Dean Arnold Corll

“The Candy Man”

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 twenty-eight teenage boys and young men between 1970 and 1973 in Houston and Pasadena, Texas. He was aided by two teenaged accomplices, David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley. The crimes, which became known as the Houston Mass Murders, came to light after Henley fatally shot Corll. Upon discovery, the case was considered the worst example of serial murder in United States history.

Corll’s victims were typically lured with an offer of a party or a lift to one of the various addresses at which he resided between 1970 and 1973. They would then be restrained either by force or deception, and each was killed either by strangulation or shooting with a .22 caliber pistol. Corll and his accomplices buried seventeen of their victims in a rented boat shed; four other victims were buried in woodland near Lake Sam Rayburn; one victim was buried on a beach in Jefferson County; and at least six victims were buried on a beach on the Bolivar Peninsula. Brooks and Henley confessed to assisting Corll in several abductions and murders; both were sentenced to life imprisonment.

Corll was also known as the “Candy Man” and the “Pied Piper” because he and his family had previously owned and operated a candy factory in Houston Heights, and he had been known to give free candy to local children.

Early Life

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). Corll’s father was strict with his children, whereas his mother was markedly protective of both her sons. Their marriage was marred by frequent quarreling and the couple divorced in 1946, four years after the birth of their younger son, Stanley Wayne Corll. 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.

Corll was a shy, serious child who rarely socialized with other children, but at the same time displayed concern for the wellbeing of others. He was also markedly sensitive to any form of criticism or rejection. At the age of seven, he suffered an undiagnosed case of rheumatic fever, which was not recognized until doctors found Corll had a heart murmur in 1950. As a result of this diagnosis, Corll was told to avoid P.E. classes in school. Corll’s parents attempted reconciliation and remarried in 1950, subsequently moving to Pasadena, Texas, a suburb of Houston; however, the reconciliation was short lived, and, in 1953, the couple once again divorced, with the mother again retaining custody of her two sons.

The divorce was granted on amicable grounds and both boys maintained regular contact with their father. Following the second divorce, Corll’s mother married a traveling clock salesman named Jake West. The family moved to the small town of Vidor, Texas, where Corll’s half-sister, Joyce Jeanine (1955–2016), was born. Corll’s mother and stepfather started a small family candy company, initially operating from the garage of their home. From the earliest days of the business, Corll worked day and night while still attending school. 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.

This route often involved West traveling to Houston, where much of the product was sold. From 1954 to 1958, Corll attended Vidor High School, where he was regarded as a well-behaved student who achieved satisfactory grades. As had been the case in his childhood, Corll was also considered somewhat of a loner, although he is known to have occasionally dated girls in his teenage years. In high school, Corll’s only major interest was the brass band, in which he played trombone.

U.S. Army Service

Corll was drafted into the United States Army on August 10, 1964, and assigned to Fort Polk, Louisiana, for basic training. He was later assigned to Fort Benning, Georgia, to train as a radio repairman before his permanent assignment to Fort Hood, Texas. According to official military records, Corll’s period of service in the army was unblemished. Corll, however, reportedly hated military service; he applied for a hardship discharge on the grounds that he was needed in his family’s business. The army granted his request, and he was given an honorable discharge on June 11, 1965, after ten months of service. 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. Other acquaintances noted subtle changes in Corll’s mannerisms when in the company of teenage males after he had completed his service and returned to Houston, which led them to believe he may have been homosexual.

Murders

Between 1970 and 1973, Corll is known to have killed a minimum of 28 victims. All of his victims were males aged 13 to 20, the majority of whom were in their mid-teens. Most victims were abducted from Houston Heights, which was then a low-income neighborhood northwest of downtown Houston. In most of these abductions, he was assisted by one or both of his teenage accomplices: David Owen Brooks and Elmer Wayne Henley. Several victims were friends of one or both of Corll’s accomplices; others were individuals with whom Corll had himself become acquainted prior to their abduction and murder, and two other victims, Billy Baulch and Gregory Malley Winkle, were former employees of Corll Candy Company. Corll’s victims were usually lured into either one of the two vehicles he owned (a Ford Econoline van and a Plymouth GTX or a 1969 Chevrolet Corvette he is known to have purchased for Brooks in early 1971. The enticement was typically an offer of a party or a lift, and the victim would be driven to Corll’s house.

