The Candy Man

BIOGRAPHY

At around 8:25 on the morning of Wednesday, August 8, 1973, the dispatcher at the police department in Pasadena, Texas, received a frantic phone call. The caller identified himself as Elmer Wayne Henley and told the dispatcher that he'd killed a man. He gave his address as 2020 Lamar Drive and was told to wait there. A unit was immediately sent to the scene.
When the officers arrived, they saw three teenagers, two boys and a girl, standing in front of the house. One of the boys - a timid, skinny youth with a scraggly goatee beard, stepped forward. He said that he had made the call and confessed to being the shooter. The man he'd shot was named Dean Corll. Henley claimed he had fired in self-defense.
After taking a .22 pistol from Henley, the officer placed him and the other two teens (identified as Rhonda Williams and Tim Kerley) into the patrol car. He then entered the residence and found the body of a man, six-foot tall and muscular. He'd been shot six times, bullets lodging in his chest, shoulder and head. The officer returned to the car and read Henley his Miranda rights. Then he summoned crime scene investigators and took the three teenagers in for questioning.
At this point it looked like a drink and drug-induced homicide, an altercation between friends that had gone wrong. Detectives would soon learn that it was much more than that. They were about to be immersed in the biggest case of serial homicide in US history.
The first indicator, should have been the house itself, in particular the bedroom with its plastic sheeting covering the floors and a sinister plywood board equipped with handcuffs, ropes and cords. Then there was the large hunting knife, the collection of dildos, the duct tape, rolls of plastic, glass tubes and petroleum jelly. If that wasn't enough, they found a coffin-shaped plywood box, with air holes drilled in it and strands of human hair inside.
But the real revelation came back at police headquarters, where Wayne Henley soon made a stunning admission. He said that Dean Corll was a homosexual and a pedophile, and that over the last three years, he (Henley) along with another youth named David Brooks, had procured dozens of teenaged boys for Corll. Corll had then raped and tortured these boys before murdering them and disposing of their bodies at a number of burial sites.
The police were initially skeptical of Henley's claims, assuming that he was trying to justify his claim of self-defense in the shooting of Corll. But Henley was insistent, and when he started mentioning the names of some of Corll's victims, officers sat up and took notice. The names were familiar to them, all of the boys had been reported missing over the last few years. Furthermore, Henley said he could take the officers to four separate burial sites. If the numbers Henley was quoting were accurate, it would make Dean Corll the worst mass murderer in American history.
Dean Arnold Corll was born on December 24, 1939 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. His father, Arnold was strict with his son, his mother, Mary, tended to be overprotective. The marriage was not a happy one and, in 1946, the couple divorced. A reconciliation in 1950 ended in divorce again, three years later.
Dean went to stay with his mother, but his parents remained on amicable terms and he, and his younger brother, Simon, remained in regular contact with their father.
After the second divorce, Corll's mother married a traveling salesman by the name of Jake West and the family moved to the small town of Vidor, Texas. Not long after, Mary started a small candy company named 'Pecan Prince.' Dean and his brother were actively involved in the business, running the candy making machines and packing the produce, which Jake West would sell on his sales route.
Corll's mother divorced Jake West in 1963 and started a new business, 'Corll Candy Company.' Dean was drafted into the US Army that year, and served 10 months before successfully applying for a hardship discharge, on the grounds that he was needed in the family business.
In 1965, the Corll Candy Company relocated to new premises, across the street from Helms Elementary School. It was here that Corll first acquired his infamous nickname, "The Candy Man," due to his habit of giving free candy to local children, particularly teenaged boys. The company also employed a few local kids, and Corll was known to flirt with teenage male employees. He even installed a pool table in a back room, which became a hangout for local youths. It was here that he met 12-year-old David Brooks in 1967.
Brooks was initially just one of many boys who hung out in the room behind the store, but over time Corll became more and more attentive to him, giving him gifts of money and taking him on trips to various beaches. When Brooks parents divorced, he went to live with his mother in Beaumont, 85 miles away. But when he visited his father in Houston, he often spent time at Corll's apartment. In 1970, when Brooks was 15, he and Corll became involved in a sexual relationship.
