Elmer Henley Found Guilty – Talk of Third Trial Starts Before Second Conviction
by Corpus Christi, Texas (AP)
Even before Elmer Wayne Henley’s second murder trial ended in a conviction, the defendant’s mother was talking about a third trial. “We’ll have our trial and put on our defense,” she said as jurors deliberated here Wednesday. “Until they suppress those confessions, there’s no sense in putting on a defense.” “Those confessions” formed the crux of the state case as prosecutors convinced an eight-man, four- woman jury to find Henley, 23, guilty of six murders in the Houston mass slaying of the early 1970s. The jury took two hours and 20 minutes to deliberate on the guilt questions. They then returned to the jury room for 40 minutes before recommending six concurrent life sentences.
The confession Mary Henley spoke about was a written statement the then teenaged Henley gave police in August 1973. He had called the Pasadena, Texas, police and said he had shot Dean Corll to death. The 33-year-old Corll, Henley told police, paid him to lure young boys to his home. At the Pasadena home, Corll and Henley would trick the boys onto a “torture board” where they would be homosexually raped, then killed. Henley had been convicted of the same six charges at a 1974 trial in San Antonio.
But defense attorney Will Gray of Houston successfully argued on appeal that the defense had been improperly denied a venue change hearing. Gray predicted here that a third trial would be necessary because of procedural errors in the jury selection phase. As jurors here deliberated, Mrs. Henley talked about her son. “If he had not killed (Corll), there’d be a whole lot more anxious parents hunting their sons,” she said. Defense lawyer Ed Pegelow echoed that sentiment in his argument before the jury.
“(Henley) was brought to Dean Corll as a victim and he was duped by Dean Corll, “he said. In final arguments the prosecution agreed that the death of Corll was necessary. Henley’s statement indicated Corll was about to kill Henley before Henley shot Corll. “Elmer Wayne Henley did a public service by killing Dean Corll, as cruel as that may sound,” Harris County District Attorney Carol Vance told the jurors. But Vance asked the jurors to find that Henley acted willingly in procuring boys for Corll.
Vance said Henley at first did it “to get the $200 which he got for the first boy. Then he enjoyed it, so he didn’t want any money.” The defense, which did not offer witnesses nor evidence, tried to prevent the jury from hearing the detailed statement Henley gave police after his arrest. The statement was given as Henley led investigators to 26 buried bodies. Gray tried to convince State District Judge Noah Kennedy that Henley’s rights were violated. But witnesses here testified that Henley was aware of his rights and chose not to have a lawyer present. After the trial, prosecutors admitted that without the statement, the state might have had a tough time getting a conviction.
One lawyer also said the extent of the mass murders may never have been discovered if Henley had not led police to the three burial sites. Vance made an impassioned plea for the maximum sentence. Before reminding the jurors of the grisly details of the torture and death spree, Vance said his final argument was the “last words on behalf of these young people that were killed by the defendant.” The prosecutor continually gestured toward the “torture board,” a wooden “body box” used to transport the bodies of the victims, and a metal toolbox containing devices used to torture the boys. The defense asked for leniency in the form of a 1520-year prison term.
Pegelow said Henley should not suffer for the crimes committed by Corll, whom he called a “crazy, mad homosexual murderer. “I feel that Wayne is now the scapegoat for the sins of Dean Corll. Should he pay with the rest of his life for the sins of Dean Corll? Elmer Wayne Henley put a stop to the Houston mass murders,” he told the jury. Duncan Neblett, another member of the defense team, talked to the jurors about rehabilitation. “That began in this boy’s life when he pulled the trigger and called the police,” he said. But the jurors still returned the maximum sentence. The bizarre testimony in the case caught the attention of many local residents. Deputies, manning a metal detector, rationed out the limited seats by using a numbering system.