At Corll’s residence, the youths would be plied with alcohol or other drugs until they passed out, tricked into donning handcuffs, or simply grabbed by force. 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. 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. Their bodies were then tied in plastic sheeting and buried in one of four places: a rented boat shed in southwest Houston, a beach on the Bolivar Peninsula, a woodland near Lake Sam Rayburn (where Corll’s family owned a lakeside log cabin), or a beach in Jefferson County. 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. He is also known to have retained keepsakes—usually keys—from his victims. During the years in which he abducted and murdered his victims, Corll often changed addresses. However, until he moved to Pasadena in the spring of 1973, he always lived in or close to Houston Heights.

First Known Murders

Corll killed his first known victim, an 18-year-old college freshman named Jeffrey Konen, on September 25, 1970. Konen vanished while hitchhiking with another student from the University of Texas to his parents’ home in Houston. He was dropped off alone at the corner of Westheimer Road and South Voss Road near the Uptown area of Houston at approximately 6:15 p.m. Corll likely offered Konen a lift to his home, which Konen evidently accepted. At the time of Konen’s disappearance, Corll lived in the Harold Turboff apartments, where he had paid a deposit of a month’s rent on September 21. Brooks led police to Konen’s body on August 10, 1973. The body was buried at High Island Beach. Forensic scientists subsequently deduced that the youth had died of asphyxiation caused by manual strangulation and a cloth gag that had been placed in his mouth. The nude body was found buried beneath a large boulder, covered with a layer of lime, wrapped in plastic, and bound hand and foot with nylon cord, suggesting he had been violated. Shortly after Konen’s murder, Brooks interrupted Corll in the act of sexually assaulting two teenage boys whom Corll had strapped to a four-poster bed.

Corll promised Brooks a car in return for his silence; Brooks accepted the offer, and Corll later bought him a green Chevrolet Corvette. Corll later told Brooks that he had killed the two youths and offered him $200 (the equivalent of approximately $1,630 as of 2024) for any boy he could lure to Corll’s apartment. On December 13, 1970, Brooks lured two 14-year-old Spring Branch youths named James Glass and Danny Yates away from a religious rally held in Houston Heights to Corll’s Yorktown apartment. Glass was an acquaintance of Brooks who, at Brooks’ behest, had previously visited Corll’s address. 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. An electrical cord with alligator clips attached to each end was buried alongside Yates’s body. Six weeks after the double murder of Glass and Yates, on January 30, 1971, Brooks and Corll encountered two teenage brothers, Donald and Jerry Waldrop, walking toward their parents’ home. 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. Both boys were enticed into Corll’s van and driven to an apartment Corll had rented on Mangum Road, where they were raped, strangled and subsequently buried in the boat shed.

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 boat shed. In each of these abductions, Brooks is known to have been a participant. 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, where he worked part-time as a gas station attendant. Harvey was driven to Corll’s Mangum Road apartment, where he was subsequently killed by a single gunshot to the head. The other two victims, 13-year-old David Hilligiest and 16-year-old Gregory Malley Winkle, were abducted and killed together on the afternoon of May 29; both were murdered at an apartment Corll rented on West 11th Street. Selma Winkle, pictured holding a reward poster she and the parents of David Hilligiest distributed following the disappearance of their sons, as had been the case with parents of other victims of Corll, both sets of parents launched a frantic search for their sons. 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 Henley a lifelong friend of Hilligiest.

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. On August 17, 1971, Corll and Brooks encountered a 17-year-old acquaintance of Brooks named Ruben Watson Haney walking home from a movie theater in Houston. Brooks persuaded Haney to attend a party at an address Corll had moved to on San Felipe Street the previous month. Haney agreed and was taken to Corll’s home where he was subsequently strangled and buried in the boat shed. In September 1971, Corll moved to an apartment on Columbia Street. This address was also located in the Heights. Brooks later stated he had assisted Corll in the abduction and murder of two youths during the time Corll resided at this address, including one youth who was killed “just before Wayne Henley came into the picture.” In his confession, Brooks stated the youth killed immediately prior to Henley’s involvement in the murders was abducted from the Heights and kept alive for approximately four days before his murder. The identities of both of these victims remain unknown.

Elmer Wayne Henley

In the winter of 1971, Brooks encountered Wayne Henley; he later introduced him to Corll. Henley likely was lured to Corll’s address as an intended victim. However, Corll evidently decided the youth would make a good accomplice 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 later stated that, for several months, he ignored Corll’s offer, although he did maintain an acquaintance with Corll and gradually began to view him as something of a “brother-type person” whose work ethic he admired and in whom he could confide. In early 1972, he decided to accept Corll’s offer because he and his family were in dire financial circumstances. 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. (Brooks later claimed that Henley became involved in the abductions while Corll resided at the address, he had occupied immediately prior to Schuler Street.) If Henley’s statement is to be believed, the victim was abducted from the Heights in February or early March 1972. In the statement Henley gave to police following his arrest, the youth stated he and Corll picked up “a boy” at the corner of 11th and Studewood and lured him to Corll’s home on the promise of smoking some marijuana with the pair.