At around this time, Corll's mother moved to Colorado and, following the closure of the candy business, Corll found work as an electrician with the Houston Lighting and Power Company. It is impossible to say what turned Dean Corll from a seemingly diligent, caring, young man to a sadistic torturer and murderer of teenaged boys. He did seem to have an unhealthy interest in boys half his age, and was most likely a pedophile. Still, as despicable as the acts of that particular breed of criminal are, few of them are mass murderers. And Dean Corll was about to embark on a deadly campaign.
The first known victim was an 18-year-old college freshman, named Jeffrey Konen, who disappeared while hitchhiking on September 25, 1970. He was last seen at the corner of Westheimer Road in the Uptown area of Houston, close to where Corll was living at the time. He'd be found, three years later, in a shallow grave at High Island Beach.
Brooks claimed that around this time he walked in on Corll assaulting two teenaged boys. Corll promised Brooks a car in return for his silence and also made a standing offer of $200 for any youths Brooks was able to lure to Corll's apartment. Brooks accepted both proposals, receiving a green Chevrolet Corvette, and soon after, procuring two 14-year-olds for Corll.
The boys, James Glass and Danny Yates, had been attending a religious rally in the Heights district of Houston when David Brooks approached them and asked if they wanted to hang out with him and drink some beer. Glass was a friend of Brooks who'd been to Corll's apartment before, so they readily agreed. Once there, Corll overpowered them, cuffed them to his torture board and then raped and tortured them before strangling them to death. He and Brooks later buried them beneath a boatshed that Corll had recently rented.
Six weeks after the murder of Glass and Yates, Brooks and Corll saw two teenage brothers named Donald and Jerry Waldrop walking towards a bowling alley. The boys were enticed into Corll's van, then driven to Corll's apartment, where they were raped, tortured, strangled and subsequently buried in the boatshed.
Three more victims followed between March and May 1971. Fifteen-year-old Randell Harvey, was abducted while cycling to his part time job as a gas station attendant. He was killed by a single bullet to the head. David Hilligiest, 13, and Gregory Winkle, 16, were friends who were abducted and killed together on the afternoon of May 29, 1971. Soon after their disappearances, the parents of all three boys launched a frantic, but ultimately fruitless, search for their sons. All three would be found buried under Corll's boatshed in 1973.
On August 17, 1971, Corll and Brooks were out cruising when they spotted 17-year-old Ruben Watson Haney walking home from a movie. Like James Glass, Haney was a friend of David Brooks, and Brooks persuaded him to attend a party at Corll's new apartment in San Felipe Street. Haney accompanied the pair to Corll's home where he was strangled and then buried in the boatshed.
In September 1971, Corll moved again, this time to 915 Columbia Street. Two more youths were murdered at this address according to Brooks, although their identities remain unknown.
The next teenager that Brooks procured for Corll was Elmer Wayne Henley. However, for some unexplained reason, perhaps because he saw a kindred spirit, Corll decided not to kill Henley. Instead, he made Henley the same offer he'd made David Brooks - $200 for any boy he could lure to Corll's apartment.
According to Henley, he initially rejected Corll's offer. But, early in 1972, with his family in desperate need of money, he finally gave in. Corll was by now living at 925 Schuler Street, and Henley said that he and Corll picked up a youth and asked him if he wanted to join them in drinking beer and smoking pot. The boy agreed and once at the house they restrained him using a ruse he and Corll had practiced beforehand. Henley cuffed his own hands behind his back, then freed himself using a key hidden in his back pocket. He then persuaded the youth to try it, but once his hands were cuffed, Henley walked out, leaving the boy alone with Corll.
The identity of this victim is not known, but it may have been Willard Branch, a 17-year-old who disappeared on February 9, 1972, and who was later found buried beneath the boatshed.
One month later, on March 24, 1972, Corll, working with both of his young accomplices, persuaded 18-year-old Frank Aguirre ( an acquaintance of Henley) to drink beer and smoke marijuana with them. Aguirre agreed and followed the trio to Corll's home where Corll overpowered him and cuffed his hands behind his back.
Henley later claimed that he tried to persuade Corll not to kill Aguirre, but Corll refused. Nonetheless, Henley accepted his $200 payment and helped Corll and Brooks bury Aguirre at High Island Beach.
