houston Post his fondest recollection, set close to that of survival. On July 16, 1974, after hearing closing arguments from both prosecution and defense, the jury retired to consider their verdict. He agreed to accompany police to each of the burial sites to assist in the recovery of the victims. When he instructed Henley and Brooks to bring him boys, instead of stolen television sets, to be sold to a fictitious white-slave market in Dallas for $200 apiece, they complied. Bettmann/Getty Images (l.) / Netflix (r.)Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. (left) is portrayed by Robert Aramayo in the Netflix series Mindhunter. the Texanist, is a staff writer. Murderers and murdered all drifted in a common miasma of thwarted desires, vague longings, sordid gratificationa quest of sorts. But as far as any emotion to it, theres no heartfelt emotion.. Articles must link back to the original article and contain the following attribution at the top of the story: This article was originally published by the, Articles cannot be rewritten, edited or changed beyond alignments with house style books. He is known for his distinctive voice and his ability to convey emotion through his voice. It was a great big knife. I'm an accomplice to a serial killer. When Henley took the investigators there, they found 17 bodies. Henley was sentenced to six consecutive life sentences of 99 years each. He later stated that though he admired Corll because he worked hard, he also suspected that Corll was homosexual, and concluded that Brooks was "hustling himself a queer. Mimi Swartz is a staff writer based in Houston. Elmer Wayne Henley: The Truth About The Person Who Killed The Candy Man. Other evidence included the torture board Corll handcuffed his victims to and the body box that he used to transport bodies to burial sites. Henley is the compleat American punk, the kid your mother warned you against becoming if you let smoking stunt your growth. Before kids started coming around, we got money from Dean for thieving, for setting up places to rob. Hed of been proud of the way I did it, if he wasnt proud before he died.. Elmer Wayne Henley, Jr. vs. I admired Dean because he had a steady job. Bettmann/Getty Images (l.) / Netflix (r.), Elmer Wayne Henley Jr. (left) is portrayed by Robert Aramayo in the Netflix series. The Houston police claimed they were runaways, in an attempt to cover up what must be one of the grossest displays of inadequacy of any police department. Williams was just 15 when she. At one point during the trial, Mullican testified that Henley had informed him that in order to restrain the youths; he, Brooks and Corll had "handcuffed (the victims) to the board and sometimes to a wall with their mouths taped so they couldn't make any noise".[33]. Unfortunately, this would lead him down a dark and deadly path. He assumed that the boy had been sold to the Dallas organization Corll was a part of but he later found out that Corll had sexually assaulted the boy and then murdered him. Elmer Wayne Henley, Jr. is a killer. Elmer Wayne Henley first became eligible for parole on July 8, 1980; on this occasionand each successive parole hearing to datehe has been denied parole. Because Holden and Bill are busy in Atlanta, Wendy and Gregg meet with Elmer Wayne Henley Jr., the mentee of "The Candyman" Dean Corll who acted as an accomplice to . On August 8, 1973 Dean Corll was upset with Elmer Henly as the then seventeen year old had brought a girl back to the house. Andy Kahan, the victim advocate for Houston Crime Stoppers, said that several murder other victims relatives are concerned and angry about the request. Both were later buried in the boat shed. Because the Behavioral Science Unit expands in. Henley's next eligible parole date is October 2025[37][38] when he will be 69 years old. This is the company's first production outside of the corporate world, according to Huffine. Bettmann/Getty ImagesElmer Wayne Henley with police at High Island Beach on Aug. 10, 1973. At Henley's trial in 1974, one of the six bodies found buried at High Island, that of 17-year-old John Manning Sellars, was disputed as being a victim of Corll by a forensic pathologist who examined his remains. In an interview for a 2002 documentary film, Henley said, I needed Deans approval. You won't do it!" When they began regaining consciousness, Corll stood Henley up and brought him into the kitchen, where he berated him for bringing Williams, saying hed ruined everything..