At Corll’s residence—using a ruse he and Corll had prepared—Henley cuffed his own hands behind his back, freed himself with a key hidden in his back pocket, then duped the youth into donning the handcuffs before observing Corll bind and gag him. Henley then left the youth alone with Corll, believing he was to be sold into the sexual slavery ring. The identity of this first victim Henley assisted in the abduction of remains unknown. One month later, on March 24, 1972, Henley, Brooks, and Corll encountered an 18-year-old acquaintance of Henley’s named Frank Aguirre leaving a restaurant on Yale Street, where the youth worked. Henley called Aguirre over to Corll’s van and invited the youth to drink beer and smoke marijuana with the trio at Corll’s apartment. Aguirre agreed and followed the trio to Corll’s home in his Rambler. Inside Corll’s house, Aguirre smoked marijuana with the trio before picking up a pair of handcuffs Corll had left on his table. In response, Corll pounced on Aguirre, pushed him onto the table, and cuffed his hands behind his back. Henley later claimed that he had not known of Corll’s true intentions towards Aguirre when he had persuaded his friend to accompany him to Corll’s home. 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.

However, Corll refused, informing Henley that he had raped, tortured, and killed the previous victim he had assisted in abducting, and that he intended to do the same with Aguirre. Henley subsequently assisted Corll and Brooks in Aguirre’s burial at High Island Beach. Despite the revelations that Corll was, in reality, killing the boys he and Brooks had assisted in abducting, Henley nonetheless became an active participant in the abductions and murders. One month later, on April 20, he assisted Corll and Brooks in the abduction of another youth, 17-year-old Mark Scott. Scott—who was well known to Corll, Henley and Brooks—was specifically chosen by Corll to be his next victim as, according to Henley, he had recently “cheated [Corll] on a deal” relating to stolen property. He was grabbed by force and fought furiously against attempts by Corll to restrain him, even attempting to stab Corll with a knife. However, Scott saw Henley pointing a pistol toward him and according to Brooks, Scott “just gave up.” Scott was tied to the torture board and suffered the same fate as Aguirre: rape, torture, strangulation, and burial at High Island Beach. 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.

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. In Brooks’s confession, he stated that both youths were tied to Corll’s bed and, after their torture and rape, Henley manually strangled Baulch, then shouted, “Hey, Johnny!” and shot Delome in the forehead, with the bullet exiting through the youth’s ear. Delome then pleaded with Henley, “Wayne, please don’t!” before he was strangled. Both youths were buried at High Island Beach. During the time Corll resided at Schuler Street, the trio lured a 19-year-old named William Ridinger to the house. Ridinger was tied to the plywood board, tortured and abused by Corll. Brooks later claimed he persuaded Corll to allow Ridinger to be released, and the youth was allowed to leave the residence. On another occasion during the time Corll resided at Schuler Street, Henley knocked Brooks unconscious as he entered the house. Corll then tied Brooks to his bed and assaulted the youth repeatedly before releasing him. Despite the assault, Brooks continued to assist Corll in the abductions of the victims. After vacating the Schuler Street residence, Corll moved to an apartment at Westcott Towers, where, in the summer of 1972, he is known to have killed a further two victims.

The first of these victims, 17-year-old Steven Sickman, was last seen leaving a party held in the Heights shortly before midnight on July 19. The youth was savagely bludgeoned about the chest with a blunt instrument before he was strangled and buried in the boat shed. Approximately one month later, on or about August 21, 19-year-old Roy Bunton was abducted while walking to his job as an assistant in a Houston shoe store. Bunton was gagged with a section of Turkish towel and his mouth bound with adhesive tape. He was shot twice in the head and buried in the boat shed. Neither youth was named by either Brooks or Henley as being a victim of Corll, and both youths were identified as victims only in 2011. On October 3, 1972, Henley and Brooks encountered two Heights teenagers, Wally Jay Simoneaux and Richard Hembree, walking to Hembree’s home. Simoneaux and Hembree were enticed into Brooks’s Corvette and driven to Corll’s Westcott Towers apartment. That evening, Simoneaux is known to have phoned his mother’s home and to have shouted the word “Mama” into the receiver before the connection was terminated.