On April 20, 1972, Henley led another friend of his to his death at the hands of Dean Corll. Seventeen-year-old Mark Scott fought furiously for his life, but when Corll produced a gun he "just gave up" according to Henley. Scott was tied to the torture board and suffered the same fate as Frankie Aguirre. He was raped, tortured and strangled, then buried at High Island Beach.
According to Brooks, Henley wasn't just a procurer for Corll, but an active and sadistic participant in the murders, especially those that occurred at Schuler Street. Before Corll moved from the address on June 26, Henley helped Corll and Brooks to abduct and murder two youths, Billy Baulch and Johnny Delone. In Brooks' later confession, he said that both boys were tied to Corll's bed and, after being tortured and raped, Henley manually strangled Baulch to death. He then shouted, "Hey, Johnny!" before shooting Delone in the head. The bullet exited through Delone's ear, but didn't kill him. Then, as he pleaded for his life, Henley strangled him to death.
Another youth who was lured to Corll's Schuler Street residence, was 19-year-old Billy Ridinger. Like the other victims, Ridinger was tied to the board, tortured and raped by Corll. However, Brooks claimed that he persuaded Corll to let Ridinger go. On another occasion Brooks feared that he might, himself, become a victim. Henley knocked him unconscious as he entered the house, and he woke to find himself tied to Corll's bed. Corll raped him repeatedly, but later released him. Despite the assault, Brooks continued to help Corll in the abduction of the victims.
Corll next moved to an apartment at Westcott Towers, where he is known to have killed two more victims. The first of these was 17-year-old Steven Sickman, last seen leaving a party just after midnight on July 20. He was savagely beaten with a blunt instrument before being strangled to death and buried in the boatshed. A month later, Roy Bunton, 19, was abducted while walking to work. He was shot twice in the head and was also buried in the boatshed.
Less than two months later, on October 2, 1972, Henley and Brooks persuaded two teenagers named Wally Jay Simoneaux and Richard Hembree to join them at Corll's apartment. That evening, Simoneaux's mother received a strange call from her son. He spoke only one word into the phone, a plaintive "Mama," before the connection was terminated. The next morning, Henley accidently shot Hembree in the mouth and several hours later, both boys were strangled to death. They were buried in the boatshed, their bodies placed on top of those of James Glass and Danny Yates. The following month, a 19-year-old youth named Richard Kepner was abducted and murdered, then buried at High Island Beach.
On January 20, 1973, Corll moved to Wirt Road in the Spring Branch district of Houston. Within two weeks of moving to this address, he killed a 17-year-old named Joseph Lyles, a friend of both Brooks and Corll. On March 7, Corll moved from Wirt Road to an address his father had recently vacated, 2020 Lamar Drive, Pasadena.
There were no further murders between February and June 3, 1973, although Corll is known to have been ill during this time and Henley was out of town, having moved to Mount Pleasant in an apparent effort to get away from Corll. When the killings did start up again, they started with a vengeance, and both Brooks and Henley would later testify that Corll had become more brutal than ever. His two accomplices had learned to recognize when Corll was getting ready to kill. He'd become reckless, smoking constantly and displaying twitchy, reflex movements. Soon after, he'd announce that he "needed to do a new boy," and the unholy trio would hit the streets in search of victims.
On June 4, Henley and Corll abducted a 15-year-old named William Ray Lawrence. They raped and tortured the boy for three days before burying him at Lake Sam Rayburn. Less than two weeks later, 20-year-old Raymond Blackburn was abducted, strangled and buried at the same location. Corll was accelerating now. On July 7, Homer Garcia, 15, an acquaintance of Henley's was shot, then left to bleed to death in Corll's bathtub and on July 12, a 17-year-old youth named John Sellars was shot to death and buried at High Island Beach.
In July 1973, David Brooks married his pregnant fiancée, and Henley temporarily became Corll's sole accomplice. Three more teenagers would die between July 19 and July 25; 15-year-old Michael Baulch was strangled and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn; Charles Cobble and Marty Ray Jones, were abducted together and buried in the boat shed. These were the only abductions in which David Brooks did not play a part.
The last to die was also Corll's youngest victim. James Dreymala was just 13 years old when he was snatched from his bicycle on August 3, 1973. He was tied to Corll's torture board, raped, tortured and strangled before being buried in the boatshed.
