Murderer Claims 8 in Houston
by Houston (AP)
Police dug up more of a boat stall today where eight bodies were found in shallow graves, all believed victims of homosexual perversion. Meanwhile, police in suburban Pasadena were planning to dig up the yard of a dead man a youth said was responsible for the killings. “When you’re dealing with a nut like this, that is a sex pervert, you can expect anything,” said police officer Breck Porter. “It would take a perverted, sadistic type of a clown to pull something like this, but I think there is more involved than just one man here,” Porter said. The macabre story started Wednesday when a 17-year-old Houston youth led officers to the shallow graves in the city’s southwest section and said he had killed the man responsible for the deaths.
The youth told authorities he shot and killed Dean Allen Corll, 33, of Pasadena after an all-night party in Corll’s home, during which the youth and two others had “passed out” after smelling spray paint. Police said they found what appeared to be torture instruments in the Corll home. The youth said as he awoke, Corll was putting handcuffs on him and had already bound the other two youths. He said Corll told him he would have to kill all of them. The youth, identified by police as Elmer Wayne Henley, said he convinced Corll that he was an ally. He said that when Corll put down a .22 pistol, he picked it up and shot Corll as Corll came at him. The youth said Corll had told him of killing some persons and burying them in the boat stall. Porter said the youth mentioned the names of three youths being sought by Houston authorities. “We checked with missing persons and those names checked out, so we came out here and started digging,” Porter said. First reports indicated that possibly only the three bodies mentioned by the youth might be found, but as the digging continued, more bodies turned up.
Some of the bodies were wrapped in plastic bags and bound with nylon rope. Many were badly decomposed. Authorities theorized some may have been in the stall as long as three years. “We expect we’ll find more bodies,” Porter said, pointing to the stall where less than half of the 15 feet by 35 feet floor had been dug up by Houston city jail trustees. Porter and Pasadena Det. David Mullican both said they believed more than one person was involved in the killings. Mullican said that among the items found in Corll’s home was a “long board that had holes in each corner and ropes so he could tie someone spread eagle.” He said police also found nylon rope similar to that which had been used to tie up the unearthed bodies. “It looks like a case where guy who liked perverted sex activities has been killing people to cover up his acts,” Mullican said. Positive identification of the bodies will be made autopsies, Porter said.