The following morning, Hembree was accidentally shot in the mouth by Henley, with the bullet exiting through his neck. Several hours later, both youths were strangled to death and subsequently buried in a common grave inside the boat shed directly above the bodies of James Glass and Danny Yates. Sometime in November 1972, 18-year-old Willard Branch, an Oak Forest youth known to both Corll and Henley, disappeared while hitchhiking from Mount Pleasant to Houston. His gagged and emasculated body was buried in the boat shed. On November 11, a 19-year-old Spring Branch youth named Richard Kepner disappeared on his way to a phone booth. Kepner was strangled and buried at High Island Beach. Altogether, at least ten teenagers between the ages of 13 and 19 were murdered between March and November 1972, five of whom were buried at High Island Beach, and five inside the boat shed. On January 20, 1973, Corll moved to an address on Wirt Road in the Spring Branch district of Houston. Within two weeks of moving into this address, he had killed 17-year-old Joseph Lyles. Lyles was known to both Corll and Brooks. He had lived on Antoine Drive—the same street upon which Brooks resided in 1973. On March 1, Corll vacated his Wirt Road apartment; he briefly resided in an apartment on South Post Oak Road before moving to 2020 Lamar Drive, an address his father had vacated in Pasadena.

Final Confrontation

Henley awoke to find himself lying on his stomach and Corll snapping handcuffs onto his wrists. His mouth had been taped shut and his ankles had been bound together. Kerley and Williams lay beside Henley, securely bound with nylon rope, gagged with adhesive tape, and lying face down on the floor. Kerley had been stripped naked. Noting Henley had awoken, Corll removed the gag from his mouth. Henley protested in vain against Corll’s actions, where upon Corll reiterated that he was angry with Henley for bringing a girl to his house and that he intended to kill all three after he had assaulted and tortured Kerley, initially saying, “Man, you blew it bringing that girl,” before shouting: “I’m gonna kill you all! But first I’m gonna have my fun!” He then repeatedly kicked Williams in the chest before placing a transistor radio between her and Kerley and turning the volume to maximum. Corll then lifted Henley to his feet and dragged him into his kitchen and placed a .22-caliber pistol against his stomach, threatening to shoot him. Henley calmed Corll, promising to participate in the torture and murder of both Williams and Kerley if Corll released him. After approximately thirty minutes of discussion, Corll agreed and untied Henley, then carried Kerley and Williams into his bedroom and tied them to opposite sides of his torture board: Kerley on his stomach; Williams on her back. He then removed the adhesive tape from Kerley’s mouth before informing him of his intentions to “look up” his anus as Henley again began inhaling paint fumes from a paper bag.

Corll’s Death

Henley then asked Corll whether he might take Williams into another room. Corll ignored him and Henley then grabbed Corll’s pistol, shouting, “You’ve gone far enough, Dean!” As Corll clambered off Kerley, Henley elaborated: “I can’t go on any longer! I can’t have you kill all my friends!” Corll approached Henley, saying, “Kill me, Wayne!” Henley stepped back a few paces as Corll continued to advance upon him, shouting, “You won’t do it!” Henley then fired at Corll, hitting him in the forehead. The bullet failed to fully penetrate Corll’s skull and he continued to lurch toward Henley, whereupon the youth fired another two rounds, hitting Corll in the left shoulder. Corll then ran out of the room, hitting the wall of the hallway. Henley fired three additional bullets into his lower back and shoulder as Corll slid down the wall in the hallway outside the room where the two other teenagers were bound. Corll died where he fell, his naked body facing the wall. Henley would recall that immediately after he shot Corll, the sole thought in his mind was that Corll would have been proud of the way he had behaved during the confrontation, adding that Corll had been training him to react quickly and forcefully and that this was exactly what he had done. The body of Dean Corll as discovered at 2020 Lamar Drive. After Henley had shot Corll, he and Kerley began weeping as Kerley repeatedly thanked him for saving his life. Henley then released Kerley and Williams from the torture board, and all three teenagers dressed and discussed what actions they should take. Henley suggested to Kerley and Williams that they should simply leave, to which Kerley replied, “No, we should call the police.” Henley agreed and looked up the number for the Pasadena Police Department (PPD) in Corll’s telephone directory.