Four days later, Dean Corll would be dead, shot during an altercation with one of his own accomplices.
On the evening of August 7, 1973, Henley brought a 19-year-old named Timothy Kerley to Corll's house in Pasadena, intending for him to be Corll's next victim. The two drank beer and sniffed paint until around midnight when they went to buy something to eat. While they were out, Kerley suggested picking up 15-year-old Rhonda Williams, a friend of both youths. Rhonda agreed to accompany them, but when they arrived, Corll was furious that Henley had brought a girl to his house. Eventually, Henley managed to calm Corll down and he offered the teenagers beer and marijuana. The three began drinking, sniffing paint fumes and smoking pot, while Corll watched them intently. Eventually they passed out.
Henley woke lying on his stomach with Corll snapping handcuffs onto his wrists. His mouth had been taped shut and his ankles bound together. Kerley and Williams lay beside Henley, securely bound and gagged, Kerley stripped naked.
Noticing that Henley was awake, Corll removed the gag from his mouth. He told Henley that he was going to kill all three of them after he'd raped and tortured Kerley. He then started kicking Rhonda Williams in the chest, then dragged Henley into the kitchen and placed a gun to his stomach, threatening to shoot him. Henley managed to calm Corll down by promising to help torture and murder Williams and Kerley. Corll then uncuffed Henley, and the two of them carried Kerley and Williams to the bedroom and tied them to the torture board.
Corll instructed Henley to cut away Rhonda's clothes and rape her while he did likewise to Kerley. He began torturing and assaulting Kerley. Henley then asked Corll if he could take Rhonda into another room and when Corll ignored him, Henley suddenly grabbed Corll's gun.
"I can't go on any longer!" Henley shouted. "I can't have you kill all my friends!"
"Kill me, Wayne!" Corll said. Then, as he advanced towards Henley, "You won't do it!"
Henley fired one shot, hitting Corll in the forehead, then as Corll lurched forward, he fired twice more, striking Corll's left shoulder. Corll spun round and staggered towards the door, before Henley fired three more shots into his lower back and shoulder. Henley then released Kerley and Williams and after some discussion, they called the police.
The monster was dead, but police still had to find closure for the families of the victims.
Wayne Henley led police to Corll's boatshed, where he claimed most of the victims were buried. As they began digging they soon uncovered the body of a young blond-haired boy, lying on his side, wrapped in clear plastic and buried beneath a layer of lime. As the evacuations continued more remains were found, in varying stages of decomposition. Some victims had been shot, others strangled, the ligatures still wrapped tightly around their necks.
All of the victims had been sodomized and most bore clear evidence of sexual torture: pubic hairs plucked out, genitals chewed, objects inserted into their rectums, glass rods shoved into their penises and smashed. In many cases rags had been inserted into the victims' mouths and secured with adhesive tape to muffle their screams. In some instances, Corll had castrated his live victims: severed genitals were found inside a number of sealed plastic bags.
On August 8, 1973, a total of eight corpses were uncovered at the boatshed. That same day David Brooks handed himself over to the Houston Police. He denied participating in any of the murders, saying only that he knew of two murders Corll had committed in 1970.
The following day, August 9, Henley gave a written statement detailing his and Brooks' involvement and there were nine more bodies recovered from the boat shed. Henley also accompanied police officers to Lake Sam Rayburn in San Augustine County, where two more bodies were found in shallow graves.
Faced with the mounting evidence against him, David Brooks gave a full confession that evening, admitting to being present at several of the murders and helping with several of the burials. He continued to deny direct participation in the killings.
On August 10, two more bodies were found buried at Lake Sam Rayburn and police began their search at High Island Beach, where two more victims were found, interred in shallow graves. Three days later, Henley and Brooks again accompanied the police to High Island Beach, where four more bodies were found, taking the total of twenty-seven known victims - at the time the worst killing spree in American history.
Elmer Wayne Henley and David Owen Brooks were tried separately for their roles in the murders. Henley was brought to trial in San Antonio on July 1, 1974, charged with six murders. He was found guilty and sentenced to six consecutive 99-year terms - a total of 594 years - meaning he will never see the outside of a prison cell.
David Brooks stood trial on February 27, 1975, accused of four murders committed between December 1970 and June 1973. He was found guilty on one charge and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.