Contacting Police

At 8:24 a.m. on August 8, 1973, Henley placed a call to the PPD. His call was answered by an operator named Velma Lines. In his call, Henley blurted to the operator: “Y’all better come here right now! I just killed a man!” Henley gave the address to the operator as 2020 Lamar Drive, Pasadena. As Kerley, Williams, and Henley waited outside Corll’s home for the police to arrive, Henley mentioned to Kerley that he had “done that (killing by shooting) four or five times.” Minutes later, a PPD patrol car arrived at 2020 Lamar Drive. The three were sitting on the curb outside the house, and the officer noted the .22 caliber pistol on the driveway near the trio. Two of the three were weeping; the older male simply stared blankly across the street. The younger male identified himself as Elmer Wayne Henley and told the officer that he was the individual who had made the call and indicated that Corll’s body was inside the house. After confiscating the pistol and placing Henley, Williams, and Kerley inside the patrol car, the officer entered the bungalow and discovered Corll’s body inside the hallway. The officer returned to the car and read Henley his Miranda rights. In response, Henley shouted: “I don’t care who knows about it! I have to get it off my chest!” Kerley later told detectives that before the police officer had arrived at Lamar Drive, Henley had informed him, “If you weren’t my friend, I could have gotten $200 for you.”

Accomplices’ Confessions

In PPD custody, Henley was initially questioned about the killing of Corll. He recounted the events of the previous evening and that morning, explaining that he had shot Corll in self-defense. The statements given by Kerley and Williams corroborated Henley’s account, and the detective questioning Henley believed he had indeed acted in self-defense. When questioned regarding his claim that as Corll had threatened him that morning, he had shouted that he had killed several boys, 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. Henley gave a verbal statement; stating he initially had believed the boys he had abducted were to be sold into a Dallas-based organization for “homosexual acts, sodomy, maybe later killing,” but soon learned Corll was himself killing the victims procured. Henley admitted he had assisted Corll in several abductions and murders, and that he had actively participated in the torture and mutilation of “six or eight” victims prior to their murder. Most victims had been buried in a Southwest Houston boat shed, with others buried at Lake Sam Rayburn and High Island Beach.

Corll had paid up to $200 for each victim Brooks or he were able to lure to his apartment. 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. Henley was quite insistent, however, and upon his recalling the names of three boys—Cobble, Hilligiest, and Jones—whom 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. Hilligiest had been reported missing in the summer of 1971; the other two boys had been missing for just two weeks. Moreover, the floor of the room where the three teenagers had been tied was covered in thick plastic sheeting. Police also found a plywood torture board measuring 8 by 3 feet (2.44 by 0.91 m) with handcuffs attached to nylon rope at two corners, and nylon ropes to the other two. 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, an electric motor with loose wires attached, eight pairs of handcuffs, a number of dildos, thin glass tubes, and lengths of rope.

Corll’s Ford Econoline van parked in the driveway conveyed a similar impression. The rear windows of the van were sealed by opaque blue curtains. In the rear of the vehicle, police found a coil of rope, a swatch of beige rug covered in soil stains, and a wooden crate with air holes drilled in the sides. The pegboard walls inside the rear of the van were rigged with several rings and hooks. Another wooden crate with air holes drilled in the sides was found in Corll’s backyard. Inside this crate were several strands of human hair. 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. Right then’s when I knew there were going to be bodies in that shed. Houston Police officer Karl Siebeneicher describing Henley’s actions upon leading police to Corll’s boat shed on August 8.

Search For Victims

Henley agreed to accompany police to Corll’s boat shed in Southwest Houston, where he claimed the bodies of most of the victims could be found. Inside the boat shed, police found a half-stripped stolen car, a child’s bike, a large iron drum, water containers, two sacks of lime, and a large plastic bag full of teenage boys’ clothing. Two prison trusties began digging through the soft, crushed-shell earth of the boat shed and soon uncovered the body of a blond-haired teenaged boy, lying on his side, encased in clear plastic and buried beneath a layer of lime. Police continued excavating through the earth of the shed, unearthing the remains of more victims in varying stages of decomposition. Most of the bodies found were wrapped in thick, clear plastic sheeting. Some victims had been shot, others strangled, the ligatures still wrapped tightly around their necks. On the evening of August 7, 1973, Henley invited 20-year-old Timothy Cordell Kerley to attend a party at Corll’s Pasadena residence. Kerley—a casual acquaintance of Corll who was intended to be his next victim—accepted the offer. Brooks was not present at the time. The two youths arrived at Corll’s house, where they sniffed paint fumes and drank alcohol until midnight before leaving the house, promising to return shortly.

Henley and Kerley then drove back to Houston Heights and Kerley parked his vehicle close to Henley’s home. The two exited the vehicle and Henley, hearing commotion across the street emanating from the home of his 15-year-old friend Rhonda Louise Williams, walked toward her home. Williams—nursing a sprained ankle—had been beaten by her drunken father that evening and accepted Henley’s invitation to join him and Kerley at Corll’s home. Williams climbed into the back seat of Kerley’s Volkswagen. The trio then drove toward Corll’s Pasadena residence. At approximately 3:00 a.m. on the morning of August 8, Henley and Kerley, accompanied by Williams, returned to Corll’s residence. Corll was furious that Henley had brought a girl to his house, telling him in private that he had “ruined everything”. Henley explained that Williams had argued with her father that evening and did not wish to return home. Corll appeared to calm down and offered the trio beer and marijuana. The three teenagers began drinking and smoking marijuana, with Henley and Kerley also sniffing paint fumes as Corll watched them intently.

After approximately two hours, Henley, Kerley, and Williams each passed out. All of the victims found had been sodomized and most victims found bore evidence of sexual torture: pubic hairs had been plucked out, genitals had been chewed, objects had been inserted into their rectums, and glass rods had been inserted into their urethrae and smashed. Cloth rags had also been inserted into the victims’ mouths and adhesive tape wound around their faces to muffle their screams. The tongue of the first victim uncovered protruded over one inch beyond the tooth margin; the mouth of the third victim unearthed on August 8 was so agape that all upper and lower teeth were visible, leading investigators to theorize the youth had died screaming. After the recovery of the eighth body from the boat shed was completed at 11:55 p.m., the search for further bodies was discontinued until the next day. Accompanied by his father, Brooks presented himself at HPD headquarters on the evening of August 8 and gave a statement in which he denied any knowledge of or participation in the murders but admitted to having known that Corll had raped and killed two teenagers in 1970 and naming two youths—Ruben Haney and Mark Scott—whom he had seen in Corll’s company immediately before their disappearances.

On the morning of August 9, Henley gave a full written statement detailing his and Brooks’s involvement with Corll in the abduction and murder of numerous youths. In this confession, Henley readily admitted to having personally killed approximately nine youths and to have assisted Corll in the strangulation of others. He stated the “only three” abductions and murders Brooks had not assisted him and Corll with were committed in the summer of 1973. That afternoon, Henley accompanied police to Lake Sam Rayburn, where he, Brooks, and Corll had buried four victims killed that year. Two additional bodies were found in shallow, lime-soaked graves located close to a dirt road. 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. Police found nine additional bodies in the boat shed on August 9. These bodies were recovered between 12:05 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., and all were in an advanced state of decomposition. 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); another victim unearthed had several fractured ribs.

The thirteenth and fourteenth bodies unearthed bore identification cards naming the victims as Donald and Jerry Waldrop. Brooks gave a full confession on the evening of August 9, admitting to being present at several killings and assisting in several burials, although he continued to deny any direct participation in the murders. In reference to the torture board upon which Corll had restrained and tortured his victims, Brooks stated: “Once they were on the board, they were as good as dead; it was all over, but the shouting and the crying.” In reference to the actual murders, Brooks stated his witnessing the victims’ deaths “didn’t bother [him]”, adding “I saw it done many times.” He agreed to accompany police to High Island Beach to assist in the search for the bodies of the victims. On August 10, 1973, Henley again accompanied police to Lake Sam Rayburn, where two more bodies were found buried just 10 feet (3 m) apart. As with the two bodies found the previous day, both victims had been tortured and severely beaten, particularly around the head. That afternoon, both Henley and Brooks accompanied police to High Island Beach, leading police to the shallow graves of two victims.

Indictment

On August 13, a grand jury convened in Harris County to hear evidence against Henley and Brooks: the first witnesses to testify were Williams and Kerley, who testified to the events of August 7 and 8 leading to the death of Corll. Another witness who testified to his experience at the hands of Corll was William Ridinger, who recounted his abuse at Corll’s Schuler Street address before he was released. Also to testify at the hearing were the investigators who recounted the various statements and confessions provided by Henley and Brooks in the days following Corll’s death and individuals tasked with supervising the exhumation of the victims’ bodies. After listening to over six hours of testimony, on August 14, the grand jury indicted Henley on three counts of murder and Brooks on one count. Bail for each youth was set at $100,000. Henley was not charged with the death of Corll, which prosecutors would ultimately rule on September 18 had been committed in self-defense. By the time the grand jury had completed its investigation, Henley had been indicted for six murders, and Brooks for four. Both would later reject pretrial offers presented to them by Assistant District Attorney Don Lambright of life sentences in exchange for pleas of guilty to the murders for which they had been indicted. A pretrial motion that Henley undergo a psychiatric examination to determine whether he was mentally competent to stand trial was also opposed by his attorney, Charles Melder, upon the grounds the ruling would violate Henley’s constitutional rights.

Trials and Convictions

Henley

Elmer Wayne Henley and David Owen Brooks were tried separately for their roles in the murders. Henley was brought to trial before Judge Preston Dial in San Antonio on July 1, 1974, charged with six murders committed between March 1972 and July 1973. Upon advice from his defense counsel, Henley did not take the stand to testify. His attorney, William Gray, did cross-examine several witnesses, but did not call any witnesses or experts for the defense. The prosecution called twenty-four of witnesses, including Kerley and Ridinger, and introduced eighty-two pieces of evidence, including Corll’s torture board and one of the boxes used to transport the victims. Inside the box, police had found hair which examiners testified came from both Cobble and Henley. Other incriminating testimony came from police officers who read from Henley’s written statements. In one part of his confession, Henley had described luring two of the victims for whose murder he had been brought to trial, Cobble and Jones, to Corll’s Pasadena residence. Henley had confessed that after their initial abuse and torture at Corll’s home, Cobble and Jones each had one wrist and ankle bound to the same side of Corll’s torture board. 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.

After they had spent several hours beating each other, Jones was tied to a board and forced to watch Cobble again be assaulted, tortured, and shot to death before he himself was again raped, tortured, and strangled with a Venetian blind cord. Cobble and Jones were killed on July 27, 1973, two days after they had been reported missing. 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. On July 15, 1974, both counsels presented their closing arguments to the jury the prosecution seeking life imprisonment, the defense a verdict of not guilty. In his closing argument to the jury, District Attorney Carol Vance apologized for his not being able to seek the death penalty, adding that the case was the “most extreme example of man’s inhumanity to man I have ever seen.” The jury deliberated for 92 minutes before finding Henley guilty of all six murders for which he was tried. The following day, July 16, formal procedures to sentence Henley for the six guilty verdicts began, and on August 8, Judge Preston Dial ordered that Henley serve each 99-year sentence consecutively (totaling 594 years), and he was transferred to the Huntsville Unit to formally begin his sentence.

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. Henley’s appeal was upheld, and he was awarded a retrial in December 1978. Henley’s retrial began on June 18, 1979. This second trial was held in Corpus Christi, with Henley again represented by defense attorneys William Gray and Edwin Pegelow. Henley’s attorneys again attempted to have Henley’s written statements ruled inadmissible. However, Judge Noah Kennedy ruled the written statements given by Henley on August 9, 1973, as admissible evidence. The retrial lasted nine days, with Henley’s attorneys again calling no defense witnesses and again attacking the credibility of Henley’s written confession. The defense also contended the evidence provided by the state “belonged to Dean Corll, not Elmer Wayne Henley”. On June 27, 1979, the jury deliberated for over two hours before reaching their verdict; Henley was again convicted of six murders and sentenced to six concurrent 99-year terms.

Brooks

Brooks was brought to trial on February 27, 1975. He had been indicted for four murders committed between December 1970 and June 1973 but was brought to trial charged only with the June 1973 murder of 15-year-old William Ray Lawrence. Brooks’s defense attorney, Jim Skelton, argued that his client had not committed any murders and attempted to portray Corll and, to a lesser degree, Henley as being the active participants in the actual killings. 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 tells you he was a cheerleader if nothing else. That’s what he was telling you about his presence. You know he was in on it.” Brooks’s trial lasted less than one week. The jury deliberated for just 90 minutes before they reached a verdict. He was found guilty of Lawrence’s murder on March 4, 1975, and sentenced to life imprisonment. Brooks showed no emotion as the sentence was passed, although his wife burst into tears. Brooks also appealed his sentence, contending that the signed confessions used against him were taken without his being informed of his legal rights, but his appeal was dismissed in May 1979.

Incarceration

Henley is serving his life sentence at the Mark Stiles Unit in Jefferson County, Texas. Successive parole applications dating from July 1980 have been denied. He is next eligible for parole in October 2025. Brooks served his life sentence at the Terrell Unit near Rosharon, Texas. He died of COVID-19-related complications at a Galveston hospital on May 28, 2020, at the age of 65. Brooks is buried at Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery in Walker County.

Victims

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. As Corll was killed immediately prior to his murders being discovered, the true number of victims he had claimed will never be known. Twenty-seven of Corll’s known victims have been identified, and the identity of a 28th victim whose body has never been found, Mark Scott, is conclusively known. All of these victims were killed by either shooting, strangulation or a combination of both.

1970 Murders

Jeffrey Alan Konen (18)

On September 25, 1970, Konen was abducted while hitchhiking from Austin to Houston. He was buried at High Island Beach.

James Eugene Glass (14)

On December 13, 1970, Glass was last seen with Danny Yates walking out of church. He was strangled and buried inside the boat shed.

Danny Michael Yates (14)

On December 13, 1970, Yates was lured from church rally to Corll’s home where he was strangled and buried in the boat shed.

1971 Murders

Donald Wayne Waldrop (15)

On January 30, the Waldrop brothers were strangled together the day the vanished and buried in a grave inside the boat shed.

Jerry Lynn Waldrop (13)

On January 30, the Waldrop brothers were strangled together the day the vanished and buried in a grave inside the boat shed.

Randell Lee Harvey (15)

On March 9, Harvey disappeared on his way home from his job. He was shot in the head and buried in the boat shed.

David William Hilligiest (13)

On May 29, Hilligiest was last seen in the company of Winkle walking to a swimming pool, before climbing into a white van.

Gregory Malley Winkle (16)

On May 29, Winkle last phoned his mother claiming he was with Hilligiest. His stangled body was found in the boat shed.

Ruben Watson Haney (17)

On August 17, Haney left his home to visit the cinema. He was gagged, strangled and buried in Corll’s boat shed

1972 Murders

Frank Anthony Aguirre (18)

On March 24, Aguirre, the fiancé of Rhonda Williams was found strangled and buried at High Island Beach.

Mark Steven Scott (17)

On April 20, Scott was strangled by Henley & Corll and buried at High Island Beach. He has never been found.

Johnny Ray Delome (16)

On May 21, Delone was last seen with his friend Baulch. He was shot in the head, then strangled by Henley.

Billy Gene Baulch Jr. (17)

On May 21, Baulch was last seen with Delome. He was strangled by Henley and buried at High Island Beach.

Steven Kent Sickman (17)

On July 19, Sickman was last seen leaving a party. He suffered several fractured ribs, strangled and buried in the boat shed.

Roy Eugene Bunton (19)

On August 21, Bunton was on his way to work at a shoe store. He was shot twice in the head and buried in the boat shed.

Wally Jay Simoneaux (14)

On October 3, Simoneaux was lured with a friend into Brooks’ Corvette. He was strangled and found buried in the boat shed.

Richard Edward Hembree (13)

On October 3, Hembree was Last seen with Simoneaux. He was shot in the mouth and strangled at Corll’s Westcott Towers address.

Willard Karmon Branch Jr (18)

On November 1, Branch was emasculated before he was shot in the head and buried in the boat shed.

Richard Alan Kepner (19)

On November 11, Kepner vanished on his way to call his fiancée. He was strangled and buried at High Island Beach.

1973 Murders

Joseph Allen Lyles (17)

On February 1, Lyles was “grabbed” by Corll at his Wirt Road address. He was subsequently buried at Jefferson County Beach.

William Ray Lawrence (15)

On June 4. Lawarence was kept alive by Corll for three days before he was strangled with a cord and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn.

Ray Stanley Blackburn (20)

On June 15, Blackburn was seen hitchhiking. He was strangled by Corll at his Lamar Drive residence and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn.

Homer Luis Garcia (15)

On July 7, Garcia was shot in the head and chest. He bled to death in Corll’s bathtub and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn.

John Manning Sellars (17)

On July 12, Sellars was shot 4 times in the chest and buried at High Island Beach. The only victim to be buried fully clothed.

Michael Anthony Baulch (15)

On July 19, Corll had killed his older brother, Billy, the previous year. He was strangled and buried at Lake Sam Rayburn.

Marty Ray Jones (18)

On July 25, Jones was last seen with Cobble along 27th Street with Henley. He was strangled and buried in the boat shed.

Charles Cary Cobble (17)

On July 25, Cobble was last seen with Jones on 27th Street with Henley. He was shot twice in the head and found in the boat shed.

James Stanton Dreymala (13)

On August 3, Dreymala was last seen at a party in Pasadena. He was strangled and buried in the boat shed.

Dean Arnold Corll“The Candy Man”